Ortega: Indoor Grow Journal

Ortega: Finale

...and here are the 9 weekers

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Flowering_Week_9_8-1_.JPG
 
Ortega: Finale

More 9 week plants.

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Flowering_Week_9_2-1_.JPG

That's it. Now you've seen them Scrog's SOG Style. Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned in for a smoke report in the next couple of days.
 
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Ortega Smoke Report

Friday, Hyenas and the Cure for a Double Life​

It’s Friday and this is as good of a beginning as you’ll get to my tale. Some would say that Friday is hope. For those who live blue collar lives, no further explanation is needed. For those who don’t; let me try to clarify. Friday is like rain. It’s a day that can take your withered old soul and fill it with life again. It’s the beginning of your 2 day per week life as you dreamed it could be. Unfortunately, the world has grown cold and Friday has been calling in sick lately...fast forward.

Project timelines, hyenas laugh, expense reports, notebook audits, budget cuts, misery, design files and fakes smiles...fast forward. I could swear this tie is choking me. I loosen it but I still find a deep breath elusive. I talk 401(k)s, Jon Stewart, and the upcoming triathlon with my colleagues and it’s all I can do to keep up the façade that ensures my family the life I never had. Short of the excruciating pain, I imagine this to be like cancer...fast forward. The clock strikes five and I’m stuck in traffic...fast forward.

I take off my shoes and noose and sit down with the kids to hear about their day. Their love makes me better. The phone suddenly rings and it’s a bill collector reminding me to pay up for my son’s $1,200 dollar echocardiogram. I’ve had enough. This Friday is no friend of mine and I’m ready to fight.

I’ve been planning on this show down for months and my secret weapon is ready. It’s the fourth jar from the left. In this jar is a plant named Ortega. This particular plant is the 4th of 7 sisters that I had the pleasure of raising. She was not the smallest, but she was far from the largest. There were times when I didn’t give her the attention she deserved. Nevertheless, she would not relent. She continued to show her strength in spite of my neglect. For 63 days of her life, she flowered and to touch her was akin to filling the room with sweet floral life draped in ripe fruit. While she could and should have gone on longer, safety protocols called for an end to her mission.

For 2 months, she lay in darkness. And now on this day, this wretched Friday, it was time to release her. I open her jar and a wave of sweet peppermint candy hits me right in the face. I’ve never smelled a plant quite like her. Just her sent forces the corners of mouth upward. I hurriedly grind up a piece of her essence. In defiance, she releases the smell of musk and meat. Now, I’m worried and I wrap her in the comfort of an organic paper blanket. This returns her to a calm state and she accepts the finality of what she must do. I place her in my mouth and draw. By the gods, the taste remains; peppermint candy. Neither flame nor ash remove the flavor.

Ten minutes later I’m at the dinner table and one of my sons smiles at me with love so pure that only a child could know. He understands that my mind, body, and spirit have found peace. How, I don’t know, but the stuff that builds up on a man is gone. I can see the world again as it should be seen for the next 2 hours. I am relaxed and my mind swims in euphoria. It reminds me of an experience with another plant named Blueberry, but this is stronger...fast forward.

Streetlights glisten off the grass as the exodus of the day’s heat forces droplets of water to gather on each blade. It’s a perfect evening; one of those evenings you only experience a couple times each spring and autumn. I wish I could live forever in this moment. I need sleep though, and in spite of a wonderful evening, nagging aches and pains may make the transition difficult. I decide to have at it with another round of Ortega. It’s a heavy session and after 5 minutes I’m afraid her strength has waned. After 10 minutes, I stand corrected. I lay on the couch to enjoy and begin to melt. No sink. Like in a movie I’ve seen but just can’t place the name of it. It doesn’t matter. Thought quickly begins to swirl downward into the black whirlpool of sleep. Using every last ounce of will I have, I’m able to find bed. I don’t even notice the beautiful woman next to me. In my last moments, I vaguely remember thinking to myself “Life is good”. In that moment, there was no double life. No corporate hyenas. No noose. Just freedom. And with a smile on my face, I finally disappear.
 
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Awe what a evening my friend.. Sounds like a good one brother. Love your style Scrog. Happy fathers day bro.
 
ahhh. scrog. what a wonderful window into your life. you are so appreciated here, by many more than me, I am sure. happy father's day!

vajra
 
Thanks Friends!

