Orient Express in Organic Soil

[chappie]

One of the two identical plants threw tons of huge, perfectly formed male flowers. I inspect the plants daily, but this one was in the back corner so I guess I missed them when they were tiny. Terrible! As I bent a branch to look closer, a visible cloud of pollen blew out. So, this is going to be a seeded crop. I thought that I can live with that, I mostly vaporize anyway, and yield is not a huge concern. But these are still so early in flower, I did not want the pollination to continue, so I harvested the herm. He/she/it is now in the compost pile.

I guess it opens up more room for the others to branch out... but still pretty sad news.

 

[Gelado`]

Sorry to hear that...I had a plant throw a few balls too and I know I've got seeds deep down in my buds (but not many). I won't be running the clone again (Skunk 1 freebie from Seedsman).

 

[dubi]

Sad news indeed chappie, i'm very sorry to hear it, Orient Express sometimes shows a few infertile bananas indoors in late flowering but is very rare to see a true hermie in the last generations.

Please message me and will replace your seeds with any strain you want to grow. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[chappie]

Dubi, that is above and beyond the expectations of customer service.

There are still 3 vigorous females left and they are very interesting. One is towering, one has branched into very uniform, symmetrical flowering spikes, and the other is still a dense mound of ?????

As the flowers develop, I will pull them out of the tent to take some real photos, sorry these are so orange. I've been able to adjust white balance in the past and get passable photos under the sodium lamp but I think this bulb is proving to be a challenge. It was sold as an eye-hortilux like replacement, but it is obviously much more red (SolarMax, which now I see online is indeed very red). It seemed to do just fine for veg growing, but is terrible for photos!

Anyway, they are on day 28 of flower, and looking pretty good. Some leaves are starting to yellow, which I would normally consider senescence setting in, but am wondering if they are hungry. I have been using compost tea and light doses of guano. I added a bit of alfalfa meal to the last batch of compost tea. Otherwise, they are getting rain water, Ful-Power, and Aloe juice. Structure looks great, and very nice aromas are setting in.

The little stubby plant is still a complete jungle. It looks as if the entire plant will be covered in flower, those at the base are coming in just as dense as the tip. Might be a great pheno for SOG style gardens. Given that they still have at least 30 days to go, I believe yield is going to be nice.

The harvested males had very strong aromas, I am really looking forward to this outcome.

 

[Gelado`]

They look very healthy indeed.

 

[Cannabliss420]

Anyway, they are on day 28 of flower, and looking pretty good. Some leaves are starting to yellow, which I would normally consider senescence setting in, but am wondering if they are hungry. I have been using compost tea and light doses of guano. I added a bit of alfalfa meal to the last batch of compost tea. Otherwise, they are getting rain water, Ful-Power, and Aloe juice. Structure looks great, and very nice aromas are setting in.

the Alfalfa meal may very well be the reason for banana's showing up. iv read that it contains something called lik triacontanol, which is thought to be the reason (stimulates) the naner's start appearing. through the forums iv read in places it shoudnt b used during flowering for this reason. im not sure on this entirely but its something to look into!!!

 

[Cannabliss420]

or maybe its not triacontanol. i think its something else in it

 

[Kalbhairav]

Sorry to hear about your hermi issue chappie. The girls look good otherwise. These things happen..

 

[chappie]

I hadn't added the alfalfa meal until today, but that is something to keep in mind indeed!

However, the compost tea "activator" I am using does contain a hint of it... so maybe? It is from KIS Organics, whom I know many cultivators here and elsewhere swear by. Hmm.

 

[Gelado`]

I don't think the alfalfa will be an issue whatsoever; the rest of the plants are fine, aren't they? I used it on this run (and a lot more than you did) and only the plant I knew was a herm continued to herm. My other plants were perfectly stable.

 

[chappie]

I think it is something that just happens even in the best of lines. I was disappointed, sure, but not out of joint.

