Desfrán organic indoor grow review with HPS and LED
Desfrán is a legendary South American strain with genetics from the multiple cannabis cup winning ‘Destroyer’ variety. Desfrán is a pure sativa with very high THC levels, around 20% and perhaps even a little higher in optimised grow conditions. She is a stretchy sativa, so indoor growers should be prepared for significant stretch in bloom.
This indoor grow review comes from Antonio who used LED grow lights together with a Gavita 600W HPS and organic nutrients to produce some of his best-ever Dutch Passion buds with a rare 100% potency rating! These photoperiod feminised seeds produced some genuine top-drawer results with a bloom time of 11 weeks.
If you love pure sativa strains without any hybridisation then the following Desfrán grow review should be particularly interesting. Fans of autoflowering cannabis seeds should also check out Auto Desfrán which grows from seed to harvest in 12-15 weeks using the same cup winning genetics.
Desfrán feminised cannabis indoor grow report
Grow Details
| Variety | Desfrán |
| Cannabis seed type | Photoperiod feminised cannabis seeds, pure sativa |
| Number of seeds | 5 |
| Date of germination | Autumn 2015 |
| Germination rate | 100% |
| Days required for germination | 3 days |
| Flowering period | 75-77 days, around 11 weeks |
| Stretch during bloom | 200-300%, massive stretch |
Basic Grow Information
| Grow room type | Growbox |
| Grow room size | 118cm x 76cm, about 0.9m2 |
| Plant containers | 2 plants in big 41L Smartpots (and one Strawberry Cough in between) |
| Grow medium | Coco fibre:Light mix soil in a 1:4 ratio |
| Nutrients | Sannie’s Bio and BAC nutrients |
| Grow system | Watered by hand |
| Grow technique | Half-pipe SCROG with bending and super cropping |
| Grow light | Gavita 600W enhanced HPS used on max 400W setting. Two x 75W HS1 LED’s (150W total) |
| Light distance to canopy | Around 35-50cm in bloom |
Desfrán feminised seeds germinated and put into veg
Remarks during germination:
5 seeds were germinated with a 100% germination rate. I always use the cotton pad technique. I have tried a lot of different techniques, but this method has been the most successful one during all those years. It’s also easy and straightforward.
When the cannabis seeds had germinated, I put them in 0.25L containers for about 1 week. Then I moved the two plants which I had selected for myself into a 1L airpot, in which they stayed for another 2 weeks.
The other 3 plants went to another grower who was more than happy to give them a shot too. Unfortunately, my 2 plants in the 1L airpots dried out faster than expected. They were growing so quickly that they used up all the water in their small pot, catching me by surprise. Luckily, it didn’t cause any major damages and the plants quickly recovered.
Related:
Easiest cannabis seed germination method, between moist cotton pads
Remarks during vegetative phase – VEG (18/6) :
After 3 weeks of 18/6 in a small pot, it was time to put them in their final containers, which were 41L Smartpots. I notice that the seedlings were looking very Sativa dominant, even during these early stages. I could easily identify the classic slim Sativa style leaves. I knew this was going to be fun to grow and SCROG.
Once the plants were transplanted, they really took off. Their growth was very vigorous, I think it only took another 2 weeks for them to cover about 1/6th of the SCROG net. These plants were grown in a so-called half-pipe SCROG, which has raised sides to increase the light levels there. I placed both the Desfrán plants on the sides and reserved a small spot in the middle for the Strawberry Cough, all Dutch Passion genetics!
The Desfrán growth pattern was unique to witness. The plants had super slim leaves and the fan leaves would become very big. Bigger than I have ever seen a Sativa produce! These became easily twice (maybe even close to triple) the size of my hand.
The growth pattern looks like a Sativa that came straight out of the jungle. No wonder with these pure Sativa genetics coming mainly from South America. Desfrán is based on one of the most special landraces, the Colombian ‘Punto Rojo’, a very fruity, lemony Sativa.
Besides their leaf pattern, the new shoots were emerging quickly, and all were growing at a rapid pace, even during VEG. It is a great strain to SCROG, because of the ultra slim leaf structure.
This means that you don’t have to pluck/tuck away many leaves since so much light can penetrate between the slim fingers. I only took away a few of those massive fan leaves so I had a better overview what was going on beneath them. If this hadn’t been a half-pipe SCROG I probably would not have removed them.
