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Firstly, I feel like I may need to start this by prefacing that CSI:Humboldt has no relation to Humboldt Seed Organization or Humboldt Seed Co. Since I know some people get these breeders confused. Where HSO is a budget seed company, Humboldt Seed Co being a bit more pricey and CSI:Humboldt being a long-standing, legendary breeder who's family has been working with the plant for generations. "The Nspecta" as he used to be known on some of the older forums is mostly renowned for his genetic preservation projects and his thorough testing of lines (something that is sadly not as common as it should be). Because he's been in the game so long, he has been entrusted with a large number of elite cuts which he preserves in S1 form, to ensure that the genetic line isn't lost (as happened with the RKS for example). In turn, when I was able to bring in CSI gear, I copped a whole lot of it. The first run I decided on was some of the Chem 91 S1 (SkunkVA cut) and some Obama Kush x Zkittlez. Growing environment and medium/feed Having grown in soil for years, I wanted to make sure I got the truest representation of these plants' potential and while some soil growers are good enough to do that with soil in small pots, I find pheno hunting in 5L pots with soil is always a real challenge, so I opted to try coco with Mega Solutions. They were flowered out in a 1.4x1.4m tent using 3x 240W Quantum Boards, which is a fair bit of light for the area. Obama Kush x Zkittlez Obama Kush is a select cut that was found in a pack of CSI's "Mendo Purps x Bubba Kush" (despite what you may read). What drew me to this cross is that the Obama cut has some unbelievably good looking aesthetics. I'm not one to grow just for visuals, but the Bubba Kush is something I certainly enjoy as well. The Zkittlez on the other side would theoretically bring some amazing terps to the mix with that long lasting mouth-coating flavour, at least that is what I'm looking for from these. Zkittlez in itself has some issues with growth traits, typically growing extremely small and bushy, so my goal was also to find something that perhaps carried the Z profile but with strongest, taller growth structure from the Obama side. Seedling Stage Out of the 7 beans, 1 didn't pop. So I ended up with an initial 6 female plants. They all grew fairly standard, nothing too noteworthy to point out in this stage. Veg Stage The #3 and #5 both looked good in veg, fast growing plants. There was a single outlier pheno which was growing much slower than the rest and also extremely squat and branchy. Immediately identifiable as Zkittlez traits to anyone that's grown a Z cross. I ended up vegging them out for around 6-7 weeks before flip. Flowering Stage These girls really started to shine around day 30 - they are some fast flowering plants! The #3 and the #5 stood out again in flower, with the #5 being a clear early favourite for me. It carries a rich combination of zkittlez and purp terps - with a musky grape flavour layered under a sweet initial blast (at least from rubbing some lower sugar leaves). The #5 was also the quickest, looking basically done by day 50. What I really love about the #5 so far is that it shows the same dark leaf colouration that makes the Obama so beautiful, while also carrying the stronger Obama side of the growth structure. The outlying pheno continues to be wider than it was tall, I was fully expecting Z aromas from her given her structure - but as genetics go, just because you've got one parent's trait doesn't mean that parent is going to pass along the rest. Instead the squat pheno carries an earthy, musky low scent to it and lacks that sweetness the Z carries. The #3 pheno has some really good looking flowers on her as well and is absolutely covered in trichomes. In fact, most of these Obama Z seem to have really good trichome coverage. As of posting this, they are now in day 52 of flower. Obama Z #3 around day 42 Obama Z #2 around day 42 Obama Z #5 around day 48 Chem 91 S1 Generally, it feels like there are a few types of growers. Those who are die-hard chem and OG fans, those who love the GSC hybrids for its aesthetics and then African landrace & Haze-lovers who are looking for those classic old school highs. I've always gravitated towards the chems & OGs. When it comes to the SkunkVA cut of the 91, man the story around it is so unbelievably deep and enthralling that even if you don't smoke, you'll want to grow some 91 after listening to it. The problem with the 91 is that it's a clone-only and also heavily faked by breeders. Not only faked, but just mistaken. There are a few 91 cuts around now from S1s that have been run through, but the SkunkVA cut remains the most esteemed and 'original'. I had a hard time popping these beans even just because I knew I wouldn't have the pack in my collection anymore. What I really love about the S1 is that it's potency is often considered second to none, but it is not good looking flower - most people would probably toss it out by today's standards. It's one of those "if you know, you know" kind of cuts. Though it does tend to hybridize well and carry a lot of the potency, while also not breeding very strongly towards its structure. Seedling Stage When it comes to the seedling stage, the Chem 91 were vigorous with all 7 germinating without issue. There was only