Malawi, PCK and others beginner grow

[Anjey]

Hello,

I've been thinking about growing ganja for some time and recently got land with friends and the ability to.

I found this forum to be most useful for my questions, then found Ace, whose seeds fascinated me. I am excited to be able to grow and try these genetics that I believe may be very unlike most cannabis I have had. Thank you Dubi and whomever else for your attitude and respect.

I am on some acreage with some beautiful water soil plants, animals and gardens. I have been collecting and mixing rich soils around the property and working to develop a culture that becomes more and more fertile with time. All I've purchased soil wise is kelp and some dolomite lime as soils where I'm at are known to be acidic. I'll switch to picking up some seaweeds from the ocean to dry and making more biochar, adding more ash.

I started 12 Malawi regular seeds about 4 weeks ago, and just transplanted them today into 5 gallon pots.. I was wondering why they didn't look so great, after they were so vigorous younger. Tried to feed them a little at watering, did look a little better. When I transplanted I saw they had developed fantastic root systems and were bound. I will be sure to transplant earlier next time. Hoping there growth is vigorous here on out. I plan to switch them into flowering in the next days.

I also have 12 PCK, 5 Tikal, and some non ace seeds, Dancehall and Casey Jones and others.

I have grown two very small grows up till now, indoor/outdoor at minimal investment as a learning run. I am excited to be able to begin to grow and learn and develop ganja and save seeds for development over my lifetime.

I welcome feedback and recommendations. I am starting this thread, something I am doing for the first time, to hopefully learn more from you all.

Attached photo, a nice Malawi. Was going to upload more but can't seem to attach more then one, will look further into it next time.

Thanks all

 

[Anjey]

Think these photos should work.



Two outdoor plots in the woods with less sun but decent and a greenhouse with shoddy construction that will be coming down and will just use the plastic as a rain fly, leaving sides open for wind. Concerned about powdery mildew in my climate, seen some around ganja and a decent beginning on the gh ganja. I did some intense triming maybe 50%+ of those plants over time and sprayed with foliar feeds and even bought "potassium sorbate". Since these moves there have been no signs and my weather is looking good but of course I am nervous about losing the whole harvest. Seems strains will be ready in 3-6 weeks, that tall plant with long internode space will likely take the longest, who knows if these will make it. Would be happy for any thoughts/advice on that issue.

This picture of the Malawi was from yesterday (in these free black plastic grow bags I got), they are looking much better today with the extra root space.

 

[Anjey]

I've topped and put into flowering the 12 Malawi, and sprouted 10/12 PCK.

Getting some yellow on top leaves of Malawis, a sulfur deficiency in the soil I made perhaps? There is some lime and Epsom salt in there, so perhaps it is a PH issue. I am getting a ph tester soon, seems very important for nutrient uptake and nonsensical to guess.

How do they look? Any advice? Hope you are all doing well.

 

[farmerlion]

Anjey, Glad you have an area you can grow in. My only caution to you is keep it simple. When to many supplements and amendments are used together. Problems can be masked and hard to discern. I try to limit changes to one or two a year after baseline is determined. It makes it easier to refine specific issues. Opinions may very, I'm limited on time to watch plants. I try to limit the variables. Good luck with the grow. Peace

 

[gorilla ganja]

Hi Anjey,
I think you doing fine for your first time. I agree with farmerlion, just keep it simple and learn as you grow. You have some nice plants there.
Best of luck and may all your Buds be Huge.

Peace GG

 

[Anjey]

Thanks very much for the comments and advice, I won't be adding anything more for the sake of fixing problems I am not sure are the problem. Been feeding aerated fish pond water and the Malawis seem real happy and I am loving watching their growth and great branching.

Some are now showing sex. Pretty soon it would be great to have the advice here for phenotypes for saving seeds. I have a seperate area for the males set up, and have taken clones from all the Malawis.

 

[Anjey]

Here are the PCK seedlings, which are having pretty good growth but have some curvature on their leaves, I'm not too worried about it.



The two Tikal seedlings that made it look real wonky though;



And here's just a cute pic of one of the bag seeds I'm growing outdoors I find particularly frosty and lush and am saving a clone from to potentially breed.



