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Well well just received my new bean order for summer-fall grow season. I've ordered directly from ACE at this point I am so happy with this breeder I feel bless to be able to grow their stuff again. New order includes classic Congo, R+D Bubba kush X Old Malawi, and freebie Kali-China X PCK. On top of providing premium genetics, first class costumer service they also put 6 seeds in their 5 packs!! Gotta show some Love & Respect. Thank you, ACE.!!
I have been waiting a few days (or week I don't remember) to start this project because I already have more plant than I can handle with space and Amps|Watts available. So I expected 5, got 6 fem seeds. I will try to bring all of them to harvest, will just grow some smaller plants.
I am unsure about growing medium: I already have about 125 gallons of soil in my tents and I am not going to buy more. If I am lucky enough, my OG kush will show signs of ripening and will enter harvest window soon. If I can I will use their soil otherwise it will be a coco grow. They will be started in peat soil-less mix so they can go any where after.
OH yeah!! 5 Congo ladies came to the party!! (only 1 was too shy to come) All of them showed tap root and broke soil at a few hours from each others so I am not able to rank plants from 1 to 5 for phenotype vigour. I am keeping a close eye on next phase.
Congo update! They are all doing well. This week I can start to see difference in plant phenotypes:
Both plant 4 and 5 are the smallest but were born with 3 fingers first set of leaves. On all seeds I've germinated only ACE's A5 Haze had that characteristic. So I am pretty excited about that.
Plant 1 and 3 are similar with plant 2 with the exception plant 2 is the only one complaining about my soil. Notice the burned edges on leaves. This reminds me Highroller's 909 pheno from last run. They are all in same soil mix so plant 2 is definitely more sensitive.
Plants were kept under a humidity dome (my RH is about 25% = bad for seedlings...) Their stem are stretching a bit and not getting strong so I had to remove the dome and set a fan. Also at the moment plants are moved from tent to tent (in flower) to receive constant light schedule. I am getting fed up to have to do this twice a day so I need to fix my setup.
The Congos are getting bigger!!
They where put under a small 250w MH a few days ago. This was my very first grow light I bought 10 years ago. Old school fixture with built in dry ballast. Since, they got better colour. Also nodes are staying more thigh. Also set a small fan all those things help you already know....
My guess at this point are plant 4 and 5 will be similar, 1 and 3 a different pheno and the 2nd one might be a third phenotype.
Heat is at least a month too early this year with record breaking temps. This is ok for now but I just cannot keep the 24 light schedule.
As I live in Canada (Quebec) cannabis is fully legal and sold by the government but grown by licensed producers. Last week I found some Congo, couldn't resist to spend a few dollar to sample it!! Congo was great!!!
Congos are hungry! I am giving them some nutrients this week. They have pretty uniform folliage so far. Plant 2 is still the tallest growing with lots of Auxin. She got topped 2 days ago at 6 inches but she is still not branching out! Instead she grew an extra inch. Plant 1 and 3 remain similar, and Plant 4 and 5 are the shortest and most compact shortie style.
Congos have been transplanted and did not complained at all between soiless mix with bottle nutrients VS real soil and water. Growth have exploded despite they are all slow to start branching out.
Plant 2 is the tallest and will be topped again in a few days in desperate attempt to give a chance to lower shoots to grow. Plant 1, 3 & 4 looking similar and plant 5 is bushy compact maybe more indica, looking forward to see the PCK influence.
This is last week before flipping as I need to fit them 5 in a 4x4 tent.
Lights schedule is changes today going to 12-12. I started to tie down some branch to control vertical growth but broke a main top on plant 2. Nothing to cry for. They are all healthy looking.
Dear fellow diary follers, got busy as a relative passed away. I am now now helping a family business my new job (until Sept 1st) is to gather and take picture to make service calls. It sucks. So I come home I do something else....
Well, Congo sure did not stop growing as they fully established themselves during week 7 (missing). Phenotypes expressions have showed up. On the right, (plant 1 and 2) have grown crazy almost out of control. These 2 havemore than tripled in size since flip. In the centre plant 4 is small and compact. On the right I have 2 more manageable size plants (plant 3 and 5) that are just a few inch short from tripled since flip.
