Ortega run

Ortega flowers

The Ortegas have an excellent calyx to leaf ratio. I suspect they will be a breeze to trim. Time will tell. I'm letting the calyxes swell and then, Chop! I'm thinking the yield will be shite but that's ok. This was just a test run. Now I know that if I want a yield I'll have to veg a long time or cram them in. Either technique should work well for this strain as they don't appear to produce a lot of lower extraneous material. The smells are pleasant. Generic non skunky Indica. In short NL lights just like I expected. I think they will work well for imparting badass structure on lanky aromatic Sativas. I will definitely buy ten packs for sure. The quality is good enough in one pack, in ten some crazy shit should be found.

Ah, the cambos. Straight from fucking Cambodia and I'm pretty sure the impoverished Khmer people aren't importing much outside material, so it's probably legit in regards to its actual" Cambodianess". I have two different samples, #1 and #2. Sample #1 was sourced during a rooftop hostel smoke session. A very friendly Siberian traveler gave them to me in exchange for my rolling services. I fucking love Russians. They are fun. Any way I rolled a few joints out of his bag and kept the seed. Simple as that.

Cambodian #2 was sourced from my friendly and helpful Tuk Tuk driver. Dude was super cool. Got me pot and took me to temples and villages for three days. Shittily cured pot tasted horrible due to chlorophyll being locked into the sun cured immature flowers. But, it had a lemony finish. So minus all the bad handling and cultural techniques it should be nice. Uplifting soaring highs just like the books and elders say. I think I used the number 1 on the Ortega. I'll have to check the label. I've got a thread entitled" south East Asian project" that documents my unnatural lust for jungle Sativas.
 
I remember back in 'the old days' a lot of imported landraces were often poorly cured. Some of it even tasted like it had been burried in the ground for months. P., I think you just like the jungle! Can't say that I blame you there, but I am jealous! But back to Cambodian, I can't remember ever smoking any that didn't have that earthy, kinda mildew taste. High was excellent though. Did you ever find out how they cured it that made it taste so bad?
 
Didn't get to know any details. People act real skittish over there when you ask. The Siberian's sample looked bright green, unpressed and leafy as hell. Sample #2 was more golden colored but even more leaf was present. Seriously didn't even look manicured. Think sun dried ditch weed in a bag. Tasted and looked identical. Except it got you fairly high with a nice uplifting euphoric high. I think the act of not curing and lots of leaf equals shit taste. Two more months and we will see how it can taste, hopefully not like shit.
 
Roll credits..

Ortegas are hanging as we speak. My employees cut it while I was out of town so no photos. Maybe I can snap a couple of it cured. Lost one of the three prematurely due to a feed line clog. The two that I was left with looked very similar in regards to stature and floral structure. One smells very berryish. What kind of berry? Generic berry. The other is emitting a low key skunk smell. It is mild smelling until disturbed. Then straight up skunk piss. Luckily that's the one I hit with a little Cambo pollen.

The Ortega is a great plant. Easy to grow and mildew resistant. Is it still a state of the art Indica? No. For that I am grateful. It is what it is, oldschool NL Indica. Exactly what I wanted. I will be reveging them to run again and f2. I mainly plan to use it with pure Sativas for calyx to leaf ratio increases and for pollinating old northern lights cuts that it seems everyone and there weird uncle is holding here in the puget sound area. Now I just need to find a decent source for seed. I will not buy from any htcc vendors. The immature seed I payed for coupled with 70% germination was simply unacceptable. I want to buy ten packs, but if 30% fail to germinate then I'll be pissing up a rope. Anyone know if I get the seed directly from shanti, if it will be of higher quality then the swill being peddled at these htcc events by alleged MNS reps? I mean come on. Don't come to the PNW and try to play that white seed and70% germ is cool. It does not represent your company well.
 
