Ortega and Hermies 2015? - Any experience by you guys?

Broseidon

Active member
Howdy folks,

I am planning on growing some Ortega soon and read through the "Herm City" thread.

Apparently the consensus (by morphote I believe it was) was ultimately that they hermied without human error but that it did not ruin the potency or anything else but the smoke was still above and beyond expectation etc. etc.

The line of thought that "hermying is not the end of the world" and hermied plants can still produce primo ganja suits me. Got no issue with that.

But I was wondering if others have experienced the hermie trait with Ortega as I will grow it together with other strains which are not supposed to get seeded unplanned.

So if the Ortega is still known to hermie in 2015/2016, I would hold off until I can make a pure Ortega run. If they hermie and pollinate each other, at least I know it's all Ortega and not randomized crosses.

Or was that an isolated incident/bad pack/unknown circumstances with morphotes "Herm City" situation?

Stay frosty my friends

Broseidon out
 
My experience with Ortega.

Hi Broseidon ,i ran Ortega once in 2014 and once in 2015.
Everything went well .Flowering time is 65-70 days , a little longer than the official description. Otherwise ,it's just happiness !
It's definitely one of my favorite Mr. Nice strains and I will also grow this year !
Peace
 
Apparently the consensus (by morphote I believe it was) was ultimately that they hermied without human error but that it did not ruin the potency or anything else but the smoke was still above and beyond expectation etc. etc.
A consensus is not one person's opinion, it is more than one person.

The line of thought that "hermying is not the end of the world" and hermied plants can still produce primo ganja suits me. Got no issue with that.

Hermy prone seeds/clones totally suck, and I believe I can get a consensus for that.

I'd need more than this thread to convince me that Ortega is a poor strain. I've read a lot of good things from good growers.
 
People gonna believe what they wanna believe.
It sometimes brings out the worst in us...

Where's the trust brotherman?
I grew an Ortega last summer that'd put hair on your chest.


M
 
Oh I am not saying that "I don't trust in Ortega" or sth.

I bought 2 packs and would grow them hermy or not.

Just wanted to know if others had the same experience as Morphote or what his name was/is and if so anything recent.

Just so I know if I should expect hermies. Which again, I wouldn't mind, I would just make it a pure Ortega run.

With you guys' feedback I feel confident to run the Ortega along other strains.

@Shovelhandle
My bad, I should have said "conclusion" instead of consensus.
Engrish no es mi primero language.

@ruzeone
Thanks bro.
Ya I don't worry too much about listed flowering times.
In my opinion it's an indicator, not a set number. +- 10 days seems absolutely reasonable to me.
 
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Well when you figure they sell like 1 pack a week at the auction alone and only one guy years ago screamed herm city, lol " I'm the greatest grower in the world never make mistakes " I tend to think someone fucked up otherwise we would have a bunch of people bitching about hermies.
 
I would anticipate hermies and then therefore be vigilant and check the plants regularly...be sure you have the room dialed in and you will find out for yourself whether its the genes or the grower...i know morphote is a mighty fine grower however that does not mean mistakes were not made...i had a pack in the fridge for over a year and feel the strain requires more attention and effort that i have had available...try em out and let us know! I think that we don't hear much about the line because there are so many new ones with very little documentation, strains available for almost 3-5yrs have few reviews like the Rock N Roll Series, NL5xAfg, Ortega and a few other new ones...i keep waiting for new reports to help decide what to do next however i may have to be the first on the frontier with some of these lines i have in the fridge
 
Will do, just will take time.

I set my sights on "Shit" for my first run to get back into the groove. But I wanted to run 50/50 Shit/Ortega. Still a bit undecided, might go with ASH or something instead.

We will see, reports will come in a few months.
 
I enjoyed growing ortega, always wanted to try it as one of the finest pics I've ever seen of any plant ever was this strain 20 years back.

