Outdoor 2006: Rox, Haleys Comet or Early Pearl - Tell me your experiences !

[gras_macht_spaß]

Hi, I´m looking for a good outdoor strain (guerilla style) for 50° northern latitude in central europe. Most important is a good resistance against mold, because best quality and highest yields are only pure theory, if your buds get rotten, when your unlucky with the weather in september/october! It should also be a hardy plant in general (against insects and with strong branches which will not break in a heavy wind etc). I´m planning to start them with flouros, then 2 or 3 weeks under a little Hg-lamp, take cuttings which I will light with 12/12 when rooted, so I will soon know sex. Than I will bring the female mothers into the wilderness, where they should grow without intensive care.
It may be, that I will take cuttings a second time before transplanting, to get keeper mothers for a very small-scale (150 w HPS) indoor grow later in the winter.
So, autoflowering strains are absolutely not welcome, but it would be no problem if they would need more than 18 hours (20 or even full 24) to be kept in the vegetative stage for a longer time.
I think that many early-maturing outdoor strains will need more than the classic 18 hours for prolonged veg (motherplants).
Further criterias: Of course I want high potency and high yields, but I think that´s something we all want, more individual are the personal preferences concerning taste/smell and - beside pure power - the specific kind of buzz !
I like very much SWEET+FRUITY smells and tastes, mostly orangy but other fruity aromas like berries, lemons, strawberries, grapefruit, pineapple/tropical fruit or hard-to-describe sweet mixed-fruit aromas I also appreciate very much. The type of effect I prefer for most cases is a well-balanced sativa/indica-mixed buzz, which gives me a good amount of (broad-smiling) stonyness but not to heavy narcotic/lethargic, it should give enough energy for social activities, not a couchlock-hammer, a euphoric/mood-elevating component would be great.
Before posting here, I made of course my own, very intense research on the web, seedbank-homepages, forums and at my favorite web-site, the Overgrow-Strainguide which unfortunately has been taken of the web by canadian cops (I really hope very much that Overgrow will ressurrect some day!).
The result of my research is, that there remained 3 strains of which I have to choose just one (good guerilla growing-sites are rare and seeds aren´t very cheap so I MUST decide for only one variety).
These are:
HALEYS COMET from The Flying Dutchmen
ROX from Paradise Seeds and
EARLY PEARL from Sensi Seeds
What I hope to find here are people, who already have grown one or more of these strains in a comparable climate, who can tell me something about their personal experiences with these varieties. Seedbank-descriptions are always fine, what I need are informations of independent growers, the more, the better ! So, please post your experiences - all infos welcome !!!

 

[cannanaut]

Maybe im not competitive but i would offer u some advice. Im growing outdoors(47°nl) few years and have some experience. So, you can go with some sativa-indica based strain better than pure sativa due clima at 50 north.

If you like social, not to strong(body and mind fucking ), high then from my readings rox is definitely one strain that do not suit u the best. Rox is very very potent strain("But I also have to admit I'm about the only one able to smoke it, not many of my friends want to try it anymore, after they tried it the first time."-these are words of icmag member Kov). Then u have to choose between early pearl and Haleys Comet. My option would be HC because its 60s/40i and also skunk hybrid strain which means early finish, good yield, good and not to strong high, and a bit of relaxation. TFD also say that HC is quite homogenous plant which is plus too, because there is no big variations.

You can also give a try to TFD The pure(about 22 euros) which is skunk#1 and Mandala seeds Speed Queen(about 20 euros), very early nice indica dominant strain with great high. These strains would be cheap and nice alternative(2 strains for price of one).

I hope i help you lol. Im very stoned right now and my toughts are .

Peace

 

[gras_macht_spaß]

