Help Needed - First Photoperiod Grow - Psychosis BX2 Pheno Hunt

[OneMorePuff]

 

I'm on the search for a properly pungent cheese.  Stinky, mouth watering, moreish, one joint's worth in a baggie stinks the whole room out type of cheese. 

I'm here specifically because I know you guys know what I'm talking about.  I'm in an area of the UK known for good cheese, but I've never been connected enough to know the true origins of what I've been smoking, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the really tasty 'cheese' I've had over the years has actually been something else (blues/livers, psycho, any of the super stinky UK skunk cuts).  However, the smell I'm talking about is instantly recognisable and all my UK peeps will know it well - sometimes it's a bit fruitier, sometimes it's a bit danker, sometimes it has a weird rank chemically meaty flavour, but the super strong cheesy skunk aroma is always there upfront.  There is just a pungent intensity to the flavour/smell of certain UK skunk cuts that I love, and the high that feels like warm honey seeping down your spine, never racy, super helpful for zoning out and getting lost in making music. 

 

I remember last time I visited the dam I was smoking all the good shit, Jack Herer, Amnesia, Iceolator/bubble hash, the lot.  It all got me suitably stoned, but coming back to the UK and rolling up a joint of the stinky shit instantly hit me in a way I didn't feel the whole time I was Amsterdam.  Same goes for smoking the medicinal stuff in LA.  Lovely flavour, lots of super sweet tasting strains, nice strong clean high, but just a bit forgettable in flavour and smell compared to the UK skunk strains I know and love.

 

Anyway, enough of my ode to cheese.  I've got a few grows under my belt now, they've been far from perfect but I've always pulled at least 1gpw and have been generally happy with the quality.  However they've all been auto grows up until now and I'm tired of rolling the pheno dice when growing from seed.  My first grow was 5 Cheese XXL auto's from Dinafem. Very nice plants, grew fucking huge with great frost production.  However, only one of them had what I'd call a proper 'cheese' taste, it was beautiful, had a real strong meaty MSG undertone like roast beef monster munch, and it's all gone. Two of them had a bit of a cheesy/fruity taste, decent but not mind blowing. One of them had a fairly standard haze kind of taste, and one of them tasted like straight dirt and nothing else, really dull flavour (I didn't bungle the cure I promise, it just tasted that way).  Still got a big jar of that one, gonna bubble it.  They all had similar effects in term of potency, but the flavour/smell REALLY matters to me.  It made me realise how much the pheno matters. 

 

My other grows have been a similar story.  I'll grow out 4-6 autos in my 4x4 (decent genetics like Mephisto, Dinafem, Dutch Passion) and there will always be one or two standout plants and one or two forgettable ones. Not bad, just forgettable, and because I'm only running a small number of plants at a time for personal smoke, it really makes a big difference when only one or two plants give me that really nice moreish smoke. I don't blame the breeders... I think I'm pretty fussy, and also this is just the nature of the game.  There's a reason many of the best strains tend to be clone only.  

 

So... I decided to get some regs and find a mother.  In my search for the tastiest, most filter wrecking-est, chokingly pungent skunk, my search has led me to two breeders who seem to specialise in the type of strains I'm looking for -

 

a) UGORG 

b) KGbeans  

 

UGORG seem to be this forums favourite, but they are all sold out with no restock in sight, so I've ordered a pack of 10 Psychosis BX2 from KGbeans which, to be the fair, the fellow UK cheese lovers on this forum seem to be hailing as 'like the exo cheese, but better'.  I've done a fair bit of research and I think this strain could provide what I'm after.

 

This is all very new to me.  Can anyone point to a comprehensive guide on the best way to go about this pheno hunt?  Obviously I won't know for sure which is the keeper until the plant is cut, dried and smoked.  I don't suppose I can just keep the cuttings unrooted in the fridge for this whole time (2-4 months)?  I like this idea mainly because I DON'T like the idea of having 20-30 living, rooted plants all running at once for months on end.  Not ideal... legally speaking.

Who has grown out the BX2? Do you think 10 seeds be enough to find that super smelly mother that I'm looking for, assuming I get 4-6 females?

