Mack's Dr. Greenthumb Iranian G13 Outside Grow

Hello RIU'ers!

Living in northern New England and having a short growing season means outdoor growers need to be careful of what genetics we pick up. Typically wet falls coupled with frost showing its face around the first two weeks of October coupled with too long of a flowering cycle = disaster.

I've followed many of the pro-con discussions regarding Dr. Greenthumb's gear. Some seem to love him and others, not so much. One thing that is intriguing about his strains is the typically short flowering times and decent yields. After some email discussions with the Dr., I decided to give his Iranian G13 strain a try. Total cost - $200 for 11 beans. Now, before anyone starts shooting their mouth off regarding his prices, let's take a look at some other breeders...

Dr. Greenthumb Iranian G13: $18/bean
CH9 Blue Lemon Thai: $17/bean
Barney's Farm Lib Haze: $13/bean
BC Bud Purps: $18/bean
Reserva Privada OG #18 $19/bean

Yes, I know there are plenty of less expensive breeders, but if you look at what Attitude offers, there are plenty of offerings in the same pricing realm as Dr. Greenthumb (with the exception of his G13 and maybe a few strains).

I ordered the seeds last fall and received them in a discreet letter envelope about 6 days layer. The seeds are packaged in a nice little unit that prevents them from being crushed, while laying flat in the envelope.

On to the grow journal - entry 1.....

Since nearly everyone has seen plenty of shots of popped seeds, sprouts, etc., I decided to summarize those stages and avoid tons of useless photos. To date, here is where I am at...

4/24 start pre germination with the paper towel method

4/27 6/6 of the Iranian G13 germinated - seedlings were transferred to party cups filled with a 50/50 mix of Pro Mix and Miracle Grow Moisture control. Seeds were put under a 1000w MH bulb set at about 24" above the cups

4/29 All seedlings emerged from soil and have shed their seed caps

5/10 First picture



Once the plants are tall enough, they will be topped and then moved outside sometime towards the end of March.
I'll try to update this grow journal every week or so and provide some progress pictures.

Anyone reviewing this journal, please feel free to comment, but if all you have is "Dr. Greenthumb is a crook/has bad genetics/lies/ whatever, please be respectful and keep those comments for your own thread. My intent is to grow these plants out and provide as much unbiased opinion as possible.

thanks for playing!

Next progress pic from 5/18.



Everyone is looking healthy and even beginning to get a light skunky smell. One plant seems a little mutant, but is still growing fine. I will probably be looking to put them in larger cans sometime in the next week or so when I have a minute.

Below is a picture from 6/1 which puts the plants at the one month mark. I was busy with work for the past few weeks so I was a little later in upcanning them than I wanted. By the time I got to moving to bigger pots, the party cups were fairly rootbound. If nothing else, these plants had definitely developed a strong root mass. So far, all plants look good and healthy with one seemingly developing mutant leaves (front left plant in this pic). All plants will be getting topped today at the second node.

Any updates?

Sorry I've been so lax on posting. Work has been insane and taking too much of my fun time. Anyways....

Of the six I popped, one was a strange ugly twisted mutant so I tossed it. Of the remaining five they all looked pretty similar in size and structure. I put them in the ground during the second week of June in holes mixed 50/50 with native field soil and Pro Mix. So far they have had occasional watering and a little Miracle Grow. I was checking them out this evening and they all look healthy and are now about waist tall. I was very surprised to find one plant that is about one week into flowering already!

I'll take some pictures this weekend and post a few samples.

mackdx said:

Sorry I've been so lax on posting. Work has been insane and taking too much of my fun time. Anyways....

Of the six I popped, one was a strange ugly twisted mutant so I tossed it. Of the remaining five they all looked pretty similar in size and structure. I put them in the ground during the second week of June in holes mixed 50/50 with native field soil and Pro Mix. So far they have had occasional watering and a little Miracle Grow. I was checking them out this evening and they all look healthy and are now about waist tall. I was very surprised to find one plant that is about one week into flowering already!

I'll take some pictures this weekend and post a few samples.

Click to expand...

Cool! Thanks for the update.