Thank you cannanaut, some words to the Rox: I have absolutely nothing against very potent strains - if it has more power one simply has to smoke less for same effect - the point is the nature of the buzz, and it may well be that Rox - (mostly) indica - is a bit to heavy for my preferences, HC or EP may suit better.
About The Pure (TFD Skunk #1): I will surely try this strain, but I think I´ll better do this indoor, outdoor a pure skunk may be not mold-resistant and early-maturing enough.
Mandala´s Speed Queen: The catalogue-text from Mandala sounds extremely promising, but it´s only recommended until 45° for outdoor, and beside of this, I have read an absolutely bad review of this strain in the german strainbase.
Don´t get me wrong, I have no prejudices against Mandala-Seeds, I have bought last year their Krystalica Limited Outdoor Edition 2005, because of some circumstances I wasn´t able to grow it out, but I stored it well and will grow it this year. Because that´s pure sativa-stuff and I think not very early-maturing (Mandala writes only "Oktober", I suppose end of october), I´m looking now for a second, more balanced/stony strain that´s really early. I will try another Mandala-variety not before I have grown (successfully!) the Krystalica.
Early Pearl + Haleys Comet: Sensi Seeds outlines very much in it´s description of EP it´s mold-resistance and early maturity, so this should be a grow with low risk of failure, Haleys Comet should be also really early but what about it´s mold-resistance, do you or anybody else here know someone who has grown it outdoor ? If it´s mold-resistant enough it would be perfect according to the descriptions of it´s effect and aroma (citrus!).
Another aspect: Like I wrote above I will eventually grow it also indoors in the next winter, so it would be important that the strain that I choose will not autoflower (want motherplants), TFD writes about the HC that "it will flower at the slightest reduction of photoperiod", if that means that it simply needs more than 18 hours of light to continue growing - no problem - but if it will autoflower even with the maximum of 24 hours, there´s nothing with motherplants. The same question is als for Early Pearl and Rox they are both VERY early, that might indicate a tendency to autoflower (Did somebody try out keeping motherplants from these varieties for a long time?)
A final critical point which is linked to my wish to get a universally usable (in+out) strain: I know that some strains which are designed mainly for outdoor have a tendency to build male flowers grown indoor (probably because of the hard switch from 18 to 12 hours of light). This seems to happen more often with strains containing California-Orange-genes than with others (I have seen somewhere in this forum a report of a grower trying TFD´s California Sunrise (probably related with HC) indoor, who got massive problems with bananas, somewhere else I´ve seen reports of (Cali-O containing) Chimera strains - Calizahr, C-Plus with the same problems.
Does anyone know if the 3 strains that I will choose from, have significant hermie-problems indoor (or outdoor) ?
Unsufficient mold-resistance, undesired autoflowering, hermaphrodism-tendencies - these are - beside of effect and aroma - the main (killer) criterias !

 

[kov]

hey hey, somebody mention my nick? hehe, hello cannanaut.

Well, it must be an extreme coincidence, because I just smoked a piece of a Rox bud left over from 2004, long forgotten, and it is a bit heavy on the eyelids...a few years and a few tasted strains later I have different favourites.

Tho at that time I loved it!

@Hello gras_macht_spa*, besides I wouldn't advise growing that strain outdoors, it may not finish in time at 50 deg Lat N.

your other issues I can't grasp at the moment, damn I'm mind-numb stoned with that Rox.

rgds, kov

 

[gras_macht_spaß]

Thanks kov, good to get infos from someone who already grew Rox. Paradise Seeds gives end of september for Rox, but it wouldn´t be the first time a seedbank gives the time for outdoor maturity far to optimistic. So when were your 2004 Rox ready for harvest, and did you face any mold-problems with it ?
I think your climate in Poland is a bit colder (more continental) than in my area, we have frosty nights here very seldom before the first days of november, and there is much wine produced here. So cold isn´t my main problem, in some years we even have really fine sunny weather in september/october ("Golden October"), but in other years it can be very rainy, therefore mold-resistance is really important.
I´ve read your "outdoor 2006" report with great interest, I have the impression that cold/frost is the biggest handycap for growing in your area, so a strain called "Double Fun" from Cannabis Connections (that´s Wernard Bruining, formerly founder/owner of positronics) might be interesting for you. According to the breeder it´s been selected for mold and frost-resistance, it shall survive -5° C or a little bit colder, harvest shall be half october.
Breeder´s description is here:

http://www.cannabisconnections.nl/shop.html

I´m really interested in this variety, therefore I send a mail to CC, and about 2 weeks later received an answer.

Remark: It should be just normal that a seedbank answers requests of potentiell customers, but it isn´t ! Some longer time ago I send e-mails to SomaSeeds (1 trial) and Herbaria (3!!! trials) and I received just nothing.
I also wrote to Paradise Seeds to get more information about Rox (and Sugarbabe) but this is just a few days ago and I hope to hear from them.
Maybe I will also mail to TFD and Sensi for Haleys Comet & Early Pearl. If some worthy information comes out of this mailing I will post it here.