Ortegas are hanging as we speak. My employees cut it while I was out of town so no photos. Maybe I can snap a couple of it cured. Lost one of the three prematurely due to a feed line clog. The two that I was left with looked very similar in regards to stature and floral structure. One smells very berryish. What kind of berry? Generic berry. The other is emitting a low key skunk smell. It is mild smelling until disturbed. Then straight up skunk piss. Luckily that's the one I hit with a little Cambo pollen.

The Ortega is a great plant. Easy to grow and mildew resistant. Is it still a state of the art Indica? No. For that I am grateful. It is what it is, oldschool NL Indica. Exactly what I wanted. I will be reveging them to run again and f2. I mainly plan to use it with pure Sativas for calyx to leaf ratio increases and for pollinating old northern lights cuts that it seems everyone and there weird uncle is holding here in the puget sound area. Now I just need to find a decent source for seed. I will not buy from any htcc vendors. The immature seed I payed for coupled with 70% germination was simply unacceptable. I want to buy ten packs, but if 30% fail to germinate then I'll be pissing up a rope. Anyone know if I get the seed directly from shanti, if it will be of higher quality then the swill being peddled at these htcc events by alleged MNS reps? I mean come on. Don't come to the PNW and try to play that white seed and70% germ is cool. It does not represent your company well.


Howdy Pantagruelion,

Congratulations on your grow. Keep us updated on how the berry smell develops as the bud cures.

Regarding the quality of MNS seeds, I would admit that my first thoughts when I received both La Niña and Afghan Haze seeds from the MNS auctions were not the most welcoming ones. The seeds looked immature, small, pale with no tiger stripes or whatsoever. Just a reticulated pattern.


Atm, I've germinated 10/10 on Afghan Haze and 15/15 on La Niña. I was impressed with the performance of such an immature looking seeds.

It seems like Haze-heavy plants tend to have similar looking seeds, and if both La Niña and Afghan Haze have similar looks, i'm guessing it comes from Thai. Just speculation though!

I was used to huge seeds with dark stripped patterns, most of the time.

My advice on aquiring MNS genetics is simple. If you can get them directly from Shanti, at lower prices than most retail's, why not? :D
You can also try to win some auctions, some go through at almost a fraction of what a pack costs you.

I've received Angel Heart and Mango Widow a couple of days ago, from the Auction site. The seeds were also similar to both LÑ and Hz, and I got 20 seeds on each pack. It was a bargain. :cool:

Kind regards,

TheZ
 
Yeah, you might be onto something with your Thai theory. Most of my own fully mature Thai seeds that I produce myself are not dark or tiger striped at all. Light brown to grayish. Your pictures actually look fairly mature. I've heard people theorize that these often times larger and lighter colored seeds are the affects of cultivation. Darker and often smaller mottled forms representing a sort of camouflage to help avoid detection by animals. I've also noticed that some of my freshly made, properly stored and mature Thai seed fails to germ. Some lines are around 70% successful instead of the 100% that most of my hybrids and Indicas do.

The only reason I bought at the htcc was I didn't think it would matter, why would it? I figured a company would have some sort of standard for retail products. X amount of seed for X amount of loot. I paid $70 for ten for all my packs. No extras, just a nice affordable price that was right inline with most of the other offering available from various other vendors. I hear if you buy direct more seed is given and I would also assume the man doesn't let any weak shit out. That must go to auctions or chumps like me who went to a htcc event and were unaware of the unusual business practice. Now I know. I'm just wondering how many other folks at that Seattle event now think Shanti only produces seed like this. That would have been my own impression if I was not active here. I haven't peeked at my Neville's skunk or Black Widow seed yet. Maybe they aren't so bad.
 
Yeah, you might be onto something with your Thai theory. Most of my own fully mature Thai seeds that I produce myself are not dark or tiger striped at all. Light brown to grayish. Your pictures actually look fairly mature. I've heard people theorize that these often times larger and lighter colored seeds are the affects of cultivation. Darker and often smaller mottled forms representing a sort of camouflage to help avoid detection by animals. I've also noticed that some of my freshly made, properly stored and mature Thai seed fails to germ. Some lines are around 70% successful instead of the 100% that most of my hybrids and Indicas do.

