Looking good in here, everything happy as can be. I like this point in flowering where everything really starts changing pretty fast and you can see how everything is going to stack up.
You may have mentioned it previously in your journal, but do you run all your seeds in small pots? Like 1 or 2 gallons? Fabric or plastic? I’m trying to determine the best way to go through a bunch of seeds using organic mix, yield would not be the objective.
I agree about the 88g13hp father passing on those stems, they are always sturdy and stout on those crosses, never had any issues with flopping really.
Glad to also see you do your own exploration with cookies/Field Trip. I’ve always found cannabis to be a very personal experience. I try not to let preconceived ideas influence my experience. I’ve never really consumed cannabis for a true medical aliment or issue, other than something like an upset stomach or light muscle pain, so I guess I’m not really qualified to determine it’s medicinal properties. It is interesting to me though, to see it hated on so much, even in crosses. I’d like to think if you crossed it to something you could get different qualities from the effects and plants. I’m still doing my own exploration with crosses of it, I guess I don’t want to close the door on cookies just yet.
I’ve done a lot of experimenting and for my setup I’m liking the 7x7x9" square pots that hold roughly 1 GAL. The smaller/shorter .4 Gal pots are really nice too but for a lot of strains that isn’t enough, even if you start 12/12 from seed. 9x9" pots would probably be ideal but take up too much space for me. The 1Gals this round were flipped too late again and may run into issues but for a small tent they seem the best spatially for me. I’m always organic water only as well for the simplicity, which tends to require a bit larger root zone than the soluble setups.
Active Aqua 7"x7"x9"
Timing is everything with small pots as well. Going from cutting directly to 12/12 can reduce the medium pressure as well as doing 12/12 from seed and pruning off the lower/side branches.
Yeah haha, the hatred seems equally questionable as the extreme hype to me. Either way I’ll find out for myself.
Yeah, and now that YOU mentioned THAT, I just remembered that those Imperial Majesties that I chopped two months ago were floppy as fuck haha! Maybe I shoulda said the GHash-leaning plants I’ve grown never had floppy stems…
Tangerine smell from the dried-and-cured flowers, for sure. And not necessarily even in the OMG-leaners, as far as morphology is concerned. The Dread Bread #1 plant (I STILL haven’t checked out the #2 yet haha) didn’t have any kind of discernible “OMG traits” while growing (except maybe gigantic flowers), but the broken-up nugs remind me so much of what I assume was the OMG-leaning Smart Move that I grew a while back. Very “tangerine.” Again, though, this is post-dry/cure. I don’t remember either the Smart Move or the Dread Breads smelling exceptionally “tangerine-ish” while they were growing. The Dread Breads smelled like a fruit smoothie made with cream or milk, but not necessarily “citrus.” More like mangoes etc (probably coming from the Mango Biche mom, duh! Haha).
The Soar did smell very fruity while she was growing, but it was also more “tropical fruit.” There were for sure citrus notes after she was chopped and cured, though, but mostly OJ, not tangerine.
So I guess maybe that OMG male imparts pretty serious citrus/fruity elements, whether it be tangerine or oranges or OJ (there IS a difference between “oranges” and “OJ” haha). I dunno. I’ve loved every OMG cross I’ve grown, though.
And as far as the high is concerned,
Despite how the Soar and one of the Smart Moves grew, all short and stout with basically zero stretch, looking like an “Indica,” they weren’t sleepy. Maybe a little “dreamy” or “spacy,” but not sleepy, I don’t think. They were great plants.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I really wish I woulda taken cuts of that OMG-leaning Smart Move (or at least not sent my remaining seeds to somebody haha). I chopped her around day 70 or so, I think, but the Soar was done at day 50 (although I waited until day 56 to chop her); I dunno what that means exactly haha, other than maybe don’t expect them to be super-fast finishers just because they don’t stretch once you flip.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this in the last month or so, since all of the talk on the Bodhi thread and I think the reason I’ve hated on GSC so much (and will continue to hate on it haha) is because I keep thinking of the Luther Burbank philosophy/idea of plant breeding, which is, basically,”Reject everything except that which is stellar.”
To me, it doesn’t seem like there’s even one trait in GSC that’s worth isolating or continuing working towards. It’s a lanky-ass plant that doesn’t yield well and has a lackluster, boring high. Even the flavor is boring. So why are people continuing to work with it?
That’s a rhetorical question, btw, I already know the answer: hype.