Just checking the girls out this morning and snapped a few photos as promised.

First, here is the top of the plant that is in flower right now. Not a great photo, but if you look, you can see the little nubs started.



I am starting to have a few bug problems with thrips so I guess it is time for some chemicals.

Next, here is a photo that is pretty representative of the remaining four plants. The stake next to it is a 36" stake (for reference).





Just a few words on the weather... May and June were extremely wet and cold for this region. As soon as July hit, it has been unusually warm and humid but it doesn't look like it has affected growth.
Also, I have been fairly sloppy with my feeding schedule. Frankly, the plants don't look like they are suffering from any deficiencies so it hasn't been a problem. At this point, I am willing to bet the Iranian G13 is not terribly nute sensitive. Going forward, I'll have to force feed them a little more regularly and see what happens.

Time for another check in.

I was out tending my girls yesterday morning and had the opportunity to snap a few photos. All of the remaining 5 iranian G13's look happy and health. It has been extremely wet around here for the past several weeks with frequent rainfalls amounting to an inch or more which is unusual for this time of year. Consequently, I haven't been able to feed them as I don't want to add even more water on top of what the rain has provided. The good news is the Iranians appear to be reasonable light feeders. While reviewing them yesterday, I didn't notice any yellowing of leaves or other deficiencies. So far they have been able to get what they need out of native soil. Of the five, one is well into flowering and I would guess will be ready sometime around the beginning of September. A second is at least a couple of weeks into flowering as well. The remaining three are definitely showing signs and I would expect to be in full flower soon. All plants are running around the 5' mark and really beginning to stretch and branch out.

Onto the pictures....

This is the one in full bloom. It is the runt of the pack (only about 3' tall), but is flowering the fastest.



Here is a typical plant


Second one in flower



I'll give it another week or two and check in with progress.

looking good so far

Thanks, OGMan

I paid a visit to the girls this weekend and made a few more observations.

- Although the Iranian G13's don't seem to need too much in the way of nutrients, they do seem to get hungrier when flowering starts as evidenced by some yellowing of the lower leaves. I guess this could probably be said of most strains though. In any case, they got a good watering and feeding.

- I was looking at the one oddball plant that is several weeks into flower. It just doesn't look like the others. It's short (3' vs 5' to 6'), started flowering way earlier than the others, and has a different structure. I wonder if one of the Dr.'s Iranian Auto seeds got mixed up in my pack? Just a guess as it is so drastically different.

- According to the Dr.'s website, the Iranian G13 should finish mid August to mid September. I know there are a lot of variables at work, but my guess is I will be at the mid to end of September at this rate.

Been out of town for a bit so I haven't been able to catch up. I had the wife check on a few of the Iranians she knew the locations of and snap a few photos.



Won't be long now. Buds are filling out nicely. Hopefully a more complete report in a week or so.
Not a great picture, perspective wise, but it will give readers some idea.



Had the wife chop the short plant that was extremely early finishing yesterday. Got a couple of large colas from it that I will add if I can get a pic

I'm back....

September has been a tough month. We have seen between 6" and 7" of rain during the first few weeks which has had me scrambling to keep ahead of botyrtis issues. Several applications of Serenade and some dry weather seems to have it under control for the time being.

Been very busy and have been neglecting my girls. Fortunately, they don't seem to have suffered much for it. A quick synopsis of where I'm at....

Plant 1 (the quick oddball). this plant was taken down about three weeks ago by the wife because of a rapidly developing mold problem. Salvaged what we could, but it is what it is.

Plant 2: This plan stayed relatively short and wasn't far behind Plant 1. Again, this one had to be chopped a little earlier than I would like because of botrytis problems. What we could salvage looks to be about 4 oz and is curing in jars as I type this. These plants are obviously indica heavy and generate large, dense main colas.

Plant 3: Looking good! My best guess is that it will be coming down later next week if the weather holds.



Plants 4/5 look similar to Plant 3:



A few observations about plants 3/4/5....

