I hope you always find space to have some of these plants in your garden. You will not be disappointed.
Writing an article and being able to share it with you is always a pleasure, especially when it is focused on Sweet Seeds® strains as all of them feature very distinguished flavors and scents, where big and sticky buds are always present.
We recently had a real boom in the cannabis world with legalization for both therapeutic and recreational uses in several states of the USA. In other parts of the world it seems like the process is similar and the same path is being followed: decriminalize, normalize and legalize Cannabis.
It was recently discovered that one of the most important cannabinoids features great power as a medicine against many ailments. It is used as a palliative for many diseases such as epilepsy and in a multitude of aggressive treatments, such as chemotherapy. In addition, it has no psychotropic or psychoactive effects. It does not get you high, but it cures: we are talking about CBD or Cannabidiol.
A couple of years ago, the Sweet Seeds® breeders started working on strains with high levels of CBD from which a specific line of CBD plants could be created, each one with different levels, for the different users.
Among them we have Sweet Pure CBD® (SWS65), the first Sweet Seeds® strain with very low THC levels, usually below 1%, and very high levels of Cannabidiol (CBD) standing between 8% and 15%. Besides this special strain, there are other strains in the catalog which are equally interesting, such as Green Poison CBD®(SWS70), Black Jack CBD® (SWS68), Ice Cool CBD®(SWS69), Cream Caramel CBD®(SWS67) and in autoflowering version you can find Sweet Nurse Auto®(SWS59) and Honey Peach Auto CBD®(SWS64). All of them featuring a THC:CBD ratio that ranges between 1:1 and 1:3.
Now I will explain more information about these new strains and how they are expected to perform while you grow them.
Growing sweet medicine.
With so much to choose from I had to make a selection of all these strain and ended up germinating only 3 strains. In total I had 9 plants: 3 Chem Beyond Diesel®, C.B.D. (SWS66), 3 Green Poison CBD® and 3 Cream Caramel CBD®.
All the grow was done in a 120cmx120cm closet inside a room which is equipped with an inlet extractor and another more powerful outlet extractor, to renew the air every half hour. I also have a greenhouse with an air conditioner to prevent the temperature from dropping down to below 18ºC since the grow was made in winter. This is very important because if the temperature in the growing room drops much more, the plants can stop growing and become quite susceptible to root diseases in addition to the difficulties in drying the soil in these conditions, something necessary in Cannabis growing. Another important thing is to have the closet well sealed to avoid light contamination, which would disturb the plants in the flowering cycle because if they receive any light in their period of darkness, they can show hermaphrodite flowers or even stop developing flowers.
Germination was done in glasses with water and a little H2O2 to oxygenate and prevent fungal attacks. At 36 hours the seeds had sprouted so they were passed to Jiffys to speed up the process. Three days later you could already see the first leaves coming out and the roots also showed up so I passed them to 1 L pots. The plants grew under CLF lights during the whole vegetative stage with a schedule of 20H On / 4 OFF, using as soil a mix prepared with enough fertilizer for the first month. After 10 days I transplanted them again to Airpot pots of 10 L and 20 L in the moment they I passed them to flowering. The waterings were always spaced, allowing the substrate to dry almost completely, which helps a lot to prevent fungus and stagnation of the root. Between this and the Airpot, a good oxygen supply is achieved, essential for the plant to have a good development.
I have not used vegetative fertilizers except for a bio root stimulator once a week. Remember: do not water when the earth looks damp. You can also weigh the pot to see when the soil is dry and thus be able to water again.
Once the first month was completed, the plants were about 25 to 30 cm high. At this time the cycle was changed to 12H to force flowering. They were transplanted to the definitive 20 L pot and I also changed the lights for 2x 220w LED grills (cree 3590). For nine plants it was more than enough.
From this moment I used a bio bloom stimulator in each irrigation and from the 2nd week an extra support was used with CAL MAG since some plants showed first signs of deficiency in these elements.
