Mandala Seeds Kalichakra and Satori

[SnowWhite]

Yeah, I used 2 x 125W blue envirolites for vegging in my cupboard and I will be using them again. Worked good for me. Can you stretch to second 200W??....that would work VERY nicely in a double reflector!!

I'll check out the Which articles, hadn't thought of looking there actually, thanks.....then I'm going to Blooms and am going to read the back of all their soil bags to see what I like the look of. I can't buy any yet though as I'm skint! But I should be able to get my Satori and Hashberry started next week when I have some money to get the soil.

Peat is an organic material, its just not so eco friendly to remove it from marshes etc, so I guess that's what why the soil association don't approve its use in soil mixes. I wouldn't think twice about planting a hanging basket up using a peat based mix, so there's certainly no moral reason why I shouldn't use it for my ganga! I'd use the canna soil again with a few tweaks if it wasn't 15 quid a bag!!

 

[babygro]

Yeah, I used 2 x 125W blue envirolites for vegging in my cupboard and I will be using them again. Worked good for me. Can you stretch to second 200W??....that would work VERY nicely in a double reflector!!

Sure, I could put another 200w in there, but I just don't think you need 400w of enviro's to veg 8 plants - it's more the light spread I'm interested in, which 2 x 125w's would do a better job.

I'll check out the Which articles, hadn't thought of looking there actually, thanks.....then I'm going to Blooms and am going to read the back of all their soil bags to see what I like the look of. I can't buy any yet though as I'm skint! But I should be able to get my Satori and Hashberry started next week when I have some money to get the soil.

It's hard to advise you on which one to get as I'm as confused as the next person - the compost companies keep changing their formulations without telling anyone. J A Bowers Multipurpose compost (not the one with added John Innes) I beleive is a good one, but only that one. Also B&Q Multi-purpose compost is supposed to be good as well. To be honest, from what I've been reading, I'd stay clear of the Westland products with the Advanced West+ in them as a lot of the problems people have been having is stemming from the time that was introduced. Might be a coincidence or not, but people have been having problems growing Canna in Westland products since the formulation change.

Peat is an organic material, its just not so eco friendly to remove it from marshes etc, so I guess that's what why the soil association don't approve its use in soil mixes. I wouldn't think twice about planting a hanging basket up using a peat based mix, so there's certainly no moral reason why I shouldn't use it for my ganga! I'd use the canna soil again with a few tweaks if it wasn't 15 quid a bag!!

Of course peats organic and yes, that's pretty much why the Soil Association have decided it isn't organic or at least doesn't fit in with their 'organic principles'.

The Canna and Allmix soils are both great composts, that's not in doubt really although I've never tried the Canna, I've heard its similar to the Biobizz one. As you say though, at the prices being charged for them and the hassle and cost of having to collect the stuff means (in my mind at least) they'd have to be worth that in terms of performance and for me the Allmix certainly wasn't. That may not all be down to Allmix, my water is medium hard and for some reason Allmix doesn't seem to like hard water, now that might be because the Allmix starting EC is already at 2.4 which is pretty high already, now add in 0.8+ EC of hard tap water and you start getting an EC of 3.2, when you should only be feeding at something like 0.8-1.0 EC.

I'd love to try Allmix with RO water, as I think you'd really see Allmix at its best then would be interesting to do a test grow between Allmix and RO water and say one of the better peforming common composts like J A Bowers MP and see if the Allmix performs 2-3 times as well!

What's interesting is that both the Canna and Allmix soils are listed as being organic yet have peat in them. So technically they're not organic by the Soil Association parameters and therefore do not have organic status in this country. However, they do conform to the EC and European Organic certification bodies, as they clearly do not have a moral problem with the way peat is sourced.

 

[Wavels]

Excellent journal babygro....
I am quite intrigued with Mandalas genetics...I checked on seed boutique and they are all under $30 US for the packs...some are only $17!
I think I am going to indulge myself with a few of Mandalas strains!
Thanks for the heads up!
Good luck on the completion of your grow!

 

[SnowWhite]

Sure, I could put another 200w in there, but I just don't think you need 400w of enviro's to veg 8 plants - it's more the light spread I'm interested in, which 2 x 125w's would do a better job.

