What's new

Diary 2024 by the Danube: Zamaldelica x Kullu, Kullu x Zacateca Tribute, Purple Mexican x PCK, Kerala Chellakutti, Chiang Mai Thai

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
We have some feral hemp in the region, which prevents me from growing anything that flowers early (in August), as it gets spoilt by being 100% pollinated. Strains that start flowering in the end of August and beginning of September only get their first flowers pollinated.
Flowering with light-deprivation in the summer is also not possible, as the hemp starts flowering in June. Here are some photos of hemp I made a week ago, that show how thirsty yet surviving it is in the drought and heat.
View media item 18719346
View media item 18719347
View media item 18719348
View media item 18719349
View media item 18719350
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
All the seeded plants were harvested and seeds collected. I now have plenty of Zacateca Tribute crosses to play with :)
The conclusions from smoking the seeded "buds":
Kerala is a mixed bag. It looks adulterated with indica - only one of 4 plants (#2) had the proper thin leaves. The males (#1 and #4) had a quick onset of flowering. Same with the female that had the widest leaves of all (#3) - it started flowering quickly, packing leafy buds as a hash plant with quick resin smelling of fuel and skunk. Quite the opposite of the strain description. The high of the seeded bud was mellow and unimpressing. The seeds it produced and the revegging plant were discarded as soon as I smoked the bud.
The thin-leaf #2 has a better high, clear and focused. Its seeds were kept and the revegging plant was left to flower in the autumn.
Kullu x Zacateca Tribute is very nice and just what's expected - a more intense, clear and energetic version of Zacateca Tribute. This plant makes me so happy that I made all these other sativa x ZT crosses.
Zacateca Tribute F2 is just as good as the F1, maybe a bit more variation, but still the same clean pleasant invigorating high.
For the Zam Kullu crosses, this is the first time that I grow ZZK, ZK and KZK next to each other, as well as the first time to smoke buds of ZamKullu (I grew 1 plant a few years ago but it died just when starting to flower, so what I smoked was tiny branch tips). Smoking the seeded buds of 3 ZK plants, I must say I'm impressed as all 3 had very high quality of the effect. #1 had a "sunny" positive effect, #3 was strong and trippy and #4 was emotionally ballanced (cool) but all 3 with Zamaldelica potency coupled with great sharpness and complexity. And zero after effect!
The KulluZamKullu seeded bud was also surprisingly good - extremely clear yet deeply moving effect. It deserved the label "acid" on the seeds.
The ZamZamKullus were (not surprisingly) more close to the Zamaldelica mother - more devastating effect, buzzing electricity in body. With light tiredness afterwards. Impressing effects, that might be very good crossed to Zacateca Tribute, but the ZamKullus are better, so the ZK x ZacT will be the first to test in the following years.
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
Some more photos...

Purple Mexican x PCK, which was thirsty on the previous photos, but here it's all happy, watered, fed (compost tea) and just sprayed with insecticides (neonicotinoid + pyrethroid). I lost enough big plants to "invisible" (digging inside the plant) pests in the previous years, so this time I don't want to risk and decided to spay both big plants with such a combo every 20 days up to flower initiation. This should be the last spraying for the PM x PCK, as I expect it to start flowering after a week or 2.
This plant has very thin stems (quite like a proper tropical "sativa"), and as tall and unsupported it is, it recently survived a storm with strong winds and pouring rain without any problems. Great!
View media item 18720673
View media item 18720674
View media item 18720675

And some of the small plants (revegging ex mothers):

Kerala Chellakutti
I like the high (of leaves and seeded "bud") of this plant, it's kind of similar to Zamaldelica's high (strong, trippy, adrenaline, semi-dense, focused, emotionally cool, confident), but Chellakutti doesn't have any bad after-effects, it leaves me energised and motivated for the rest of the day.
View media item 18720678
View media item 18720679
View media item 18720680
View media item 18720681

Zacateca Tribute F2 (sativa pheno)
View media item 18720676
View media item 18720677

Kullu x Zacateca Tribute
The high of this plant is my favourite together with ZamKullu #3 and ZamKullu #1. Unfortunately, the high of (the leaves of) my big Kullu x ZT is not as good, it's more dense, though still a good stimulating powerful sativa high.
View media item 18720682
View media item 18720683
View media item 18720684

KulluZamKullu
View media item 18720685
View media item 18720686
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
ZamZamKullu #2
I've removed all plants that I didn't like the high of, but I kept this one just for reference (to see how it flowers compared to the others). It's darker green, very thin leaves with weak serration and has the most devastating high (a-la Malawi) of all Zam Kullu's. Not what I'm looking for.
View media item 18720687
View media item 18720688

ZamZamKullu #5
This also doesn't have a very good high, but it's very branchy and flowered the most heavily (yield). Kept it for reference.
View media item 18720689
View media item 18720690
View media item 18720691

