@Grohio, thanks for the inspiration. @Doc.D, thank you for being easy to work with, quick to ship, and putting out the heaters.
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everyone who ordered ethiopian banana hybrids is in for a treat
here is bodhi’s ethiopian banana x old mother ghani tester grown a few years ago
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Oh man, I may have to treat myself soon. I can stimulate DocD with some of my stimulus check. I’ve been hearing good stuff about the Ethiopian strains. Thaks for the tip! peace
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Fascinating. How would you describe the effects of that Ethiopian x Afghani cross? How long did it flower?
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here’s my full tester report with all the details. After a multi year cure, the ethiopian is insanely potent. I can barely handle it.
Although the line wasn’t stable, I’m very grateful for the chance to grow these, because the effects, terpene profiles, and medical attributes are unique and interesting, and I cannot overstate how helpful this cross is for managing my muscular disorder. so, let’s dive in.
flower time
53 days for the shortest finisher 66 days for the longest
stretch
2 phenos stretch a lot (pheno 3 and 4)
1 pheno literally grows like a vine with lateral shoots and branches, it likes to grow onto the other plants for support (pheno 5 vine pheno)
2 phenos grow a lot in early flowering but have good node spacing (pheno 1 and 2)
issues (stress)
I had some issues in the first round from seed, including light burn and a timer failure for the 2 longest flowering phenos after the others had been harvested. Every plant popped a few bananas in the first round. I wanted to be able to give you clear and definite results, so I did a second grow from clones. There were no issues in round 2, and no stress.
I grew everything except pheno 1 again. I did a second grow with strong clones so that I could determine whether the herms were stress induced or genetic.
There were no issues on the second round, and unfortunately the line is not stable. 3/4 phenos hermed on round 2 with little or no stress, and the 4th pheno grows a tiny unfertilized seed in each calyx.
plant size
The plants were very large on the first round. The second round from clone, I grew the plants very small so I could be certain there would be no light burn or shading.
yield
round 1 large plants from seed
pheno 1- 3.16 ounces (89.7 grams)
pheno 2- 1.51 ounces (42.8 grams)
pheno 3- 1.52 ounces (43 grams)
pheno 4- 2.15 ounces (42.8 grams)
pheno 5- 1.39 ounces (39.4 grams)
round 2 very small plants from clone
pheno 2- 1.08 ounces (30.6 grams)
pheno 3- 0.5 ounce (14.8 grams)
pheno 4a- 0.4 ounce (11.3 grams)
pheno 4b- 0.73 ounce (20.6 grams)
aroma
very diverse, but they are all very sweet and have notes of exotic fruits.
pheno 1: cream, rose, peach and stone fruit, toasty, sweet desert wine. very pleasant, mild, and desert-like.
{update} harvested early, pheno one smells like raisins. harvested late, it smells like pure peaches. peak levels of aromatic are somewhere inbetween.
pheno 2: alien fruit, smells cold. This one is really weird, I have no idea how to describe it, other than that it smells like unidentifiable exotic fruits, with an icy note that isn’t anything like mint or menthol.
{update} additional notes of fermented citrus and yuzu with an extended cure. very, very sour. you can feel the essential oils in your throat when you open the jar.
pheno 3: When you open the jar, it smells very strongly of butterscotch with a hint of orange. The buds themselves smell like cactus cooler soda, fresh peach, gasoline, and peach gummy.
pheno 4: citrus and melon with sweet alfalfa grassy undertones. this one could be mistaken for some kind of old school haze variant.
{update} cured to chamomile, lemon, and honey.
pheno 5: Pine forest floor, mangosteen and lychee, juniper berry, and some kind of sweet dark berry jam. this one smells very interesting.
{update} the juniper berry becomes dominant as it cures. it now smells like an intense, aromatic, almost alcoholic gin with hints of mangosteen and lychee. I want a cocktail that smells/tastes like this bud.
effect
very diverse, medium to high potency. I need to stay medicated all the time to control my muscular condition, but I’m pretty sensitive to cannabis. To get an idea for my tolerance, I smoke about 2 grams a day. I also smoked out or gave samples to friends so I could cross reference and see if they got a similar effect.
Pheno 2 is an excellent, smooth, happy, relaxing, sunshine feeling sativa that borders on psychedelic if you smoke it all day. I really like this one. it is very recreational and great for playing guitar or drawing for a few hours. It helps with my baseline pain, and gives me some energy to move around.
Pheno 3 is a full body headrush when harvested early. when harvested late, it has the same experience plus a very familiar kush like high. this one could be an elite cut if it weren’t for the herm trait.
Pheno 4 is not as potent as the others, and is a mild bright sativa that leaves you happy and alert. medium-low potency. You could mistake this for some kind of old school haze variant in its smell, appearance, and effect.
Pheno 5 is an insane, overstimulating confusion. everyone who has smoked it experiences a wild 15 minute blast of confusion, racing thoughts, and mild apprehension, before the high smooths out into a crazy electric sativa high. It’s doing very well outdoor. Personally, I really don’t enjoy this effect. Harvested as late as possible, the 15 minute blast is gone but the effect is still long lasting crazy cracky sativa.
{update} after an extended cure and some time getting used to the effects of the number 5, I love this one. perfect smoke if you’re about to fall asleep at mid-day, or if you just want to change things up, this will completely change your mood and brighten up your headspace. I also love this one for drawing, writing, and playing guitar.
