JaggedGarden Ortega Show

Jagged Gardens

Well-known member
Hello MNS-ers!

Welcome, to the middling stage of a grow featuring a dialectical relationship between the expertly bred MNS Ortega, and my own hapless skillset as a grower.

Flipped on Nov. 1st. They're getting a little hungry as I've kept them as small as possible to fit all eight quite mature plants into this 2 X 4 X 4 tent.

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Six females and two males, so can't complain there. The two males (pictured front left) are quite different but standouts in their own right.

Ortega Prime - the shorter of the two.

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I quite like the structure here, and although it's the shortest of the eight plants it's been 2-4 nodes ahead of the others for a a few weeks in a kind of quiet, understated vigor.

The Crinkler.

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Also really nicely structured, bigger bones than the first.

Both of these will get a chance to play stud, although exactly how is TBD - we'll see what the ladies do. This weekend, maybe tomorrow given how quickly they are flowering, I'll cut them back to their 3rd or 4th nodes and send them down to the "male-box" to flower. It will give the ladies a lot more room to breath in this relatively small space (2X4), but also help forestall their development and give the females more time to develop.

Speaking of the ladies, as a sucker for the quirky ones I'm liking the look of her.

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The double top is appealing and even since the pic was taken she's been outgrowing everything except the Crinkler - I'm tentatively thinking mom on this one, but way too early to really know. Except for the stretchiness of one back left, the females appear very consistent.

Otherwise, thanks for looking, and any insights about the line - what to expect from a given pheno, etc - are welcomed and appreciated.
 

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The top 3/4 or so of the males.

Ortega Prime:
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The Crinkler:
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Overall they are greening back up nicely. A few older fans are getting pruned, otherwise I expect them to be rocking through flower.
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The lower remaining parts of the two males are to the left, and the 6 are in the two rows, and numbered beginning with the tall one rear left.

#1.
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#2.
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#3.
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#4.
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#5.
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#6.
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Numbers 1 and 5 are very nice plants, different in scale, but with basically the same slender shrub-like structure and have become by far my favorites - and I had seriously considered chopping #1 for being too lanky in veg. And speaking of turnabouts, #2, the twin top one which had my attention before has turned a bit scraggly and probably the least impressive. Excepting the twin top, the structure of the lesser four is not terribly dissimilar to #1 and #5, but sparser with less aggressive branching; overall though they are more consistent with one another than not.

Thanks for looking, and be well all.
 
The Ortegas.

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Still greening up, but slowly - my fault for leaving them in too little medium for too long, and I'm impressed with their stamina. They'll probably get one last foliar today. They were flipped on November 1, so they are approaching end of stretch and in that developmental zone where problems (thinking mainly intersex) are likely to show themselves - the next week will be telling.

Plant #1 - I'll call her "Harper's Bacall".

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She's become a real beauty, and I'm very glad to have not executed her a few weeks ago on charges of excessive lankiness. I already have a couple branches pollinated with some Jacalyn /AKA "TNT", which is a 30 year old IBL from Classic Seeds (who I believe passed a couple years ago) and is probably the best "knock-out/go to bed this instant" strain I've had. Jacalyn's only shortcoming is a general lack of vigor typical of IBLs, so my hope is the reported knock-out properties of Ortega will dovetail nicely with Jacalyn effects-wise, and also generate some whopping hybrid vigor so that I don't have to be so.....patient.

I'm interested in hearing reports or advice from anyone that has outcrossed Ortega so far as whether there are general attributes she tend's to pass on, or pretty much anything that might come to mind. These will be true F1's, so I expect they will make some very nice plants worth working a few gens. In a week or two the Ortega males will have contributed their genetic material, just began collecting pollen yesterday.

No individual pics of the others this time. Plant #5 has diminished somewhat in my estimation - still nice, but probably not mom material. Numbers 3 and 4 are showing some robustness, and particularly #3 is charging into flower and appears the hungriest (I.e. the hardest to get greening). Plant #6 is the least impressive overall, but the space is not being overrun so unless major problems arise I'll be seeing all of them through.

Peace, all, and be well!
 
This jus
The Ortegas.

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Still greening up, but slowly - my fault for leaving them in too little medium for too long, and I'm impressed with their stamina. They'll probably get one last foliar today. They were flipped on November 1, so they are approaching end of stretch and in that developmental zone where problems (thinking mainly intersex) are likely to show themselves - the next week will be telling.

Plant #1 - I'll call her "Harper's Bacall".