I know it’s obvious that the component most of us care about is primarily related to the experience of consumption so I’ll just acknowledge it from the start but I do think there is value in ornamental cannabis in a post-prohibition era. I’ve seen plenty of highly attractive plants in what I assume to be cookies derivatives (Field Trip included!). In a more enlightened society I’d definitely grow out some highly attractive varieties even if they didn’t contain appreciable amounts of cannabinoids.
That’s disappointing if true. Hopefully the SSDD dominates there. I’m usually pretty happy with the flavor and aroma of SSDD & SSDD crosses.
It’s hard for me to interpret what that means. I know that we all have different preferences, respond differently to cultivars and all that. I may ultimately wind up agreeing and sharing that point of view though and definitely won’t hold back if I’m let down.
It’s been too long since I’ve had Granola Funk to accurately recall the effects but I probably had a similar view about that cross. To me a boring high isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as it promotes a calm, mellow and zoned out state of mind. It’s really what I seek out in effects from cannabis in terms of effects. Yield doesn’t concern me but trichome and calyx to leaf ratios do.
I do see the value in highly-introspective or “trippy” weed that helps view things from different perspectives but to me that isn’t something I need regularly. A psychedelic experience would be much more effective with longer lasting results in that realm from my experience. I may some day seek out those sort of varieties again but at this point in my life I’m content with the mellow feel good varieties.
I’m not embedded in the culture enough to know what’s hype anymore and rarely visit the local dispensary even. Is GSC still hype at this point? I feel like we’re nearing 10+ years on cookies being around that the novelty factor would have worn off by now? When it comes down to it you’re probably right, the ornamental traits make it a good choice for IG or other forms of media for driving up sales / hype.
I love the reasoned and honest negative review / viewpoint of cookies by the way and appreciate that perspective being shared as well.
Thanks for the info. Man, the last time I looked at those 7x7’s they were like $75, now they’re $135! I already have the 1/2 gallon size, maybe I’ll just stick with those and use nutes alongside a good organic mix to attempt to get thru the cycle.
I mean maybe hype. The flavor I’d say is one of it’s stronger points actually. I’d go so far to say that it has created a whole industry based around it’s flavors.
I’ve grown out a fair bit of GSC crosses now, and they’ve all been quite different from one another. You never know how those genes are gonna recombine. Look at GMO, for example. In that cross the Chem D tastes and terps, even the structure, is dominated by the Chem D. So, what does the GSC add? From my perspective, it probably ups the extraction potential, as I’ve seen it dump resin in hash and rosin before. The Key Lime Pie I grew out tastes pretty damn good, I don’t like the high really, but everyone that smells and tastes that one likes it. Polynesian Thin Mint was very pretty, and tasted way different than straight GSC, maybe the Face Off helped there. The Dosidos that I grew outside smells super gassy, not what I was expecting from the GSC cross. From what I’ve seen so far the GSC flavor doesn’t really dominate in crosses (at least the good ones). And yeah, it’s been like 15 years since GSC was the rage, it’s too ingrained in cannabis culture to go anywhere now.
I guess I’m not really defending cookies, I’m trying to remain neutral. I especially hate the association with Berner and the whole ‘hustle, make money, bling bling weed’ side that cookies represents. That’s what really turns me off about it. The high is ‘meh’, but like I said, I think that can be changed with crossing it.
But hey, even Tom Hill recently said he likes smoking Gelato 33. I don’t judge anyone for enjoying what they want to, for any reason, and encourage others to not be so quick to close doors.
Ya thats a painful price for sure. My local nursery was able to offer quite a few pots on request but the largest square containers were the .4 Gals (around 5.5") through their distributors. The seedlings are started in a smaller tent where square pots are necessary to make the best use of the space otherwise I would just go with round pots. Not sure about your setup but 1 GAL or 4 QT round pots are very common and cheap. The larger square pots seem to be mostly available in the hydro / indoor realm. Oddly enough on topic I have grown out a few of the Granola Funk F2s in the 0.4GALs at 12/12 from seed. They did fantastic & revegged just fine as well. Depending on the genetics you’re exploring it may work out for you too with just a top-dressing or 2 and sufficient pruning.
Agreed for sure.
The one cookies cross that I’ve tried and really liked was another hype cross ; “Ice Cream Cake” which is Wedding Cake x Gelato 33. The cut used in our dispensaries looks good, smells good, tastes good in the vaporizer and the effects are very calm and relaxing. Not going to claim it lives up to any level of hype but it was certainly good by my (low) standards. The other cookies strain that I tried was Sunset Sherbert which I really disliked and found unpleasant.
