The Reunionaise Sativa

La Reunion is a mountainous island centrally located in the indian ocean along ancient sea trade routes between southern india thailand madagascar and the eastern coast of africa. It is perhaps one of the sweetest "sweet spots" as dj short would say to breed cannabis. There are two seasons on the island the warm rainy season and the slightly cooler dry season. During the warm season temperatures consistently stay between 55 and 85 f with about 7 days per month with rainfall the cool season is consistently 50 to 75 f with 3-4 days of rainfall per month. This combined with the soil of a newly created island high altitude mountains and fairly low latitude makes this a perfect place for cannabis cultivation and breeding. Though its very unlikely, there are a few botanists who say cannabis arrived here before man. Most will disagree because there are very few imaginable scenarios of how cannabis could spread here without the aid of humans. Nevertheless cannabis use among the indigenous people is a very old and integral part of their culture.

The culture on La Reunion is composed of african creoles who mostly have ancestors brought there because of the slave trade. Cannabis use among the slave population started as a part of mystical ceremonies and personal use for comfort and medicinal purposes. As it became an integral part of the culture it came to be used for traditional purposes sometimes festive like harvest celebrations or weddings. Or mystical purposes like rubbing it on a cock before a cockfight to increase their intensity in the fight (I've heard of finger has but never cock hash! Lol ) or feeding it to a hen to make it a better egglayer. Zamal was also snuffed as a decoction by the village elders (gramoons) to relieve asthma and calm stomach pains. During a meeting of the gramoons it was commonly smoked. However most of this culture ceased in 1970 when La Reunion passed its first narcotics laws in 1970. While I consider this to be an overall negative event one benefit of the narcotics laws in La Reunion was that it prevented hybridization of their genepool at just the right time. Around this time the wave increased cannabis consumption in the us had caused an increase in commercial cannabis production all over the world. This caused many indigenous growers of landrace to hybridize their stock with other varieties for more commercial purposes. This is the reason many of the strains in and from kerala and the rest of southern india while good are no longer what they once were. Kerala is considered to be as dangerous as columbia and this is because of the huge amounts of money from the cannabis trade. Zamal is much like the old strains from southern india which is understandable as most botanists agree it was brought there by indians. It is very small seeded has long narrow flowers a portion of plants produce monophyllus leaves (3 leaflets or less) and all specimen produce less than 5 leaflets. It has an (among mango carrot scented phenos) odor and flavor very similar to top quality southern indian sativa. These are all southern indian traits and zamal may be more true to the original kerala sativas than anything you can find today called kerala or from that region, however it has traits from africa and thailand also. The high comes on very fast (indicative of a high THCV content) like many east and southern african strains. I wish it was possible for me to do gc analysis but unfortunately not. There is one pheno that existed in one type of zamal seed I've obtained but not the other it occurs about 1 in 30. It is rose scented and unlike the long south indian like spears it produces a more fluffy resinous strandy type flower similar to a thai. It has a scent more like a floral rose than the sweet mango-carrot south indian odor and a pinkish hue on the undersides of the leaves. It is also interesting to note when zamal is crossed to strains with thai in their background juicy fruit, c99, pure haze, certain females in the f1 (never taken further) would have the highland thai characteristic of an occasional shoot that comes out of an otherwise dense flower consisting of a thin flexible trichome covered stem with a calyx spaced about every quarter to half inch. I've gotten this trait in certain thais and juicy fruit f2s but never f1s showing it has to be inherited from both parents but oddly enough I've never gotten this trait in any inbred c99 or pure haze. This shows the possibilty of some very old yet high quality thai genes. I have two samples one from the first year gypsy nirvanna 03 collection and one from a close family member that visited the island while on vacation in the seychelles who claims to have had direct contact with a grower. Both populations are very similar except the one obtained from the family member is slightly taller and capable of making plants that are both better and worse and while potency is close to the same it produces a little more leaf resin. This is also the only one that I've seen produce the rose scented pheno. This is either because its true p1 stock from region of origin or simply because I started with more seed from this line as I only got 6 of 15 seeds to crack of the gn 03 seeds (not enough heat and these seeds have a short shelf life too) probably both. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy reading this threads.
While I don't have any pictures on the computer I'm using now I do have some stored at an anonymous email address. If you have an anonymous email and would like to see some pictures of this lovely ancient strain pm me and ill gladly send them to you.

good info zamalito, I would be interested in pics, but I've no anonymous email....

peace love happiness

zamal x afghani

zamal x afghani

These were for sale on seedbay and maybe I bought some but never grew them. Anyone grow them? Supposed to shorten the flower time.