It is probably foolish to try a new strain and new growing method at the same time, but life is short and I am reckless. Still, I tend to get good results and I have to say, herming plant aside and pre-harvest, Orient Express is appearing to be an exceptionally amazing strain. I really have not seen this kind of vigor and in a long time, if ever. Then again, I have been torturing myself with "blue" plants for the past while... spindly alien flowers that want hardly any nutrient at all.

 

[Kalbhairav]

Chappie, I hope your garden is doing well.. Any progress report on this one? You said you were keeping it going even though you had a hermi in there. I hope you have, I dig your growing style..

Hope all's good

 

[chappie]

Yep it is chugging along! Just haven't updated since I've been very busy, and there is not much to report other than the plants (3 remaining) are slowly growing and ripening, nothing spectacular. They are looking pretty good, and of course some seeds are forming. They should have 2-3 weeks left to go. I am getting more leaf yellowing and dropping than I had expected... could be senescence, more likely underfeeding since this is allegedly a hungry strain and my organic regime is fairly light. The "living soil" should improve with each crop, but I am tempted to add some type of easily-available nitrogen for the next round.

ACE did send me some replacement seeds for the hermi, even though that is above and beyond what is needed. They allowed me to choose, and I went with Kali China. Thanks ACE!

Hard to really say without sampling the final product, but I am already a fan of this company, just on the vigor of OE and the amazing customer service.

 

[Kalbhairav]

Glad to hear it. Ace are a great company with unique selling points and catalogue. You can't help but admire their duty toward the old seed lines. I only wish I had more room to explore more of their offerings.

 

[chappie]

Today they are at 9 weeks, and seem to have stalled on the flower development... I believe Dubi suggested letting them go a bit long in order to really ripen with the interesting terpines. I'll try to grab some photos soon.

Leaf yellowing has continues, I assume I need a bit more nitrogen for the next round. The plants still look fine, but nearly all of the fan leaves have gone pale and some have started to drop.

The clover planted in the empty buckets should be providing some nitrogen, but I am researching what else to augment with in addition to more worm castings.

 

[Cannabliss420]

atleast u kno there's no nitrogen in ur final product chappie. alotta growers dont know they should be cutting it at a point, and end up with a very green grass smell instead of the real smell the plant should b producing. i dont see nothin wrong with a nice organic fade keep up the good work n put up some more pics!

 

[rüdiger]

hi,

you can put some worms in your pots. they will eat the mulch on top but better put more fermented plant matter in top soil for them.
produce n(pk), you get what you feed them.
recommend eisenia hortensis.


dont need much amending when feeding worm right.
all symbiosis
or have worms allready?

rüdiger

 

[dubi]

Today they are at 9 weeks, and seem to have stalled on the flower development... I believe Dubi suggested letting them go a bit long in order to really ripen with the interesting terpines. I'll try to grab some photos soon.

Leaf yellowing has continues, I assume I need a bit more nitrogen for the next round. The plants still look fine, but nearly all of the fan leaves have gone pale and some have started to drop.

The clover planted in the empty buckets should be providing some nitrogen, but I am researching what else to augment with in addition to more worm castings.

Hi chappie,

The budsites looked good at 28 days of flowering, hopefully they have fatten up a lot in the past weeks. It's quite normal that Orient Express grown in pots lose leaves in mid-late flowering, it's a very hungry plant, but like Cannablis420 said, you will be sure your flowers have not excessive Nitrogen. Best wishes for the end of flowering!

 

[chappie]

71 days

71 days

Cut them down today, at 71 days. The dense little one still does not photograph well... pulling it apart yielded nothing but solid bud, about the size of a volleyball at the base and tapering upward. Inside, of course, the flower were pale and unearthly looking. The smell is a bit acrid. I do not hold high hopes for it, but it sure was fun to watch.

The other two yielded dozens of cigar shaped colas, with a nice fruity, earthy, slightly spicy aroma.

I'll get more pics as processing and drying continue, no time now!

I'm estimating these 2 to be looking like they will provide 3 dry ounces each, not bad! As for the little chunky one, I really don't know. It's heavy but feels very "wet".

 

[rüdiger]

i like the colors, can you show a closeup?