Some Granola Funk F2s here. You can get a better feel for the overall size. Just large enough to get a good sample of the pheno, which is the goal here.
Have tried many cookie crosses have found only a real small handful I like mendo breath,Tropicana cookies and grateful breath really being the only ones that have stood out and the legit cut of gmo haven’t grown any of them to say if that would make a difference most of what I’ve tried has had a short lived rather bland dull type high to them but most has been dispo weed so those can be real hit or miss, plan on trying to grow out a cookies cross eventually but not thinking anytime soon curious to see what comes of those field trips for you! On another note so far got 2 confirmed females of the gogi daydream and one male 2 left to be determined plan on picking the best 2 females to run along side lucky charms in my 4x4 @syzygy
I don’t trust my memory enough but I want to say this was my impression of the Granola Funk & F2s.
Awesome! Hope you find something worth the space in your tent, I appreciate you testing these out! If you have or start a thread please tag me. Also feel free to post any info (negative or positive) here too if you want. Negative info will help anyone else sitting on them make an informed decision and won’t offend me at all.
Excited to see what I can find haven’t been documenting as much as I normally do or like as of late life’s been hectic the past few months but will get back to it soon and will get some photos so far seeing a few different expressions in leaf morphology and size still another 3 or weeks till I get them transferred into the 20 gallons where I’ll see the real growth thank you for sharing these still have Gogi og f2 planned soon! for sure will share any negative or positives with them and of course will have a smoke report once cured up a bit
All of the Granola Funk F2 & crosses were germinated and flowered out under 12/12. The Goji was 12/12 from cutting to the best of my recollection with possibly a week of veg. In my experience cuttings do significantly better than seeds in small containers due to not having as vigorous or as extensive of a root system. This style is also a great way to make a lot of seeds with cuttings due to how mobile small pots are. I’m interested to see what winds up happening with whatever soluble you choose to use. I haven’t experimented enough with that to find a satisfactory solution for seedlings and small pots but if simple & organic it may be something I wind up emulating in the future.
Basically, what I mean when I say,”Lackluster, boring high,” is that after I smoke it, I sit there and think,”I wish I woulda smoked something else…” haha.
Anyway, all valid points, @syzygy and @iamyou_youareme. I could respond to a lot of what y’all said, not to “refute” it or anything or try to “prove you wrong” haha, but just to discuss, but I don’t wanna turn this into another gawddamn GSC Thing.
Plus, I gotta foliar in a minute… Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow? I’m free haha!
Yeah that’s definitely fair enough and reason to avoid if it affects you that way. I’ve had a number of crosses impact me like that as well that weren’t cookies based as I’m sure we all have.
Would be cool with me. I like reading pro and cons as long as they have some form of semi-coherent thought process behind them. I also enjoy reading the perspectives of people who have a history of growing genetics that I’ve either grown or have an interest in so to me it’s more valuable than reading a GSC hype thread on ICmag or something like that. I am familiar with many of the genetics you’ve publicly grown as well as the people who were happy with Field Trip so it’s all very interesting to me.
My main annoyance with the Bodhi thread GSC discussion was that it felt more like a clique thing rather than expanding on the dissatisfaction with reasons. I love reading critical reviews because it helps with my filtering process. So far the only cautionary flag that I’ve seen repeated is a potentially boring, short lived or lackluster high in the GSC dominant phenos.
What’s awesome about this next cycle to me is that I don’t care one way or another what I wind up with and have no expectations. A seed project using seeds that I care about like the K4xSSDD would be semi-stressful and I’d feel pressured to see it through to completion with a certain level of quality. I have (had) 2 packs of field trip and I’m not exactly looking to make F2s with them unless I happen to find something spectacular, so this is as care-free as it gets in my book. Will post any negatives as I said for sure and this is a perfect time for me to experience them. Nanners, lack of yield, low quality high, whatever else may pop up won’t matter to me.
It’s cool if anyone posts anything critical here but if you guys wanna start one too please tag me so I can follow along. I often find threads really late the way I navigate here. Hoping if someone does start one that all forms of advocacy are encouraged & on the flip side open to criticism as well.
I started one on thcfarmer like six years ago haha! I think the title was “GSC Isn’t All That” or maybe “GSC Actually Kinda Sucks,” can’t remember. It became a whole thing: people just, like, in a rage that I’d even consider the possibility that GSC didn’t deserve the amount of hype it was getting, accusing me of never having smoked “real Cookies” and shit. It was kind of funny, but I didn’t anticipate the amount of vitriol I would receive so I dropped out of the thread pretty quickly. Last time I checked on it, though, maybe a couple years ago, it had gotten pretty long haha…
Yeah, the Dragon Energy-leaning C. Gold cross from a couple grows-ago was like that for sure. Which is why I didn’t “hype” that particular plant haha.