really one immediately unique pheno which was the #3, a plant with variegation straight out of the seed. This wasn't too surprising as the Chem D, considered by CSI to be a cross of the 91 (there is a fair bit of consensus these days that the #4 and D are crosses of the 91 rather than sisters, as originally believed). Veg Stage The Chem 91 S1 really shined in veg. They grew huge, with their textbook style glossy curled leaves starting to show well. The curled, glossy leaf trait is well known in the 91, but I am interested as to whether this is perhaps an aggressive genetic uptake of N in the plants or whether it's just simply an expression. What got me even more curious is the sensitivity to N that the 91 has. I was feeding according to the Mega charts and never went too hard on N, but the Chem 91 definitely got some N tox in addition to the genetic tendency to curl and shine. I did more reading and spoke to some people who had run the SkunkVA cut in the US and the biggest take-aways was that it is notorious for being a light feeder and is very sensitive to overfeeding (wish I had those conversations a little earlier). Flowering Stage Another important lesson I learned a little too late is that Chem 91 does not like a lot of light. I started noticing foxtail/airy bud formation, which isn't too strange for the 91, as that is its primary growth style, but this was a bit exaggerated. Also through chatting to some people that had grown the SkunkVA cut, they found that the plant did best almost in the indirect corner lighting of their rooms and tended to spazz out a bit when pushed hard with the light, and here I was at 720W. So I dimmed the lights a little and they seemed to start a bit more bud formation, though it's still not where I want it to be. I'll be taking the winning cuts from this hunt and running them again, most likely in soil - and use the lessons learned this previous run. Overall, the Chem 91 look like they're going to go quite a long time! I imagine day 75-80 at least. They still have a lot of filling out to do. But I am seeing traits that align very nicely with the original parent cut, there's 3 phenos I have my eyes on quite closely, with one particular cut really standing out from a terp perspective. Mostly the smells are leathery, antique bookstores, with a touch of light citrus and fuel. All pictures around day 42 for these I believe. Chem 91 S1 #1 One of the most vigorous of the cuts both in veg and rooting as cuts. The #1 has a mild leathery fragrance with some musk. Nothing really to write home about when rubbing some lower sugar leaves, but it is starting to colour up quite decently. Not the worst looking so far but not really impressing toooo much. Chem 91 S1 #2 The #2 cut is by far more favourite so far. Even early on into flower there was something unique about her. She's got a bit more of a dense (comparatively) nug structure and the terps coming off of her are absolutely mind-blowingly alluring. There is a strong lemon cleaner/lemon fuel coming off of her. There is also better trichome production on her. Overall she's really impressing over most of the others. It's still far from a good grow this round, but I'll definitely run her again and see what she does with less feed and a bit less light. Chem 91 S1 #3 The #1 had aggressive variegation since the first true leave came out from the seed. Regardless of the feed, it retained pretty aggressive variegated leaves along the one half of the plant. The lack of chlorophyll in the variegated parts caused them to quickly become damaged by windburn after it grew into the line of the oscillating fan. This individual cut seemed even more sensitive to feed than the rest, as evident by the even more than normal leaf curling. The buds themselves aren't too bad looking, a bit more solid than some of the other phenos, a bit more trichomes and just less aggressive foxtailing. Smell on her isn't as strong as the #2, but in the same ballpark, also with a slightly leathery/musky element. Chem 91 S1 #4 The #4 is another slightly more impressive pheno, quite similar to the #2 in a lot of the growth traits but it doesn't have those same mindblowing sugar leave rubs that the #2 does. Will be monitoring it though and seeing what she puts out as she matures. The leaves are slightly different from the #2 though, the #2 had a very unique look to the leaves in the first few weeks of flower while this looked more similar to the other cuts in that general expression. Chem 91 S1 #5 This one looks like an extremely long flowering pheno. You can see how far it is behind the others, this is the cut that took a month before it really started to throw pistils. So far I really don't get much off of her. She's a slightly smaller plant but also very leafy. Chem 91 S1 #6 An absolute monster of a plant. The #6 cut is about 6 inches taller than everything else and just had a massive vertical stretch going into flower, though it still has relatively close internodal spacing. A bit similar to the #5, being a much slower flowering cut and also very leafy, which isn't really putting much out there for me to smell yet. Chem 91 #7 The #7 is one of the airiest of the bunch, with some really whispy buds so far. On the nose, she's also just got a leathery and musky scent with maybe some gas in there, but nothing like the #2 which opens up the sinus. Nothing much to report on her.