Vortex

By: TGA Seeds

Sativa 80 / Indica 20 Origins - Apollo 13 x Space Queen Flowering - 56 days

This mind-bending cross was bred by Subcool from his favorite old and new head-stash. The mother is the Apollo 13 and the father is a Space Queen. After testing many hybrids of these strains, the pungent sour sweet Vortex hybrid was selected. It is a heavily resinous bubble hash strain with a potent, racing high that leans heavily on the more psychedelic spectrum of the cannabis realm.

When left untopped, Vortex forms the classic tree shape, but plants deliver the best yields when topped early and trained to form multiple growing heads. This strain wilts noticeably during the dark period, almost appearing to need watering. Gardeners should remove heavy low side branches to focus the plant's energy on its uppermost shoots. When plants are topped and placed into flowering at 3 feet (1 meter), they finish well under 5 feet (1.75 meters) but will be very wide. This plant is ideal for a SCROG garden. Using these methods can deliver an average of 5 ounces (150g) per plant in soil, and more in hydro systems. Subcool prefers organic nutrients to arrive at the best taste and cleanest ash.

Outdoors, Vortex matures more quickly than the typical sativa, resisting late season mildew. Good reports have been reported for many different types of gardening environments from various parts of the world, so long as the grow season allows the plant to flower for a full 8 weeks. Lots of stakes and string are recommended, since the outdoor Vortex plant grows into a wide sagging bush with hundreds of bud sites that benefit from support.

These plants become bright green with vivid red pistil that fade to a more muted rusty brown as the flowers ripen. The many triangle-shaped, hard and dense buds give the plant a redbud look. The leaves definitely lean toward the sativa, growing blade-thin with a coating of small raised trichomes. Vortex clones easily, but it is also very uniform when grown from seeds, with almost no phenotypic variation. The females are nearly identical in smell, taste, and growth characteristics.

The Vortex buzz can be energizing and heart racing, but it can also be ripped under, curled under stupid stoned. This high has virtually no ceiling, so that the high keeps climbing without a burnout point. When used lightly, this strain is a real pick-up for the senses, stoking creative juices and provoking thought. With heavier use, Vortex becomes mentally confusing and potentially disorienting. Even veterans can find themselves spinning and swirling in the vortex of its psychedelic influences.

This strain may take discipline due to its sweet-tart aromas and flavors that leave one's lips smacking for another taste. Some have compared the smell to a mango drink with tart lemonade overtones. The flavor has a similar mix of smooth fruit flavors, likened to peach baby food, mixed with a sweet astringency reminiscent of pineapple. Vortex is definitely dizzying headstash of the highest rank, and has also gained a following from those who use marijuana medicinally for chronic pain because it assuage physical pain but also calms many of the emotions that accompany the experience of chronic pain.

1st place, 2010 High Times Medicinal Cup, San Francisco