Elevator in the Forest

[Elevator Man]

Well, the rain finally stopped, and as another two weeks have gone by since my last visit, I went out to the spot again today - and everything is still fine. That is, apart from one unexpected male, which was a plant from my friends - it was from seed, so I guess they just picked a vague one! I do remember we were cramming them in at the time, so it could easily have got missed. So there's now 18 remaining.

Apart from that one loss, all the rest are great - even the stunted one is picking up. All have been topped many times, and the tallest is still over a metre tall, and extremely bushy.

The small Leb 27 is fully in bloom, and will probably be ready in a few weeks - the buds are entirely foxtailed, purple and resiny as hell, and smell like a berry sorbet - incredible. Won't be much yield on that one though, I don't think. Other good ones are OG Kush, which looks very happy indeed outdoors, and the Hashberry, which recovered from being flattened as a young plant, and is now a big indica pole.

I gave all the plants a good top-dressing of bat guano, as it's going to rain again tomorrow, so they should have plenty of organic flower-nutes - I'll probably do that again in four weeks or so, but they all look super-healthy, and very green, so there's obviously enough Nitrogen out there.

Next visit I'll grab a few more photos.

 

[hamstring]

Good luck with harvest and cant wait to see some pics. 18 plants should be a very nice harvest.

 

[Elevator Man]

Well it's more manageable than 30, but still could be quite a job if they take off the way I'm hoping. Some strains may not completely flower too - the Goldfinger and OG Kush may struggle to finish, but I'm prepared to let them go as long as possible before it gets too cold.

 

[buttyrekka]

outdoor BBcheese
outdoor NL

hopeing(praying) for a better october this year(according to countryfile its supposed to be ok!!)
please god give me 2 weeks in october without floods!

 

[Elevator Man]

Now don't they look familar! If only englishrick were here - I'll send him over! My smelly one (Mystery Strain) looks ever-so like those two, and given my previous guesses at its lineage, I reckon I'm pretty close. They all have that monster middle finger for one thing...



And here's the NL X BigBud from last year, same spot:

 

[blackone]

It's always a great thing to be looking forward to a nice harvest Sometimes it's work but that's life right? It's the same in the conventional farming world - when it's time to harvest then it's full steam ahead - almost always working through the night to bring in the crop before the rains.
I hope next year will be even more work for you... it definitely looks like you found a place that will deliver - I wouldn't rely on just one spot no matter how great it is though. Now is the perfect time for scouting new locations.

Do you think your Mikado and Flo will finish?

 

[Elevator Man]

No idea on the Mikado, but the Flos definitely will finish - around 5th-10th November the last two years. Also the OG Kush may struggle to complete, but that's partly why I'm doing this - to find out what they can all do.

I reckon I can get to mid-November easy without frost damage - they're quite well-protected from cold. East/North winds go straight over their heads, as they're on a steep South-facing slope ( they're at 230m above sea-level), and they're too high up for frost/cold air - it all rolls down the hill and collects at the bottom. I'm not getting too casual about it, but they were fine last year. Rain is much more of a worry to me at the moment.

 

[englishrick]

i think butty`s NL has too much of a wide leaf to be similar...but his bbc is very similar to cheese and the "stinkers"

but EM`s NL x BB looks exactly like the psycho in doc`s pics

the NL x BB has a similar leaf shape compared to cheese"abit longer and sharper"but it is similar!!... the branch structure is different!....id say it might be the same sativa thats showing through

 

[Elevator Man]

That's what I'm thinking - pure NL is too chubby, but NL X Skunk #1, or NL X BigBud (which I think is a Skunk selection anyway, and may be another route to search for Cheesy phenos) could both be candidates for the Mystery Strain and/or 'the blues'.

 

[englishrick]

so what your sayin EM is the sativa expreshion is from the sk1...

thats exactly what i though!!

NL = afgahn hybrid...short heavy,,wideleaf
BB = sk1 x afgahn

the only source of "long blade leaf" seems to be the sk1

id also say the cheese has a afgahn hash taste....i here the "expanda smell" in cheese comes from the afgahn too....

 

[Elevator Man]

The NL X BB was more columnar if you let it, but if you force it to grow many tops, it will grow identical buds across the canopy. Check these out for comparisons - all grown at the same time, same conditions...

