Malawi Gold Revisited: Queen Sativa

[HopHead]

I didn't know if I was going to do a journal when I sowed the seeds back in Nov. 2020 but I've now decided I will. I expect the harvest time will be in April so there's plenty of time for me to post the progress.

A little background - in my last grow journal of 2017 I grew Malawi Gold and harvested seeds from 3 distinct phenotypes. The one that had the most sativa characteristics I named Queen Sativa. I back bred her with one of her male offspring. For this grow I chose 10 of her seeds. I didn't know what would happen in this grow. Would I do any breeding? I figured I would grow the seeds and see what the plants looked like and go from there.

So, the seeds are ones I harvested back in 2017 from a sativa dominant Malawi Gold hybrid I named Queen Sativa. The seeds were well wrapped and kept in the freezer until Nov 2020. I removed them from the freezer and sowed them about 1/4" deep in soil that was well soaked. The 2" pots were placed on a heating mat and placed about 8" under a 4' fluorescent fixture containing four T8 LED lights.

The soil I'm using is called Kryptonite. It's produced in Canada and is formulated for cannabis. I've grown tomatoes, peppers, etc. and found it to be a very good soil. This is the first time I'm growing cannabis in it.

The lights I'm using in this grow have varied a bit. I started with 4' LED fluorescent T8 tubes for the seedlings. I then moved the plants to a 430W HPS for a few weeks until I set up a new grow room. In the grow room I set up a 645W Gavita 1700e LED light. I expect all future grows to be started and finished in the grow room with the Gavita LED light. From the beginning I have had the lights on a 12/12 schedule.

Nutrients and fertilizers : I'm not using any. I'm depending on the soil and if at some point I see evidence of deficiencies I'll adjust accordingly.

For this grow I have a new Grow Room. I finally got the room finished enough to put it to use. I still have some work to do but that can wait until after this grow is completed. The room is slightly larger than 6' x 12' with a 7.5' ceiling. The ceiling and walls are painted with a flat white ceiling paint. There are two 20 amp outlets from 2 different circuits creating a 40 amp capacity. This will allow me to use 2 Gavita lights and controller, a space heater, humidifier/dehumidifier and other devises as required. The temperature so far has ranged from 17C - 26C except for one night when the temp dropped to 13C. That happened because the power had been interrupted and the heater had been turned off. When the lights are off the room is completely dark.

Day 1 Nov 21, 2020
I sowed 10 Malawi Gold - Queen Sativa seeds in Kryptonite soil in 2' pots. All the seeds germinated and emerged from the soil between days 7 -10.

Day 11 Dec 1, 2020
Some time during the night a mouse ate 5 of the seedlings and nibbled on 2 more. I hope he/she enjoyed them. I sowed 5 more seeds and devised a little cage to protect the seedlings going forward. The heating mat was removed after the first seeds had germinated so this time the new sowing didn't get the benefit of the heat. These five seeds took 7 - 10 days to germinate.

Day 33/23 Dec 23, 2020
Because of the two different sowing dates the first Day 33 refers to plants 1 - 5 and Day 23 refers to plants 6 - 10. The first seedling to emerge from the soil in #1 and the last seedling is #10. I started repotting the plants from the 2" pots to 4" pots.

Day 36/26 Dec 26, 2020
These are the first pictures I took during this grow. #'s 1 - 5 are in 4" pots and 6-10 are in 2" pots

Day41/31 Dec 31
#'s 8 and 10 are still in 2" pots with the other eight in 4" pots.

Day 43/33 Jan 2, 2021
The last 2 plants were repotted to 4" pots.

Day 49/39 Jan 8
The first plants to show their sex - #1 and #2. At this point I have to decide what I'm going to do in this grow. All the plants look alike. I don't see any significant difference in leaf size either width or length, color or growth pattern. There appears to be one phenotype although there is height differences with #1 & 2 being noticeably taller than the rest. If I was going to breed then I would be choosing the more sativa characteristics but because I don't see much difference I decided to grow sensimilla and compost any males.

