Everything you should know about the new Crystal Candy Auto ®

In recent years, Sweet Seeds® carried out an exhaustive plant selection and testing activity to create a rich catalogue where all growers can find their favourite marihuana strains. As one of the leading seed banks worldwide, each new launch is a challenge that the I+D+I team of Sweet Seeds® are eager to win. As you can imagine, many parameters come into play when a new genotype has to be assessed for it to be found fit for distribution. Next, individual tastes and preferences are also considered but, generally speaking, the best contribution that a breeder makes when a new strain is introduced is to find a balance between all of these parameters. For a strain to be simple to grow and suitable for both indoor and outdoor settings, have a high germination rate and vigour, produce high yields and have excellent effects and taste, Sweet Seeds® relies on a large team of breeders, whose task is to find new genotypes and improve them, and ultimately help growers obtain excellent results. It is not by chance that they are the best award-winning bank in Spain. Concurrently with this anniversary, as a central part of this report, the bank now announces and offers for sale one of the many brand new products that were designed for 2017. The time has come to present the fresh new Crystal Candy Auto ® (SWS61).

A sweet crush

Whenever a new strain performs well, in terms of positive growing response and a well-balanced taste and effect, I cannot avoid recommending it to my friends. I am saying this while tasting a good vapour mist of Crystal Candy Auto ® that I harvested a little under one month ago and I can confirm that each day that passes I like it more and more. It is one of those strains that can be fully enjoyed during its growth and consumption. This new auto derives from a cross of the latest photoperiod plant that was presented by Sweet Seeds® in 2016, Crystal Candy® (SWS58), with an auto with similar aromatic tones, Sweet Special Auto (SWS35). Mixing both genotypes produced a very aromatic large-sized plant with a compact structure, thick flowers and full of trichomes. Its effect is very clear, leaning to the Sativa-hybrid side. It can be harvested at 8 weeks after germination and has a very vigorous and fast growth, with several side branches and a large central shoot. Its aroma and taste are really appreciated among those who love plants with fruity, sweet and exotic notes. You will definitely have a crush on it. In my opinion, Sweet Seeds® has again created a high-yielding auto-flowering strain with a character of its own and a great flavour that will soon give a lot to talk about. Based on the results obtained in my growing experience, I think many of you will agree with me.