 

What is a good final pot size for flowering these out in a 4x4 tent? If I end up with more females than I expect, say 8 -10, can I keep them in smaller final pots, veg them for less time and flower them out into smaller plants, SOG-style, just for the pheno hunt?  What's the smallest pot size I can get away with for flower? What would be a suitable veg time for this strain done in a small SOG style? 4 weeks?  This is the stuff I don't know about. 

 

EDIT: Just realised I obviously won't know what sex they are until AFTER flower, so I can't veg them for less time to compensate.  d'oh.

 

Is there any issue with keeping the rooted growing cuts in small pots with weak light/feed and just trimming them down in size until I'm ready to move them across?  Even if it takes 3-4 months?  Will they get rootbound and poorly?

 

Am I better off taking cuts mid flower and then setting them up in a little veg box for monstercropping?  I know it takes ages to flip back to veg, but I'll be waiting for the main tent to finish flowering anyway.  Plus I can sex them before I take the cuts so I only take female clones, so again, less plants running at once.

 

Again, it'll be my first photo run - so are there any obvious pitfalls I should watch out for that I wouldn't normally have to deal with in an auto grow, other than light leaks obviously?

 

I have more questions but I'll leave it there for now because this is turning into a fucking essay.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by OneMorePuff

[SkyRider]

I've just got back in to growing properly recently and tonight I looked in my fridge and got a hankering for some psyhcosis... Even just posted so in my grow diary

When I started reading your post, I thought two breeders popped to mind... and you nailed them both.

UGORG Psyhcosister is a lovely plant that is very familiar to anyone who has smoked psycho. Not quite the same but you will definitely recognise it.
I've only grown KGBeans Psychosis BX1 (and still have the beans in the fridge). Lovely strain but only cracked one or two from memory. Need to really do a few more to get a better representation.

Myself I've decided on some Psychosis x Psychosis I got from the subby beans section here I believe... Got quite a few of them so going to crack a couple to get 1 or 2 females just to see how they do.


As far as cuttings go, there are methods for taking leaf cuttings that you can store in the fridge that you could then grow plants back from, but that is super advanced (not even sure there are any guides available on how to do it), so in practise no, you can't store cuttings in the fridge. You need to root them out and treat them like a normal plant. I always think it's better to take cuttings in veg for numerous reasons. I only took them in flower as a last resort. Sometimes they took, a lot of the times they didn't revert.


Why not start a grow diary here and we can help you with questions as you go along?

[M Pamplemousse]

@OneMorePuff

There is a section on this site wrt keeping cuttings in the fridge. I think some members have been successful for up to 3 months. Seems simple.

 

I started 8 bx2 seeds a few months ago on exactly the same mission as yourself. 7 came up. I sexed 5 girls and took cuttings whilst the existing crop of c99 was finishing in December. I had to then keep these cuttings in veg until last week as my grow room too cold for flower so am finishing a quick auto run (run lights 24/7). Last week I took cuttings from the cuttings as the original plants were getting scraggly under the fluros... I expect these to root in the next week and they will then be vegged....

 

At the end of march I plan to flower the 5 girls and pick the best for a mum.

 

They have been fairly robust plants and all bar one rooted from cuts easily. There are some great guides here on taking cuttings. See @ratdog party cups which are brilliant and I now hit 100% effectively now.

 

It's always a bit if a slog and I'm sometimes envious of folks having access to cuts. But by doing yourself you get the satisfaction and no chance of bringing bugs / disease in from someone's cuts. Avoiding the Borg is the path to a simpler grow....

 

Good luck.....

[McHazy]

Smottie remix by @Budelaire from the site store is well worth a look for some cheesy goodness

 

 

[bishbashbotany]

@OneMorePuff

I'd just like to say wicked post mate Not my type of smoke at all but loved the descriptions. Not much help from me as thinking of going regs and my first pheno hunt. Reckon if a jobs worth doing it's worth doing proper... good luck!

Edited February 20, 2021 by GSZZ
edited to remove quote, for clarity.

[OneMorePuff]

Unfortunately my order with KGBeans is showing as 'refunded' on their website but I've only actually been refunded £5 on my £98 order. I've had no actual communication from them.