1) All of these plants ended up about 5'+ tall. Topping at the second or third node produced between 2 and 4 colas.
2) None of the plants seem to have needed a lot of attention with respect to nutes. Casual feeding with Miracle Grow seemed to work fine. Foliage color and leaf health has stayed pretty consistent.
3) Buds look to be a pretty typical indica structure - big and tight. All of them are pretty sparkly right now with about 75% of the trichomes cloudy and 25% clear. Pistils are really starting to recede.
4) Dr Greenthumb states a typical finish time of mid August to Mid Sept. Looks like I am going to be in the first of October range which is a little later than projected.
5) Buds generally have a skunky smell with some cheesy undertones. Not viciously smelly though.
6) Buds curing in jars right now have a cheesy stink, but that will likely change as the curing progress progresses.

Can't wait until the end of next week!

mackdx said:

I'm back....

September has been a tough month. We have seen between 6" and 7" of rain during the first few weeks which has had me scrambling to keep ahead of botyrtis issues. Several applications of Serenade and some dry weather seems to have it under control for the time being.

Been very busy and have been neglecting my girls. Fortunately, they don't seem to have suffered much for it. A quick synopsis of where I'm at....

Plant 1 (the quick oddball). this plant was taken down about three weeks ago by the wife because of a rapidly developing mold problem. Salvaged what we could, but it is what it is.

Plant 2: This plan stayed relatively short and wasn't far behind Plant 1. Again, this one had to be chopped a little earlier than I would like because of botrytis problems. What we could salvage looks to be about 4 oz and is curing in jars as I type this. These plants are obviously indica heavy and generate large, dense main colas.

Plant 3: Looking good! My best guess is that it will be coming down later next week if the weather holds.

View attachment 2839115View attachment 2839116

Plants 4/5 look similar to Plant 3:

View attachment 2839117

A few observations about plants 3/4/5....

1) All of these plants ended up about 5'+ tall. Topping at the second or third node produced between 2 and 4 colas.
2) None of the plants seem to have needed a lot of attention with respect to nutes. Casual feeding with Miracle Grow seemed to work fine. Foliage color and leaf health has stayed pretty consistent.
3) Buds look to be a pretty typical indica structure - big and tight. All of them are pretty sparkly right now with about 75% of the trichomes cloudy and 25% clear. Pistils are really starting to recede.
4) Dr Greenthumb states a typical finish time of mid August to Mid Sept. Looks like I am going to be in the first of October range which is a little later than projected.
5) Buds generally have a skunky smell with some cheesy undertones. Not viciously smelly though.
6) Buds curing in jars right now have a cheesy stink, but that will likely change as the curing progress progresses.

Can't wait until the end of next week!

Click to expand...

MACKDX:

I am just on the seedling stage of an indoor grow of this strain. Can you provide a smoke report? Mixed reviews abound. I will be mainlining with 4 stems each, 9 plants in 4' x 4' using 5 gal root pouches, organic soil, inside milk crates. I am running Advanced LED's XML 350 for light. Pie in Sky target is 1oz per stem (36oz total). It would be a real downer if the smoke was not up to par. Say... when seeds popped from the soil do you recall if they had a red stem? That is the case with IG13 seed that Doc sent. I direct planted mine and popped 9 for 9 (I like that!)

BTW this is my first grow since 1977. And this is my first post!

Gipper -

Sorry I missed your post. Been cruelly busy this fall.
Here is my abbreviated conclusion......

No red stems... I also got a 100% germ rate.

Overall, the strain is high yielding. In general, I didn't feel the strain flowered as quickly as I was assuming it would - it really didn't finish (outdoors) significantly faster than some of the other strains I was running concurrently under the same conditions (CH9 Blue Lemon Thai and CH9 Blue Skunk) - I ended up chopping in early October and felt they could have run another week or so. I was fighting mold pretty hard at the end and made the decision to chop a little early as opposed to really letting them run as long as I wanted.. The buds are dense, and plentiful, but after a short cure, I felt the smoke really didn't have a good flavor profile and has a decent body stone. Overall, I have had better but I'll reserve full judgement until I can run some inside where I can control the environment a little better. There are those that rave about the strain so I'll place the blame on myself and the outdoor season here in Maine.

I have another bunch curing in jars as I type this and will be testing it again shortly.

I still