This week we can clearly see the different phenos: 1 and 2 would be African Sativa dominant, 3 and 5 are purpling and look like Ace signature's pheno. Plant 4 is the shorty small mysterious one. Despite it's smaller stature about 14 in. against 48 in, the Indica genes associated to smaller size are usually expressed along with the purple distinctive colour of the PCK used in this cross. But she still stands fully green.
As the height and heat kept increased I had to swap the HPS to led boards. Vertical flower formation are looking good and we shall see some rewarding colas in a few weeks.
Landlord is having the cable company re-done all wiring. It feels like the panic button had been pushed! I had to put apart 2 tents, lights, ventilation ducting, all wiring and everything. Took 2 days to remove everything. So this is my bathroom update! Gotta hide 5 huge Congos in middle of flowering and it is the only place I have! Also had to swap days and nights light schedule. Well, let's hope for the best that it was not to stressful for them.
This gave me the opportunity to properly stake plant 2, and to take a good look at them. Sizes vary from 5 to 2 foot high.
This tent is packed from wall to wall, but just before being overcrowded. These Congo have stretched a lot! Plant 1 is bulking up and will probably have the best looking colas. Plant 2 have those Sativa sword like flowers and is showing a small mutation, small buds growing from the center of two leaves. Plant 3 and 4 are the purple ones, both look pretty upset for some unknown reason: they have dropping leaves all over. I tried to changed my watering schedule without any impact. I was told it's hard to have nutrient toxicity with Organic soil, and I did not add any Nitrogen source since 2 runs. Plant 5 in the centre is doing her things without any concern.
Good news and bad news: Caitlyn Jenner stopped by for a small visit. Plant 2 decided to push a few bananas on one of it's mutant leaves. It seems to be very isolated and I did not found any other ones. Keeping a close eye on her.
Well beside that all 5 Congo are beefing up seriously. Seem like this strain have a lot of diversity in it as I have 5 different phenotypes. Smell is amazing: grape, berries, and sweet. While plant 1 and 2 have a woody, lemony, haze background, plant 4 is having the cheese smell from the PCK. Plant 3 is my favorite.
Resin production seems to be poor on plant 1 and 5, wile 3 and 2 are getting heavy and sticky.
Also 3,4, and 5 are having their firsts brown pistils.
End of week 7, beginning of week 8 of flower. Great progressions. All 5 plants are starting to mature, while pheno 2 would be the latest and 4 is a few days ahead.
Plant 1 is so far all green with skinny buds. It could be awesome but so far she is the less promising. Smell is fantastic with woody, lemon and vanilla undertones. She will be a low producer. Despite I have good light I think she would enjoy more: 2 of her 4 main stems are between the 2 lights and are chunkier with rounder tips while the 2 in the back are skinny,
Plant 2 is also a green one with huge chunky Sativa swords like flowers. With some haze smell background, she started to collapse on herself after resin production geared up this week.
Plant 3 is having the most purple colour and looks PCK dominant. Smell is sweet with berry notes. Resin production is good buds are mid ferm.
Plant 4 is huge and chunky with fist size hard heavy buds that are resinous like a true champion. She is the most advanced and is entering harvest window. Gonna have to keep a close eye for bud rot. Deep berry smell. At least 2 weeks.
Plant 5 stayed short with not dense flower. Smell have some pine and berry notes. I am curious to taste her has she looks like PCK green pheno witch is supposed to be stronger the the purple one,
Growing Congo is rewarding: nice chunky colourful smelling flowers!
This week plants are maturing and gaining weight, all are still at early ripening stage. They drink a lot! They are really beautiful plants! Today it's rainy outside so I opened up the tent zipper to enjoy their company. They seems to have made it trough the Nitrogen overdose.. Calyx to leaf ratio is good to excellent and the smell is dank. Coming week weather is 40C with rain so it will be very humid for late flowering ladies. These Congo are rated as high tolerant to mold and botrytis but this is not ideal.
At least 2 more weeks for everyone!
This is week 9 beginning. The 5 Congo are enjoying their days taking their time to finish in beauty. Even it feels like little changes can be seen from last week, we all know it's better if they have time to produce more resin and bulk up.