Day 53/43 Jan 12
Repotted #2 from 4" pot to a 12" pot.

Day 57/47 Jan 16
The first stigmata appear on #2. She was showing female preflowers back on Day 49.

Day 60/50 Jan 19
By this time I have removed 5 males and have 5 females remaining for the rest of the grow. Also on this date the 5 females get moved to their new digs and the new light. They had been growing under a 430W HPS in a room not designed for growing plants. Carpet, draperies and furniture made it doable but far from ideal. Now, I should see some change in the plants. They were small and doing quite well but I'm expecting to see a change. The floor will be replaced after this grow is completed. The humidity is around 50% in this room so it's a little low for sativa IMO. I am misting the plants about once a day a couple of hours before the lights go out.

This is #2 looking for pollen.

Day 62/52 Jan 21
Repotted the 4 remaining plants in 4" pots to 12" pots. This is the empty bag of kryptonite soil I'm using in this grow.

Day 66/56 Jan 25
Going from left to right are #2, 5, 8, 9 and 10. #2's leaves are drooping a bit. Being cautious not to overwater I was hesitant to water the plants as long as there was weight when I picked up the pots to check for watering.

Day 67/57 Jan 26
Here is #2 with the oldest leaves drooping and yellowing slightly. I noticed this happening on #2 first and the same thing happening on the others as well after a few more days. The cause is underwatering. I don't usually repot from 4" to 12" because it's too big of a jump. Usually I go from 4" to 8" and then to 12". This time I chose to skip the 8" knowing I would have to be careful watering. So, when I repotted I watered enough to dampen the soil but not saturate it. Daily I checked the weights of the plants and determined there was still moisture enough. Day after day with no watering the leaves on a couple of the plants drooped downward but were not limp. These leaves are limp but are also the oldest leaves so I wondered if she is just shedding them because the branches are emerging. I answered this question a couple of days later when I watered her and a couple of her sisters showing the same symptoms. They responded by lifting their leaves to get the full benefits of the light.

Day73/63 Feb 1
So, that brings this grow up to date. I will take some pic and post an update soon.

 

[Bill284]

I didn't know if I was going to do a journal when I sowed the seeds back in Nov. 2020 but I've now decided I will. I expect the harvest time will be in April so there's plenty of time for me to post the progress.

A little background - in my last grow journal of 2017 I grew Malawi Gold and harvested seeds from 3 distinct phenotypes. The one that had the most sativa characteristics I named Queen Sativa. I back bred her with one of her male offspring. For this grow I chose 10 of her seeds. I didn't know what would happen in this grow. Would I do any breeding? I figured I would grow the seeds and see what the plants looked like and go from there.

So, the seeds are ones I harvested back in 2017 from a sativa dominant Malawi Gold hybrid I named Queen Sativa. The seeds were well wrapped and kept in the freezer until Nov 2020. I removed them from the freezer and sowed them about 1/4" deep in soil that was well soaked. The 2" pots were placed on a heating mat and placed about 8" under a 4' fluorescent fixture containing four T8 LED lights.

The soil I'm using is called Kryptonite. It's produced in Canada and is formulated for cannabis. I've grown tomatoes, peppers, etc. and found it to be a very good soil. This is the first time I'm growing cannabis in it.

The lights I'm using in this grow have varied a bit. I started with 4' LED fluorescent T8 tubes for the seedlings. I then moved the plants to a 430W HPS for a few weeks until I set up a new grow room. In the grow room I set up a 645W Gavita 1700e LED light. I expect all future grows to be started and finished in the grow room with the Gavita LED light. From the beginning I have had the lights on a 12/12 schedule.

Nutrients and fertilizers : I'm not using any. I'm depending on the soil and if at some point I see evidence of deficiencies I'll adjust accordingly.

