Fascinating collection at the East African Genes Blog website for sure. This bud's fer you sir
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African Strains
- Thread starter Herbalistic
- Start date
I just ordered some Kwale's the other 2 orders from mike where legit took around a month to get here to costa rica, look at a shashame my friend grew on his instagram, P.S This plant was grown from seeds of a field that had both moshi sativa and shashamane, it could possibly be a hyrbid, but looks more like the shashamane.
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So I got the Congo and Ugandan seeds yesterday and the Ethiopian and Malawi seeds a week back. A few were crushed but he put in enough seeds that I got over 15 good seeds per pack. So far so good. I put a few of the mashed up or broken shell seeds in the dirt just in case they pop there.
All the BAM plants are stunted and I expect will not grow right ever. I am thinking to get going with these new African seeds right away even though my current grow is not over. Make room, move over rover, and let Africa take over!! Take off from Fire by Hendrix. hehe
All the BAM plants are stunted and I expect will not grow right ever. I am thinking to get going with these new African seeds right away even though my current grow is not over. Make room, move over rover, and let Africa take over!! Take off from Fire by Hendrix. hehe
Just tried some Swazi (Lower Puna heirloom) x Red Congolese (Reeferman circa 2010 clone). For the purist, it's not 100% African Sativa. The makeup is 50% Swazi, 25% Conglolese (Fet's) and 25% (Mexican/Afghani). It's an F1, I created back in 2011. The plants were grown indoors in a very small setup under LED. The bud was dried and cured for a couple weeks and then vaccuum sealed and stored in the fridge since late fall of 2021 (2 years ago). I took 3 hits on joint. It took a little while to come on (even to the point where I'd considered that it lost the majority of it's potency and needed to composted), but when it finally did kick in, I could feel a tingling in the head and further radiating throughout the body. Energy increased and had to get outside. Ended up going on an early morning (over 2 hour) walk. Mind was buzzing with positive thoughts and ideas (a nice sense of euphoria). Made it to a coffee shop and ordered some lite coffee. It blended well with the energy from the smoke. I've made the mistake of having very strong coffee with this type of high and have not enjoyed it. It scrambles your thoughts too much. A coffee at the 2 hour point of a walk was perfect. It adds physical energy to the mental energy from the buzz. At the 3 hour point, the buzz is still energetic with a hyper sense of awareness, but the physical energy has dissipated. An ideal time for more creative endeavours.
Anyways, it was a great wake and bake. It's nice to see that well stored 2 year old weed, can still be very enjoyable. I also think that the type of resin produced by this Swazi makes a difference in it's storage ability. It can best be described as icy looking (more like a glazed donut vs a powdered donut). Based on past experiences, it tends to also do better in wet, tropical areas.
Curious about others' experiences smoking older stored weed.
Anyways, it was a great wake and bake. It's nice to see that well stored 2 year old weed, can still be very enjoyable. I also think that the type of resin produced by this Swazi makes a difference in it's storage ability. It can best be described as icy looking (more like a glazed donut vs a powdered donut). Based on past experiences, it tends to also do better in wet, tropical areas.
Curious about others' experiences smoking older stored weed.
Mimpi Manis
Well-known member
I have come to understand that there is something quite magical about the transformation of bud during a good cure. My go to method is vacuum cured. For me a better alternative than the cob method... which seems fraught with possible screwups during the process. With limited stock thats not an option for moi. A recent interview with DJ Short had him extolling the benefits of a good long cure. Especially with sativa's and sativa leaning strains. To which I concur. The guys at Jade Amber, who grow a lot of impressive landrace equatorials, say the same thing.
I'm not sure how the vaccum packing compares to jar storage re outcomes? But the vacuum method delivers well enough from my experience. After almost 18 months I found most to be more palatable and potent. Perhaps a tad more on the relaxing side re effects? Attached a few pics... which show some variation to the amount of vaccum applied. I was not able to discern if there's a sweet spot. I guess one day we may just get a handle on what is going on during the 'magical' cure. But nothing like a little indefinable magic to make life interesting.
Attachments
I got in the habit of vaccuum sealing when I used to grow in Hawaii. It was so humid and often rainy at harvest time that the weed would be hung and quick dried using dehumidifiers. It was dried until the stem would snap (more like a pop vs. being totally dried out). It was then vaccuum sealed and stored in a thick garbage bag in a cool area. until the following summer. Your pictures look like the end product. I also tend to think that even sativa buds harvested a little early will tend to ripen with a long cure. The end product had a nice pliable consistency and seemed to evenly spread out the remaining moisture from the quick dry method. Many people preferred the taste and effect and it helped make sometimes scraggly looking weed more visually appealing (for those who cared)
Eleutherios
Active member
There are a few compounds, like CBC and THCv, that we know turn into other compounds with age. Then THC definitely turns into CBN over time. Which would explain the more relaxing part. The CBG stays put. Which is probably why it still smokes like a sativa, even with a little CBN. It think that part of what sets sativa herb apart is the way that it keeps blooming in waves throughout. Its more like singing in rounds rather than everyone all at once. I know that breeding it to have meatier, more indica like buds is popular, that it makes them hold up in the auto-trimmer, maybe takes some of the work out of it, and gives it more bag appeal, but I can't help but to feel that it comes at a cost. That the phytochemistry of a true tropical sativa is tied in with that type of blooming.