 

Quite worrying.

 

The only reason I was happy to make a (relatively) expensive order from what appears to be a small one man operation is because of the glowing feedback and comments on this site, so I'm hoping it's just an error.

[unity]

Hi there @OneMorePuff - I can relate to what you're after, I love the psycho, can't get enough of it  I've bought from kgbeans a few times in the past and they've always delivered - could be your delivery is running late & they've refunded your post?  How long's it been since you placed the order?

I think they were on insta if needed, maybe drop them a msg there if you wait more than a week or so (they also have a contact form on the site).  I wouldn't worry yet mate.

 

 

For your pheno hunt, how many you do, and how big you grow them in a 4x4, I'd hate to go any smaller than a 6L pot as you could be playing catchup with watering if they get away from you in flower.  I reckon 10x6L should be doable tho, and you wouldn't have to veg too long 

 

 

For maintaining your cuts, don't aim to keep them weak, you want healthy plants.  Smaller pots can work, but it takes more skill as they are less forgiving once you've consumed the soil.

[OneMorePuff]

15 minutes ago, unity said:

Hi there @OneMorePuff - I can relate to what you're after, I love the psycho, can't get enough of it  I've bought from kgbeans a few times in the past and they've always delivered - could be your delivery is running late & they've refunded your post?  How long's it been since you placed the order?

I think they were on insta if needed, maybe drop them a msg there if you wait more than a week or so (they also have a contact form on the site).  I wouldn't worry yet mate.

 

 

For your pheno hunt, how many you do, and how big you grow them in a 4x4, I'd hate to go any smaller than a 6L pot as you could be playing catchup with watering if they get away from you in flower.  I reckon 10x6L should be doable tho, and you wouldn't have to veg too long 

 

 

For maintaining your cuts, don't aim to keep them weak, you want healthy plants.  Smaller pots can work, but it takes more skill as they are less forgiving once you've consumed the soil.

Thanks for the piece of mind.  Only a couple of days since I ordered. Hopefully I'll hear back soon. 

 

@unity - What are the rules when it comes to veg time?  Is there a generally considered 'bare minimum' veg time for photo plants? 4 weeks?  I've had autos start showing preflowers EARLY, like day 15-20 when they're inches tall, but then stretch to 3-4 times the size in early flower and actually turnout 2-3oz dry, which makes me wonder if I could just veg these for 4 weeks or even 3? Maybe they'll only pull an ounce or two each, but the main point is finding the mum.  Could I get away with a short veg time with this strain in your experience?

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[Green Gremlin]

@OneMorePuff   I have ordered from kgbeans plenty of times, if it is only £5 refunded then it will be the postage.

 

Always been a pleasure to buy from them with a swift delivery even when they were based in France.

 

Usually get some freebies chucked in with your order which is always a nice touch.

 

You probably selected the £10 postage by mistake instead of the £5 UK postage so they have given you that fiver back and shows they have at least taken a look at your order.

 

Did you select a pack of 10 beans and some other goodies as the 10 pack of Bx2 are only £59.99 or did you select the twin pack of Bx2 for £99.99 ?

 

You wont find any cheese in them beans, but you will deffo find stinky skunk  

 

 

[unity]

3 hours ago, OneMorePuff said:

Thanks for the piece of mind.  Only a couple of days since I ordered. Hopefully I'll hear back soon. 

 

@unity - What are the rules when it comes to veg time?  Is there a generally considered 'bare minimum' veg time for photo plants? 4 weeks?  I've had autos start showing preflowers EARLY, like day 15-20 when they're inches tall, but then stretch to 3-4 times the size in early flower and actually turnout 2-3oz dry, which makes me wonder if I could just veg these for 4 weeks or even 3? Maybe they'll only pull an ounce or two each, but the main point is finding the mum.  Could I get away with a short veg time with this strain in your experience?

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

I don't think there is any minimum at allmate, while it's not somethnig I've ever done, you can go 12/12 straight from seed but I think this practice is more aimed at maxing tiny spaces.

If you get into your final pot sizes, whatever size they end up being and flick once you see roots out of the bottom of each pot you shoud be good to go - they'll still chuck out roots for the first few weeks of flower so you should still pull a decent run out.