For this grow I have a new Grow Room. I finally got the room finished enough to put it to use. I still have some work to do but that can wait until after this grow is completed. The room is slightly larger than 6' x 12' with a 7.5' ceiling. The ceiling and walls are painted with a flat white ceiling paint. There are two 20 amp outlets from 2 different circuits creating a 40 amp capacity. This will allow me to use 2 Gavita lights and controller, a space heater, humidifier/dehumidifier and other devises as required. The temperature so far has ranged from 17C - 26C except for one night when the temp dropped to 13C. That happened because the power had been interrupted and the heater had been turned off. When the lights are off the room is completely dark.

Day 1 Nov 21, 2020
I sowed 10 Malawi Gold - Queen Sativa seeds in Kryptonite soil in 2' pots. All the seeds germinated and emerged from the soil between days 7 -10.

Day 11 Dec 1, 2020
Some time during the night a mouse ate 5 of the seedlings and nibbled on 2 more. I hope he/she enjoyed them. I sowed 5 more seeds and devised a little cage to protect the seedlings going forward. The heating mat was removed after the first seeds had germinated so this time the new sowing didn't get the benefit of the heat. These five seeds took 7 - 10 days to germinate.

Day 33/23 Dec 23, 2020
Because of the two different sowing dates the first Day 33 refers to plants 1 - 5 and Day 23 refers to plants 6 - 10. The first seedling to emerge from the soil in #1 and the last seedling is #10. I started repotting the plants from the 2" pots to 4" pots.

Day 36/26 Dec 26, 2020
These are the first pictures I took during this grow. #'s 1 - 5 are in 4" pots and 6-10 are in 2" pots

Day41/31 Dec 31
#'s 8 and 10 are still in 2" pots with the other eight in 4" pots.

Day 43/33 Jan 2, 2021
The last 2 plants were repotted to 4" pots.

Day 49/39 Jan 8
The first plants to show their sex - #1 and #2. At this point I have to decide what I'm going to do in this grow. All the plants look alike. I don't see any significant difference in leaf size either width or length, color or growth pattern. There appears to be one phenotype although there is height differences with #1 & 2 being noticeably taller than the rest. If I was going to breed then I would be choosing the more sativa characteristics but because I don't see much difference I decided to grow sensimilla and compost any males.

Day 53/43 Jan 12
Repotted #2 from 4" pot to a 12" pot.

Day 57/47 Jan 16
The first stigmata appear on #2. She was showing female preflowers back on Day 49.

Day 60/50 Jan 19
By this time I have removed 5 males and have 5 females remaining for the rest of the grow. Also on this date the 5 females get moved to their new digs and the new light. They had been growing under a 430W HPS in a room not designed for growing plants. Carpet, draperies and furniture made it doable but far from ideal. Now, I should see some change in the plants. They were small and doing quite well but I'm expecting to see a change. The floor will be replaced after this grow is completed. The humidity is around 50% in this room so it's a little low for sativa IMO. I am misting the plants about once a day a couple of hours before the lights go out.

This is #2 looking for pollen.

Day 62/52 Jan 21
Repotted the 4 remaining plants in 4" pots to 12" pots. This is the empty bag of kryptonite soil I'm using in this grow.

Day 66/56 Jan 25
Going from left to right are #2, 5, 8, 9 and 10. #2's leaves are drooping a bit. Being cautious not to overwater I was hesitant to water the plants as long as there was weight when I picked up the pots to check for watering.

Day 67/57 Jan 26
Here is #2 with the oldest leaves drooping and yellowing slightly. I noticed this happening on #2 first and the same thing happening on the others as well after a few more days. The cause is underwatering. I don't usually repot from 4" to 12" because it's too big of a jump. Usually I go from 4" to 8" and then to 12". This time I chose to skip the 8" knowing I would have to be careful watering. So, when I repotted I watered enough to dampen the soil but not saturate it. Daily I checked the weights of the plants and determined there was still moisture enough. Day after day with no watering the leaves on a couple of the plants drooped downward but were not limp. These leaves are limp but are also the oldest leaves so I wondered if she is just shedding them because the branches are emerging. I answered this question a couple of days later when I watered her and a couple of her sisters showing the same symptoms. They responded by lifting their leaves to get the full benefits of the light.