The only reason I bought at the htcc was I didn't think it would matter, why would it? I figured a company would have some sort of standard for retail products. X amount of seed for X amount of loot. I paid $70 for ten for all my packs. No extras, just a nice affordable price that was right inline with most of the other offering available from various other vendors. I hear if you buy direct more seed is given and I would also assume the man doesn't let any weak shit out. That must go to auctions or chumps like me who went to a htcc event and were unaware of the unusual business practice. Now I know. I'm just wondering how many other folks at that Seattle event now think Shanti only produces seed like this. That would have been my own impression if I was not active here. I haven't peeked at my Neville's skunk or Black Widow seed yet. Maybe they aren't so bad.

They seem mature to you because it's a macro photo, i'm guessing. To my naked eye they appeared very pale greyish and small. :eek:

You might be collecting your Thai seeds early or even your mature ones fail to germinate often?

You bought them from MNS booth? That's strange.
There are no benefits to the company on selling bad seeds so I see no reason why Shanti would do that.

A lot of seedbanks fail to properly store their seeds. A desiccant and temps around 4ºC greatly improve seed viability over time. If you bought them from a reseller you might have found the explanation for the low germination.

Hope you get 100% germination on your other seeds. I also have Neville's skunk in the fridge, but it will be a while until I can show them some dirt.

TheZ
 
Potency of Ortega?

Smoked a bongbowl of the Ortega that dried out due to a clogged drip line. Didn't look like much or smell too much due to immaturity and death stress noncure. I gotta say even under duress, it was smooth and strong as fuck. Cut through my hash high take a nap strong. The weird part was that it actually tasted a bit like dry dog food. Don't ask me how I know what that tastes like but it really did. I don't know about the other two phenos. This one was pointy. The others are more flat topped, I hope they come grooving up slowly. None of that joo-joo eyeball nor walrus gumboot. They are still curing so time will tell. The berry smelling pheno is taking on an almost meloney dimension. Can't wait to test em. The skunky pheno is more burnt tire like now. I love the fact that there is variation. Really gives you a chance to find something useful. All hail, Shantibaba for real.
 
Update?

Thanks for the read dude! Any chance for a update on the smoke? Maybe a pic of the dried bud? By the way did i see you say you were doing a reveg? How that go? Thanks a lot!

Peace
 
The first pack of MNS seeds I bought was critical mass and I thought the same thing about the seed they looked pale almost premature but that was NOT the case I had 10/10 germ first round and 7/8 germ the second round I can't remember the sex ratio on the first round but the second round only threw 2 females (but that's the way it goes- no one has control over the sex ratio with regular seed) I love MNS and all the group stands for they seem to be honest and extremely knowledgable growing their strains.
I've got a question if any knows please feel free to answer, I've never had a chance to attend a HTCC event but plan to attend one in the near future does MNS have their own booth set up at these events, I've had good luck with my seed distributor online but would love to deal directly with them in person if possible.
Thanks for any help
 
I had over 100 MNS seeds of various strains and many were small and pale and looked unripe but I think I've had 100% germination. Same with SSH I grew a few years ago. Seeds looked unripe but 100% germination with healthy plants.

All the old landrace seeds that I saw were a single colour. Many Golden Triangle were small and black (Kerala and Indonesian for example). Mexican was big and brown. Only in later years did we see mottled seed. Can't speak for the indicas because I didn't normally grow them but pure genuine Afghani (there are many types of Afghani BTW) was huge black seeds. Biggest seeds I've ever seen.