Plant 1, 2 and 5 are keeping their green colour and at this point of the growth they won't turn purple. First plant is still the one who have the best smell. Plant 2 is having a complete yellow out of her fan leaves as she matures slowly. They are still firmly attached to the stem so I've only plug a few. Plant 5 is the dwarf mysterious phenotype with probably a good mix of Bangi Congo and PCK Green pheno. All green ones have a paint thinner and lemon smell background.
Plant 4 is the chunkiest plant I have ever grown. Hard to show in pics. Standing at about 2 feet tall from the ground her biggest top is about the size of a fist. She is foxtailing beautifully with purple hues. Plant 3 is mostly purple with nice layers of trichomes, probably the one with the most PCK influence. Smell on those two is mostly berries and sweet. I did remove a few leaves but only to improve light penetration. Don't wan't to disturb them.
Not going to say 2 more weeks but maybe 10 to 14 days.
Week 10! This is probably the last entry before harvest. Harvest should be bountiful! All 5 plants are not exactly at the same stage of ripening.
Biggest concern is with plant 2 as she is dying. All her leaves are yellow and some have started to fall. Not drinking much anymore. Most of the plant is ready but the tops did not get enough time to swell completely in my humble opinion. Still she looks absolutely gorgeous.
Other concern is pheno 1 she is definitely on the early side of the harvest time frame. I refuse to set my 2nd tent for a few days and this very tent will be the dry room. Call it laziness but I am just really busy and out of space so she will have to go down with her sister pheno 2.
Plant 3 and 4 are done and 5 can be done by the next few days. Plant 3 still have a fair amount of white hair but she keeps reflowering and her trichomes are milky all the way. Great looking colours with the purple calyx, green leaves and white trichs.
Plant 4 some parts are ready the 2 main top could benefit a few more days to get a thicker layer of frost. In the same time those 2 fist size tops are so huge and huge tops are never the frostiest. Her flower are the most beautiful I have ever grown with colour and texture.
Plant 5 is having some buds ready in the bottom and middle. She turned out surprisingly good!
....Really I wish I could give a 10
- I am NOT! the firsts it happened to this strain seems prone to hermie. To my knowledge I am 3rd grower here on GD it happens to. My crop is seeded, not heavily but in all maybe 30-40 seeds.
- Congo have a lot of variation in it's genes. Got 2 different giant green sativa, a dwarf, and 2 purple absolute different plant. It does not behave like a F1.
- It did not take long after iniating bloom for the 2 purple plants to show N toxicity despite grown in organic soil. Also had some mutation on leaves and bananas (hermie) on plant 2.
They are sensitive and picky ladies that behave differently.
- On top of that had to chop early because botrytis was found on 2 plants. After bringing them for manicure, only plant 1 felt like it needed more time. Still, it was supposed to be Highly resistant to mold and botrytis.
Hermaphrodism and bud rot are the worst grower's nightmare!!!!
but!,
Their is ALWAYS 2 sides on a medal:
- All 5 phenos looks killer. Contacted by e-mail ACE explained the F1 cross: it would be an IBL of PCK and Bangi Congo x Congo 3. ACE did not told more about the IBL (maybe it needed more breeding to be stabilised) Gotta give credit for responding.
- Despite some N toxicity, taste, trichome and resin production were not affected. And despite a few male flower that showed up once they were pinched the plant did not pushed a single other one!!
- About botrytis; I've packed my tent from wall to wall, I knew plant 2 was done and dying, she was the first plant to be affected, gotta take a part of the responsibility.... Plus my 4x4 only had one single 4inch fan to move the air between plants.
After all, even if I rated it as Hard to grow, to be honest I was really busy all along the flowering cycle. Basically all I did was pour down water twice a week and keep them staked. Could have been a total different story if I did not saw the bananas and the bud rot just in time....Their different sizes and feeding needs is not for beginners.
As I take some blame for the bud rot I cannot say that resistance is weak. Neutral is the the most objective I can put.
Final results is a harvest of happiness, this strain is a great mood enhancer!!! Almost alll phenotypes are offering consistent effects, the purple ones being a bit more narcotic but also were fully ripped when chopped.