View attachment 67242
She's become a real beauty, and I'm very glad to have not executed her a few weeks ago on charges of excessive lankiness. I already have a couple branches pollinated with some Jacalyn /AKA "TNT", which is a 30 year old IBL from Classic Seeds (who I believe passed a couple years ago) and is probably the best "knock-out/go to bed this instant" strain I've had. Jacalyn's only shortcoming is a general lack of vigor typical of IBLs, so my hope is the reported knock-out properties of Ortega will dovetail nicely with Jacalyn effects-wise, and also generate some whopping hybrid vigor so that I don't have to be so.....patient.

I'm interested in hearing reports or advice from anyone that has outcrossed Ortega so far as whether there are general attributes she tend's to pass on, or pretty much anything that might come to mind. These will be true F1's, so I expect they will make some very nice plants worth working a few gens. In a week or two the Ortega males will have contributed their genetic material, just began collecting pollen yesterday.

No individual pics of the others this time. Plant #5 has diminished somewhat in my estimation - still nice, but probably not mom material. Numbers 3 and 4 are showing some robustness, and particularly #3 is charging into flower and appears the hungriest (I.e. the hardest to get greening). Plant #6 is the least impressive overall, but the space is not being overrun so unless major problems arise I'll be seeing all of them through.

Peace, all, and be well!

Actually your journal makes me think I might take Ortega to some Deep chunk cross testers I'm growing out for a local breeder. I also have a pack of Black Domina Divine CBD, and g13 X WW all of which will be dusted. If you're interested, I can report on those if/when I can squeeze everything in my poor tent.
 
'if/when I can squeeze everything in my poor tent.'

I know this feeling, a constant juggling act at times.
Taking a clone of a clone to reduce its footprint under the lights, then tossing the original clone!
If my female Ortega reveg's I would like to cross it with some Afghan Haze (long-fingered, skinny serrated leaves).
In the future, I would like to find an Ortega male to play with as well.
Try breeding it to some selected MNS ladies and see what turns up.
The real problem though as you say is space, not enough of it and recently power prices as well!
I would definitely be interested in how your crosses turned out down the track.
Best of luck @HazedNConfused .
 
If you're interested, I can report on those
By all means, feel free to post pics here if you want - the comparison factor would be really helpful, and I agree that (from what I have heard) DC could be another awesome Indy pairing with the Ortega and I'm sure the others will rock too. Post away as you wish!

Ortega male to play with as well
I was really lucky with these numbers, 6F 2M, with both of the males being very nice plants, and also different phenotypically so some good diversity should reside in the mix.

The biggest drawback space-wise for me is the difficulty keeping males long enough to test them out - what I've definitely been testing is the limits of my roommates' patience recently with a few plants scattered around the place at some remove from the ladies. After getting some pollen into storage I'll probably need to let them go.

Here are the four best of the total six in flower, each of these have been selectively blessed with some Ortega Prime pollen a couple days ago, and The Crinkler made his contribution today.

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From left to right, plants #1, #2, #4, and #5. The other two are fine, but not noteworthy and won't see any pollen. I really did over-stress them going into flower and it shows, but they are hardy gals for sure.
 
inner breeder
Plenty of beans indeed!

Although this isn't technically an open pollination, I did try to lock down as much diversity in seed form as possible by selectively pollinating multiple plants with each male. Ortega Prime pollinated all four plants pictured a couple posts above, and The Crinkler contributed to three of them. If they were all mixed together that would make for a de facto open pollination, which allows for the individual pairings to remain roughly separate but still available if the initial direction taken proves problematic.

My current thinking is that Harper's Bacall (plant #1) will be the mom of the next generation and that Crinkles will be the dad, but that could change over the next few weeks. What I'm chasing are effects first and foremost, and I certainly hope it's her given she's the standout beauty of the bevy, but I'll move forward with a somewhat lesser plant/s if the chemotype/effect is more what I'm looking for.

Enough ramblin'...here is HB top:

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She's way too tall for the space, and some room may open up in part of a taller area in about a week so it's possible I'll break up the band to give her some better coverage.

#2 Twin Tops:

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Along with #'s 3 and 6, she suffers from some fairly advanced deficiency in older growth, completely grower error on my part. I risked one additional foliar yesterday, and it looks like the newer growth is coming in a lot healthier. No complaint about bud development though, they are all holding their own jn that department.

#4

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She's become a really nice plant and has been appointed understudy to that diva HB - she's also pretty close match with The Crinkler.

#5.

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She's still a decent, if small, plant, but so far not showing up much flower-wise.

Ortega Prime is similarly sparsely flowered, which is the main reason he's not likely to get to see any of his progeny grown out any time soon....and that's also because, well, he's dead now, as is The Crinkler. RIP.

Thanks for the look, all, and be well.
 