Day73/63 Feb 1
So, that brings this grow up to date. I will take some pic and post an update soon.

Beautiful girls my friend.

 

[HopHead]

Thank you Bill284. Appreciate it. I'll convey your thoughts to the girls.

 

[HopHead]

Day 76/66 Feb 4

I hope everyone is well and your gardens are thriving. My garden is doing quite well. The girls were in a slump after being moved to the new grow room but are now on a good track. The cause of the slump is threefold IMO.
1st - The new LED light is 645W but is described as replacing a 1000W HPS. That's 2.3 times what they were used to under the 430W HPS. Because of the reflectivity of the new grow room I would argue the amount of light they received was probably closer to 3 times what they were used to. I kept #2 (the tallest) 24" away from the lights as recommended but I should have increased the distance to 3' or more for the first few days. The other four were shorter and not elevated so their distance was better but should have been more.
2nd - I repotted #'s 5, 8, 9 and 10 two days after moving them to the new digs. I should have moved them further away from the lights for a few days until they adjusted. #2 had been repotted a week earlier so she was fine in that regard.
3rd - Because of the repotting to a much larger pot I was overly cautious in watering. IMO it's better to underwater than to overwater but it still put undue stress on all the girls. As a result I saw drooping leaves and the oldest leaves on all plants going limp and turning yellow. I got fooled because from past experience I have seen drooping leaves due to underwatering but the leaves were limp. This time the leaves were firm but drooping. That is more a symptom of overwatering from my experience and watering an overwatered plant is probably fatal so it took me a few days before watering the girls. Even after watering I didn't see a change until the next day. Whenever I watered a thirsty plant in the past I would see almost immediate improvement. This is only my second sativa dominant grow so most of my experience has been growing indica dominant plants. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm always learning.

Now for some pictures. You can see droopy leaves on all 5 plants. This picture was taken on Mon, Feb 1.

This picture was taken on Tues the next day and #10 in the center has droopy leaves. The other plants look better than the day before due to being watered but still are not as healthy as #2(2nd from the left; the tallest)

This picture was taken on Wed the next day and you can see improvement with #10 in the center. You can also see the dying leaves on #2 at the bottom. Because the plants were all thirsty and not getting watered they started to cannibalize the oldest leaves.

Here's #2. What a beautiful young sativa. Queen Sativa indeed.

#2's flowers. Still not seeing any trichomes on her yet. I did see the first sign of trichomes on a couple of the other girls through a 10x loupe today. They show as tiny little reflective specks on a few of the top most leaves. I would like to get a picture but don't have any means other than removing the leaf and putting it under a microscope.

This is #5. Can you see any stigmata? There's a couple stigmata just below dead center. She is the same age as #2 and 10 days older than #'s 8, 9 and 10. She is the last plant to grow any stigmata. Even though she is the last plant to grow stigmata she is showing the first signs of trichomes before her sister #2. One never knows how things will turn out. She may surprise me.

Today's group picture. From left to right #'s 8, 2, 10, 5 and 9. Their heights are #8-13.25", 2-31.25", 10-13", 5-15.5" and 9-20". The rate of growth in the last couple of days is 1.25"/day for #2 and 9 and 0.5" for #5, 8 and 10. You can see #2 has a bent top. She and #9 both bend towards the center of the light which I correct by rotating them away from the center. Every morning when I first check on the plants I give each plant a quarter turn clockwise. Because all the plants have a plastic maker in the pot it's easy to keep them all aligned even when correcting the growth of #2 and 9. I'm expecting #'s 8 and 5 to start leaning soon as they get taller. #10 in the center should grow straight. If she gets taller than any other plant then she will lose the center spot to whoever is shorter.

