My next run is going to be Mandelbrot’s Royal Kush #7 and my second attempt at “Weasel’s” Sour Diesel.
I’ve had a health issue for the last 3-4 years I haven’t been able to figure out. After 8 doctors, I was diagnosed with Late Stage Lyme disease. I never had a bullseye rash and I have no idea how long I’ve had this for. My symptoms are all neurological. I just completed 90 days of antibiotics without any positive result. My doctor has referred me to a neurologist who specializes in Lyme and believes IV antibiotics are most likely next.
Mac Anderson, AKA Mandelbrot, was a very influential breeder and plant “trafficker” at a time when getting caught with a a big bag of seeds was a felony. Never mind the 3,000 plants he had on his property that he was hunting through.
Mac was obsessed with genetics and finding elite plants. One year he planted and hunted through over 3,000 plants on the Albion coast in California. He explained it was a a shitty fall with a couple frosts and then weeks of rain. As the weeks went by more and more plants became infected with botrytis and or PM. At the end of the season Mac searched through the pile of moldy plants and one was seemingly untouched by the environment even though there were branches of other plants with PM/botrytis laying on it. He found a bulletproof plant for that environment. It also turned out to be some killer smoke.
He made the Royal Kush by first crossing the Sour Diesel x Highland Afghani and then introducing the Southern Humboldt Purple Kush. Mac wanted GAS in seed form. He loved the Sour Diesel and was one of the first to introduce sour and OG cuttings to the California market.
In 2017, a man named Nick Risden was bitten by a tick and became extremely ill. He eventually found he had not only Lyme disease but a host of other bacteria and parasites. In his journey to heal himself he heard a podcast with Mean Gene talking about powdery mildew resistance and made a hypothesis about plants with resistance to these types of parasites might help him with his Lyme. He flew to Wonderland Nursery and grabbed a copy of Mandelbrot’s Royal Kush #7 with the intention of cooking it down to RSO.
Mac’s lab work slowly started improving. He is one of few survivors of the powassan virus. His hypothesis seemed to be correct and his health has continued to improve despite some setbacks along the way.
I began my search for the plant Mandelbrot found and luckily it was well circulated through a tissue culture lab and dispensaries in California. The plant was out there, but how to find it? I put up a post here asking for help and the homie @leetdood linked me up with someone who gifted me a plug of it.
My intention is to grow out this Royal Kush and process it into RSO. I’m going to use this space to journal my grow and progress with Lyme. Alongside the Royal will be Sour Diesel which is a big help for me when it comes to mood. Hoping to finish her better than I did my first run of it. Cooler temps should help.
Plenty of room for all who want to hang! If anyone is dealing with Lyme and wants a cut get at me.
If you’re on ig, I know a guy who has been battling Lyme disease as well. His ig handle is @lymerisingfarms. He’s documented his Lyme battle on there and what he’s done to keep it under control
A couple years ago the guys at GW Smoke Break made a little mini documentary on Mandel and his impact. They discuss the Royal and Nick Risden’s story in this. Kevin Jodrey is probably my favorite cannabis person to watch. Incredibly knowledgeable and cool.
Very interesting read. I’ve only recently learned a bit more on lyme from someone affected by it. They specifically mentioned the difficulty in getting insurance companies to recognize lyme diagnosis and treatment coverage for those with chronic symptoms.
I’ll be following along and I wish you luck on this endeavor and hope it brings relief and quality back to your life.
Yeah, that’s one of the hardest parts for me is how controversial post-treatment/late stage Lyme is. My insurance will not cover this next doctor as his approach is “experimental”. They basically give you three weeks of doxycycline and if that doesn’t work they gaslight you and make you feel crazy.
Kev showing two different selections of Royal and discussing sifting and location. Bad upload quality from the hills apparently.
I definitely am going to propagate a tray of the Royal #7 and offer them up for next year’s outdoor to New England cultivators. It’s a challenge here for sure and if this plant is half as resistant and even half the quality that is claimed it would be a nice plant to get out there more.
I got a confirmation on my appointment with my new specialist for the 22nd so I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say.
I’ve done a terrible job journaling this grow. First off an update on the Lyme. I started with a new doctor and he is amazing. He’s identified the Lyme co-infection Bartonella and is putting me back on a couple different antibiotics for 8 weeks. MRI is showing my cerebellum appears to have taken some damage. 🤷 That MRI was in 2020 so he is ordering another.
I’ve been extremely depressed and really just struggling overall. Struggling with my work, staying positive around my son, my relationship with my wife. Life is just hard at the moment and that is OK. Life is all dualities and you have to take the good with the bad.
OK, this grow has been a shit show. I should have finished this run already but here I am at the start of week 5. I learned some good lessons this run. I purchased a few bags of expensive “living soil” from a local soil maker and it just did not work out. It was a heavy mix and contained too much compost. After a few weeks the plants just went downhill and kept looking worse and worse. I decided to rip them out of their sub irrigated planters and amend the soil with lots of perlite.
After removing and re-amending they sat there for a week or so before started to perk up then they went downhill again from deficiencies. Magnesium and calcium was how I read it.
Did a few weeks of alternating foliars of Epsom, kelp/alfalfa teas, and top waterings of Roots Organic Buddha Grow which is EWC based. She slowly turned around but I had doubts she would make it to the finish line.
The other plant in my tent is Sour Diesel and this is an old cut that is very fussy. She was doing even worse than the Royal! Deficiencies, leaf tacoing, just overall pissed at me, lol!
I added CMH to both my veg and flower tent to help with leaf surface temps.
Here I am this morning start of week 5. Royal has totally gone purple from temps in the mid 60’s lights off. Sour is looking pretty good considering where she was a month ago.
Start of week 6. She is yellowing out quickly but she is also developing quickly. I imagine she’ll look pretty rough by the time she’s harvested but that’s OK as long as she finishes up.
Not looking bad man. I think it looks pretty healthy. The lower stuff is yellowing but that looks normal ish. I don’t think that fade is too much at week 6. I’m sure it’s going to be an 8 weeker or so. It’s fine if it eats itself up. Every time you grow it the more you will lock it down. Beautiful purple you got going on. Generic you think? Or cold?
It did get cold in the room a few nights and I think it tends to purple anyway. It’ll definitely be a fast finisher. I’ve got a new batch of Coots mix made for the next run and I’m excited to get back to what’s worked best.
Here she is on her first day of flower. In a 1.4 gal airpot. 80:20 coco to perlite. Running jacks and feeding 4 times each day. First run with this plant so wish me luck!
Today is day 47 and she is close to being done already! Could be the fasting flowering clone I’ve run so far. There’s no way I can harvest before at least mid week 7, so she’ll go another week. Im seeing a good number of amber trichomes on the bracts. This is going to RSO too so I’d rather it be on the overdone side.