mjshouldbelegal

I have never bought any zamal hybrids but they sjould be pretty good depending on how the cross was done. If it was a well selected zamal female crossed with a good afghani male the zamal is fairly dominant when used as a female in an f1. If this is the case you'll basically get zamal plants with a slightly shorter flowering time and a bit more resin and a little less height. If you wanna keep your plants under 3.5 ft you should top them at the 3rd node and grow supercropped style plants. They might not need this but doing this will help you be certain they won't get too tall. Don't veg too long. They're not extremely sensitive to nutrients like some sativas but they don't need much. Zamal is one of the only landrace sativas I've been able to successfully use as a breeder male to good results. If the case is that the breeder used a zamal male and afghan female its really hard to say what they'll be like. They'll probably be pretty good and resinous. I crossed it to a select c99 female and got something phenomenal that was more balanced 50/50 betwen the parents. Either way I'm sure they're excellent plants. I'd say in the 9-12 week flowering range probably closer to 12 than 9. Especially if the zamal was used as a female. I'd be more precise if I knew more about the afghan that was used. If the zamal was the mother you'll get a very good idea of how good this stuff is. It might not produce the resin content that you're used to but the flavor and high are wonderful. Many of my friends had a hard time getting the sativa thing. Either the sativas they smoked were too weak for them or they were just as sedative as an indica. This and its hybrids was the first strain to really show them how a plant can be strong and energetic. Hope this helps and I hope you get a chance to try it. Its definitely proof people have been smoking what we consider top quality for a very long time.

Great breeding insights Zamalito.

Thanks. I think it was a zamal female and an afghani male. Don't know much else. 12 weeks! Guess I should grow the Neville's haze at the same time!

Yeah, the zamal is normally 14-16 weeks. But that's max if it was a normal 8 week afghan it might be 10. 12 weeks is max and what I get with a normal 9-10 week indica. I tend to let my stuff mature longer than most, too. Nevilles wouldn't be a terrible idea. I normally let a pure haze or a nevilles go 14. A federation hawaiian sat would be a perfect thing to grow alongside a zamalxafghan. Similar stretch and flowering. I haven't tried it but love potion sounds like it would be an excellent match.

a French mate of mine who spent some time in Re Union says Zamal is pronounced "Zarh-marl"

I also grew out a pack of GN zamals when they were first offered (whenever that was?)...I bought them direct from Gypsy in Amsterdam and there were 20 + seeds in the pack (I bought heaps of other strains too..he said "you live in the sub tropics, so try these Zamals"

..I'm glad I did

....from memory I got germination rates of around 90+% and grew them outdoors in the ground in the bush at about the same latitiude as southern Flo or Hawaii...(started in samall pots then transplanted when 6 inches + in height)

Most landrace sativa seeds need a longer time to germinate than many Dutchies..some will pop out of the soil in 6 or 8 days and some will pop in 10 ~ 15 days which probably means they still have "wild" survival genes in them, varying (or "time release) germination means that some will survive, even if the rats or birds or tractors or floods demolish the first fast germinating seedlings that emerge.....and they need to have warm conditions for successful germination rates!....keep the soil temps constantly warm ..80 ~ 90 F / 27 ~ 30 C ..moist, but not sopping wet all the time....and germination rates should be acceptable ~ good

the all original GN plants I grew had a few branches that were lightly seeded....I crossed them with several Zamal males, a Nev Haze male, several Power Plant males an other Dutchies..the following years I grew out the Zam x Zam and crossed them with Black Domina, C99 and others ..I took clones from the best GN fems (but never kept them going) and also lightly seeded those ones with different males.

like most landrace sativas they are very easy to clone..snap off a branch and stick it in the soil and hope for 10 days of mostly cloudy, humid weather and they will root!

all the ones I grew were vigorous and seemed to want to grow in a vegetative state regardless of the photoperiod ..(I can grow all year round here) and took them 3 or 4 or more months to begin flowering....and when they consider themselves mature enough they will flower, even if the photoperiod is 13.5 hours in late Summer, the Thais I used to grow, on the other hand, would only start flowering in the late Fall when the photoperiod is 12 and decreasing..the Thais were very responsive to the photoperiod , wheras the Zamals are only partly photoperiod responsive.