Pheno 1 really really pleasant, and kind of hard to describe. the effect is very comfortable. Excellent for mood, relaxation, and contemplation. This is definitely a no ceiling high. Each hit is mild but definite, increasing and subtly changing the high from an overall stoney well-being, relaxation, and comfort that spreads through your entire body on the first hit, into a very heady almost psychedelic sativa experience after you’ve been hitting it for several hours. I like to pack small bowls of this, get a nice full, hit and hold it in forever. This pheno has a really pleasant psychedelic headrush if you hold it in. The exhale tastes like buttery cream and rose with a hint of toasty asian black tea.
bag appeal
2 are very appealing, colorful, uniquely constructed old school bud. One has fat fall colored rounded sticky indica nugs, and the other is a delicate, ornate but alien looking heirloom sativa type. One is pale green with amber/orange frost and has an og kush-like bud construction.
one makes chunky sativa spears. The only one I don’t like visually has tiny calyxes, and overall looks and smells like it might just be a generic haze.
overall impression (be honest)
This strain grew some very high quality, very unique and wonderful smelling bud.
3 phenos produce incredible quality bud, but they have herm traits, and two of them are low yielding. 2 are excellent old school heirloom types, the third looks like a current elite cut. Even though I can’t keep these long term, they are good enough that I have to grow them all at least twice so I can have a decent cache of this flower. The old school phenos have completely unique uplifting highs, and there is no limit to the high. This really is a ‘no ceiling’ high.
One pheno is too similar to a haze in its smell, appearance, and effect. This is the only pheno that isn’t a herm but it has some undesirable traits that don’t show up in any of the other phenos. It grows a tiny, non-viable, un-pollinated seed in each calyx which makes it harsh.
I think that even though this cross is unstable, and had a few phenos that I don’t like, I want to try other variants of the ethiopian banana. The fact that the high on these phenos has no limit is really special to me, and I think it’s definitely worth exploring more possibilities for this heirloom sativa.
keeper?
No. Unfortunately the line doesn’t seem to be stable. I’m really glad I grew it, these were very unique plants with very interesting highs. Even though they’re herms, I like the pheno 1 and pheno 2 well enough that I’ll still grow them again and build up a decent stash before I junk the clones, but they’re not true keepers.
I’ll add some highlight photos later, these were really interesting looking plants.
In the future I will be testing a pack of the Ethiopian Paintbrush x OMG, which is made with a sister pheno to the Ethiopian Banana.
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How would you describe the effects
This is how I would describe the current effects.
The smell and flavor are amazing, it hits really well, and the euphoria and psychedelic effects are pretty spectacular.
I’m very sensitive to sativas, and the medicinal /body effects last for days.
The medicinal effects have changed a lot, it doesn’t really help with my muscular condition any more because the effects are so intense. It weirdly increases my strength, but it induces mild muscle tension which is difficult to relax. Also flips a switch in the fight or flight response and results in odd adrenaline rushes. And it seems to interact with my autonomic condition in a way that I can’t pin down. Very intense stuff. Keeps me up at night too. It can be very useful for me if I use it in extreme moderation. Maybe once a month.
Extremely effective for easing the symptoms asthma and breathing problems from allergic reactions. I use this whenever I get asthma attacks and nausea from industrial pollution.
really unique stuff. Still trying to figure this one out after 3 years or so.
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Thanks. I’m out of likes.
What a report. I don’t even know what Yuzu or Mangosteen are, lol. I’m always intrigued by the people who can put flavors to words. Almost every terp I encounter they seem familiar but I can’t put a word to it. It’s like “I know I’ve experienced this somewhere”…
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Very distinct flavor analogies. I dig that. I’m curious which effects are distinctly Ethiopian and distinctly OMG. I keep hearing the Ethiopian is contributing the psychedelic side. This makes me want to hook up a Moog to a Sitar guitar pedal and a Space Delay. I am waiting on Doc to re-release his Ethiopian x A5 Haze/Thai cultivar. To boldly go… Thanks for shedding some light on your experiences with those phenos. Truly useful info.
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I have grown 2 other OMG hybrids, so I definitely think that is correct. The psychedelia must be coming from the ethiopian. As far as I can tell, the ethiopian completely dominates the psychoactive and medicinal effects, but the OMG contributes substantially to the amazing and diverse terpene profiles.
I bet that a5 haze thai will bring out another unique spectrum of terpene profiles with the ethiopian banana.
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Agreed. I haven’t grown it yet, but I’ve heard only good things regarding the terpenes. Yet, I ponder which of the yet unnamed cannabinoids tussle for the psychedelic mainstage on a genetic level, especially with cannabinoid profile blend of the A5Haze/Thai. Match that with your personal experiences of Ethiopian psychedelia and - Wow! It’s a roulette wheel of possibilities. Do you find much time for outdoor grows?
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Anyone know where to pick up a pack of his Whoop Ass?
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I’m not aware of any OEM way to obtain them. Labyrinth never got that one, they’re sold out at Headie Gardens, and they’re not on this month’s list. The May list is supposed to include more AfPak crosses, but not sure if Whoop Ass will be included.
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Could always email him and ask.
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Seeing some interesting crosses on the presale list this month. Anyone have experience with the Thundergun Express? I’m eyeing Chocolate Trip x TGE as well as Bandaid 7 x Beastie Boy.
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He’s out of the chocolate trip x TGE already. I just made an order today
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Well damn that was quick!
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Yeah I was real bummed about it. He said he’s also already out of the
“p.s - dragonsoul x TGE and vietnam black x BB are also sold out”
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Seriously, Man I just put in an order for Choco trip and a few others.
Waiting his reply.
Bummer
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That Dragonsoul x TGE or Dreadbread x TGE would be the other options I was eyeing from that dad.
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Now I did manage to grab the dread bread cross. So hopefully he still has that one. I also picked up 2 packs of the ethiopian banana x Dragon Energy
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