Fair enough....like I say, 2 x 125W worked well for me. It was perfect for vegging my 6 plants.

It's hard to advise you on which one to get as I'm as confused as the next person - the compost companies keep changing their formulations without telling anyone. J A Bowers Multipurpose compost (not the one with added John Innes) I beleive is a good one, but only that one. Also B&Q Multi-purpose compost is supposed to be good as well.

Yep, I've been looking at the J Arhtur Bowers range too. I bet the B&Q stuff is good value as well, thanks, I'll check it out.

What's interesting is that both the Canna and Allmix soils are listed as being organic yet have peat in them. So technically they're not organic by the Soil Association parameters and therefore do not have organic status in this country. However, they do conform to the EC and European Organic certification bodies, as they clearly do not have a moral problem with the way peat is sourced.

Yeah man...and I bet it's not 15 quid a bag in The Netherlands either! My plants did love the Canna stuff though. With the exception of the freak one which had some MG and P problems I now believe, but I don't think that was the fault of the soil, this plant just was a little bit more hungry than all my others and I did not respond to it when needed. I've got myself an EC truncheon off eBay (from China, very cheap!) so I'll be monitoring these levels for my next grow when watering and feeding.

 

[babygro]

Excellent journal babygro....
I am quite intrigued with Mandalas genetics...I checked on seed boutique and they are all under $30 US for the packs...some are only $17!
I think I am going to indulge myself with a few of Mandalas strains!
Thanks for the heads up!
Good luck on the completion of your grow!

Thanks Wavels.

I don't think you'll be disapointed with Mandala's genetics - they're a fresh change from the indoor over-bred Dutch genetics which are just based around a dozen or so tried and tested strains. Mandalas are fresh genetics collected from all over the world and grown outside and bred in Spain. Don't be fooled by the cheap price, these aren't cheap and nasty seeds and plants, these are properly bred and developed genetics with dominant growth and nutrient uptake traits deliberately bred into the lines. Take a browse through their website and take a look at some of their strains - there's not a huge variety to choose from, but each one has been individually bred for specific traits and they all share common characteristics eg vigourous growth patterns, large leaves, efficient nutrient uptake, low feeding requirements and resistance to mould and heat stress. Because of this they're relatively easy to grow.

Mandala Seeds beleives strongly in allowing everyone, no matter who they may be access to quality Canna genetics at a price everyone can afford. Profits are not their primary concern, customer delight and strong healthy plants is. They make a fresh change from the increasingly greedy profiteering Dutch breeders.

I've been very pleased with the progress of my Mandala strains, given optimal growing conditions and care I beleive these plants are capable of outstanding results and aren't that hard to grow.

Ace seeds (AceSeeds) also do some interesting strains too, very much along the lines of Mandala and I beleive they grow outside in Spain as well. Ace are more expensive than Mandala and their prices have increased recently. I still think the Ace strains represent good value for money in terms of the strains they offer but are less attractive now since they increased their prices.

 

[babygro]

Okay update time.

So its day 35 from popping the soil surface for Satori 2,3,4 and Kalichakra 1,2,3,4 and 30 days from popping the soil surface for Satori 1.

Not much has happened really apart from a growth spurt after their repotting which wasn't too much of a surprise. I've given them one plain watering each since their repotting and no nutrients. They'll need watering again in the next couple of days.

Whilst most look perfectly happy and healthy there's a couple of the taller growers (which may well be males) with a small amount of yellowing and browning on the tips of the first single pair of leaves, no other leaves are affected. I suspect this may just be a fungus due to the leaf being so close to the soil and getting wet most waterings but I think they could all do with a little greening up and small amount of nutrient boost through perhaps a fishmix foliar spray. I also need to get some new pots so I may get them and some fishmix at the same time this week.

The couple of pics show how much they've grown and all the Kalichakra are at the back and Satori at the front. From height and lower growth I'd say 3 of the 4 Satori's look female, of the Kalichakras it's hard to say because they're all tall, but some seem to be getting taller than others and based on that and under growth I'd say at the moment there's 2/2 female to male. Hard to tell at the moment, but it's worth noting things down and comparing to when you know their sexes.