So these are the Deep Chunk cross testers I mentioned. Pictured in veg and recently, in mid-flower.
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20221119_130341.jpg They're lovely plants, we did run into one issue that could've easily been my mistake and caught by someone experienced with DC. I asked him about taking Black Domina to Deep Chunk, but not Ortega specifically. He seemed pretty positive depending on one's objective. Honestly, I am of a similar mind to @Jagged Gardens to try them with NL5/Hz (or one of the R&R AC males). :)
Honestly, I've not been impressed by the lack of vitality in the Black Domina seeds I got recently and it's more likely I would simply make future crosses from MNS stock
I also have a few Domina leaning Copa Icy Grapes (Black Domina x Purple Zkittlez) to throw in, but that's more of a hail Mary chuck. Pretty sure at a minimum, I'll throw Ortega at everyone
 

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Awesome, @HazedNConfused, thanks for posting - I love those fat squat plants, "chunk" indeed!

From what I have heard it can be challenging to outcross (equitably) given how dominant it tends to be; I think it was Bodhi on one or another podcast that said that the biggest issue with DC is its shear dominance, and that within a couple generations it likes to turn everything into itself - "you will be assimilated" style. I have it in a cross somewhere in the mishmash of ziplock bags that passes for a seed collection and I keep meaning to get into it, but for now I'll just have the benefit of your work. Feel free to drop whatever updates you want here whenever, and insights into DC are appreciated for sure, and especially any eventual info on its pairing with Ortega.

Speaking of which, group shot for good measure:

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Stress issues aside, they are turning out pretty well, and with a little luck perhaps I'll be able to bring in the new year with some (quickly dried and slightly early) MNS Ortega.
 
My brain is chaining complex migraines, so hopefully this reply isn't too disjointed. If so, let me know and I'll circle back to this once I stop running into doorways and falling over my own feet. o_O

The Ortega structure keeps drawing me back to these pics. They're sturdy and compact without being too compact. For as temperamental as Ortega is purported to be, these look like you're on top of it and they'll be ok. Interesting, totally different cultivar, but I had some Durbans that out grew my 2x4 and looked like this mid-flower and it made very good medication. And knowing how good Black Domina is, I bet your Ortega will end up great!

I had heard that as well about Deep Chunk dominance and will ask. He has several DC hybrids and while the influence is definitely there, I feel like he's been able to ride a fine line. However, in early veg, they were all DC in structure, honestly so squat and dense it was a bit much. I had two phenos that were heavily DC. One of which was male. I already much regret not keeping him. Coming anywhere near was like walking into a coffee shop. Dense flower clusters, frosty, not hollow stemmed, but also not the kind of male that blows his load all over your tent the second you switch to 12/12!

The Deep Chunk influence has moderated greatly beginning in early-flower, so perhaps that's a consideration for the future. Hopefully it's just a case of making hard selections towards your desired characteristics.
 
Nice work,:)
NorthenLights is always very interesting topic that Really enjoy read about it
Ortega was one my first choice in the auctions I really appreciate the calming effects that posses and the very thick but taste less smoke :p.

Ortega xMango Haze ibl= Ortango ;)
I believe this 2 crossing together will be a very good match .
Time will say

-SaveTheBrains
 
Ouch, sorry to hear about the headspace, I'm lucky to not have migraine issues but have friends that do and have some sense of how awful it can be.

Ortega structure
You are totally right about their structure, and although a couple of them really do stand out, the difference among them ultimately is not that significant. They all have more or less ideal inter-nodal spacing and secondary branching is fairly dense. So far the biggest difference (except for the height of #1) is the difference is flower development, with #5 and #6 forming very small flowers very slowly and the others heading toward serious chunk territory even in their little pots.

I've also read that Ortega can be temperamental, but actually I'm not finding them to be temperamental at all as they have pushed through all of the nonsense I've thrown at them - and so far no intersex issues, fingers crossed.

NorthenLights is always very interesting topic
Agreed, and I kind of like this "oblique" way of getting to know those genetics too. I grew a NL cross a while back and liked it a lot, but there was no way of learning the provenance of that stock. The Mango cross sounds interesting - that's another line I've yet to become familiar with.
 
Here is the bunch, trucking along:

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Most are putting on some nice flower. This is one of the stages of growing I think of as "The Borings", which will last a week or two before they start really maturing.

#1/Harper's Bacall

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Coming along nicely. Smells like plums with a little concord grape and/or tamarind, pretty consistent with Afghan lines. Most of the others are very similar, except for #4...

#4.

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Pretty happy with how she is turning out, and her aroma is hard to describe, in addition to the fruity sweetness there is something like menthol or camphor in the mix, and a little earthiness too - it's not indistinct exactly, but not as "representational".

#5.

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Still growing really tiny buds, noteworthy for how it was once a favorite...it's an unpredictable game we play...now watch her turn out to be the best smoke in history.

Anyway, the others are doing ok, and more updates will follow - thanks all!
 
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