Mandarin Zkittlez

Ethos Genetics puts the buds themselves front and center with Mandarin Zkittlez: according to the breeder, they grow dense and avocado-shaped, are easy to trim and turn purple, black and red. Ethos also highlights their suitability for extracts. The photoperiod hybrid goes back to California Black Rozé from Dying Breed Seeds and Mandarin Sunset from Ethos's own breeding program.

Cultivation:

Ethos lists the variety in 2 versions. According to the breeder, the feminized Mandarin Zkittlez R1 flowers for 56 to 60 days, and Ethos rates its yield as average. For the F-1, regular seed producing male and female plants, the breeder gives 56 to 63 days and an above-average yield; it is said to do well indoors and outdoors.

Concrete yield figures appear only in a strain description that refers to Ethos: 500 to 600 g/m² indoors and over 600 g per plant outdoors, plus 8 to 9 weeks of flowering under artificial light and a harvest in October. The same description mentions dark purple to black and red leaves, glossy resin and orange pistils. Another strain description differs and portrays spade-shaped, dark olive-green buds with strong amber hairs.

Several descriptions highlight the low leaf content of the buds and the dense trichome coverage, whose resin is said to be sandy. In a documented outdoor grow in Florida that ran over the winter, the plant developed more slowly in the vegetative phase than many of the grower's other varieties, but evenly. It formed thick stems and only a few, but very large, fan leaves. It was topped above the 4th node to build a lower ring of shoots.

Genetics and Origin:

According to Ethos and another strain description, the mother was the original cutting of California Black Rozé from Dying Breed Seeds. Ethos attributes considerably more resin to this mother than to the original Zkittlez. The father is Mandarin Sunset. A published pedigree traces California Black Rozé back to Roze and OG Eddy, and Mandarin Sunset to Orange Velvet and Herijuana. A strain description and an experience report classify the cross, at 60 % indica and 40 % sativa, as slightly indica-dominant. The short forms Mandarin Z and Mzt are also in use.

As a parent, Mandarin Zkittlez appears in several pedigrees, including Banana Zkittlez and Mandarin Zkittles x Purple Punch 2.0 from Demonic Genetics, Citrus Mistress from Tempest Grove Genetics, Taste the Rainbow from Heart & Soil Seeds and Mandarin Cookies from Ethos itself.

THC Content:

Ethos does not state a pure THC value but the total content of active cannabinoids: 25 % for the R1, 20 to 25 % for the F-1. One strain description gives 20 to 22 % THC.

Aroma and Flavor:

Ethos describes the terpene profile with grape, orange and grapefruit and a spicy note reminiscent of hashish. Other strain descriptions pick up these terms and add peppery and herbal tones. In experience reports, sweet citrus aromas stand out, and individual consumers additionally perceive skunk, earth or a diesel-like sharpness. A test report describes orange peel, cranberry and lemon in the aroma and an earthy note on the finish.

Which terpenes dominate is not reported consistently. Some entries list myrcene, limonene, linalool and beta-caryophyllene, others pinene, caryophyllene and humulene.

Effects:

In experience reports, relaxation and an uplifted, euphoric mood recur; creativity, concentration, giggling and hunger are also named. Whether the variety is more sedating or stimulating is experienced differently. Some consumers describe drowsiness and a heavy body effect, others stress that they specifically did not become tired, or found it energetic. One report found the effect weak. The test report describes a feeling of pressure above the eyebrows and a marked daze under which concentration declined.

Reported undesirable side effects are dry mouth and dry eyes, and occasionally also paranoia, heavy eyelids, numbness in the legs, mild head pressure and couch-lock.