This is the story of Jack the Ripper and it is a fine example of what can happen along the way during a breeding project.
I have always wanted to have Jacks Cleaner in seed form. I have been prompted to ‘Self’ her using STS, but I don’t believe in that type of breeding because I feel a male plays a vital role in breeding projects. About 6 years ago, I used a Blueberry to outcross the Jacks Cleaner and Bushy Old Grower used some of these seeds to create the famous Lifesaver. Two years ago, I used the Jacks Cleaner x Blueberry to back cross the Jacks Cleaner and created Jacks Cleaner back cross (JC BX). Lost yet? I’ll try and untangle this mess as we continue on this journey.
Even though the JC BX kicks ass, has won awards and is used in breeding projects it was not what I was looking for. Also, around that time I ran with Vic’s Space Queen and found it to be some of the best weed I ever smoked. We also found an amazing Space Queen male that Jill used to create Jillybean and we used to create Spacejill. It was not an easy decision, but we decided after working with Space Dude he was a much better choice for a parent to outcross Jacks Cleaner and re-started completely over – passing on the Jacks Cleaner back cross and Jacks Cleaner Blueberry to other members of TGA.
We used our standard breeding methods and completed the project on schedule and promptly started a test run of these new seeds. One weird trait of this new hybrid is twin seedlings. Many growers have reported duel sprouts from one seed but it’s normal for one not to survive when this occurs. All the seeds were started using rapid rooters with no pre-soaking (I like to be as rough as possible and I never pamper test runs). Once seedlings came up and developed nice roots I transplanted them into 1 gallon containers and placed under a 400 watt Metal halide light. Once the plants matured the males were taken to a separate area and the best possible females were tagged and the rest tossed. We ended up with 3 females we felt met our selection criteria. The plants were topped and trained and vegged for about 45 days and reached a size of 24” with multiple growing heads.
Once in bud the plants quickly started swelling with fattening buds and by day 25 copious amounts of resin had become visible. Things got interesting when we had visible resin at just 2 weeks of budding and by week 3 we had a nice build-up of trichomes and the first hints of the Lemon smell I was looking for.
One of the female plants stretched so much I had to bend her severely to keep her close to equal to the rest of the crop. Even the lower buds dripped with resin and I am happy to report the mango lemon smell I was looking for was absolutely nailed. Normally I top all plants in our garden but with test plants it takes up less room if I leave them un-topped (and as I am usually moving them about a lot taking pictures and such it just makes them more manageable).
To avoid numerical confusion we gave each female a name
You can see in the picture the plants developed nicely, grown in only my own super soil in a 5 gallon pot and fed only water the entire run to test her natural ability to produce without being pushed. You can see the results speak for themselves.
Maturing much faster than JC was another hopeful goal and at 50 days I’d say we nailed that trait as well. All three females were alike with the exception of the height of the one female. To avoid numerical confusion we gave each female a name. Lemango became the tall one that looked more Space Queen dominant. Soylent Green was apparently the largest of the three as far as cola size and the plant most resembling Jacks Cleaner with her predictable resin leaf curl was given the name Pink Lemonade. This is the plant that became the star during multiple sessions in front of my lens.
The trichome production is off the chart and she has the classic raised head on a tall stalk that’s so classic of JC. I feel this represents the total sum of what I’ve learned and collected doing this my entire adult life. To be able to pass on traits I have seen attributed to the mother plant and then to actually create a phenotype with the same qualities and maybe even some improvements is truly humbling. The plant has pink resin, ok? I mean would you be happy or what? Now I have a gene pool to work with and continue the cubing of the original Jacks Cleaner F1 to produce a more stable line but variety is the spice of life among tokers and each of the females we found is a legendary keeper in itself. I enjoy each plant’s smoke equally but there are subtle differences that make it nice to choose a preferred one according to my needs at any given time.
I think the best news about this strain is that they’re available now. We have a lot of cool things, from tasty to pretty, to sativas to crazy combos of berry and lemon, but I’m taking this to the pot snob’s party. Let’s have a look at the end results: Lemango was more Space Queen-dominant and has a nice citrus and fruit taste as her name implies. Soylent Green did indeed yield the most, coming in at just over 2 ounces of cured dried bud. She has a nice lemon/berry taste that is my favorite in a joint due to it having a much smoother draw than the parent JC. Finally, Pink Lemonade is the most potent and most like JC. Incredible expansion as all the resin melts away on the bud and your lungs simply explode and your head follows shortly after, it only takes 3 bong hits to make me smile like a Cheshire Cat.
By Subcool tgagenetics.com
Originally published in weed world magazine issue 130