The fact that I put these girls under stress due to lack of water means I'll have to keep an eye out for intersex or hermies. Hopefully, that won't happen but in my first grow there was one male who developed female flowers. He was removed and composted so his genes are not present in these girls. However, he possessed genes which these girls probably/may also possess.

Cheers to all.

 

[Bill284]

Day 76/66 Feb 4

I hope everyone is well and your gardens are thriving. My garden is doing quite well. The girls were in a slump after being moved to the new grow room but are now on a good track. The cause of the slump is threefold IMO.
1st - The new LED light is 645W but is described as replacing a 1000W HPS. That's 2.3 times what they were used to under the 430W HPS. Because of the reflectivity of the new grow room I would argue the amount of light they received was probably closer to 3 times what they were used to. I kept #2 (the tallest) 24" away from the lights as recommended but I should have increased the distance to 3' or more for the first few days. The other four were shorter and not elevated so their distance was better but should have been more.
2nd - I repotted #'s 5, 8, 9 and 10 two days after moving them to the new digs. I should have moved them further away from the lights for a few days until they adjusted. #2 had been repotted a week earlier so she was fine in that regard.
3rd - Because of the repotting to a much larger pot I was overly cautious in watering. IMO it's better to underwater than to overwater but it still put undue stress on all the girls. As a result I saw drooping leaves and the oldest leaves on all plants going limp and turning yellow. I got fooled because from past experience I have seen drooping leaves due to underwatering but the leaves were limp. This time the leaves were firm but drooping. That is more a symptom of overwatering from my experience and watering an overwatered plant is probably fatal so it took me a few days before watering the girls. Even after watering I didn't see a change until the next day. Whenever I watered a thirsty plant in the past I would see almost immediate improvement. This is only my second sativa dominant grow so most of my experience has been growing indica dominant plants. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm always learning.

Now for some pictures. You can see droopy leaves on all 5 plants. This picture was taken on Mon, Feb 1.

This picture was taken on Tues the next day and #10 in the center has droopy leaves. The other plants look better than the day before due to being watered but still are not as healthy as #2(2nd from the left; the tallest)

This picture was taken on Wed the next day and you can see improvement with #10 in the center. You can also see the dying leaves on #2 at the bottom. Because the plants were all thirsty and not getting watered they started to cannibalize the oldest leaves.

Here's #2. What a beautiful young sativa. Queen Sativa indeed.

#2's flowers. Still not seeing any trichomes on her yet. I did see the first sign of trichomes on a couple of the other girls through a 10x loupe today. They show as tiny little reflective specks on a few of the top most leaves. I would like to get a picture but don't have any means other than removing the leaf and putting it under a microscope.

This is #5. Can you see any stigmata? There's a couple stigmata just below dead center. She is the same age as #2 and 10 days older than #'s 8, 9 and 10. She is the last plant to grow any stigmata. Even though she is the last plant to grow stigmata she is showing the first signs of trichomes before her sister #2. One never knows how things will turn out. She may surprise me.

Today's group picture. From left to right #'s 8, 2, 10, 5 and 9. Their heights are #8-13.25", 2-31.25", 10-13", 5-15.5" and 9-20". The rate of growth in the last couple of days is 1.25"/day for #2 and 9 and 0.5" for #5, 8 and 10. You can see #2 has a bent top. She and #9 both bend towards the center of the light which I correct by rotating them away from the center. Every morning when I first check on the plants I give each plant a quarter turn clockwise. Because all the plants have a plastic maker in the pot it's easy to keep them all aligned even when correcting the growth of #2 and 9. I'm expecting #'s 8 and 5 to start leaning soon as they get taller. #10 in the center should grow straight. If she gets taller than any other plant then she will lose the center spot to whoever is shorter.

The fact that I put these girls under stress due to lack of water means I'll have to keep an eye out for intersex or hermies. Hopefully, that won't happen but in my first grow there was one male who developed female flowers. He was removed and composted so his genes are not present in these girls. However, he possessed genes which these girls probably/may also possess.

