Malawi Advice Needed.

Hi All!

I definitely should have been posting this one sooner, b/c now I am in a dilemma with these things. For starters, I had no idea how to properly train a true LR sativa...so now they are somewhat unruly. There are 3 Malawi's pictured from Sannie and Co., the best example being the front left in *3rd photo. All ladies except the one on the crate are 3 weeks in flower. The 2 kush are finished with their stretch, as these are clones I have worked with for over a year. The Malawi was from seed, which as you can plainly see has stretched to high heaven and appears will take a solid 3 months to finish...now I understand why growers shy away from these types of projects.

Can anyone tell me or even guess as to how much further stretch will occur on that front Malawi?. I don't think I have enough room b/c I had to assume I would only get 2 females from seed, and wound up w/3. I'm so tempted to hack a few unruly branches, which of course defeats the purpose...mine as well take out an entire plant once you start trying to prune just to fit space requirements.

Any advice much appreciated in advance.

Nevermind...as usual I figured it out on my own.

Have you watched the Strain Hunters mini-doc where they traveled to get Malawi genetics? Certainly a must if you're growing it. I didn't like the structure of the LR Malawi so I don't think I'd ever grow it (and I don't have the height). But it's cool that you're going for it; nice.

mrCRC420 said:

Have you watched the Strain Hunters mini-doc where they traveled to get Malawi genetics? Certainly a must if you're growing it. I didn't like the structure of the LR Malawi so I don't think I'd ever grow it (and I don't have the height). But it's cool that you're going for it; nice.

Click to expand...

Yep, saw that vid a few years back...and decided then that I would not even attempt an equatorial strain without using supplemental UV lighting. So I added reptile MV bulbs.

This is pretty wild watching a straight kush flowering side by side with a LR sativa. So far so good, I haven't noticed any special nute requirements...so just am sticking with the same program the indica is on. I have also cloned the Malawi, which gave me no problems...cuttings didn't even wilt the first day.

Now I understand why some breeders have worked with it, other than the stretch and long flowering period...the strain is a real joy to grow. And the smell, unlike anything I have ever run. It is a very pleasant minty pine, like a Christmas tree.

Those sound FAR better than the garbage we grew out, from Worldofseeds, f2s a buddy made. Just bland 'wild" sativa. Weak citrus herbal and spicy. High was no bueno either. Only took them 12 wks though.
They stretched well into week 5.

Good luck

Double post.

I'm also growing sativas next to indicas; none of the ladies seem to care; everybody is happy. I wouldn't have guessed every strain to be so forgiving to climate - perhaps they're becoming domesticated to indoor growing conditions? That would make some sense..

I would recommend pinching the tops above the 2nd node from the top and bending it Down. A couple of days it will stand back up and get hard and pinch it again until the side branches are uniform with the main stem. Low stress training sativas can be a hassle if done late in the game. I agree with you on no topping the plant because it uses extra energy to grow shoots and wastes energy from the part that's been cut off. I only run sativas indoor in veg and move them outside to flower. Your plants look great btw

Studslice said:

I would recommend pinching the tops above the 2nd node from the top and bending it Down. A couple of days it will stand back up and get hard and pinch it again until the side branches are uniform with the main stem. Low stress training sativas can be a hassle if done late in the game. I agree with you on no topping the plant because it uses extra energy to grow shoots and wastes energy from the part that's been cut off. I only run sativas indoor in veg and move them outside to flower. Your plants look great btw

Click to expand...

I'll get better on my training the next run...meanwhile Malawi's are doing great!

I've never seen pistils begin to turn orange before any trichomes appear...this grow is certainly a lesson in patience.

Wow! Amazing man! I really hope you update this until harvest lol. I've always wanted to smoke a LR sativa, maybe one day I can light dep one outside or in a greenhouse!

brandon727272 said:

Wow! Amazing man! I really hope you update this until harvest lol. I've always wanted to smoke a LR sativa, maybe one day I can light dep one outside or in a greenhouse!

Click to expand...

I certainly will do so. What you don't see is the lighting I installed/turned off for pics, lighting I felt was necessary to duplicate the equator/high elevation in Malawi.

That being multiple mercury vapor UV/UVB reptile bulbs in addition to the 1,000 watt combined HPS and supplemental CFL's I had laying around.

I am hoping they will finish by Easter...late next month.

Sunbiz how long have they been flowering? The uv light, I promise, is a total waste. Hos will do all that is needed. I hope your turn out better than what I have seen. I think the original seed selection to most vendors was not great. Imo. If/when I run any again it will be 12/12 from the get go.

Looking good so far
peace