Silence! In the Sweet Seeds® jungle you can hear a growl coming from some place far away.
It seems to be coming from something big and very powerful that’s moving at high speed in my direction. It’s already here and it just hit me with its 25% THC! Minutes later: laughter, relaxation, creativity and a lot of appetite.
This is what many of us cannabis smokers think and feel after giving a few puffs to a strain as powerful as this wonder that I am talking about today: the new Gorilla Girl F1 Fast Version® (SWS86), released in the first half of 2020 by Sweet Seeds®. It features a very pleasant smoke, due to its rich and peculiar taste. A wild beast that takes a few days to tame and that your friends will remember for days…as it has everything. I will start by sharing the technical data here, as an appetizer:
Indica: 40% / Sativa: 60%
THC: 18-25% – CBD: 0.1%
Indoor Yield: 400-550 g/m2
Outdoor Yield: 350-600 g/plant
Indoor Blooming: 7 weeks
Outdoor Harvest: early September
This powerful and wild champion features around 25% THC. It is also a very fast photoperiod-dependent strain, as it can be harvested with only 7 weeks of flowering, reaching a place in the podium of the “Super Strong” and “Super Fast” strains. Once again, the F1 Fast Version® family is growing so that everyone can benefit from the goodness of this great genetic in a short flowering time. I am sure that it will be a very awarded genetic in cannabis cups and become very acclaimed by cannagrowers. It is also a very easy-to-grow strain, with compact buds, including the flowers in the lower parts of the plant, those that we use for our extractions. But in this case the lower buds develop with enough quality and adequate caliber to be stored in the jars for smoking or vaporizing. All the flowers present a white appearance due to the quantity and quality of their resin, which is not a surprise since its parents are true producers of trichomes. This beast is the resulting hybrid from the cross between the famous Gorilla Girl® (SWS74), a strain that earned many fans of the “American gene” (with up to 31% THC), and the outstanding Sweet Gelato Auto® (SWS76). Both strains are part of the Sweet Seeds®’ “USA STRAIN” genetic line.
Not everything that comes from USA is adapted to the European taste. In Europe, cannabis lovers tend to prefer full and powerful flavors. But, again, the breeders and the R&D team have done a great work of parental selection, looking for homogeneity and for a perfect combination of
strong effects and powerful terpenes. Many previous grow operations have been performed in order to determine which specimens are best adapted to indoor growing, without neglecting yield and speed, so much appreciated by outdoor growers who often choose genetics that can be harvested before the arrival of autumn rains. Finally, after two years, the breeders achieved stability in this new F1 Fast Version® and we can now enjoy it in all corners of the planet, including those farthest from the Equator. It is ideal for Northern European countries, as outdoor growers will be able to grow and harvest high quality plants in record time. In fact, I am sure that it will be one of the most demanded strains in cannabis expo’s all over Europe.
Taming the beast
Once again, I will try to simplify as much as possible the proceedings to achieve good results with Gorilla Girl F1 Fast Version®, since some readers may be growing cannabis plants for the first time. That’s why I want to focus on the most basic things. I always grow my plants indoors, with artificial lights, as I have no outdoor areas for growing. That doesn’t mean that my advice doesn’t work for outdoors, you just have to translate it into your own way of growing.
You will need a closed space like a closet (or sealed room) with an air inlet and outlet, connected to the outside with 2 extractors that will help with air renovation while inputting more CO2 coming from the outside. In other words, one works as air intake and the other one as extractor, the latter being the most powerful one.
You can even skip the inlet if you are running a small grow operation because the extractor will generate enough suction to create passive air interaction through the tube that comes from the outside. Inside it is mandatory to have at least one fan (ideally 2), set to blow air in the direction of the plants so that no air pockets or dead spaces are generated and so that the plants can adequately generate cellulose by movement, while helping to balance the temperature inside the growing area. A special light is also needed which can be High Pressure Sodium, LED, LEC or CFL.
Please note that the higher the power, the greater the yield but also, the higher the cost. CFL lights are only suitable for the first few days. For the rest of the grow operation, especially for flowering, you should use one of the other previously mentioned options. If you want to invest in a light equipment that lasts for a long time, you must use quality LEDs such as those made of CREE chips or similar. They are broad-spectrum, so you can use them for vegetative and flowering.
They generate very little heat and this helps to reduce stress to the plants while producing healthier plants that develop more branches. The plants also tend to produce more resin in the buds, retaining more terpenes.If you grow in the winter, you will need a heat generator. If you do it in the hot season, the opposite, an air conditioner. Keep in mind the following rule: always keep the temperature between 18 ºC and 28 ºC.
It is important that you avoid lowering the minimum temperature so that the plant’s activity is not paralyzed. If the temperature rises too much, pests such as spider mites may appear, as they usually thrive with dry and very hot climates. At the same time, in flowering it is advisable that the humidity does not exceed 60%, in order to avoid fungus in the buds. To keep these two weather factors in rigorous control you will need a thermohygrometer.
Gorilla Girl F1 Fast Version® is a strain with very compact buds, so take good care of the humidity at the end of the cycle, keeping it low, and let the soil dry out well before watering again. By doing this, the humidity levels will not rise in the room, helping the plants to generate more sugars, something you will appreciate when you are tasting this sweetness.
Prevention is the key to success, which is why you should not only control the climate, but also apply repellents so that pests or fungi do not feel comfortable. Sprays with neem oil or potassium soap are more than welcome during the whole season. You must try to be rigorous with the applications and, above all, you should always keep the grow area clean, removing any remains of dry leaves.
Good soil mix and fertilizers? Of course! Without food there is no health. But you must not abuse it and you should try to give the plants an organic diet: it is easier to use organic fertilizers and the result will be of higher quality than with mineral fertilizers. If you use well-prepared soil mixes, you should only worry about feeding your babies from the fourth or fifth week onwards. You can help with root stimulators, mycorrhizae and beneficial microorganisms.
In the case of Gorilla Girl F1 Fast Version® I have noticed that this strain can take advantage of a soft nitrogen feeding as it tends to generate more flowers. Avoid abusing large doses of fertilizer as this plant features a very short flowering cycle and may not have time to assimilate it. Organic fertilizers are slowly released, so it is very important to avoid any type of exaggerations. If you look at the photos, this plant is already almost clean of nutrients. With this, it will be free from traces of strange and unpleasant flavors, making it much healthier when consumed. This strain is optimal for SOG, SCROG or main-lining and it is also very adequate for LST, as it usually stretches a little in flowering.Be patient and let your plant mature properly.
If you don’t have a magnifying glass to have a look at the trichomes you can look at the pistils (those little white hairs) and harvest when about 80% are ripe, brown. The calyxes should be swollen and you will see that Gorilla Girl F1 Fast Version® has them very fat and full of trichomes. It is truly fascinating to see how it overflows with resin in flowers and leaves.
These are the leaves that you will later use for your extractions or recipes.The tasting took place on a Saturday with friends. We all agreed that the power is overwhelming. The presence of the dried buds is of first quality, very hard and full of crystals. After grinding a bud we can feel sweet and fruity aromas, really intense.
When inhaled, we can also appreciate notes of woods and a citrus point that completes the great range of terpenes offered by the wonderful Gorilla Girl F1 Fast Version®. The effects arrive quickly. Very intense and really psychoactive, but in moderation: no paranoia. To finish, I have to say that Sweet Seeds® managed to make me fall in love once again with this wild and new Gorilla. I highly recommend this marvelous strain!
Written and Published By Sweet Seeds In Weed World Magazine Issue 147