From seed I grew the plants to as big as I could allow and trimmed all lower growth, they grew out fine with no ladyboyz as did one run of cuts i did .
Didn't really fit well in my small grow so let her slide away.
 
I also got some feedback by other grows via pm and other boards or by mail and such.

The opinions are unanimous: While Ortega can be a bit finicky and should be given the necessary attention (trimming the lower branches has been mentioned several times), hermies are not an inherent issue with the strain.
It also will provide what is advertised and there is definitely knock-out indica to be found as well as overall desirable gems of plants.

I'm very much looking forward to grow out my 2 packs of Ortega but it is on a waiting list behind a bunch of other strains that will come first.
 
One thing I learned a long time ago: you are always going to get a negative reaction when you tell people something they don't want to hear or believe, EVEN IF IT IS THE TRUTH. I was and am an avid supporter of MNS and all of its seed lines. Ortega was and is some of the best cannabis I have grown. Whether you blame me or not, my account is the truth. Both Nevil's and Shantis assessment of Ortega was that "you can't throw out the baby with the bath water", meaning this strain is sensitive and can herm, information I wish I had before I grew the seed. I don't blame anyone, and I maintain the genetics are superior EVEN WITH possible sensitivity issues. I would recommend this cultivar to anyone, and I would hope everyone posts as honest an account as mine. Trust me when I say posting my findings was not an easy thing to do. I knew what might happen. Take that for what it's worth, and good luck to you.

M.
 
The short answer is yes

I hope this post finds all whom read it healthy and living comfortably in a safe and peaceful place. To all others ...hang in there.

I ran 5 seeds the first time. 1 feme & 4 males. The lone female didn't hermie. She was super sleepy just didn't have a good terpene profile imho. Not bad just not any taste at all. Cloned it several times was a bit better each time in yield & shorter bloom time. I stopped after 4 rounds of her.

Next run of 3 yielded 1 lady. She was nearly identical to first female last run. No thanks.

Just ran 5 again. Wow, 5 females. #5 hermied late and was similar to first two females in prev runs. "Herm" pollinated #2 of 5 it was similar to other prev females. #1 had very intense sweet fruity scent but flavor didn't match her scent. She was quick to bloom as was #3. Both #1 & #3 were in a race to finish AND see how big they could get.

Now, let me tell about #3. She is a something to marvel my friends! Yes, indeed. This girl is the one I have been waiting for. Reminds me of the best Afghani I ever smoked. Heads up: It will proceed you when you walk into a crowded room so have her locked down airtight. Still may not contain this reakness.

She is a late starter out of veg but once in bloom and established she takes off. She turned a light shade of purple in her close knit leaves and some in her calyaxes(sp?) a week before I harvested her. #1 & #3 I cut at 8 weeks #2 & #4 at 9 weeks.

Back to #3. While in bloom, she is dank smelling. She has a MKS/Skunk shunk pheno type scent except WITHOUT broadcasting herself to the whole neighborhood like the MKS/Skunk skunk pheno I mentioned.

She tastes like she smells also. Watch out she'll take your breath away. Not in a harsh way but in an "I'm gonna kick your ass" kind of way. Which she just might if you're a lightweight.

She's not as sleepy as I need but that will happen next round when I let her get a lot of amber trichome heads. I feel she will not lose a whole of her terpene profile either as her flavor is that intense. Keeping fingers crossed on both areas.

These last five were all harvested on the early early side of the "window" meaning less than 50% milky trichomes. All but #5 were kept as clones. #1 clone was veg'd and in bloom before #2 & #4 from seed were even finished blooming! #3 clone went to bloom a week later.

#1 could be one of those 6 week girls the rate she running at.

#4 is very unique. She packs a punch right out of the gate. Can't describe her taste yet but I'll get back to you on her in the near future. Unlike any other Ortega so far.

