Hey AFN,
Plenty of time has passed since my last update. Meanwhile I've had the chance to sample these four females, I'll be leaving you a report bellow as well as a few pics.
Regarding how the cycle went, they really disliked the media for a while, and specially when flowering started to kick in, but finally I managed to dial them in. The first portion (around 30%) of their 30L fabric pots was Biobizz Light mix and the remainder was Coot's mix done from scratch, a recipe I've tried before with success.
I suspect that the growing media was quite high on micronutrients, and when they ran out of phosphorus they acidified the rhizosphere making them much more available and subsequently making it worse for them. But who knows really, it was quite a strange event.
As for my review on this variety, having grown a small sample of them (7 in total, 4 on the main tent, 2 as seeds mothers and 1 as reversed pollen donor):
I can say they didn't turn out bad overall, but I'm still kind of disappointed.
Prior to my previous grow (MBAP x 3BOG, Double Grape, Skywalker, Forum Stomper, etc), I hadn't grown AF genetics in years, since 2012 or earlier, and I was quite surprised with how they turned out.
Due to that, I had then high expectations for these Mango Smile, being a lover of equatorial/"sativa" plants and having had past experiences with modern Haze hybrids (Super Silver Haze, Super Lemon Haze, Amnesia, etc) on my visits to Amsterdam and not only. Overall I felt they were lackluster and didn't deliver the quality or traits that I was expecting and felt somewhat like an unfinished project more than anything.
Mango Smile 1: Developed one or two preflowers on lower internodes, which went unnoticed for no more than a couple days. The pollen was very live and managed to pollinate most of them, but not ubiquitously. Fortunately is the more fragrant and projecting one, having a sweet orange mixed with soil and woods type of scent. It tastes good on the Mighty though the effects can be quite lackluster, in both quantity and quality. After a while it only adds up as weight instead of bliss and starts to feel boring soon. Funny structure, somewhat ruderal type mixed in with Haze.
Mango Smile 2: Almost odorless during growth, had a faint pine/hashy smell. It tastes surprisingly good, though not exceptional. Floral and something weird(metallic?), but enjoyable. The effects are the best among all siblings, being the only that really feels more like an Haze variant. It's giggly weed and is fun and sociable. It stacks and the comedown, unfortunately, can be a bit too numbing.
Mango Smile 3: Awful. Short and squat, smelling nice and sweet during flowering, but nothing remained on the finished product. Doesn't feel good, doesn't taste good. Didn't take proper pics of this one.
Mango Smile 4: A superior producer with an awesome structure and vigor. Hybrid feel and average potency. It's nice, specially if you like keeping scale records, though it only excels there. Piney, resinous but low odor.
To finish, I can at least say they were well productive, #4 being the winner nearing the 130g mark.
Please keep in mind these weren't grown to full potential and it's a limited sample, just sharing my experience. Luckily I've produced numerous "F2" seeds from two seed mothers too ripe to properly sample, and sometime in the future I will revisit this variety. Hopefully to find something more suiting.
Hope my report to be helpful for someone wanting to try the variety, sometimes it's just as it goes. Luck wasn't too much on my side this time, in regards to phenotypes.