Thanks

 

[Anjey]

Hello all,

Think I've selected two males. They were both some of the earliest to flower plants, both vigorous, branchy. One more vigorous with already speedily forming very tightly clustered bud sacks that look wonderful. The other a little slower developing but has beautiful slender leaves. Any thought on these males would be great.

Here's a male I culled, wanted to show it as it shows the main sickly symptoms I experience.

I did get a cheap capsule testing kit that confirms my ph is at about 6.0 or slightly less and that my N and especially P and K are low. I see it as mostly positive as I am enthusiastic about the results I've already seen and know that building soil takes a long time.

I've added crushed sun tempered bones from our first hog along with some hardwood ash and charcoal mixed in water and watered the plants today. I'm hopeful this will lower the ph a bit. I also sprayed with a boiled horsetail concentrate I've been using mixed with water as a foliar, seemed the leaves would like a drink.

If anyone has thoughts of how to handle my acidic soil and up the P and K without much nitrogen without having to purchase or use chemicals I'd be glad to know.

Thanks and hope you all are well.

I see some of these pictures are backward, sorry about that, will try to figure out for next time. Thanks to you all for growing such great and inspiring ganja!

 

[Guest]

Hi Anjey!Looks you're doing great! For a beginner,incredible!

With my limited knowledge,i think you can use indonesian bat guano (high p) and ash like you did (high K and also raises soil ph).

 

[Anjey]

Thanks Syd, read your posts you are helpful good person to be on forums! Most all of you all! Hey good luck to you and with your plants I'll be continuing to check in.

The ph read less than 6 before so excited to check it tomorrow and see how the plants look after this ash. Been considering guano but trying to avoid buying/importing anything.

 

[Guest]

Thanx for your kind words my friend!

Maybe rock dust(it's crashed granite I think) is more easy for you to acquire?Just slower release of P and also has trace minerals.

 

[Anjey]

Interesting about the rock dust, worth looking into if it's a recycled local product though I prefer to not use the waste of such negligent industries. Still I will pull into some quarries around and ask some Q's, thanks for the suggestion.

I have three males. 1 is very vigorous, medium height, medium thickness leaves, earlier to show sex and is ahead of all others producing beautifully tightly clustered sacks.

2 is similar height, with the thinnest leaves of all Malawis, also early to show sex but later to develop buds; slightly less vigorous than 1

3 showed sexy last of the 3, shorter and bushier, medium thick leaves, good vigour

I am trying to decide between these three, and also wondering how best to go about this. Pollinating my favorite chosen females this round on some branches, or waiting till I harvest and smoke to select what I like and make seed from clones I've taken?

Welcome thoughts.

 

[Anjey]

These are the males I'm considering:

This is the squatter bushier one that showed flowers the last:

This is the one with longer leaves, vigorous, earlier to show flower:

And this one is the one with quickly developing beautiful sacks, my favorite:

Their leaves are looking better since the ash etc.

I am looking to select for Malawis with the highest potency as top qualification. This is my first time saving males and making seed with ganja. I'm debating between options. Which males to choose, all three? To pollinate random favorite female branches or to wait till I harvest and sample and pollinate clones (which are now showing roots and doing great by the way) of the favorites? Both, by saving pollen, or by saving and flowering male clones again?

Here are the pictures of the Malawi and the PCK. All these photos just a few days old.

The Malawi is looking to me beautiful and vigorous. A few deficiencies here and there but overall okay. The PCK seem to be growing with increasing vigour now. I'm going to transplant the youngsters today.

Everything seems to love the ash/char/bone mix.

Still with the upside down pictures. Maybe best to host photos externally?

Also just wanted to mention that I've been harvesting outdoor plants from more or less unknown genertics. I'm at 47N in a very rainy climate having come fall. I was by the few growers I know here made very nervous about them turning out alright, even making it at all.. I took precautions that I could and it turns out that 90% plus of my plants are finishing beautifully. Have already harvested lbs or more, made my first bubble hash from the first plants trim, and have several plants left to go. This is my first outdoor grow and it's been very exciting.

