Before I started News Joint Grow Journal 6.0, I didn’t have a theme in mind besides running my normal “fruit flavored” strains. Writing this entry, I noticed another theme. All four strains in Grow Journal 6.0 have a connection to our A Friend Indeed (AFI) program. A Veteran I’d met through the AFI program knew my preference for lemon, orange, citrus, and diesel strains, so he gifted me a cross of Tangerine Haze x Oregon Lemon Diesel.

Tangerine Haze is a cross of G13 Haze and NYC Diesel, and Oregon Lemon Diesel is a cross of Lemon Diesel and Face Off OG BX1. I’m not sure who bred the regular seeds. I popped two, one male and one female. Despite the male growing twice as fast as the female, I trashed the male. The THxOLD had a rough start, because I caused some deficiencies and then completely over-watered the seedling trying to recover, but once I transplanted her from a solo cup into a five-gallon pot, I had zero problems.

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The THxOLD did not grow as fast or as big as the other three strains in the tent, but the plant grew symmetrically, bushy, stout, and healthy. The structure and growth reminded me of an auto, and as such, I did very little low-stress training throughout vegetation. I pruned the THxOLD once and performed Kyle Kushman’s “chiropractic” techniques about a week before flipping to flower. After that, I just let her go.

During the flowering stage, I had to place the THxOLD on a box to level the top of the plant with the other three strains (Golden Putang, Appleberry Crisp, and Putang BX). The THxOLD delivered a pungent orange-rind citrus aroma as soon as the buds popped up and gained more skunk and less citrus toward the end of flower. I accidentally touched my nose to the bud while sniffing, and for the rest of the night, it was like having a personalized orange deodorizer on every inhale.

Despite the small size of the plant, the bright green buds were round and thick with bright orange pistils. Throughout the grow, some of the leaves and trichomes turned purple. I chopped the THxOLD at nine weeks and a couple days, and because of the size, the THxOLD produced less than two ounces of dried and cured flower. The flower kept the bright green leaves and pistils with a few purple leaves.

The aroma of the grow matched the flower with a pungent orange, sharp citrus, and diesel with backnotes of earthy floral skunk. The flavors matched the aroma with sharp orange citrus, lemon, grapefruit, and a mix of other citrus fruit on the inhale and an added sweet skunk and sour diesel on the exhale. The orange citrus flavor lingered on the palate.

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I grow these sativa-leaning strains to find the clearheaded buzzes with mental focus (Work Sativa) to battle my ADD, but sometimes “haze” strains cause a bit too much mind wondering and is counterproductive to the work I’m trying to accomplish. Although this cross delivered my favorite flavors, aroma, and uplifting happy-go-lucky effects, the strain was better suited for outdoor or physical work and not sitting-at-my-desk concentration work. Stay tuned for more entries from News Joint Grow Journal 6.0.

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