Plant 1 was not ripped at all when chopped; what a shame and I can only blame my laziness for not giving her the chance to shine. She will goes in the oven for decarb and will be used to cook a buffet of deserts for friends and co-workers.
Plant 2, ended a giant green sativa with 3 main 22 inches long old school landrace type of flowers. Beautiful, long foxtail grape that spirals. Once dried, the smell is fruity, paint thinner, and floral. Effects are clean: forget about Malawi or modern Haze hybrid head rush. It smokes slowly, but gets you high as a kite. Might be rated as 15% thc but unknown cannabinoids are offering a decent buzz. She have a very few purple calyx in the chore of some dense buds.
Plant 3 finished with the most purple colour and is my very first plant who kept it's colours after drying. She flowered like a PCK would on a sativa branch, with an extra touch of foxtailing. Calyx are full purple and covered with layers of thricomes. This pheno was a great resin producer. Smell once dried is more fruity and herbal, floral. Effects are more relaxing but still not couch lock.
Plant 4 was the chunkiest plant I've ever grown. After drying was done, smell is on the grape side, some sweet and floral notes. This one is the best resin producer of all. Sticky dense old school flower, she would have been a monster outside. Purple colour is mostly gone-melted with her darker green colour. Decent layer of frost all over. Effects are clean but again no rush, just sit, smoke and be lit.
Plant 5 is more herbal and blend. Is it Congo 3 dominent in the cross? Was it crossed with PCK and Bangi Congo for taste? Effects are just has enjoyable as other sisters. Perfect day-morning toke. Keeps you in the zone, focus but not running, still ready to run if you have too. She was the smallest of all and stayed fully green.
Overall, effects are consistent on all plants. This is the weed you want to have for sports, social, daytime, morning, week end, worksite... Congo is just perfect as it's not heavy and medium THC content. Crop got pollinated somehow as there is a very limited amount of seeds in all phenotype: after smoking about 15-20 grams I've collected 5 seeds. I will be growing it again.
@HighRoller909, Congo was fun! Nice head rush and uplfting effcets! Clean, despite a nice onset nothing too intense, good for social activities or sports. Short term effects under 3hrs.
As you can see this is commercial grade stuff... to pass government regulation cannabis needs to be irradiated to kill molds. This affects terpenes and other active ingredients. Smell was mint, haze and spice. No special taste.
they all look sweet and almost identical.same batch,same seeds. #2 looks more like my first Congo in veg. My action would be to supercrop those uppest two branches instead of another topping on #2. all of them have clawing tips except 5. #5 doesn't look that sensitive to nitrogen. these girls are doing well. good work on dealing with requirements so far. not a easy plant at all, you'll get me in flowering :)
@HighRoller909, thanks! I really need to do something with like you said those 2 upset branches! Supercroping might be the best way afterall! BUT if don't take action soon they will suck all hormones and won't left much chances to lower shoots. I already had to chop the 2 firsts nodes as they did not stand a chance.
Good eye with the clawing tips! I have the 250w MH lamp chained to a bench saw it's only a couple incehs away and I am reaching setup limit! Doing my best with the heat but it's in a closet.
4 is how my first Congo looked like.mine didnt foxtail but color and resin production is the same.3 and 4 ,i want some samples off of both.and 5 is a really delicious green pheno.love it
@sativaman, hahah no worries mine had given me seeds as well.no big deal,im still keeping them to plant somewhere.i dunno if its congo or a mix of nepal jam and congo though.nepal was in the tent too... Both gave me seeds. Looking forward for harvest report,gonna be great!
@HighRoller909, Thanks! Sure is a lot of Congo! Still what a damn shame! Plant 1 was far from being done I could see the inside when I manicured them. White air, unswollen calyx and no resin. I don't know what I will do with her..
Well it is bud rot I have a few pics I will put once I update the harvest. I've found some on 4 as well while drying yesterday morning. Now I know spores are everywhere I'm just having a maximum of air flow in the tent. This harvest will have to be fully dried before jarring up.