I can't cast negativity on a strain I didn't take care of properly. Most cases will be my error I admit. #5 she could've been stressed here & there. All 5 got heat stressed a few times. Only #5 hermied. I had one incident when humidity got to 65% & unfortunately I pushed them too hard in bloom(630 ppm) and their leaf tips burnt pretty bad. Second rounders #1 & #3 are cruising along quite well at 420 ppm in bloom. Go figure.

This round's nutrients were Maxigrow & Maxibloom granulated. I used Jack's Blossom booster 10-30-20 twice in bloom. They all work well and I highly recommend them. But I just switched to the 25lb bags of Growmore Mendocino line. Veg, Bloom, and Hula. due to cost savings and shelf life.
If you haven't tried granular.....

I transitioned the nutes versus a hard change the second go round on their clones and #1 & #3 are responding a whole lot better.

Can't report to you about yield yet until I get these ladies 100% dialed in.

To wrap this long post up I'm obviously keeping #3. I'm likely to keep #4 at least several more rounds. #1 & #2 will go once more also. I have to give every new strain from seed a 2nd & 3rd chance as I always find them better the next go round. They teach me better as we get better acquainted.

I'm indoor since '01. 100% DWC. Sunleaves non round big rocks in 6" net lids 5 gal black buckets.
Discharge water from my RO filter. It's 210 ppm from 140 ppm tap.
1000W HPS on 9' ceiling in a 6' x 5' bloom room w/12.25 hours off
400W MH as a launch pad @18/6 Born from super starter plugs.
A ton of fresh air properly vented & filtered. Pretty fairly managed temps.

Any questions?

Thanks Shanti & Nevil & crew. RIP Mr Marks.
 
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Hi Broseidon.
This is old thread, did you get around to running your Ortega yet?
Electro, cool post. Great info on your grow.
 
what herms?

Finishing up half dozen plants right now. Two more weeks to go. Two main phenos. Beautiful, strong, fragrant. A different smell pervades the house. Nice- I like it. Can't wait. And then on to nl5/afghan and critical mass! All good medicine. Life is good braddahs. Aloha, M
 
Ortega, coir/perlite, salts, veg inside from seed little over a month, Boxing Day put into flower, lights on 8pm off 7am.. first week January (Australian summer) plants had to be relocated. Ortega was put outside into dirt... stressed the plant out obviously and it did nothing for few weeks.. as quick as it showed it was going to reveg, the plant went back to flower.. reading some threads, I'm surprised at what I'm not seeing and happy with what I am.. I'm not sure how bad the apparent issue is in the strain but I can say it's not in all of the plants that come from the seed.. I'm not sure I could have stressed it out any more,lol..
 
From my recent and a little more in-depth experience with Critical Mass it seems to me that many strains seem to hermy if you don't lollypop them/defoliate the lower parts of the plant.

My theory is that lollypopping has been a core technique for many, many growers, including MRN, that has been implemented for so long on so many strains that many start to be stressed and hermy if you don't do it.

I only ever got hermies on lower budsites, across multiple strains, when I didn't defoliate.

Ever since I am lollypopping more vigorously, I have not seen an issue.

From what I remember having read about it, this is apparently the same with Ortega.

Lollypop/defoliate the lower part of the plant and hermies seem to be no issue.
But if you grow it naturally, I have seen them pop up on the lower popcorn buds across several phenotypes of several MRN strains.
 
To me that sounds like a lighting issue. Type lights and watts running square foot? Don't have these problems outdoors... read some of herm threads, now wondering if the reported issues are coming from indoor grows? Worth checking out actually, if so, then we know where the issue is..
 
I did have lighting issues the first few rounds but have since fixed them.

I also note this round that the lower budsite hermies are not on all plants. Some definitely are more subject to it than others.

When I defoliated/lollypopped them, some plants had already considerable amounts of nanners/male pollen sacs while others had none.

The 2 plants I eyed as keepers had none at all.

I still have other stress factors in my setup and it is far from perfect, I actually have major issues to iron out still so I am not discounting the possibility of it being due to errors on my end.

Just sharing what I found.
 
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