First, let me say thank you for being such a welcoming community. It’s been amazing to be growing cannabis again. It’s a lot more fun than I remember, but also a bit more work than I remember.
I started growing cannabis about 5 years ago. I started with indoor hydro and nothing on the market really resonated with me; I didn’t like the strains–they didn’t have magic or soul, and I didn’t like hydroponic growing. But, my love for cannabis really endured. I remained immensely passionate about it. I wanted to focus on landrace/heirloom/rare/exotic strains, but I unfortunately moved to an illegal state. Despite not being able to grow, I’ve spent the last few years working on a cannabis related project–I was at least able to finish the parts peripherally involved, but covid has all my plans on hold.
I moved back to a legal state a couple months ago and wasted no time getting back into cannabis growing. I found some fascinating seeds–Kashmir Azad–on a seedbank I’d used before, it’s an F2 of the Niekira seed trust release, originally from Barefrog. As I did more research on the seeds and their history, I eventually found overgrow, and here I am.
The grow consists of 12 Kashmir Azad plants and 1 Dragon Fighter (Three Headed Dragon x Long Bottom Fighter), that I think is female. If it’s male, then I am going to cull it. The plants were topped at the second internode for four main colas. I am not a rigid pruner, but I like to guide. It’s a mixed spectrum grow. I am a huge believer of mixed spectrum. I am using a MH/HPS (600 watt), T5 (4ftx8 Bulb), and Mars Hydro LED (The 600 or 800 one?). I select the bulbs to maximize the light spectrum coverage, though I do drift the entire room to warmer light as I go deeper into flower. I am using soil. I just moved and don’t have any of my old supplies to mix soil in large quantities, so I used 50% Roots 707 and 50% a mix that I made, consisting of peat moss, coir, perlite, and humus. I keep my soil pretty lean. I use it mostly as a pH buffer (I’m lazy about that) and moisture storage device, not a nutrient storage vessel. The plants will ultimately be housed in 15 gallon cloth pots.
The bad: I over-extended myself. I only have enough soil and saucers for six 15 gallon cloth pots. I didn’t expect to keep all 12 when I planned this grow. I am going to adapt. I also forgot to buy pots to up-pot. I only have 1 gallon and 15 gallon pots!!! It’s a nightmare. I’ve had to scour my house for every pot I can find and I am using garbage decorative pots in my grow!!! This is NOT how I grow, but this is the new me, the flexible me! I am going to put my six strongest females in the 15 gallon cloth pots. I am going to keep the males as root bound as I can in random garden gnome pots without killing them. I don’t have enough light for them either, so I am also gonna have to starve them of light. It’s ok; they’re males–they’re ok with suffering and expendability as long as they get to reproduce. The other, weaker females will be given large garden gnome pots and given adequate light.
This will be an open pollination, and I will let the Dragon Fighter be pollinated by one of the Kashmir Azad males. That will be a fun F1 to grow out. Now, onto the plants. Bear with me if I mess this up; I haven’t made a grow diary in ages.
Here’s all of them together, all the ladies and gentlemen:
High Res
Here’s plant #1. Let’s call him a male.
Here’s #2. I desperately hope she’s a female. She’s as vigorous as most of the males. She’s showing no sex traits yet, but her energy feels female to me. We’ll see!
Here’s #3. Let’s call her a female.
Here’s #4. Weird phenotype, doesn’t like the heat. It’s one of my favorite phenotypes. Odd. It’s cooling down, so he should perk up. He’s definitely a male.
Here’s #5. I’m calling him a male. Nice plant!
Here’s #6. I’m calling her a female.
Here’s #7. An interesting sprawling plant I feel is female.
Here’s #8. I’m calling her female.
Here’s #9. I’m calling her female.
Here’s #10. I’m calling her female.
Here’s #11. I don’t have any idea on sex yet, maybe female.
Here’s #12. I’m calling her female.
All of my gender guesses are based on pre-sex organs, size, and ‘energy’. Luckily, I don’t have to cull based on pre-sex (which I hate), since this is an open pollination (as much as a dozen plants can be). High and low res images included.
I am going to run this Kashmir Azad on my next run and try mixing it with a nice landrace sativa.
