Hello Friends, thought I'd post a write up! Enjoy, mikey1
SeedBank: Barney's Farm
Strain: Critical Rapido
Description of strain from Barney's Farm:
"The availability of an auto-flowering version of the Critical Mass cannabis species is the result of an intense and diligent breeding programme. By crossing the auto-flowering properties of ruderalis with the massive yielding, and high quality Critical Mass, Barney�s Farm breeders have developed a most potent strain that will commence flowering within 20 days of planting and finishes in as little as 8-9 weeks. Typically the plant will grow 0.5 meter, with a main stem and 7 side branches, all full and dense with long fat colas of delicious indica marijuana"
Did it autoflower?: Yes. 24 hour light postponed appearance of preflowers to over 30 days, and serious flowering didn't occur until a couple of weeks after that.
Soil/hydro: Hydro Deep Water Culture, individual 5 gallon buckets with airstones, 6 inch netpot lids and hydroton foundation. Started in rockwool cubes right in the buckets.
Nutes: General Hydroponics 3-part flora series and GH cal-mag in well water which had 100 ppm TDS to begin with. No other additives or boosters. Started feeding trace amounts from day 1, gradually building to a max of around 1200 ppm (Hannah meter) during heaviest bloom. Weekly to 10 day reservoir (bucket) changes. Daily top-offs were regular nutrient mix. At all times feeding strength roughly corresponded to 1/4 to 1/2 strength of the GH recommendations, and I adjusted the strength by monitoring the ppm readings daily and finding the strength that would keep them constant from day to day. Veg period was maximized by delaying the introduction of bloom nutes until plants were done stretching. Suspended feeding and flushed with plain pH'd well water for 2 weeks before harvest.
Light (kind and schedule): single 400 watt HPS overhead and (3) 26 watt household CFL's in the darker spots. Lights ran 24 hours a day start to finish.
From seed to harvest date: 120 days- harvested tops of plants 140 days- harvested remaining lower buds. Clear and cloudy mix of trichomes with just a few ambers.
Dry Yield: Best plant was about 4.5 oz. dry, 2 other plants about 2.5 oz. each.
High/Effect Duration: Nice head high and stone without making you useless, fairly long lasting, 2 to 3 hours
RATE SCALE: * bad to ***** good
BAG APPEAL: **** 4 out of 5 stars
Nicely frosted buds with a good ratio of calyxes to leaves. Not super-dense grown under 24 hour light, but they break up beautifully without a grinder. Buds cure to a medium dull green with orange/ light brown pistils.
THE GROWTH: ***** 5 out of 5 stars
All 3 plants were problem free during the grow and they all grew much larger than predicted by the breeder since they were in DWC and had 24 hour lighting. Actual heights were around 1 meter vs the .5 meter predicted. Growth pattern was typical indica throughout with plenty of side branching right from the beginning. Didn't stretch nearly as much as the dinafem white widow auto growing in the same conditions. The extended veg and 24 hour lights allowed the plants to develop 16 to 18 side colas each rather than the 4 to 5 in the breeder's description.
THE SMELL: **** 4 out of 5 stars
I had 3 plants and there were 2 distinct phenotypes with completely different smell and taste. (both very good). The first pheno was the largest and most productive plant and smelled and tasted like fresh blonde hash to me.....the other 2 plants were smaller and produced a smell and taste which to me was like a blend of spicy dried fruits, hints of raisins/ dates etc. and was richer and deeper smelling than the first pheno. The nice smell and taste didn't develop until cured in jars for several weeks, at first both were very grassy.
THE SMOKE: **** 4 out of 5 stars
Very smooth and easy smoke, not harsh at all, with each pheno having its own distinct taste. Hard to pick a favorite but I lean towards the hashy-flavored one, it has that nice hash flavor on exhale! Friends notice right away that they're not smoking commercial weed and comment on the nice flavors.
THE HIGH: *** 3 out of 5 stars
Really Good! Nice head high and mellowing effect without inducing a coma! But with some of the super strains out there now and taking into account the photo strains, I'd have to give it a 3. Still, better than any commercial I've seen lately and much better tasting and smelling. Friends have been passing on hits after the first half a doob but I suspect they're lightweights!!! I suspect that potency might have been increased at the expense of some yield if I had switched to a light and dark cycle at about halfway through heavy flowering and continued that way until finished. That's what I'll do next time and see what happens.
Comments: Easy to grow problem-free strain with decent production of very nice smoke. Odor control during the grow will need to be considered if you want to keep it stealthy! Of 3 feminised seeds purchased, all germinated and were females.