I'm really glad you guys liked the smoke report. I tried the smoke report template that gets passed around on various sites and it just felt so detached from the truth of my experience. This time I wanted to try something different and it was a lot of fun to put together. It was an honest assessment of how the "Peppermint Pheno" of this strain affected me on a personal level. I really hope more people find this phenotype. What a regret not re-vegging it has turned into. Live and learn. This is my grail indica...so far. Definitely need to purchase myself 2-3 more packs to save for the future.
 
Just found some really immature seeds in an Ortega bud. So at some point one of my plants must have pulled out the ol' evolutionary late stage defense mechanism. Fine by me! Just the plant doing what it needs. So not complaining. I'm just putting this info out there for those who may throw a fit to find a hermi. You may find one but keep this in mind. How can you fault a plant for doing what it was designed to naturally do? The condition only becomes a negative when its forced into a plant by bad breeding practices and consistently appears or a plant has a mutation causing early flower sex reversal.
 
wow

Scrog,

Wonderful report...You had me rolling along with that one. I almost felt like I was toking the Ortega, but then I realized I was weedless...lol. Best to you friend...Ns
 
Scrog,

Wonderful report...You had me rolling along with that one. I almost felt like I was toking the Ortega, but then I realized I was weedless...lol. Best to you friend...Ns

Thank you. What are you doing with no cannabis around when you got all that pain to deal with?
 
well...

Scrog,

Not really in a position to grow. A child out of Dare thought to say something that shouldn't have been said. Thinking they would gain what they wanted. So I had to temporarily abort all projects. This is a very bad ploace to get caught. So for now. I had to err on the side of caustion. Best to you...Ns
 
Spectacular grow/smoke report. Great photos. I saved them for referencing when I grow my own Ortegas (hope you don't mind).

Odd question, but what font is that?
 
Thanks Reason. I'm glad you like the report. That western feeling font is called "Bleeding Cowboy".
 
Relocation Bump

Just bumping this thread to request it be moved to it's new home in the Ortega subforum.
 
and before the moving van comes, i would also like to compliment this grower and ask one question. your online handle (scrog) may be spot on cause this appears to be an ideal plant for either scrog or a sog unless photos are not telling the whole story? peace-biteme
 
and before the moving van comes, i would also like to compliment this grower and ask one question. your online handle (scrog) may be spot on cause this appears to be an ideal plant for either scrog or a sog unless photos are not telling the whole story? peace-biteme

Thank you for checking out the thread. This plant will definitely produce large central colas if trimmed for SOG. Because I went SOG, I can't personally attest to its ability in the ScrOG method but check out the Ortega grow by Medicine Man (the MNS member). He grew some out and I believe he topped them. Just pulling a picture out of memory but he got some pretty great branching by doing so.
 
Hey Scrog!
Did you mention in the thread which pheno was the peppermint pheno?

Cheers,
Sensi13

After looking back through my notes and pictures I believe the peppermint pheno came from this plant...

Flowering_Week_8_1-1_.JPG


...which is the same as the one on the left here.

9-1.jpg



...Which was surprising. Not sure why but I would have expected it from the short super-dense indica looking plant with all the pretty colors. Not the tall plant with pyramidal bud structure leaning on the airy side. Then again, I think BucketBong said he found some of his favorite bud in a northern lights plant that looked exactly like this.
 
Hermaphrodites

Anyone got any ideas where the hermaphrodite trait comes from in this strain? Seems to have a genetic disposition for it as I've read of it occurring in quite a few grows. (Medince Man, Resinfinger, Joe King Park and myself)
 
How's it going scrog? Here's a quote from my thread by nev. Hope that helps a little. What's next on your plate?


I skipped back a few pages, but I can't work it all out.
If some one is saying that they got hermies stress testing Indicas, I'd believe it. Sk1 and ML(ort) lines have thrown hermies before. What you going to do, throw the baby out with the bath water?
When ever I got hermies I blame the male. Lots of females can produce pollen. You can't throw them all out. As a breeder I've progeny tested many males on the same female. Some exacerbate the problem some suppress it.
N.
 
No ass licking here but:


Plants 9/10
Pictures 9/10
Posts infos and comments 9/10


That should give you a good 9/10 overall thread note Scrog.

Thank you for this one it was a great read.

All the best.


PS:what program do u use to write comments on your pics?
 
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