I can hardly wait to see Ace genetics outdoor here next season, with more knowledge to facilitate them, Bangi Haze and Nepal Jam and the like, I'm sure they will be stunning!

 

[Guest]

Great stuff Anjey!Keep up whatever you're doing!

Hope I could help you with your breeding plan...A narrow leafed malawi with early flowering traits sounds good to me!What about their smell?

Have fun enjoying the fruits of your work!

 

[Anjey]

Hey, thanks.

I have difficulty identifying much of smells with early flowering and veg plants. The one with the most of developed buds smells seemingly a bit less subtly and deliciously as the others with more of a skunky note but still citrusy, while the narrow leaf seems a bit more complex and subtle and mostly citrusy and fruity. The compact one seems more akin to the narrow leaf citrus and fruit but less aromatic and more subdued, maybe earthy.

 

[Anjey]

Plants are all doing well beginning to flower. I ended up with 8 females and 4 males, culled a male, still have the 3 to choose between as pollinators. I'm preferring the skinny leafed taller one, it's clone rooted well and it's got a nice aroma. The small compact male also has nice aroma and rooted well. The earliest flowering one has weak clones but beautiful flowers. Hard decision for me, if anyone would like to input advice, the males are a few posts up. Also, how soon am I to the best time to pollinate? Barely any pollen has so far been dropped.

Here are some of the ganjas, I moved 3 to a different table so they could all be nice and spacious and fill out. The tallest ones are still at 3 feet tall.

The PCK are doing okay, most have been transplanted, but I find them to be a little lacking vigour relative to others. I'll give them more time in veg.

I also got seeds from Ace after happily learning they'd ship to where I'm at. So I have packs of regular Zamaldelica, Orient Express, and Destroyer started, already 90% of seeds have germed in soil and look great. Very excited about all of these of course.

Hope you all are well

 

[Anjey]

I have some thoughts and questions about breeding, if anyone more knowledgeable than me can chime in that would be great.

Basically if I am crossing plants from the same strain such as Malawi, how much of the second generation will be as good as the first?

My terminology is week, but I understand that parent plants can cross to make a hybrid that is better in many ways than the parents but only for that one specifically crossed generation. I don't believe that these seeds are offspring like that, rather an open pollination from 4 different spectacular chosen mothers/fathers, based on what I've seen here on forums and on breeders pack.

So with seeds such as these Malawis, if I select my favorites and cross them, I know there will be a variety of traits from the parents and the parents parents. Will many of these seeds be inferior to the original pack? What percentage would be as good, and how much of a rarity the ones better? How does this translate across to other strains?

Appreciate any thoughts on this.

 

[Shooters]

Malawi x Malawi will equal a F2 generation Malawi, while it "may" lose some of its' F1 gen vigor, it will not likely lose potency till much further generations. Keep inbreeding the same lines and you'll be creating your own IBL- In Bred Line that will be acclimatized to your location and style of grow method. I've done that with Zamaldelica and some other strains but the crosses I've made from one strain to the next say Peyote Purple to Zamaldelica F2 S1 pollen has created a cross with lots of vigor and I hope potency, and it is feminized.

 

[Anjey]

A question; do seedlings prefer t5's? I started those orients, Zamaldelica and destroyer. Almost all popped and are doing great. The destroyers were the first to pop, I have them under a metal halide, the others under t5. The destroyers have light varicose looking yellowing, nothing too bad. But the orient and Zamal are looking beautiful under the t5 with perfectly healthy looking leaves. Is this due to the light? Will the destroyers overcome?

I'll post more photos later on. The Malawi has sort of exploded in bud growth over these days. Hope you all are well.

 

[gorilla ganja]

Seedlings due not need strong light. Until the young plants develop a strong root system and have the leaves to absorb it, a lot of the extra light is wasted anyway.
I don't think it matters to the plant where the light comes from as long as its in the right spectrum.
Just keep the larger watt bulbs further away from the plants. I keep the t5's as close as an inch / 25 mm with no problems, but a larger bulb should be a ft / 30 cm or more away from young seedlings.
What wattage is your MH ?

Peace GG