NL X BigBud:



Mystery Strain:



Skunk#1, indica pheno (Seedsman):

 

[englishrick]

ahh thats nice...top comparison...

the columnar shape shows real difference to me....it also seems to have sharper blades compared to cheese...but very similar all the same

the NL x BB looks a lil less chunky compared to your "stinky one"....all showing identical colour tho...the sk1 from seedsman looks extra chunky....it almost looks like 3 stages of the same plant...lol

id love to isolate that expanda smell into a male....then i could hit every flavour with a turbo...

the NL seems to have picked up the "cheese" expanda smell somewhere....anyone know where it came from in the NL line??

 

[Elevator Man]

British Hempire visited me last year, and brought some samples of his Purple Afghan, which apparently was brought back by a soldier. Anyway, one of his three females, which wasn't purple at all, was very, very similar in smell to both the NL X BB and the Mystery - extremely sweet, and fruity/fuel. This was a wild plant picked from the roadside, so it's quite likely most of the terpenes you like in all these are from the Afghani side.

One of the other samples he had however, from the same seed batch, was dark purple, and tasted nutty and chocolatey, so there's obviously still a lot of variation just grabbing a handful from the roadside...

 

[englishrick]

i think the roadside is one of the best places to get seeds

it sounds like british hempire`s friend got a half hybrid "pre cash crop, sativa" afgahn ...exactly what i would be looking for....the only other option is to go and buy seeds from a "good tasting" hash maker..i would try to find a real "dirty strong" hash seed...

i hear the afgahni peeps started to hybridize a long time ago,they turned the afgan into a squat resin bomb, but the 1st afgahn was way more sativa....there could be different hybrid ibl`s all over afgahn lands

where dose the extra wide leaf come from?.....east europe?

so do you think the "expanda smell" comes from the old afgahn?. how has NL become pungent?

 

[Elevator Man]

It's been a bit quiet here for a while, so a quick update is in order I think.

I visited last week, and all the plants are doing fine, and seem to have assimilated the bat guano nicely after the rain we had. Last week was mostly sunny, and they really are benefitting from the extra help! A few plants were beginning to bud last week, and now we've hit the equinox, I expect to see buds forming on all plants at the next visit. There's still a fair amount of work to do pulling bracken back each time, either from deer trampling, or just general dying-off. Also the Grape Krush was bent over slightly, so looks like another deer accident there - fixed it fine.

The only other change is the dwarf Leb 27, which I chopped last week - this began flowering in mid-July, and steadfastly refused to grow any more. The other plant I had I gave to a friend to put into his garden, and it did exactly the same, and that was chopped on Saturday. Both plants have yielded 7g each! However - it's some of the most delicious weed I've ever smoked - like berry ice-cream with a hint of lavender and mint - superb. And it's a nice high too - stimulating, but relaxed.



As for the budding plants, the most advanced are the Early Special and the Mandala#1. Both smell very nice, with the ES more skunky, and the Mandala similar to the Leb 27 - berry and creamy.

Early Special:


Mandala #1:


The Hashberry has totally recovered from being sat on by a deer in June, which nearly killed it, leaving only one growing stem. This is now nearly three feet tall, and is a big fat indica pole:



There's plenty of other plants doing well, but probably the best is the OG Kush, which is now over three feet tall despite constant pinching-out. Whether it will flower properly in the UK remains to be seen, but worth a try eh...?



More updates when I can...

 

[The Hummus Monk]

Hey E Man. Looks good! Nice to compare flowering times with my greenhouse plants and outdoor Flo...pretty similar so far and will post more soon. Where can I get Leb27?

 

[Elevator Man]

My Flos finish around the 5th-10th November, assuming no frost or excessive rain. You might get a week longer in the greenhouse, given the extra protection. Leb 27 seeds aren't available commercially, but were swapped with some of mine. You should be able to figure out where from...

 

[blackone]

Actually the Leb 27 are also sold as Libanon 30 by zenseeds. They seem to be shipping to Europe - not sure about other countries.
The website is in Danish though

 

[Elevator Man]

Really? Wow - that's good news. Thanks for the tip!

 

[RC_Colas]

Awesome Job EM

Awesome Job EM

your outdoor looks great and I would be curious to learn more about your FLO and other DJ strains outside.

You mentioned that you do not expect your Flo to finish until Nov 5-10th, which is certainly later than for me on the West Coast of Canada My Flo, BB, and Blue Moonshime all finish by mid October and so I am curious why there is a 3-4 week difference. I would have expected your photoperiod to shorten sooner and trigger your girls to enter flowering for a quicker finish, but perhaps that is not the case.

Great job and I look forward to seeing more updates

Cheers

RC_Colas