Cheers to all.

How far away do you have your light my friend.

 

[HopHead]

How far away do you have your light my friend.

The manufacturer of the light is pretty stingy with information in the manual. There is one instruction of 23" from the canopy by way of a sketch. Looking at reviews of the light it was mentioned that the desirable height is 24" for veg and 18" for flowering. That is what I follow. So, when I first put the plants in the room I had the light 24" from #2, the tallest plant with the others being shorter and farther away from the light. They were starting to flower when I put them in the room so I kept the light at the same distance and allowed the plants (#2) to grow within 18". After the plants had been in the room for a few days I started elevating the shorter plants so they would be closer. So, to answer your question, #2 is 18" from the light and the others are probably around 24" give or take. I just came from the room and was contemplating giving more elevation to the shorter plants to get them to the 18" distance. The first thing I noticed about this light was the penetration. I always found the HPS had good penetration but no where near this light. So, I'm confident that plants will do just fine with a greater than 18" distance. Of coarse, we all try to get the most, the best and the greatest so I think I'll be making some adjustment to the shorter plants. I was looking at one of the grow journals here at 420 and there was discussion about LEDs and how close some growers had them to the canopy. One grower said she had them 12" from the canopy and got great results. Another grower said being that close would burn holes through the leaf structure. Holes you couldn't see with your eyes but holes that would cause genetic damage. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about so I consider his remarks regarding LED distance. What a long answer to such a concise question.

One more comment; this light is dimmable and I expect these girls to outgrow the height restrictions (7.5') so I think I will probably have to shorten the 18" distance to 16" or maybe even 12" by dimming the lights to 50%.

 

[Bill284]

The manufacturer of the light is pretty stingy with information in the manual. There is one instruction of 23" from the canopy by way of a sketch. Looking at reviews of the light it was mentioned that the desirable height is 24" for veg and 18" for flowering. That is what I follow. So, when I first put the plants in the room I had the light 24" from #2, the tallest plant with the others being shorter and farther away from the light. They were starting to flower when I put them in the room so I kept the light at the same distance and allowed the plants (#2) to grow within 18". After the plants had been in the room for a few days I started elevating the shorter plants so they would be closer. So, to answer your question, #2 is 18" from the light and the others are probably around 24" give or take. I just came from the room and was contemplating giving more elevation to the shorter plants to get them to the 18" distance. The first thing I noticed about this light was the penetration. I always found the HPS had good penetration but no where near this light. So, I'm confident that plants will do just fine with a greater than 18" distance. Of coarse, we all try to get the most, the best and the greatest so I think I'll be making some adjustment to the shorter plants. I was looking at one of the grow journals here at 420 and there was discussion about LEDs and how close some growers had them to the canopy. One grower said she had them 12" from the canopy and got great results. Another grower said being that close would burn holes through the leaf structure. Holes you couldn't see with your eyes but holes that would cause genetic damage. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about so I consider his remarks regarding LED distance. What a long answer to such a concise question.

One more comment; this light is dimmable and I expect these girls to outgrow the height restrictions (7.5') so I think I will probably have to shorten the 18" distance to 16" or maybe even 12" by dimming the lights to 50%.

Your girls beautiful as the are look to be stretching to get light instead of building branches and bud sights. Have a look at my thread on clones. My veg room is thick instead of tall,
Have you thought about any training. If you top them do some lst, you can improve your harvest.
I top all my plants and grow them flat.

 

[HopHead]

Are you familiar with sativas?

 

[Bill284]

Are you familiar with sativas?

Apologies my friend I grow hybrids.

 

[HopHead]

Yea, the sativa is a different species with different characteristics than indicas. This is only my second sativa grow but I am sold on the quality of the high. I have a few hybrides stored in the freezer but my goal is to try and search out the sativa in them and try and increase the percentage of sativa. I may never do a 18/6 cycle again, rather stick with the 12/12 cycle which is close to what sativas experience back home.