Indoor growing

When I write diaries in several cannabis forums, I try to describe how I grow plants in the best possible way, for readers to be able to compare results. When I write an article on a new strain I do exactly the same, I describe the full process that starts from opening a seed pack, for the full methodology to be clearly outlined. An important part of this process is to respect plants because they deserve to have a decent and pleasant life. The love you give to plants will be returned with an extra benefit. In this case, however, the beginning was not so easy with the 6 seeds of Crystal Candy Auto ® that I had soaked; their germination coincided with a lack of soil that a friend of mine was supposed to supply from his home stock. For 10 days, these seeds were left without a single compost pot. As many of you, greedy growers, know only too well, delaying the transplanting of a recently germinated auto seed always bears consequences, as it affects the final size of the plant and, ultimately, production. This amount of time is crucial; around the 4th week, autos significantly slow down their growth and start to flower. Fortunately, the 6 seeds were still alive when my friend finally returned with the soil, and I rushed to plant the seeds on a decent substrate, in pots that were suitably sized for the light cycle and output they were going to receive – in this case 600W of sodium light and a cycle of 20 hours of light and 4 of darkness from germination to harvest. My grow tent was equipped with a permanently running air intake and extraction system, two middle fans and a fan heater coupled with a thermostat that switched it on when the temperature fell below 18ºC. I recommend keeping temperature stable between 18ºC and 28ºC, with moderate humidity between 40 and 80%, for plants to find the right conditions for nourishment and growth. As their growth coincided with the rainy period of autumn, humidity remained stable without any need to increase it. The air pots used measured 20 and 10 litres. I purposefully used two sizes to check any variations between plants and decide which of the two sizes was better for the future. Normally, I prefer 20 litre pots because they are easier to manage. Air pots have side openings, which help dry the substrate earlier. With smaller pots, irrigation is more frequent and harvested quantities larger. Despite this, I prefer bigger pots, which make a grower’s life easier, even at the cost of smaller yields. For autos, I use the same type of substrate (earth) as I do for any other cannabis strains, for nutrients to be sufficiently supplied during the first four or five weeks. I also recommend using an organic booster to favour the growth of roots and flowers. Using an organic root booster makes the plant root system develop well enough to absorb nutrients and keep the plant healthy in all of its parts. Next, an organic flower booster should be used when the plant has reached a certain size and the first pistils appear (showing that flowering has begun). In my grow tent, I started using a flower booster around day 28, when the first flower shoots had appeared. At this time, the height of plants was around 35 cm. So, despite the initial delay, I could not complain at all. All plants were extremely healthy and there was no need to add anything to irrigation, except a flower booster in the next 2 weeks. This was the only main fertiliser I used, as all other nutrients needed by Crystal Candy Auto ® were taken from the soil. The most severe troubles were experienced between week six and seven, as a few plants – especially those that exceeded 60 cm in height – required additional nutrition. What is more, for seeds that had been planted in small pots, plants rapidly exhausted the available nutrients. If this happens, you can easily add a flowering fertiliser. In general, plants also need calcium and magnesium supplements at this stage, but in my case this was unnecessary, I simply administered 2 watering cycles with a flowering fertiliser and plants always remained very healthy, with shiny leaves and big bunches of flowers. When a plant does not need nutrition, adding more causes salts to be accumulated, which in turn prevents the full absorption of nutrients. If you look at the pictures I took, you will realise that plants were not starving and buds had grown amazingly. In any case, the flowering fertiliser I used was totally organic. Crystal Candy Auto ® produces big central and lateral buds. When it starts flowering, it is a real show stopper, with an astonishing production of pistils and crystals, and all leaves surrounding buds full of trichomes. You’ll be tempted to put your nose inside to smell it until it is soiled by sticky resin. At the end of week 7, plants had reached their final height – averaging 60 cm among the 6 specimens. The plants in 20 litre pots had grown stouter and with very heavy side branches. However, the plants in 10 litre pots were even taller, some of them above 70 cm. At each irrigation cycle, the difference in flower formation was conspicuous in both pot sizes. The organic flower booster used at the highest dosage and the vigour of Crystal Candy Auto ® caused buds to explode into a profusion of pistils. I deliberately avoided saturating the substrate with fertilisers of various types, which left plants healthy and stainless. Perhaps the only shortfall was a limited growth during this week, but I cannot complain about results. After all, in an indoor crop lit by 600 W, effective light had made the plants grow up to 60 cm measured from the tip of plants, indeed a perfect size. Given their growth, I think this strain can easily shape its branches while growing. Perhaps you could try Low Stress Training (LST) or any other types of non-aggressive training techniques to allow the plant to balance its side branches with its central shoot. The results will probably surprise you. Plants were harvested at 60 days. But before doing so, I shot a video and took some pictures, which will both be posted on the website, together with the pictures shown in this article. I could not weigh the quantity I harvested, but I think it was very close to one gram/watt. Buds have a wild, syrupy fragrance, with many ripe and low-acid fruit notes calling to mind melon or strawberry. Their aroma is so complex that you will want to keep your nose close to the buds for long enough until you are able to decipher it. You will easily imagine how tasty they become after some ripening. This is what my colleagues call “Iberian chorizo”, meaning good marihuana. For this article I left a couple of good buds to ripen thoroughly. Then I put one in a vaporiser to taste the mouth-filling, potent freshness of Crystal Candy Auto ®. It stands out for its ripe fruit notes – halfway between sweet and acid. The effect is remarkable, creative and clear after a while. Then I rolled the second bud in a joint, which I have just smoked. Now, as you can imagine, nothing compares to the pure taste of vapour, but with my several years of experience as a smoker, I can definitely say the best way to assess weed is in a joint, as you can make better comparisons with other strains. Vaporised cannabis is always very fresh and full in your mouth, but not all weeds are equally good when you roll them in a piece of paper and light them up. This one is excellent and rich in aromatic tones, it will fill your lungs and its aftertaste is quite complex. I hope you will enjoy this strain as much as I do, and decide to give it a try for your next growing experience; this Sweet Seeds® masterpiece is definitely worth it!

Crystal Candy Auto ®

Strain SWS61 Indoor yield: 400-600 g/m2 Outdoor yield: 50-300 g/plant Indoor/outdoor harvest time: 8 weeks after germination Height: 70-130 cm Thank you for reading and sweet harvests! Jaypp