..I've never flowered Zamals indoors....but, I've grow a couple of Zamal clones in 2 gallon pots..so..you could do it..but like most long flowering sativas, I'd say they would reach their best int he sun ...or if it's safe, you could grow them indoors and take the pots out on non-rainy days and save elec bill and bring them in at night.

the plants in late flowering had an light earthy, carroty smell, not rosey at all.....i don't know how many weeks they took to finish but when they were ready to flower they would take a little less time than Thais (and have alot less hermie tendancies) and 3 or 4 weeks longer than Nev Hazes ...maybe 2 or 3 out of 20 were hermie (as opposed to Thais that may have 7 out of 10 femmes that can go queer on you..and the ones that did appear were all early which was good ..there weren't any hermies on any female once they were a month into flowering.

most had an airy (traditional Xmas tree) growth pattern and some grew asymetrical like some Thais..but more "Medusa" with no dominant top cola ..the buds were long and big, fatter than most sats and took a long time to resin up and be mature...at harvest the buds branches were 15 inches / 38 cm long, in an elongated S shape and grew horizontal to the ground with their weight..good mold and storm resistance

I enjoyed the high of the Zamal..it was the bud I kept reaching for (and I grew some variety back then!)...Zamal has a very long high duration and made me feel smarter, inspired, gave stamina, I felt confident, stronger and buzzed nicely (iow the perfect sativa high!) and the high lasted for hours, longer than any plant I've grown or smoked..zero paranoia...it's only about a 6 or 7 out of 10 on the potency scale..but the quality of the high itself makes up for it (so just roll a slightly bigger jay!)..when fully matured the bud is reasonably tight (for a landrace sat)...the leaves had little to no resin.

I haven't smoked any Zam for a few years now ..for one reason or another ..but this year is gonna be a Zamal year.

I've just started a few Zam x NH and few Zam x Zam......even a few Zam/C99 x Black Dom/C99 and others....lets hope the rats dont get them!..rats are mo-fo around here and they love my seedlings!..

some should finish in later this year and some will finish early next year.

the main thing you have to do with Zamal is allow them to fully mature or the high will be disappointing....oh and grow them under full strong sun for best results...a few indo' mates tried Zam and also Z x NH under lights and they were not as good as the sun grown Zamals.

over the years...I've written extensively about Zamal on OG ...let's hope that one day OG returns..as it would be shame to loose all that info!

Great thread.

--
bongoman

Interestingly it seems like we've had somewhat different experiences on the zamal. Both the ones I've grown and the ones I've seen grown in the sao paulo brazil typically had very long and narrow flowers with extensive secondary and tertiary branching. A few produced the medusa like flowers but that was from the other non gn line. However like you're experiences they don't seem to pay much attention to photoperiod. They seem to flower based on their niche. You can keep one in a 16 oz cup under 24 hrs of light and it will flower at 6" tall. Granted the flowers won't be anywhere near their best quality but if this is done with a proven cutting it is a good way to easily produce seed indoors. Unfortunately I haven't smoked pure zamal in a while. I never felt the high to come on in waves and tend to be less attracted to the sativas that allow one to forget they're high but that could be either the different growing conditions or simply different brain chemistry or interpretation. Its a very unique buzz. Its heady and very intoxicating but at the same time it doesn't interfere with thought or cause sedation. All in all it is a sativa of the absolute highest caliber that holds its own against the better known landrace and anything bred by the north american or european companies.

Sounds like a very unique sativa.

indeed, its one of the most interesting landraces out there primarily cos it hasnt been worked with much - appart from a few hybrids. Whats do you guys think is the best source for zamal seed-stock? (appart from actually going to la-reunion)

Hey ezra I sent you a pm. Can't wait to see what you think of the zamal once you get your hands on some.

Zamal!!! Ya im interested in trying Zamal too I just dont think it will go all the way here. The rootbound thing seems interesting I guess its a sensitive strain in a different way. Have you had one herm on you Zam.
Im thinking you havent seems like a superweed.


I still think you need a "LandRace Guru" tag under your name Zam.

We all know it man

I have read that zamal is naturally up to 50% hermaphrodite? this is not correct? is the flower response primarily related to age? Zamalito - did you find the plants would flower sooner when rootbound also?

if it hermies it must be use to it getting pollination. if not it just hermies on ya sounds like a thai. now the work need to be done. i love the stories u all had to say thanks, bravo

I have more problems with males producing female flowers than vice versa making it hard to select a male with no female flowers for pollination. The gn03 seeds were close to completely free of intersexed traits . I always cull every one that show both male and female primordia on the same plant. This may be why only intersexed plants that are male dominant show up in my grows.

But yeah pollinated plants never herm, making it necesary to pollinate clones so you know if the plant has intersexed traits.

Ezra I'm doing some tests with rootbinding and flower initiation and speed of maturation.

If it seems to flower when rootbound, if it hard to keep a mother? Are there certain size containers that work best for keeping a mum around?

I've never grown large enough quantities of a single cutting of zamal to require me to keep mothers. Also since some landrace get kind of tall I'll normally do in-line cloning instead. But I imagine a 3 gallon pot should be adequate.

Nepthaze, As far as calling me the landrace gurus though its very flattering I'd have to pass on that. Its too much pressure and there are quite a few on this site more knowldgeable than I. Plus I'd have to start taking myself somewhat seriously, but thank you its a very nice thing to say.