Must have missed the seed! Now you've told me I see it, but can't find it on the plant anymore. Harvest was done in a hurry as it was not planned and trimming 5 plants take some time... Plants were not handled with all the care I usually give. Maybe when I'll jar the buds I will find this seed or a few others, there was pollen in the tent when plant 1 got bananas.
Plant 3 and 4 where so sticky I was trying to take some pictures but my fingers would stay glued to the button! Camera was so sticked to my fingers it was hard to get decent pics!!
@sativaman, this is a massive congo stock I'm still missing it too bad.. my second one didn't like something in grow room.tap water is the suspect.it is shit.your days will be very funny and positive next few months and you won't stop yourself opening the jars to get that mediterranean grape smell. and #4 has a seed in that callyx in third photo.did you see it?
.
omg bud rot????? damn man sad to hear but how, I mean are you sure it isn't amazing trichome production of #5 ?
#3 looks good too. damn humidity. it is right now %98 in the air in where I am.....free open sauna experience
@Med_in_Tropic, Only plant 1 was not ready. I have some regrets about chopping her: should have set my other tent for drying and keep her!! Well 10 weeks sure is quick for sativa but ACE Congo is a blend of 2 different Congo and Purple Chitral (PCK) so it does have a touch of indica.
very good development,they look very happy. my boy the #2 he'll be fine. Mine had 1 finger first set of leaves,then 3 fingers,skipped the 5 and jumped straight to 7 and 9 fingers.Always ended upwith 13-14 finger leaves later in the grow phase.How many weeks of veg are you planning?
@HighRoller909, Those sweat dripping walls, these rooms packed of crazy high people, the music... It really was a unique time of 10 maybe 15 years in Mankind history. House if the best! Progressive house or tech house for me. Old school trance dj's like Paul Van Dyk still cheer me up too. But beeing a raver was a full time business! From Wednesday night to Monday night!! And Monday the only places with house music where on the gay side of the town. None of us were gay but we did not give a fuck! Crazy places but always fantastic vibes.
Great souvenir to remember. Once the Covid is gone(?) I hope we will be able to live any close to that.
@sativaman, rave hahah very much appreciated. sun glasses and mdma :D very intense for me. I'm House mostly. still keeping it underground because yeah music changed,people changed and I dislike it
@HighRoller909, Oh that's nice! But what a sad time with the Covid.. I was an hardcore raver from 2008 to 2012. Here the scene have changed, music, people, vibes and drugs. Anyway this is a great project!
@Med_in_Tropic, Thank you these words are full of good sense and knowledge!! I gave them their usual dose of water witch is 1.5gal for 15gal of soil. Also in spirit of rainy days I dimmed the light at about 70% this will help to reduce heat.
Trick question @sativaman, 😀😀😀😀😀
Landrace strains do better in the climate that they were born in. They have built i tolerance to water logging.
High RH means that leaf doesn’t need water. But transpiration will be less.
Wet air together with wet soil mix s more natural to me.
In raining season, plants tends to do veg well here. I think it is better ko keep soil most. Avoid water logging. I use different soil mix going in to rain than for dry season. Avoid soil bourne mold. I use trichoderma and yogurts bacteria for this. And in nature, it doesn’t rain all day. There are bouts of dryness and humidity varies through the day.
And sativa were bred in these conditions. Rocky hill county, veg un the rain. Flowers in dry season.
I almost felt like smoking it.That is the kind of weed I would bring everywhere,smoke anytime and be positive.Taste and smell is a huge bonus.I love that grape smell and premium smoke.I hope you enjoy your harvest and we should always have a congo pot somewhere in grow room.I get too high with golden tiger and killer a5 but not quite enjoying it as much as congolese.damn malawi is too damn strong I need calibration
@sativaman, Congo and Nepal Jam would make a great cross.I think they have that cross, forgot the name. should give it a try some day. (posted at 04:20)
@HighRoller909, Thank you fellow cannabis friend! Congo was a nice choice to grow and since I am now owner of a dozen free seeds Congo will be grown again! Malawi might be too strong sometimes but I was wondering if it would make a good cross with Congo...
@sativaman, i also am a champion of lost causes 😀😀😀😀😀
I have plenty of space and am contend we th less yield.
You, my friend, on the other hand, have crowded tents.
sativaman