Thai... I get a bit confused here. All the early Thai seeds I ever saw in the 70's and early 80's were huge grey unmottled and unmarked seeds. Second in size to anything I've ever seen to the Afghani. Now every Thai seed these days is some tiny thing and I'm like WTF? It's as though some tiny calyx Thai strain is taking over. The Thai I used to grow had huge calyxs in loose hairy looking buds.

All these people on here growing Nev Hz with it's tiny calyx's and going "oh yeah that's the Thai alright.." Kerala and south Indian had tiny calyxs... not Thai. If you doubt my memory then check out RC Clarkes Marijuana Botany where he is quite specific about the extra large calyxs and seeds of Thai. I seem to remember he even suspects tetraploid behaviour due to the size.

So I don't really understand what's going on with the Thai strains. All these seedbanks that reckon they have genuine Thai stick Thai strains and genuine 70's Thai and Kangas and Bushweeds Thais are the best I've ever seen bar none... but something doesn't seem right with the calyxs and seed sizes. Is there a missing Thai strain out there or am I just imagining the whole thing?

scrubdog
 
Diversity

I visited Thailand last year .
The locals tell me the Kancha is not hardly grown in Thailand any more .Over the Mekong in Laos is where it happens now .
US has been allied with Thailand since the 19th century . The military were sent on eradication missions to the growing areas . During the War On Drugs .

Only ever seen a Thai Stik in a picture . Not too many imports made it to my community . We had home grown . And the hippies had no money to buy with lol . Smoked lots of stuff descended from Thai seeds over the years . But smokin the Laos weed in Thailand there was some thing special about the set and setting .

Over on IC there is a thread comparing Thai plants . The ones from up Nth West are starkly different to the ones from over in the East .Keep in mind Yunnan is just over the ranges and lots of people migrated out of China into Thailand .
 
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Ha ha ha, er make that muya ah ah. Seems all my threads have taken a turn toward the Thai. I love it. Smoked the last of my Ortega a few days ago. Meh. Yep just meh. I've vegged and will try again. Already germinated the Ortega x cambodian. Should be nice.
 
Dad ! He`s doin it again

Tried Ortega a cpl years back . Non event .
Put the last 10 seeds in water 5 days ago . I will try again ...
 
Try again sounds like a good strategy. I'm gonna try again as well. Given the parentals I was thinking it would be magical. I'm sure it's there but will take a bit more numbers. I'd love to run through a hundred and will eventually but can't really justify doing it now when I have much more reliably killer gear to sort through. I've got one that is revegged from the first run to give another go as well.
 
Yep that`d be where a Spring cleaning would be nice .
Pop the lot and get Burbank on them .

Its been a week since they went in water . No sprouts yet .
 
The Ortegas have an excellent calyx to leaf ratio. I suspect they will be a breeze to trim. Time will tell. I'm letting the calyxes swell and then, Chop! I'm thinking the yield will be shite but that's ok. This was just a test run. Now I know that if I want a yield I'll have to veg a long time or cram them in...
Did you flower them under the flouro's? I was looking for some bud pics in the thread but couldn't find any?
 
Flowered under 600wt hps ushio red and ushio opti blu conversion bulbs alternating one lamp per meter. No pics in flower this run. I was out of town the last half of flowering. An employee attempted it but they were dark silhouettes. I just burnt the last nug hoping a bit of time on the cure would improve the situation. It didn't. First time I've ever grown bad beaster type indica. I'm hoping my employees fucked it up and turns out better next run. Structure was there odor and flavor were not present after curing and smoking.
 
Could you kindly read the post I made directly above yours, SE. I'll be sure to get some extra nice pics of the Ortega female that I selected. It was revegged and will be cloned eventually. Honestly not up there very high on my list of strains to run again. I will run it again inside and out just to be sure that it isn't desirable for commercial use. I also have crosses to run that might prove the Ortega to be of value for breeding purposes, but itself is rather meh if not full blown blah. I certainly couldn't market any of the phenos I found at any of the local shops. Not sexy looking or smelling enough I'm afraid.
 
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