ZamKullu #3
Great high, don't know why it's more droopy lately. But it looks like to be already "semi-autoflowering" (heavily preflowering). It's the only plant that has many flowers already bearing seeds from the wild hemp.
View media item 18720692
View media item 18720693

I started some of the newly-produced seeds but neglected them and all I have left are a couple of Zacateca Tribute F2 x Thai seedlings and a few overwatered (Kullu x Zacateca Tribute) x Zacateca Tribute F2.
The ZT x Thai seedlings have the mutations that my ZT F2 are suffering (which they overgrow at some point).
View media item 18720694
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
Middle of August update:
We've been having a very hot and dry summer. I'm watering a lot.
Only ZamKullu #3 has started flowering.
The more-indica Zac Tribute F2 died, while the plants around it are fine. It first had its leaves and top wilting (totally droopy) for a week, as if dying, then it recovered and looked all fine, and then it wilted again, this time without recovering. Have no idea why...

Kullu x Zacateca Tribute:
View media item 18720911
View media item 18720914
View media item 18720915
This plant also has a problem - 2 of its lower branches are wilting, starting from the top shoots. I cut off the 2 tops and checked the stems, and there's no brown inside, so it doesn't seem like a fungal disease that's coming from the roots (Fusarium or Verticillium). If it was such a disease, I guess the whole branches would be droopy, but it all started as sun-scorched new growth of the 2 tops only, with the leaves down the branches staying happy (not droopy).
I read a lot about the fungal diseases and other possible causes. This year I'm spraying with insecticides, so it can't be a pest (like stem borers or termites). I have watered with Trichoderma which supposedly fights the bad fungi in soil (Fusarium and Verticillium).
I'm considering whether it's not some sort of PH lockout, caused by overwatering, that blocks the absorption of Calcium. And because Ca is not movable once it's fixed in the plant tissues, the plant can't take Ca from the bottom leaves. It's a bit strange to have sudden serious Ca deficiency as I water with tap water that's full of Ca. But I also get blossom end rot on my tomatoes, which is caused by Ca deficiency (or stress)... So I now sprayed the plant and watered it with a product containing CaO, which is very effective on my tomatoes in preventing blossom end rot. Let's see if other branches will follow...
Here are the problem branches. I'd be very happy if someone chimes in with an idea what this might be:
View media item 18720912
View media item 18720913
View media item 18720916
View media item 18720917

Purple Mexican x PCK:
View media item 18720926
View media item 18720925
View media item 18720924
View media item 18720923
View media item 18720922
View media item 18720921
View media item 18720920
View media item 18720919
View media item 18720918

And the pack of revegging plants:
View media item 18720927
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
Last days of August update:
The heats have just ended, though it still hasn't rained properly, just a couple of showers and 1 minute of pouring rain. The soil is so dry that it needs a lot more water to become wet in depth.

The big Kullu x Zacateca Tribute has its disease progressing to most of its branches, though it seems to have stopped together with the heat. Let's see if the plant will survive. I think I'll stop growing at the 2 spots where I've been having these problems for the last few years...
View media item 18721376
View media item 18721375
View media item 18721377
A less-affected branch:
View media item 18721378
A more-affected branch:
View media item 18721379

Purple Mexican x PCK:
This plant is fine and has just started flowering. Doing so in the last days of August is perfect in avoiding the wild hemp pollen.
View media item 18721380
View media item 18721381
View media item 18721382
View media item 18721383
View media item 18721384
View media item 18721385

And the revegging mothers:
The sativa pheno of Zacateca Tribute F2 started flowering in the middle of August, but doesn't seem pollinated much. Unlike ZamKullu #3 which is still strongly preflowering, but most of its flowers are pollinated. It's strange how some strains are more easily pollinated by the wild hemp. I remember having a big Zamaldelica and a big Panama plants next to each other and the early flowers of the Zamaldelica were pollinated while you could barely find a seed in the Panama.
ZamKullu#3 and ZamZamKullu #1 are droopy and pale as if overwatered, but I can't control how much water each of the revegging plants in the patch gets as they share a dripping hose. Now that the heats are over I decreased the duration for the dripping from 30 minutes to 12 minutes (every evening).
View media item 18721386
View media item 18721390
View media item 18721387
View media item 18721388
View media item 18721389
View media item 18721391
View media item 18721392
View media item 18721393
View media item 18721394
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
Middle of September:

The big Kullu x ZacTribute plant is dead. Its roots, trunk and the bottom branches were full of termites. It seems the pesticides I treated with (20th of August was the last time) didn't kill and repel these pests. The trunk and branches didn't have any brown in the wood (telling of fungal disease), only healthy wood with termite tunnels.
The termites are also attacking some of the small plants. I removed the most affected one (ZamZamKullu #1) as it's too damaged to make any progress. Its stem was hollow and full of termites. You can see on the photos how the termites eat the healthy xylem but don't touch the pith in the center of the stalk.
View media item 18721961
View media item 18721960
The small Kullu x ZacTribute plant was also attacked, but on the last visit it seems to have started recovering (or at least not progressing), and upon inspection, I saw that the bottom of the trunk had a lot of black ants that are trying to enter the termite tunnels in the stalk. Ants are said to be the biggest enemies of termites. Fingers crossed that the ants will kill the termites before it's too late.
View media item 18721949
View media item 18721950
View media item 18721951
The other small plants:
View media item 18721952
View media item 18721953
View media item 18721954
View media item 18721955
View media item 18721956
View media item 18721957
View media item 18721958
View media item 18721959
View media item 18721962
View media item 18721963
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
Yeah, it seems the ants have saved the Kullu x ZacTribute plant, it's not progressing for the worse.
A few days ago I harvested the Zacateca Tribute F2 plant as its leaves have fallen off, it stopped progressing and had a lot of damage from caterpillars. It too had termites in its trunk. The first dried samples are delicious. I really like the ZT high - clear and slightly mellow, invigorating and motivating. Flavour is also great.

View media item 18722152
View media item 18722153
View media item 18722154
View media item 18722156
View media item 18722157
View media item 18722155
View media item 18722158
And the Purple Mexican x PCK, the first samples are nice - very smooth and pleasant relaxing high:
View media item 18722144
View media item 18722145
View media item 18722146
View media item 18722147
View media item 18722148
View media item 18722149
View media item 18722150
View media item 18722151
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
A week later...

View media item 18722422
View media item 18722423
View media item 18722424
View media item 18722425
View media item 18722426
View media item 18722427
View media item 18722428
And the Purple Mexican x PCK plant, which is close to finish. It couldn't swell much as it's also attacked by termites (not as seriously as with the other plants) and lost most of its fan leaves, so it doesn't seem to have power for another wave of pistils. Will be harvested in the following days, when I have time.
View media item 18722416
View media item 18722417
View media item 18722418
View media item 18722419
View media item 18722420
View media item 18722421
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
I forgot to rub its stem on my visit a few days ago. But this Chellakutti plant had the most "Indian" stem smell indoors, out of the 4 Chellakutti plants that I started. The rest looked polluted by indica and had more fruity smells. By "Indian" I mean a similar smell to Kullu - spicy herbs, anise, metal parts factory/warehouse. Very different flavour to all other (sativa) strains.
As for the thinness of leaves, this Kerala plant has some of, if not the thinnest leaves of all sativa landraces I've grown. Unlike the lanky Kullu, it's more bushy.

The Purple Mexican x PCK was harvested a week ago. It yielded a bit more than a pound, which is nice considering the termite damage. Earthy flavour, similar to the Purple Mexican mother, though the effect is more on the PCK side - clear, smooth and relaxing, of medium duration. Good for medicine.

We are having a few cold mornings with frost, but the remaining plants looked fine a few days ago, after 2 morning frosts - only the pistils on the top were damaged. Here they are:
View media item 18722727
View media item 18722728
I haven't posted photos of this ZamKullu plant for a while, as it looked really pitiful, almost dead from termites... but it rebounded and managed to produce some flowers:
View media item 18722729
View media item 18722730
The Chellakutti is late to start flowering but starts with many flowers.
View media item 18722731
The Kullu x ZacTribute looks lovely. It smells more like Kullu, but with some "sharp" smell added. I harvested the hanging horizontal branch after the photos and left the remaining 2 branches for a late harvest. Cannot wait to try it, the seeded indoor flowers and the leaves smoked superbly.
I've been smoking Zacateca Tribute F2 (the sativa pheno) for the last week, and I like it very much. Zac Tribute (both F1 and F2) has the best high I've had from a quick flowering strain. Curious to see how the Kullu x ZacTribute will compare to it.
View media item 18722732
View media item 18722733
View media item 18722734
View media item 18722735
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
A week later after the several morning frosts. Some flowers on the very tops have been damaged (most serious damage on one of the Kerala tops), some leaves and pistils have withered, but in general the plants handled the strong frosts fine. Now the weather is warm and sunny.
So far autumn has been cold but dry and sunny.

View media item 18722868
View media item 18722869
View media item 18722870
View media item 18722871
View media item 18722872
View media item 18722873
View media item 18722874
View media item 18722875
View media item 18722876
 

right

Well-known member
Good morning Yoss. Are you still growing thai? If so please 🙏 put up some pictures of the progress.
Great show I'm enjoying it very much
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
Hey, good morning and thanks for the kind words :)
Unfortunately, I'm not growing a Thai plant because, out of the 3 started plants, #1 was a stable male (and was used), #2 was female but hermied in flowering, and #3 was a female (by pre-flowers) that didn't start flowering even after 30 days of 11/13 lights...
 
Top