Santa Maria Feminised

Days 1-14, germination and early veg. Santa Maria generally cracks within about two days on damp kitchen paper and is above the medium by day three. The first fortnight came in even, without either racing or stalling. Four solid nodes by day 14 and the spacing that suggests the frame it will build. Keep the humidity near 70% and damping off stops being a concern.

Weeks 3-6, veg. A top at node four and a few ties produced six even leaders and a flat canopy across a 70cm square by the time it was flipped.

Bloom, weeks 1-8. The 40/60 character came through clearly. Caryophyllene was noticeable by week three and kept building; resin was obvious without a loupe from about week five. Indoor yield: 550 gr/m². Height: Medium. Tested at 14%. Rated medium.

Weeks 4-6, mid-bloom. Loose clusters from week three closed up into defined colas. Development stayed even across the canopy, which is what the veg training was for: eight comparable colas instead of one dominant top and a set of stragglers.

Ripening, weeks 6-8. Plain water for the last ten days. Caryophyllene was strong enough by then that carbon filtration was not optional in a terraced house. Heads went clear to milky over the final fortnight, amber showing on sugar leaves first, and around 15% amber on the calyxes is a defensible place to stop.

Drying and curing. Hung whole in the dark at 17°C and 58% humidity for twelve days, both held by a dehumidifier because an October room here will hold neither. Stems snapped instead of bending, which is the only test worth trusting. Four weeks in glass after that. The 550 gr/m² figure held up. Myrcene was far more present after the cure than at harvest — the cure makes flavour, it does not merely preserve it.

Flowering: 8 weeks. Indoor yield: 550 gr/m². Outdoor yield: 600 grams. Plant height: Medium. Rated medium difficulty. Feminised seeds.

The catalogue lists energetic, focused, happy, and that matches what growers here report back. At 14% THC this hybrid sits where the balance is the argument for it. Small doses stay functional, larger ones relax properly, and the 40/60 split means the direction is set by the amount rather than fixed by the plant. The Caryophyllene and Myrcene together leave warmth and spice, drying on the exhale.

Suited to most occasions, with the dose doing the steering.

Primary: Caryophyllene · Secondary: Myrcene · Tertiary: Humulene. This is a combination that turns up repeatedly in cultivars people rate, and it is usually what gets commented on when a jar is opened for the first time after a proper cure. Caryophyllene anchors it, myrcene holds the middle, and humulene sits behind both — the last of those being what separates this from other strains leading on the same terpene.

Santa Maria suits growers with the fundamentals in place. Understand pH, rough nutrient ratios and a light cycle before committing to it; it asks for competence rather than expertise. Photoperiod genetics leave plant size and harvest date under your control — veg longer for a bigger plant, or flip early when the ceiling is low. A bloom of 8 weeks fits inside the season here for outdoor growers, with a tunnel making it comfortable rather than tight.