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Aloha Pakalolo and greetings from many time zones away. Despite the distance between your neck of the woods and mine, the high humidity is a factor that looms large when harvest day rolls around, and the ONLY means by which mold and bud rot can be kept at bay for the long haul is to vacuum seal the compacted bud precisely as you describe here.
I use my DIY car jack compressor and once that compact bud is ready for long-term cure storage, I vacuum seal it and thereby ensure that mold never once rears its ugly head regardless of ambient humidity. I will try this idea of shooting fort a year-long cure to see how that works out in terms of potency and taste after many months.
Eleutherios
Active member
Not sure if you guys have ever done any home brewing, but what you guys are creating is a lot like the concept behind hop pellets, where you are reducing surface area available for oxidation. Thereby making it a much longer shelf life item. Angus was talking about how the Meiti do this with their Manipuri buds by simply tying cloth tightly around the buds, part of the way through the cure. I did this with baking sheets and training tape to excellent effect. My point is: while there may be a point in certain contrivances, there is also beauty in simplicity. Cue Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Honorable mention is of course due to the always mighty Tangwena of the Malawi Cob fame, for spreading the gospel according to the Book of Cob so that the aromatic fragrances and sublime clear high of anaerobically fermented cannabis buddage can be savored by all who visit the hallowed halls of this IC Mag discussion forum.
Below are a couple of pucks that I recently sealed up for long-term storage in their trusty waterproof and submersible Otter Box that will wind up buried amid tree roots deep in the swamp, all in the name of plausible deniability.
Below are a couple of pucks that I recently sealed up for long-term storage in their trusty waterproof and submersible Otter Box that will wind up buried amid tree roots deep in the swamp, all in the name of plausible deniability.
GreenAndFast
Well-known member
Mango Thai stick cob lol
Vaccuum sealed for about 100 days and just opened. 3/4 Swazi (Lower Puna heirloom) x Red congolese cut (2011). I was getting impatient and had to sample.
Very stimulating and up high. Gave me just the right boost and motivation to have a great workout (a requirement for the type of herb I like). This bud was grown by a friend outdoors, who harvested it a little early (used to growing mostly indicas and got impatient). Could have gone a couple weeks more, but thankful for the sample. Quality of the high is there (which is key). Need to grow it out myself.
Very stimulating and up high. Gave me just the right boost and motivation to have a great workout (a requirement for the type of herb I like). This bud was grown by a friend outdoors, who harvested it a little early (used to growing mostly indicas and got impatient). Could have gone a couple weeks more, but thankful for the sample. Quality of the high is there (which is key). Need to grow it out myself.
I've got to do this next time I run some sats. That looks killer!
GreenAndFast
Well-known member
Thanks man @LostTribe
This is exactly what I use for compression, except I purchased mine, it called "jack puck". I compress it to maximum ( 2 ton) and it gets vacuum packed and stored in the freezer. I have samples that are 10+ years old that have no discernible deterioration.
As an aside, I like to harvest a bit early (when trichs are just starting to get cloudy) when I am going to put the product into storage, because I feel that if there is going to be any degradation of thc to cbd, thca is a better state for it to be in, as it will first have to convert to thc before cbn. ( Just my personal belief, it may not be correct, but it works for me!)
PS: Really nice job on that press!!
Truth be told, the Jack Puck Press was in fact my inspiration to create a cheaper knock-off since there was no way I could afford to shell out $700 for the Jack Puck version. Mine cost me about $50 in total, including the 5-tonne car jack, metal sheet, and machine shop labor charge. I figure no harm is done to the Jack Puck brand since I only ever made two copies of their idea for my personal use and with no intention of selling any copies to anyone else,
I originally thought that I would like a stronger jack ( like yours) , but have found that more than 2 ton compression will squeeze out the resin, rather than just compress the herb. Be careful with that 5 ton!
What I liked the most from the African weeds I grew (most of them landraces) was the bitter aftertaste I found in some of them. Kind of an alkaloid, hard-drug-like taste, somehow similar to the aroma you get when you rub the stem of a geranium or a tomato plant.
A question (or three) to these people growing African genetics: have you experienced that bitter flavor? Do you know where are these special flavors from? Is there something similar from outside Africa?
I plan to select the most intense bitter feeling plants from some of the clones I have, and I'll try to concentrate it, to make it shiniest and sharpest. I kind of feel attracted by it even it is a uncanny flavor.
Cheers
A question (or three) to these people growing African genetics: have you experienced that bitter flavor? Do you know where are these special flavors from? Is there something similar from outside Africa?
I plan to select the most intense bitter feeling plants from some of the clones I have, and I'll try to concentrate it, to make it shiniest and sharpest. I kind of feel attracted by it even it is a uncanny flavor.
Cheers
