Grapefruit
Written by S.T.Oner, Cannabis Sativa vol.1
Sativa
Genetics: Cindy 99 x Auto-Flowering Sativa
Flowering: 8 weeks
THC: 17%
Female Seeds, based in the Netherlands, are one of a growing number of seed companies offering only feminized seeds in order to make home growing easier for customers worldwide. By using feminized seeds, you don’t have to worry about male plants cropping up and pollinating your unsuspecting and valuable female plants, so obviously these kinds of seeds have become very popular among newer growers.
Grapefruit was born of an auto-flowering sativa plant, which is relatively rare, and the much-loved Cindy 99 strain from the Brothers Grimm. Cindy 99, often described as the “Holy Grail” of cannabis plants, came from a process of backcrossing an incredible Princess strain, which was itself a product of a Jack Herer plant crossed with a Haze. The result is a hybrid which is 75% Cindy 99 and 25% fruity sativa, the latter of which gives the strain the grapefruit flavor from which it gets its name.
As Grapefruit has only one auto-flowering parent strain, she is only semi-auto-flowering, which means she’ll flower under 24 hours in low light conditions. This is no negative trait, though, and indeed Grapefruit plants have been popular for years. Grapefruit seeds tend to germinate between 24 and 48 hours after they’ve been placed between sheets of wet paper towel, and they can then be transplanted into 2 gallon pots as seedlings. As you get further into the vegetative stage, you’ll notice that your crop is very uniform, with plants being similar in both height and node spacing. It’s also interesting to note that she carries many traits of the old school landrace sativas, except that while you could actually grow old waiting for those bad girls to mature, grapefruit finishes flowering in just 8 weeks – a very fast turnaround time for a sativa dominant plant. The phenotype of this generation’s grapefruit was selected for shorter plants, so indoor plants should not reach beyond 2 feet, bringing all the benefits of an indica stature to a sativa plant.
There can be no confusion as to why Grapefruit buds are so called; even before they’re burned, the buds give off the gorgeous smell of perfectly ripe grapefruit and will have you dreaming of hot summer days when there can be no better breakfast than that. Once you’ve brought yourself out of that daydream and taken your first bong hit, the intensely flavorful taste and tropical, clear high will kick in and have you giggling like a madman. The effects are very much sativa-based, and this strain gives you a heap of energy that you’ll have to get out by wakeboarding or ballroom dancing or whatever activity floats your boat; just be sure to keep moving to harness that fantastic vivacity!