 

[KushMaster85]

WOW Finaly a grow journal from you! Everything looks good. I found a little reading on your strains you have there:
Satori and Kalichakra have a taller pheno which expresses the most sativa qualities. These plants tend to stretch more and flower longer which in turn leads to higher yields. The effect also differs from the shorter pheno. If you are aiming for maximum yield you will find that the taller pheno in these strains has the greatest potential. Aroma, taste, and effect are a matter of personal preference among growers. You would have to sample your plants to find out which is your favourite.
Great grow and please keep us posted!
Roll One Up For You.

 

[babygro]

WOW Finaly a grow journal from you! Everything looks good.

Hiya KushMaster

Thanks for your kind words. This is the first grow I've done that could be followed from the start since joining the site, hence why you've not seen any journals from me before now.

Great grow and please keep us posted!

Thanks for the info on the different phenotypes. Do you have an information on the lighter green pheno? IS this the taller one they refer to?

Thanks again and I'll certainly keep this one going to the end hopefully.

 

[babygro]

Day 39, start of the 7th week from popping the soil surface.

The slight leaf yellowing I mentioned earlier turned out to be Mg deficiency as I was expecting. It only affected the very lowest leaves on most of the plants and these have now come off. I watered them all today with 1 tablespoon of epsom salts per 4 litres of water and 0.5 mil Biobizz grow per Litre of water, just to give them an N pep.

So that confirms it pretty much in my mind - the Mg deficiency problems I had on the last grow and now starting on this one is down to my tap water and not the Biobizz Allmix soil I used last time as I used two different composts this time. Dissapointly enough, that was also what i was expecting as I already knew my tap water was hard and obviously has quite a lot of disolved Calcium Carbonate salts in it and this is what's causing the problem. An excess of Calcium can lockout other nutrients and this is exactly what it's doing to the Mg, as Canna uses quite large quantities of Mg which is usually available in the soil (particularly as I added Dolomite Lime this time as well) but unavailable to the plant due to an excess of Calcium.

The only alternative I have now to fix this, is to use, at least in the short term, 50/50 tap water and bottled mineral water and continue with the epsom salts and in the longer term to get an RO machine.

Other than that, they're coming on well and growing so fast and tall that I'm going to have to repot them into larger pots ready for flowering. Because of the limited space I have (I can't flower 8 plants in my space) I have to repot them into 3.5L pots to fit 8 plants in that space and then once I've sexed them (hopefully within the first 2-3 weeks of 12/12) I can repot the females into the 6.5L pots and discard the males. It's not ideal to repot in flowering and I certainly don't recommend others do it, but due to my space restrictions I have no alternative. I'll use some Superthrive and Seaweed extract when watering after the repot to help releive transplant stress. If it's done within the first 2-3 weeks of flowering there's usually minimal harm done.

I've been looking at the plants quite carefully for signs of sex and so far there are no pre-flowers on any of the plants. My only guide is height, amiount of growth and side branching developing at the bottom of the plant and general leaf size and span. From those three criteria my estimation is 3/4 Satori and 2/4 Kalichakra females. The Kalichakra's are particularly difficuly to distinguish in terms of height as they're all pretty much the same height, but the undergrowth and leaf patterns are more of an indication. I find height as an indicator a bit confusing, as in my first Sensi Star grow I had 2 out of 3 males and whilst one was certainly taller than the other two, one was the same height as the female.

I'll need to start taking some clones next week with a view to putting them into flower at the end of the week.

 

[skunkushybrid]

They should start showing soon... good to see everything is fine. And this is a reminder to me that I need to update my own journals. Just had a lot going on lately. Sorry if I seem a bit off.

 

[recvryjst42day]

Very nice! Keep it up man!

 

[KushMaster85]

Everything is looking good. No sorry I did not find nething about the light green verses darker. It could be that one of the phenos may require more of some nutrient hence causing the lighter color or just part of the pheno. Please keep us posted.

 

[skunkushybrid]

Yes Kush. When you grow from seed it stands to reason that each plant will need to be treated differently. Personally, I don't bother... if the plant aint strong enough then it don't deserve to live anyway.

