The stealth cannabis variety that hides itself
Frisian Duck is a specially developed cannabis variety which grows with webbed leaves making it very difficult to identify. It was made by crossing Frisian Dew, an outdoor bestseller, together with a special cultivar of Ducksfoot. The result is Frisian Duck, it is tough enough to cope with the variable Northern European summer yet it retains the webbed leaf structure which makes it difficult even for experienced growers to identify as cannabis. Outdoor and greenhouse growers have been asking for such a variety for many years, it has been one of Dutch Passion’s trickiest breeding projects.
Ducksfoot is a fascinating variety, developed in Australia it grows with webbed leaves which look quite unlike the traditional Cannabis shape. You could quite literally walk past it and never know it is cannabis, the weird squashed leaf shape simply blends in with the rest of the surrounding vegetation and you wouldn’t give it a second glance.
However the original Ducksfoot was never hardy enough to thrive outside of warm climates. To really allow the true potential of the Ducksfoot to shine through it was important to toughen up the genetics, and if possible improve the yields. Crossing Ducksfoot with Frisian Dew and selectively breeding from the offspring over several years was where the really difficult work came in. The breeding had to maintain the webbed leaf shape and at the same time improve yields with early harvests in order to make the genetics suitable for non-tropical outdoor climates. Targeted selective breeding is always demanding and Frisian Duck was no exception: this was one of the most challenging and technically complicated breeding projects since the introduction of autoflowering varieties. Others had tried and failed, but perhaps the most important aspect of toughening up the Ducksfoot genetics was the hybridization with the hardy Frisian Dew genetics.
Frisian Duck shows the stabilized webbed leaf structure, the leaf shape is similar to the shape of a Duck’s foot print as it is squashed with webbed leaves. Most of the leaves show this structure and during the first few months of its life the Frisian Duck really is difficult to identify as Cannabis. Outdoors in the Northern hemisphere it is ready to harvest around the end of September, and it is only really during late bloom when the buds are fattening up that this plant looks like traditional cannabis. But by this point the plant is almost ready to harvest. The real value of Frisian Duck is that for the bulk of its life it is simply unrecognizable, and that makes it a convenient stealth variety for a range of growers that can use the camouflaged appearance to tremendous advantage whether growing in their back garden, in a greenhouse or in the countryside.
Outdoor growers often have a few outdoor ‘guerilla’ grow locations that they use for growing. Guerrilla growers take great pride and passion to find and optimize their outdoor plots. Often the best plots are south facing, in the countryside and off the beaten track. Sometimes the grow locations are created inside bramble bushes to ensure that people, dog walkers, deers and rabbits can’t get anywhere near their cannabis plants. For guerrilla growers the accidental discovery of their plants at any stage of life often means the end of that grow location. But even if the Frisian Duck plants are discovered it is unlikely that they would be recognized during their vegetative growth. So Frisian Duck is an opportunity for guerilla growers to tip the odds in their favor.
Back garden cannabis grows are popular with people lucky enough to have a reasonably private area to grow in. Often the urban cannabis grower had to rely on their ability to keep the cannabis plants hidden from view by using creative techniques such as using a surrounding barrier of taller plants to provide guaranteed cover for the cannabis, but with Frisian Duck there is no need to provide an impenetrable barrier of camouflage shrubs, just let the Frisian Duck blend in with the other flowers, shrubs and runner beans. You will be surprised at the stealth improvements that come from the simple removal of the iconic cannabis-shaped leaves. Perhaps part of the reason for the success of Frisian Duck is due to the fact that everyone knows (or thinks they know) what a cannabis leaf looks like. The reason no-one has come up with this idea before is the difficulty stabilizing the duck foot leaf shape in a toughened genetic www.dutch-passion.nl form that can withstand non-tropical climates and still deliver decent yields.
Those that grow their cannabis in a greenhouse or poly-tunnel will also benefit from the stealthy Frisian Duck genetics which look distinctly unrecognizable surrounded by tomatoes and chili plants. It takes some of the paranoia and stress out of greenhouse growing knowing that only you are aware of what’s really growing behind the prized vegetables.
Despite being developed primarily for outdoor/greenhouse growers, Frisian Duck does grow well indoors. Blooming is initiated in the normal way by switching the light regime to 12/12 (12 hours light followed by 12 hours of darkness) and flowering takes around 8 weeks until its ready for harvest.
So, if you are looking for a cannabis variety which is quite unlike anything else you have grown, and if you think that the traditional cannabis leaf shape compromises your security, then it could be worth thinking about what Frisian Duck has to offer.
You could quite literally walk past it and never know it is cannabis
www.dutch-passion.nl
Originally published in Weed World Magazine issue 116