 

[Bill284]

Yea, the sativa is a different species with different characteristics than indicas. This is only my second sativa grow but I am sold on the quality of the high. I have a few hybrides stored in the freezer but my goal is to try and search out the sativa in them and try and increase the percentage of sativa. I may never do a 18/6 cycle again, rather stick with the 12/12 cycle which is close to what sativas experience back home.

I'm sorry I have no experience with them. I'd enjoy following along and watching I have so much to learn.

 

[HopHead]

I hope you do follow along. Grab a chair and enjoy some Malawi Gold that's on the table. Feel free to comment, inquire or anything else. I'd offer you a beer but I've been negligent in my beer making so I don't have any in the fridge. Maybe soon though.

 

[Bill284]

I hope you do follow along. Grab a chair and enjoy some Malawi Gold that's on the table. Feel free to comment, inquire or anything else. I'd offer you a beer but I've been negligent in my beer making so I don't have any in the fridge. Maybe soon though.

Thanks but it's been 20 odd years since I had one. But I'll definitely follow along and read more so I don't put my foot in my mouth again.

 

[HopHead]

Day 80/70 Feb 8

Didn't take any pictures today, logged measurements and observations. These pictures are from yesterday. A few more boxes to elevate some of the shorter plants to try and even out the canopy. From left to right #8, 2, 10, 5 and9.
#2 is showing trichomes on her calyxes, none on the leaves, except for an odd one here and there. I'll try and get some pics. Thinking about taking a sample and looking under a microscope. #9 is the same as #2 except hers trichomes are about half the size and calxes are less developed. #10 is developing calyxes and trichomes are in their infancy. #8 & 5's calyxes are not visible yet and therefore no visible trichomes.

Here's the line-up photo in order of growth. From left to right #2, 9, 5, 10 and 8. #2 brushing up against the wall starting to need elbow room. Today, #5 in the middle looks more like #2 & 9. In this picture she looks more like #10 & 8. The transition from stocking up to stretching.

#2 on the left and #9 on the right. #9 is following #2's footsteps. 10 days before this picture #2 was the same height as #9 is here.

Here is #9.

And here is #2 last week. Not much difference. The colors are off due to lighting.

I think I'm probably about half way through this grow. I calculated the flowering to start around day 50. That's when I could tell the difference between males and females. There was probably a week of transformation before day 50 but I'm counting from when I could see the difference in sex. So today is day 30/20 for flowering. 30 days for #2 & 5 and 20 days for # 8, 9 & 10. Eighty more days would total 110/100 days or 15 wks. and 5 days for #2 & 5 and 14 wks. 2 days for #8, 9 &10. Eighty days from now is Apr 29. We'll see how close I am. I should be in the ballpark.

Today, I recorded a 1" growth from yesterday for #2. The last 3 days she grew 1.5"/day. Before that she was growing 1.25"/day. It's too early to make much of that but I'm hoping she will slow down. She's going to keep getting taller but I just hope she slows down. It'll make everything easier if she does. # 9 is growing 1.25"/day for the last few days. I'm expecting her to speed up a bit but hopefully for not too long. #5 grew 1.25" in the last day as well but she's been growing about 0.5/day for the last number of days. She seems to be getting in the groove so I expect her to speed up as well. #8 and 10 seem to be pumping up for a spurt. Before this is over I got a feeling these ladies are going to make a jungle. Oh well, it could be worse.

My thoughts about this grow so far are good. It really is a scouting grow. I was curious what the seeds would produce. Would they be sativa dominant like their mother? Yes. Would there be different phenotypes and what differences would there be? They all look like their mother and their growth patterns seem very similar except for the timing. Because I subjected the plants to stress due to thirst I can't know if the speed and slowness is genetic or my fault. The next question I have won't be answered until after I harvest, dry, cure and sample. Will all plants produce the same product in terms of quantity and quality? In the end I will see If I want to breed another generation or if the hundreds of brothers and sisters (seeds) to these ladies are good enough.