Back to Double Fun. These were my questions about this Strain:
"...
1) I couldn´t find how many seeds are contained in a pack, I suppose 10,
> like most usually, but it well could be more or less, please let me know !
>
> 2) In the past I had made the (unhappy) experience that some
> outdoor-suitable strains are autoflowering, I had some KC33 and Mangos and
> they all autoflowered, with 18 hours of light and also with full 24
> hours - I got no motherplants !
> So that´s the question: Has Double Fun a tendency to autoflower, or can it
> be kept in the vegetative stage with 18 hours of light (if necessary with
> 24) for a long time ?
>
> 3) You stated that D.F. has a strong psychoactiv effect, but beside of
> strength, I would like to get some more precise Information about the
> nature of the high (heavy/cerebral).
> So, if you imagine a scale from +3 for an extremely energizing, trippy,
> cerebral Sativa-Up-High, +/-0 for a perfectly balanced head and body
> effect and a -3 for a heavy couchlock knock-out Indica-Body-Stone - what
> would you give your Double Fun ?
>
> 4) I´m also interested in making some own little hybridization-experiments
> (I think everyone who is a real cannabis-lover has the desire to make some
> personal creations) and with its exceptional traits of mold- and
> frost-resistancy and good taste Double Fun should give very promising
> hybrids.
> So I would like to know how stable (truebreeding ?) it is. Because of your
> description it should be an F5, F6 or F7 of the Citral/Dr. Weed-hybrid,
> this should give a rather good stability. Am I right ? - Any information
> highly appreciated !
..."
And these were the (short but sufficient) answers I received:
"...
1.There are 10 seeds in a pack of Double fun

2. DF will continue to grow under 18 hours of llight.

3.DF is not heavy or trippy, it is each time different, always psycoactive,
it gives new ideas and fews, even when smoked for years on a daily basis.

4.DF is now F4 of even F5 but it is still not completely stable as most
varieties grown out of seeds show differences.
..."
I should add that I have found a thread here at IC Mag of a DF test grow (http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=18639&page=1&pp=15), which wasn´t really encouraging, there shall be mutants with whirled leafs, so there might be some inbreeding depression/loss of vigor in this strain.
This is one of the reasons why it isn´t in my list, the other one is simply, that I can´t get it, neither Seedboutique/GN nor samenwahl.com has it, it seems that it is (at the moment) only available directly from Cannabis Connections and they don´t send to germany.
Even if it should have some inbreeding depression, it might still be useful for hybridization, if it´s traits of mold and frost resistance are truly fixed.

That´s all, I hope that this might be of some interest for you or other users who are growing in a cold climate.

WHERE ARE THE USERS IN THIS FORUM WHO HAVE GROWN HALEYS COMET OR EARLY PEARL ?

 

[G. Potter]

Haley's comet is an autoflowerer. I have grown out SAG's Early Riser and its a good choice for the money. It is quite potent and a good yielder. No mold problems and an early finish.

 

[New Grower]

Haley's Comet is NOT an autoflowerer! I had it some years ago. It was quite beauty but a lil' bit lately. It started to flower in early Sept. (here is 46th latitude)

It had a huge yield but had a citrus smell what I don't like. but the yield was very huge!

...I think I had the Skunk#1 pheno!

peace

 

[Kiefer]

Early pearl and early riser both finished well with no mold problems at 43N in NE USA, im also pretty high up in the hills, so temps get cold and rainy, I kept one EP seed and grew it indoors too, this one showed mostly indica growth (unlike the description) and looked like it would produce huge, but fell short indoors.. I would have liked to keep the huge mum to put outside, but i needed to make room so she got the ax..

 

[gras_macht_spaß]

Nice to see 3 new posts.
To G. Potter: HC autoflowering? Did you grow it yourself or do you get this information from somebody else? And with which light-cycle were these autoflowering? plants grown ? Maybe, that it flowered with 18 hours of light but wouldn´t with 20 or, if necessary 24?
Sag´s Early Riser: Sounds good, especially "no mold", I will consider to grow this, although it´s not on a top-place on my list, because I would like a fruity aroma much more than a minty. I checked the OG Strainguide (one of the copies which is all that´s available these days), I found 1 report, which was also quite positive, the only complaint was, that the germ rate wasn´t very good, and this grower wrote that others should have had similar experiences with Sagarmatha strains.
Did you had such problems? What was your germ rate?
To New Grower: You wrote just the opposite of G. Potter - Not autoflowering ! I would prefer if you were right, because this is such a very interesting strain (effect and aroma). If it started to flower in early september it could hardly been autoflowering (exept you would have started it very late). VERY IMPORTANT: When was it ready for harvest, and did you get any mold? Fine that it´s huge yielding, what about the potency and the nature of the Buzz ?
To Kiefer: It´s good to get also some infos from someone who grew Early Pearl, no mold is what I expected, when was it ready, is it a good yielder and how would you describe it´s effect? And at last, when you grew it indoor, did she show any signs of autoflowering or hermaphrodism?