SeedBank: Barney's Farm
Strain: Critical Rapido
Description of strain from Barney's Farm:
"The availability of an auto-flowering version of the Critical Mass cannabis species is the result of an intense and diligent breeding programme. By crossing the auto-flowering properties of ruderalis with the massive yielding, and high quality Critical Mass, Barney�s Farm breeders have developed a most potent strain that will commence flowering within 20 days of planting and finishes in as little as 8-9 weeks. Typically the plant will grow 0.5 meter, with a main stem and 7 side branches, all full and dense with long fat colas of delicious indica marijuana"
Did it autoflower?: Yes. 24 hour light postponed appearance of preflowers to over 30 days, and serious flowering didn't occur until a couple of weeks after that.
Soil/hydro: Hydro Deep Water Culture, individual 5 gallon buckets with airstones, 6 inch netpot lids and hydroton foundation. Started in rockwool cubes right in the buckets.
Nutes: General Hydroponics 3-part flora series and GH cal-mag in well water which had 100 ppm TDS to begin with. No other additives or boosters. Started feeding trace amounts from day 1, gradually building to a max of around 1200 ppm (Hannah meter) during heaviest bloom. Weekly to 10 day reservoir (bucket) changes. Daily top-offs were regular nutrient mix. At all times feeding strength roughly corresponded to 1/4 to 1/2 strength of the GH recommendations, and I adjusted the strength by monitoring the ppm readings daily and finding the strength that would keep them constant from day to day. Veg period was maximized by delaying the introduction of bloom nutes until plants were done stretching. Suspended feeding and flushed with plain pH'd well water for 2 weeks before harvest.
Light (kind and schedule): single 400 watt HPS overhead and (3) 26 watt household CFL's in the darker spots. Lights ran 24 hours a day start to finish.
From seed to harvest date: 120 days- harvested tops of plants 140 days- harvested remaining lower buds. Clear and cloudy mix of trichomes with just a few ambers.
Dry Yield: Best plant was about 4.5 oz. dry, 2 other plants about 2.5 oz. each.
High/Effect Duration: Nice head high and stone without making you useless, fairly long lasting, 2 to 3 hours
RATE SCALE: * bad to ***** good
BAG APPEAL: **** 4 out of 5 stars
Nicely frosted buds with a good ratio of calyxes to leaves. Not super-dense grown under 24 hour light, but they break up beautifully without a grinder. Buds cure to a medium dull green with orange/ light brown pistils.
THE GROWTH: ***** 5 out of 5 stars
All 3 plants were problem free during the grow and they all grew much larger than predicted by the breeder since they were in DWC and had 24 hour lighting. Actual heights were around 1 meter vs the .5 meter predicted. Growth pattern was typical indica throughout with plenty of side branching right from the beginning. Didn't stretch nearly as much as the dinafem white widow auto growing in the same conditions. The extended veg and 24 hour lights allowed the plants to develop 16 to 18 side colas each rather than the 4 to 5 in the breeder's description.
THE SMELL: **** 4 out of 5 stars
I had 3 plants and there were 2 distinct phenotypes with completely different smell and taste. (both very good). The first pheno was the largest and most productive plant and smelled and tasted like fresh blonde hash to me.....the other 2 plants were smaller and produced a smell and taste which to me was like a blend of spicy dried fruits, hints of raisins/ dates etc. and was richer and deeper smelling than the first pheno. The nice smell and taste didn't develop until cured in jars for several weeks, at first both were very grassy.
THE SMOKE: **** 4 out of 5 stars
Very smooth and easy smoke, not harsh at all, with each pheno having its own distinct taste. Hard to pick a favorite but I lean towards the hashy-flavored one, it has that nice hash flavor on exhale! Friends notice right away that they're not smoking commercial weed and comment on the nice flavors.
THE HIGH: *** 3 out of 5 stars
Really Good! Nice head high and mellowing effect without inducing a coma! But with some of the super strains out there now and taking into account the photo strains, I'd have to give it a 3. Still, better than any commercial I've seen lately and much better tasting and smelling. Friends have been passing on hits after the first half a doob but I suspect they're lightweights!!! I suspect that potency might have been increased at the expense of some yield if I had switched to a light and dark cycle at about halfway through heavy flowering and continued that way until finished. That's what I'll do next time and see what happens.
Comments: Easy to grow problem-free strain with decent production of very nice smoke. Odor control during the grow will need to be considered if you want to keep it stealthy! Of 3 feminised seeds purchased, all germinated and were females.
!