The variety showing less deficiency signs was Chem Beyond Diesel®, C.B.D., so I used a lower dose comparing to the other plants. Once the flowering started, I added flowering bio fertilizer, in half doses.
After the 4th week of flowering I started to use the full dose in the two most popular varieties: Green Poison CBD® and Cream Caramel CBD®. In the other strain I kept using half the dose since the plant was very healthy throughout the whole cycle and hardly needed any food. Despite using LEDs, which tend to keep the plants shorter and branched, the height of the plants was already around 80cm/110cm.
By the 7th week I I flushed the soil using a product to help with it which allowed me to use less water. After this washing, I watered them abundantly with catalyzing enzymes that help break down the roots while providing sugars to the plant. By the end of the 8th week I harvested all the plants, full buds and very visible trichomes even in the largest leaves.
It is important that the plants finish in a soil that is clean of fertilizer traces and to ensure this we can look at the color of their leaves that should show yellow colours or a very light green colour in the end of the plant’s life cycle.
Final Notes.
Chem Beyond Diesel CBD®
This plant performs very well with soft fertilizers since it does not need large doses of fertilizer to show its category. Organic growing helps to bring about all its aromas with maximum purity.
Taste and effect are the main characteristics of this strain. Very resinous flowers with a very powerful and highly attractive perfume that is a total pleasure for the taste buds. Lemon, fruits, Diesel and wood tones appear after inhalation of its smoke or vapor, delighting many expert smokers. This CBD-rich genetic is the result of a cross between an USA genetic, Chem Dawg, and an European genetic rich in Cannabidiol (CBD) from the Diesel family. The THC:CBD ratio of this variety stands between 1:1 and 1:2 and its effects are moderate and excellent against stress, insomnia, etc., without having too much of a psychoactive effect. If you are an experienced smoker, this strain will leave you calm, but not too high, perfect for daily tasks that are better handled without being under the influence of THC. It is a very balanced effect.
It is one of the most resinous strains of the whole catalog and this is well known by those who like to make their own extractions. When growing it performs very well with soft fertilization since it is a variety that does not need large doses of fertilizer to show all its splendour. Organic growing helps to achieve all its aromas with maximum purity. Its hard and resinous fruits can be harvested with only 8 weeks of flowering. For all this, Chem Beyond Diesel®, C.B.D. won the 2nd prize for the Best CBD Strain at Spannabis Champions Cup Barcelona 2018 in the same year it was released.
Green Poison CBD®
The already mythical Green Poison® conquered the heart of many cannabis growers around the world and now with the arrival of CBD it has been modulated by a clone from the Diesel family to achieve a THC:CBD ratio that stands between 1:1 and 1:2.
It is one of the fastest plants with these qualities, being able to be harvested within only 7 weeks of flowering. This is a very productive plant with a large central bud and sometimes it is necessary to hold up the branches so that their flowers do not touch the ground. It is very easy to grow and it is an ideal strain for SOG. It is ideal for outdoor crops with humid climates as it can be harvested before the arrival of the bad weather.
The aroma and flavor of Green Poison CBD® is very dense, sweet and fruity, with a touch that is reminiscent of nuts.
If you decide to go with this one I am sure you will not fail.
Cream Caramel CBD®
Perhaps the most Indica and medicinal of all the CBD-rich strains from the Sweet Seeds® collection. It features a THC:CBD ratio that stands between 1:1 and 1:2 and as it leans to the Indica side, the effect is somewhat more relaxing than the other strains. Perfect to reduce stress and muscular pain.
It is very vigorous and it can be harvested within about 8 weeks of flowering. I can say that it is one of the easiest strains to grow, making it very easy to achieve good yields. It is ideal for outdoor growing and it adapts perfectly to SCROG or SOG systems.
The flavor is earthy, with a sweetish creamy background very characteristic of its original version. Another must plant!
I hope you always find space to have some of these plants in your garden. You will not be disappointed.
Words by Jaypp
Images by Sweet Seeds®
Originally published in Weed World magazine issue 138
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