 

[BLOTTO]

i would give mendocino madness a try....i'm from germany too and my choice this year is maroc and madness....heard good things about them and i'll be ready to havem done at mid sept.........just my opinion

 

[WAMEN]

Maybe im not competitive but i would offer u some advice. Im growing outdoors(47°nl) few years and have some experience. So, you can go with some sativa-indica based strain better than pure sativa due clima at 50 north.

If you like social, not to strong(body and mind fucking ), high then from my readings rox is definitely one strain that do not suit u the best. Rox is very very potent strain("But I also have to admit I'm about the only one able to smoke it, not many of my friends want to try it anymore, after they tried it the first time."-these are words of icmag member Kov). Then u have to choose between early pearl and Haleys Comet. My option would be HC because its 60s/40i and also skunk hybrid strain which means early finish, good yield, good and not to strong high, and a bit of relaxation. TFD also say that HC is quite homogenous plant which is plus too, because there is no big variations.

You can also give a try to TFD The pure(about 22 euros) which is skunk#1 and Mandala seeds Speed Queen(about 20 euros), very early nice indica dominant strain with great high. These strains would be cheap and nice alternative(2 strains for price of one).



:

I totally agree cannaut! you're right man...you now what you're doing as well..

you said exactly what I was about to suggest...


cheers

 

[Skunkmasterflex]

I grew out the Haley's Comet (indoors) ,She's is Quite short,very homogenenous has a citrus flavour with medium to low potency.I would recomend getting them out early to ensure a decent yeild.

 

[MandalaMike]

Mandala´s Speed Queen: The catalogue-text from Mandala sounds extremely promising, but it´s only recommended until 45° for outdoor, and beside of this, I have read an absolutely bad review of this strain in the german strainbase.

High there, for your area we recommend Sadhu for outdoor. :wink:

Regarding the review in the german strainbase: this report was posted anonymously by someone who is otherwise completely unknown in the adjoining forum, and without photos or any grow report to back up the claims made in the report. The description this person makes of the supposed Speed Queen grow is so ridiculous that anyone even remotely familiar with our strains would immediately recognize that something is foul!

In summary this person wrote the following:
- the plants were vegged for 3 months and flowered under 600W- the yield was however only 30gr per plant (no details if this is dry or wet weight)
- the taste and smell is like amphetamine
- they showed weak growth and crippled leaves caused by too much incest... in 10L pots plants showed some better performance
- flowering was retarded and late

Now if you veg Mandala strains for 3 months indoor any Mandala grower will tell you that they grow into absolutely huge plants!! What really makes me wonder is what they are doing in only 10L pots for 5 months, and not even all plants seemed to have gotten that size!
Weak growth and crippled leaves are definately not a trait of any Mandala strain. The incest accusation made me really laugh the most!
Everyone who has grown our strains knows how much hybrid vigor they have from our F1 crosses.
Flowering is certainly late to start if you veg a plant that long. This is true to any F1 cannabis strain that does not auto-flower.
To get such a low yield, especially after vegging for so long, shows that something went very wrong somewhere along the way... All our strains are good to excellent yielders with just the regular 30 day veg period in soil grows. And you don't even have to stand on your head to get these yields: good potting soil and a decent pot size is just about all you need.
The supposed horrible taste is a complete mystery to me... and I would love to know how amphetamine is supposed to smell.
One can only wonder what the grower did to the plants to get this kind of result, if indeed this is a true account of a Speed Queen grow in the first place.

There are therefore only three possibilities why this report was made:
- the grower made extremely serious mistakes in his/her plant care
- the person unknowingly acquired fake seeds from an unserious shop
- the report is feeble attempt to give us a bad reputation by persons who perhaps resent our price-quality philosophy (or something else).

Unfortunately anonymous reports can be just as misleading as they are useful.

Mike

PS: we answer all e-mail requests by the way... :wink:

 

[G. Potter]

I have not grown HC. I read an article about autoflowering strains and Haleys Comet, Biddy early and others were discussed. The article I suppose could be wrong and I as well, but I certainly did read it.