I thought I was pretty clear about my reasons for hating on it on the Bodhi thread haha! But basically, it’s a combination of not very good weed + unwarranted, outsized, inexplicable hype. None of it ever made any sense to me. I think the main thing that bothered me about it (besides the way it smoked) was that it kind of confirmed my ever-growing suspicion that most people really are truly dumb. And I don’t want to believe that, I really don’t. I want to have faith in humanity haha. I don’t want to be a misanthrope.
Add that to the fact that, like, all kinds of weed publications were all over GSC and it really did make me be like,”What the fuck is going on here?” It was like that scene in Zoolander when Will Ferrell’s like,”Blue Steel??? Ferrari??? Le Tigre??? They’re the same look! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”
Or whatever haha.
That seems like enough to me haha!
Just fucking around. But yeah, man, it’s weed. You never know what you’re gonna get (unless it’s a truly stabilized seed line)(or a clone), which is why it’s so fun to grow. I’m not asking you to explain yourself or anything haha. Like I said a few days ago, not sure if it was here on your thread or somewhere else, but I read all kinds of shit about Rare Dankness’ gear sucking, but I wanted to find out for myself. Grew it, loved it and realized (again) that nobody really knows what the fuck they’re talking about. Everybody’s dumb haha.
Including me.
Yeah, that’s a big reason why I never make any seeds. And if I ever do, I won’t tell anybody about it until it’s actually done haha. I like just growing my weed, lah-di-dah, and we’ll see how it turns out. And I’ll post all about it so everybody can read about it and make semi-informed decisions. Seed-making does seem a lil’ stressful to me.
All good points. I like the healthy discussion around GSC and I don’t want to come off like a GSC fanboi, in truth, I like playing devil’s advocate a lot of times (it get’s on my girlfriend’s nerves I do it so often).
I personally also think the GSC hype train coincided with the growing legalization of cannabis. So, instead of breeders selecting for the high and how cannabis made people feel (Like DJ Short and Tom Hill, etc), legalization enabled people started breeding for pretty colors, and new flavors, chasing new and unique smells, and frosty buds, instead of the high. I’m not saying this change is a good thing, but it’s just how the market works. Humans crave new sensory experiences. When High Times showcases some ultra frosty weed, and then goes on to tell everyone the new shit is GSC, then people are gonna source it / buy it.
I’m sorry minitiger, but people ARE dumb. Most people don’t know what to like, and want everything spoon fed to them, their cannabis included. Also, though, let’s face it, we are a bunch of cannabis connoisseur’s here, we are not the average cannabis consumer. Most people walk into the dispensary and look for the highest THC herb that smells crazy to them. They don’t care about lineage, or effects, they care about price and looks. They may not even notice the differing effects cannabis has to offer.
What’s crazy to me now is there is a whole generation of smokers being raised on GSC crosses, and all they care about is the new ‘flavor’, is it ‘terpalicious’… it’s gotta taste like a fuckin’ Jolly Rancher exploded in my mouth. The high is a secondary experience to them. Also, another thing, I think GSC produces a kind of dulling, narcotic type high, which is another issue with our society here in the US, maybe not just GSC. Everyone is so anxious, or depressed, and medicated, that they’re just looking for the next thing to numb them out, instead of make them feel alive. So maybe the high of GSC is the preference for those type of people.
Anyways… I like hearing all the opinions on GSC, and sorry to kinda derail your thread Syzygy.
I think this is great insight, and I think genuinely why I like GSC and their derivatives. I enjoy strains that can be narcotic and numb me out, and it is often what I sought most before I started growing my own from dispensaries. I have mild to moderate anxiety, and this type of weed is perfect at alleviating it and helping me get out of my own head.Because I enjoy that kind of high, I have purchased quite a few GSC strains from the dispensary, wedding cake, gelato, mendo breathe, ice cream cake, mac1, sherbert, etc. I think through growing bodhi related strains, particularly @syzygy s Goji OG f2s I’m discovering different sides of marijuana that can provide mood boosting qualities, without numbing and dumbing me down, which is wonderful. That being said, as much as I want to keep exploring those types of lineages, weed that turns me into a vegetable will always have a place in my garden, and gsc derivatives seem to be a good place to look for that effect.