The grow room is working out really well. I feel very fortunate in that temperatures and humidities are just about right IMO. Low temp. is 17C and highs range from around 23C if it's cold and windy outside to 27C if it's mild outside. These temps are good for Malawi Gold but would be too hot for Afghani IMO. The high will change as it gets warmer outside but all I have to do is open the grow room door a bit during lights on and close it before the lights go out. The room is upstairs and I don't have heat up there except for a space heater in the grow room so the door won't have to be open much. April will test things though.

Cheers for now.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Have you tried any LST with this cultivar?
Seems like you could have about 20 colas there instead of 1.

I've never grown a 100% pure Sativa either, but I did grow a Blue Gelato #41 that was mostly Sativa, big old 2+ foot long spears.

You are at what about 3 months from seedling?
You have a 600w from the wall LED that is less than 24" from the plant?
And I assume this is probably a very long flower cycle like 12+ weeks?

I've been kinda thinking of growing a couple of these because of their THCV content.

 

[LizardMate]

Nice Looking plants HopHead

 

[HopHead]

Have you tried any LST with this cultivar?
Seems like you could have about 20 colas there instead of 1.

I've never grown a 100% pure Sativa either, but I did grow a Blue Gelato #41 that was mostly Sativa, big old 2+ foot long spears.

You are at what about 3 months from seedling?
You have a 600w from the wall LED that is less than 24" from the plant?
And I assume this is probably a very long flower cycle like 12+ weeks?

I've been kinda thinking of growing a couple of these because of their THCV content.

No LST. 80 days from when I sowed the seeds. A 645W LED kept 18" from the canopy. Expecting anywhere from 12 - 16 weeks flowering period.

I like the sativa high and I really like the Malawi Gold high and aromas that fill the house. It took 1,000's or 10,000's of years or more for this African Landrace sativa to become what it is today. I'm not interested in trying to manipulate this species. Rather, I am interested in trying to retain its characteristics and get rid of the indica genes that were bred into this particular strain. It was sold as Malawi Gold but is actually a hybrid. With that as my basis for growing Malawi Gold I want to provide the plants with what I think they received back in Malawi. So, I feel the closer I can replicate its home the closer I can duplicate what grows in Malawi. Part of that process for me is to observe what the plant does, how it grows. In my 68 years I've learnt a few things that I wouldn't have understood when I was young. More doesn't necessarily mean better. Life is full of compromises.

 

[HopHead]

Nice Looking plants HopHead

Thanks LizardMate. Appreciate it.

 

[Nunyabiz]

No LST. 80 days from when I sowed the seeds. A 645W LED kept 18" from the canopy. Expecting anywhere from 12 - 16 weeks flowering period.

I like the sativa high and I really like the Malawi Gold high and aromas that fill the house. It took 1,000's or 10,000's of years or more for this African Landrace sativa to become what it is today. I'm not interested in trying to manipulate this species. Rather, I am interested in trying to retain its characteristics and get rid of the indica genes that were bred into this particular strain. It was sold as Malawi Gold but is actually a hybrid. With that as my basis for growing Malawi Gold I want to provide the plants with what I think they received back in Malawi. So, I feel the closer I can replicate its home the closer I can duplicate what grows in Malawi. Part of that process for me is to observe what the plant does, how it grows. In my 68 years I've learnt a few things that I wouldn't have understood when I was young. More doesn't necessarily mean better. Life is full of compromises.

Well in that case I would think of LST as a wild animal stepped on it in the wild and it grew sideways.
The genetics don't care if you train it or not.

 

[HopHead]

Well in that case I would think of LST as a wild animal stepped on it in the wild and it grew sideways.
The genetics don't care if you train it or not.

"I would think of LST as a wild animal stepped on it in the wild and it grew sideways." Ok.
"The genetics don't care if you train it or not." How do you know? And what does that mean? If you're saying training a plant doesn't affect its genes then I disagree.