Out of a package with five feminised seeds, The Doc put three to germination, and they quickly germinated, placed between moist kitchen paper sheets. Then he planted them into

11 litre pots filled with Plagron Standard Mix soil (to which, as usual, he had previously added 5% expanded clay and horn chippings) and after about three days, their heads showed up above the surface, stretching towards the light. Right from the start, the pots stood in his actual grow room illuminated by two 600 W MH bulbs and one 400 W HPS bulb. One week after germination, the three plants had arrived at the third internode already, exhibiting a fast growth rate. “These are becoming strong and solid plants”, The Doc reported two weeks later, when the plants were 20 cm tall, exhibiting vivid side branch growth. “The shade leaves were quite broad in the beginning, but the following sets of leaves are gradually becoming more slender, truly looking like mostly sativa”, he added. He then extended the veggie stage from regularly 3.5 to 4.5 weeks: “I’ve decided to so, because the three Dutch Dragons are still growing extremely compact and bushy, and I have lots of space in my room upwards, so in the flowering stage, they may stretch as hell and it still wouldn’t be an issue for me.” When he induced flowering at the age of more than four weeks, the plants measured 45-54 cm in height, growing remarkably homogeneous, exhibiting about ten internodes. The daily light regimen had been cut down from 18/6 to 12/12, and the two MH lamps been replaced by HPS versions. The three plans responded unusually quickly to the change of the light period, after 4-5 days already having produced their first female preflowers. “A very high willingness to flower Dutch Dragon has, I’ve rarely ever experienced such a fast reaction”, The Doc praised.

When the plants were three weeks into flowering, he noted: “As expected, they are subject to a strong stretching effect during the first weeks of flowering, meanwhile having arrived at a height of about one metre. Flower production is heavily pushing, there seems to be an enormous deal of blooming power contained in this strain.” Two weeks later, he continued: “The plants are about building big dense buds, it’s a sheer pleasure to see them bloom that busily, and already at this stage, they are very frosty, covered with lots of resin glands. I am also taken by their high calyx-to-leaf ratio that corresponds to Dutch Dragon’s mostly sativa pedigree, but their bulbous shape also reminds of indica. The stretching effect lasted very long, but now seems to come to an end. A delicious intense sweet citrus-like odour is spread by the plants, just as stated by Paradise.” After eight weeks of flowering, the buds had become even thicker and richer in resin, they were about getting on the home stretch. It turned out that The Doc’s Dutch Dragon plants would ripen at the beginning of the harvest period reported by Paradise, while one plant was mature after 61 days already and the other two after 63 and 65 days, chapeau! “Simply wonderful plants they are”, The Doc enthused, “they remained bushy and compact until the very end, having so many beautiful strong side branches packed with dense hard buds, and their big long top colas are true smashers as well.” Final heights were 107, 111 and 116 cm, not exceptionally tall for a sativa strain.

After the drying process had been finished, it was time to weigh the buds which yielded a total of 325 grams, more than 100g per plant on the average, what a fantastic outcome. Those Dutch Dragon buds, dense hard sticky nuggets that highly attracted The Doc, had preserved their sweet citrusy smell that was very smooth though, more reminding of mild tangerines than acrid lemons. “Sweet is the breath of the Dragon, indeed!”, The Doc confirmed, “but will it also be very poisonous, full of magic?” He couldn’t wait to find out about that and swiftly rolled his first Dutch Dragon fattie… and the Dragon would unleash mighty white clouds of THC vapour breath from his mouth that didn’t benumb The Doc though, but extremely excite him, effecting a thrilling sativa high that made him feel energized and soaring to higher regions, as if the Dragon would have taken him on his wings and flown up and away. That mental flight lasted for about one and a half hour, then The Doc & Dragon slowly landed back in reality, what a trip! His journey was additionally sweetened by a lovely flavour, as the Dutch Dragon buds proved to taste just as they smelled – sweet, fruity and smooth, a yummy-yummy flavour sensation that was enjoyed by The Doc very much.

“Dutch Dragon did impress me in any aspect, it has proven to be a friendly THC monster with a very high yield potential and, for a mostly sativa strain, really short flowering time and well controllable height. It’s one of my Paradise favourites now, and also a sativa strain favourite in general for sure. Well, an age of almost 20 years isn’t old for a real dragon, but for a cannabis dragon, it certainly is, and I can tell – That Dutch Dragon is as strong and mighty as ever!”, The Doc concluded.

Green Born Identity – G.B.I.

Originally published in Weed World Magazine 116

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