The Eearly Riser had good germ rates and was potent. No mold- grew to 8 feet, yield - 10 ounces. It was potent no doubt but in an UP way. I don't like to use the word "up" and marijuana in the same context so I wont grow it again.

 

[glock23]

how about jamaican pearl from sensi? it's fast, heavy yielding and mold resistant. hazy flavor and high....

 

[gras_macht_spaß]

Wow, 6 new posts here!

BLOTTO: You picked 2 interesting strains, I´ve seen the maroc photos on the Female Seeds´ website, extremely resinous for an outdoor strain ! I myself considered to grow it, but I´m a little sceptic if these fat buds are mold-resistant. Mendocino madness: Have seen a good (indoor-)report in the OG strainguide, think it has a more spicy taste, I prefer fruity. I´m interested to know how these varieties grow in the german climate and I suppose many other growers too, so I suggest, that you should start a thread about this grow !

WAMEN: Long quote of somebody else´s post - not the most substantial contribution !

Skunkmasterflex: When you grew the HC indoors, did you have any problems to keep the motherplants growing (autoflowering) or with hermies ?

MandalaMike: I have read this review once more, and I have to agree that it has inconsistences which indicate that it´s not a trustworthy review. Sorry, I didn´t want to attack your reputation. I will regard reviews in the future with even more scepticism than I already did.
It´s true that you react to e-mails, a few weeks ago I sent you a request for your new catalogue and only some days later I got it.

G. Potter: According to the very early harvest date given by the breeder, the HC could very well be an autoflowerer, on the other side, growers report harvest dates far later, which fits better to a non-autoflowering variety, that´s really a little bit confusing !
Early Riser: What you write about ER looks really good, it seems to be a rather safe success for outdoor-growing ! One further question : In what kind of climate (geographical latitude) did you grow it ?

glock23: I agree that Jamaican Pearl probably has a good quality, but I don´t believe that it really gives heavy yields in a climate as northern as mine.

I´m still interested to get some more information about Rox. I doubt that it´s an extreme couch-locker, and a little more leaning to the stony/indica side wouldn´t be a problem. Because I have already seeds of an extreme sativa-variety (Krystalica), it would even be nice to have additionally a strain that´s more indica. And if the harvest time that paradise seeds writes on their homepage (end of september) is not very wrong (beginning or -maximum- mid of october would be still acceptable) it would be probably ready early enough. Last, but not least, it shall be very mold-resistant, Paradise recommends it(on their old website) especially for wet climates, despite that it shall have very dense buds. The mold-resistance is just the critical point, why I would like very much to hear the personal experiences from people who have grown it outdoors in a climate comparable to mine ! Unfortunately I could only find one report about Rox (in the german strainbase), the grower was very satisfied with it, but this was mainly an indoor grow, he only grew one plant on the balcony, which did well, but one plant is not very representative, and a balcony is not a guerilla-style-grow !

IS ANYBODY HERE WHO HAS TRIED ROX OUTDOORS ? PLEASE POST !

 

[WAMEN]

Thaz not fair man...

I pass all day long (every day of the week) on this forum tryin'to help folks like you to grow better ganja... and thaz what i got back, for the only time that somebody already gave a suggestion that I agree to...

plus ..you're lookin for a fruity strain...something skunky or whatever...
Rox is a strong weed-thaz all about it... iz recommended 4 medical uses...
I personally don't think that it is what you're looking 4... and the yeilds arent that big as you expect...

you need a F1 (in my opinion)... like Durban skunk... or something like Shaman...

plants that are suppose to grow outdoors...
and you shouldnt despise Mandala seeds varieties...they're as good as they're cheap...
(durban x skunk#1)

 

[cannanaut]

Man, just buy that rOX SEEDS AND GROW THEM. iF they shouldnt be satisfaing u will buy another variety for next season. Dont make dilemma to ur head. If u will think about seeds that way u think now, for sure winter will come and u wouldnt be growing anything.
Dont get these words wrong bro(cause i have same problems when buying seeds too)!

Peace

 

[cannanaut]

on paradise site says that rox should be grown :Outdoors between 55º n.L. and 55º s.L., and if u like it go wit it! I dont think that somebodys review can give u a big help caus its subjective!

 

[WAMEN]

you took the vibration back under the warning level...thanx cannaut...