 

[jimbo_jim]

Skunk, u sound such a heartless bastard!!! j/k

 

[GoodFriend]

great grow baby!

actually, it was this journal that made me look into and eventually decide on the mandala seeds as the ones for me next grow... (satori and hashberry for me)

can't wait to see the girls in flowering action, and see the end result (especially of the satori for obvious reasons)

i was wondering... have you ever grown the mandala stuff before? so far its looking like quite the gem, especially for the price (off their site nothing is more than 20bucks US i think!)

best of luck buddy!!!

 

[nongreenthumb]

I think I may well pick up the sadhu, that looks quite nice to me.

 

[GoodFriend]

ngt, check out their mandala #1 strain... it looks scrumptious

 

[babygro]

Everything is looking good. No sorry I did not find nething about the light green verses darker. It could be that one of the phenos may require more of some nutrient hence causing the lighter color or just part of the pheno. Please keep us posted.

Thanks KushMaster

Whilst I certainly agree with both yourself and Skunky regarding individual plants needing to be treated as individuals, rather than all the same, I very much doubt that's the cause of the lighter green pheno. It's far more likely to be the genetics of the hybrid, the darker green and wider leaf colour is clearly coming from the Indica in the hybrid which is the dominant leaf trait.

Even with F1 hybrids there's still a fair amount of variety in the phenos and in my opinion the lighter green leaf colour is coming from the Sativa in the hybrid, which is why I'm curious about it.

I'm still awaiting a reply to a mail I sent to Mike at Mandala about it.

Thanks for your input.

 

[babygro]

Yes Kush. When you grow from seed it stands to reason that each plant will need to be treated differently. Personally, I don't bother... if the plant aint strong enough then it don't deserve to live anyway.

Skunky

The point you make is a good one. However, many people are extremely reluctant to chuck out slower growing plants when they're paying upwards of 50-60 quid for 10 seeds, particularly when you consider the female to male ratios. It's understandable people are reluctant to do this, however with the Mandala lower prices, it makes it easier to do that and be more ruthless when you consider the lower cost of the seeds.

There's a lot to be said for shunning the over-priced, over-bred and over-hyped genetics pouring out of Holland for honest and straight forward genetics derived from land race strains, grown outdoors in Spain marketed at prices that everyone can afford.

The chances of finding a 'keeper' out of 20 cheap seeds is far greater than one from 10 expensive ones.

Regarding the 'lighter' green Satori pheno, that germinated behind all the others, I'm hoping it's female because if it is, it would make a great mother plant. That lighter green pheno is out-growing all the other plants despite starting behind them all, it's this that makes me wonder if it may be male, it will be a shame if it is because it's so vigourous and fast growing.

It also had by far the best developed rootball of all the plants when I repotted them, no wonder it's growing so quickly.

 

[babygro]

great grow baby!

actually, it was this journal that made me look into and eventually decide on the mandala seeds as the ones for me next grow... (satori and hashberry for me)

can't wait to see the girls in flowering action, and see the end result (especially of the satori for obvious reasons)

i was wondering... have you ever grown the mandala stuff before? so far its looking like quite the gem, especially for the price (off their site nothing is more than 20bucks US i think!)

best of luck buddy!!!

Cheers L-ian !

Glad to see you decided to try some Mandala genetics, from my own experience of them (not smoked any yet though) they're pretty vigourous growers and seem pretty easy to grow - I don't see any real problems for people growing them.

I think you'll be pleased with the Satori - I've read nothing but goof reports about Satori as a plant and as a smoke. Hashberry I know less about but, I do know that it was listed in the top 10 Strains of 2006 by High Times Magazine I think it was - so it comes with a pretty good pedigree.

The problem with the Mandala Strains is that they all sound so good - it's tough choosing which ones to grow out! It was a little easier for me because I was looking for a Sativa high primarily but in an 'easy to grow' strain and both Satori and Kalichakra both fit that bill. Depending on what they yield and smoke like, I may try a couple of the other Mandala strains in the next grow.

This is my first time growing Mandala Strains, but I've read nothing but good things about both the genetics, the smoke and the breeder - so I'm looking forward to this one.