Kick a diary off if you're up for it, you'll get loads of help and stuff 

[OneMorePuff]

On 2/21/2021 at 2:06 AM, Green Gremlin said:

@OneMorePuff   I have ordered from kgbeans plenty of times, if it is only £5 refunded then it will be the postage.

 

 

Ah Ok, that makes sense. Thanks.

 

On 2/21/2021 at 2:06 AM, Green Gremlin said:

 

Did you select a pack of 10 beans and some other goodies as the 10 pack of Bx2 are only £59.99 or did you select the twin pack of Bx2 for £99.99 ?

 

 

I got a pack of BX2 and a 'lucky dip' pack.  Nothing on the list of potential strains sounded bad, so I thought I'd give it a go.  I might be better off running that pack to look for mum first actually, is it could be ben gunn or one of their other cheesier strains.

 

23 hours ago, unity said:

 

I don't think there is any minimum at allmate, while it's not somethnig I've ever done, you can go 12/12 straight from seed but I think this practice is more aimed at maxing tiny spaces.

If you get into your final pot sizes, whatever size they end up being and flick once you see roots out of the bottom of each pot you shoud be good to go - they'll still chuck out roots for the first few weeks of flower so you should still pull a decent run out.

Kick a diary off if you're up for it, you'll get loads of help and stuff 

 

Cheers mate, yeah I might just do that.

 

Here's a bit of bud porn from my current grow as a little thanks to everyone from the help - Mephisto Sour Stomper X Creme de la Chem.  Smells awesome, like sour fizzy sweets and petrol fumes -

 

 

 

[OneMorePuff]

I'm now thinking I can avoid a lot of hassle by just leaving a few buds/leaves when I harvest, flipping the light back to veg cycle and dimming it down, and letting them sit and reveg while I figure out which one I like.  I know it'll take month or so, but I'd rather wait longer than have to keep 20 clones running for 2-3 months while the mums are flowering drying and curing.  Either way I'm gonna have to wait until it dries and cures a bit before I know which one to keep, so I might as well just keep them running in veg on low light while I make my choice.

 

Once I've chosen a mum she should have started revegging already, so I can ditch the others and take cuttings from the mum to start growing. I'll move the mum into a little veg box with a cfl or t5, something cheap to run.

 

I'm now wondering, is there reason I shouldn't just skip taking cuttings altogether and regrow that same monstercropped mum into a SCROG monster, flower it out, rinse and repeat?  I understand I'll need to wait for it reveg each time, and it'll be a long veg period to fill a 4x4 scrog with one plant, I also expect I'd need to trim the rootball and repot after each grow? I

 

This is really appealing to me, as I wouldn't need a second tent/box/light etc, or need to have 20-40 plants all running at once. I can just do everything in one tent. 

[blackpoolbouncer]

Risky business

Not saying you can't reveg everything. I've revegged a few plants.

 

Take back up clones once they show preflowers. You can use the reveg as a last resort if any clones die.while your in flower.

 

It takes an awful long time to reveg a fully glowered plant. Far easier to take a cutting. 

 

What you propose with repeatedly reveging and flower a mum and treating it like a perennial is not the way mate. 

 

Takes your cuts, flower the plants. Keep the cuts from the best flowers. Take cutting from this. 

 

Waiting months for plants to reveg is not the winner imo. Its a stop gap in case you missed taking clone really imo

Edited February 22, 2021 by blackpoolbouncer

[OneMorePuff]

1 hour ago, blackpoolbouncer said:

What you propose with repeatedly reveging and flower a mum and treating it like a perennial is not the way mate. 

 

 

Understood 

Mini clone/mum box it is then I guess.  What do you think is the minimum size box I can get away with and have room for a bonsai mum and 10-20 clones?  Proper vegging would be done in the main tent.

[OneMorePuff]

I should add - KGbeans have been in touch, it was the extra postage that was refunded.

Beans are on their way!

I'll edit my other post for clarity as I wouldn't want someone to get the wrong idea about them. Edit: can't do that apparently, editing is only allowed on recent posts.

Edited February 22, 2021 by OneMorePuff