Man… That’s something that I hadn’t ever considered at all, I guess because it’d basically been legal in CA for so long. But that’s a good point.
That’s what I was always wondering, though: Why is this strain being hyped by supposed “weed authorities” or “experts” or “connoisseurs” or whatever you wanna call them? I mean, High Times has been a joke for years, but they weren’t the only weed publication raving about it. I could never figure out if it was just FOMO or of being the only ones who were like,”I disagree,” or if it was something more, uh, sinister haha, like maybe they were all paid to say,”GSC is awesome!”
Honestly, I’m inclined to believe the latter: they got paid. Maybe that makes me a conspiracy theorist, but I really do believe that.
Yeah, I know haha. Don’t be sorry. But it’d be nice if they weren’t…
I knoooooowwwww. I mentioned this job interview for a dispensary delivery driver that I went on on the Bandaid Haze grow log, but this kid who was probably 15 years younger than me was interviewing me and I went on a totally uncalled for rant about how much I hate GSC and he was like,”I kind of like GSC…”
Didn’t get the job haha.
That’s true. And kind of weird. Or, I dunno. I’m depressed haha. And I’ve been having panic attacks off and on for like fifteen years, but I fucking HATED the medications (klonopin at first, then Xanax) I was prescribed and pretty much quit taking them, only kept them around for when I’d have severe panic attacks that were so bad they made me feel like,”Okay, I’m dying, I need to go to the hospital,” even though I obviously wasn’t dying. It was just a super-intense panic attack. And I don’t think that Girl Scout Cookies would alleviate that feeling haha!
I mean, I guess what I’m saying is I don’t want to smoke any weed that makes me feel like I just took a fucking klonopin or a Xanax. And I wonder why anybody would. Those pills work, for sure, but they also kinda ruin my day… Working out isn’t an option if I have to eat one in the morning. And I don’t wanna work out if I smoke any GSC, either haha!
I think, though, that people have this idea of “Sativas” and “Indicas” that just isn’t accurate. Or maybe they go into it with preconceived notions. Or maybe everybody’s cannabinoid receptors are just that much different, I dunno. But that Bandaid Haze I grew a while back (all four plants) was fucking GREAT weed and very, very… comforting? Is that the right word?
I dunno, man. Fuck it haha. We all like what we like, I’m not trying to convince anybody to start disliking that which works for them. One of my sisters is a fucking born-again Christian; as long as she doesn’t try to convert me (which she doesn’t), she can do whatever she wants. If it makes her happy, I’m happy. If GSC makes people happy, I’m happy.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t think Berner is a gross-ass, sleazy, sorry-ass piece of shit haha!!!
Yeah definitely wasn’t directed towards you or anyone in general.
I think that’s a completely valid point of view. We’ll see how it affects me and if it is bland or boring it will go in the compost pile. I’m sure I’ll find something with effects that I find great because the SSDD crosses so far seem to just promote that comfortable blissful state of mind in my experience.
Oh I know, just think the discussion is kind of interesting. Not much else going on with the plants at this point anyways. I was always interested in RD and always read that they had pretty solid males for passing on OG traits. If their seeds were ever at GLG in the past when I was looking for seeds I would have bought their “OGs” as well as GTH from them for sure.
Another reason I love reading all of your takes on it since most of us have dabbled in similar genetics via Bodhi. We have a lot of reference points to draw on in common at least.
I think this is a good point but the way its phrased can be flipped around as well. For example I don’t need Cannabis to feel alive and I only consume sparingly to relax after lots of physical activity in the way someone unwinds with a beer after work at night. I love the functional relaxing strains and luckily there seems to be an abundance of them in Bodhi’s catalogue. There’s so much stimulation around with all forms of electronic media and whatnot that I do think tackling the anxiety that comes with all that is part of it for sure, that’s a good point.
I do too, doesn’t seem derailed at all to me! Love reading all of your perspectives on this.
Amen!
I’m interested to see how the GSC stuff compares to SSDD. The Blueberry lines and SSDD seem king when it comes to calming the mind for me so far. SunRa is pretty decent in that area too. If GSC stupefies me I probably won’t end up liking it too much.
You don’t think berner would try to manipulate and influence us like that do you?
The most weird thing to me is how people get offended or are intolerant of people having different opinions or preferences haha. As if you implying that GSC isn’t the end-all be-all is perceived as a threat to their self worth. For a while I just thought it was people with a vested interest in the public holding the genetics in high regard (dispensary owners / growers / dealers / seed vendors / elite clone hoarders etc) but who knows.