Desfrán in bloom, taking around 75-77 days of 12/12 light
I knew I wouldn’t have to wait too long before switching the clock to 12/12 to initiate bloom. I could imagine this jungle Sativa having quite a big stretch and that’s why I switched to the flowering period a little earlier than I would for other Sativa dominant hybrids.
I was glad to have made that choice because Desfrán definitely grows like a pure Sativa! Unlike the Strawberry Cough plant that stopped stretching after 2 – 2.5 weeks, Desfran was still growing at a rapid pace!
Future growers should note that the two Desfrán plants kept on stretching for about 4 full weeks in bloom before producing any flowers.
The combination of both LED and HPS was fun to do. I’m not sure if the light combination had anything to do with it, but as soon as the plants were producing flowers the resin development also took off.
The small white hair flowers were accompanied by super resinous sugar leaves. These trichome loaded leaves already produced an amazing fruity smell, which reminded me of orchard fruit trees, like pear and apple.
A few weeks later the buds started to fatten up and you could easily see the Sativa dominance of them. Very thin leaves and fox tailing (for the most part) flowers built on top of each other. This structure makes her the ideal plant to grow in a SCROG. Very stretchy, with elongated branches/stems and slim leaves.
Related:
The cannabis SCROG method, everything you need to know
The buds grow pretty quickly too, and they appeared to have a flower trait that is sometimes called a second internode bloom or foxtail. This means that whilst the flowers look almost ready, there are new shoots/foxtails emerging from the bud. This is typical behaviour for pure Sativa’s and Desfrán is no exception.
The only thing to remember is that these new foxtails also need time to ripen. Which means that you need to wait for at least another 2-3 weeks for them to become ripe.
The new ‘towers’ start off with white pistils and less resin, they are also fluffy (not dense) at the start of their development. But give it some time and you will be rewarded with some extra buds growing on top of the older bud sites and therefore extra yield!
This fox-tailing happened around week 8-9 so I waited another 2-3 weeks for them to become ripe. After 11 weeks of 12/12 I decided it was time to harvest. At that point there were even new foxtails growing out of the buds!
This became the third internode bloom, but I didn’t want to wait any longer and just took them off and kept them apart. The thing is, the longer you wait, the more trichomes on the older bud sites start to turn from clear, to cloudy and then to amber. And I preferred to keep the high as clear and energetic as possible.
Desfrán Harvest report – fragrant sweet aroma and XL blooms
Final Height in cm :
This is very difficult to say and predict. Both the plants were grown in a SCROG setting right after transplanting them into their final containers. So unfortunately, it impossible to know how big they would have become if they were grown naturally. The stretch was pretty big, and I waited until the plants filled about half of the the net before switching the clock to 12/12. Stretching went on for about 4 weeks in total. After that, some techniques like bending and super-cropping were used to keep the height under control once the net was already filled by scrogging.
Calyx-leaf ratio (Easy trim/yes or no) :
Desfrán has quite a good calyx-to-leaf ratio. She only has small leaves surrounding the buds which are covered in trichomes. These are also easy to get rid of when trimming. The buds that fox tailed can be a bit harder and riskier to trim. Especially if you want to get in between the buds to get rid of all the tiny leaves.
Quality (Resin/Smell/Compactness) :
This Sativa has a unique smell, something I had never seen/smelled before! Unlike most Sativa varieties that carry Haze genetics these 2 plants smelled mainly like tropical fruit and orchard fruit. The aroma smells like melon/pineapple in combination with pear and apple making the buds very appealing. Some sweeter tones like caramel and honey are also to be identified though their presence is a little more subtle.
The bud structure is open and airy, exactly what you expect from such a pure Sativa. I wouldn’t call them fluffy since they still feel quite dense. The taste is also pretty special, mostly tropical fruit with a sour zesty taste on the exhale.
Resin levels are good, and the buds are filled with trichomes. Because I waited a bit longer for some of the newer foxtails to ripen, a bigger part of the trichomes turned amber giving her an even stronger kick.
Grower conclusions and impressions of Desfrán
Yield :
The yield of this strain was very good. Both plants became big and even though the plants were grown with about 550 Watts of light in total with another plant (Strawberry Cough) in the middle these plants yielded around 330g of dried buds. If the central plant in this grow had also been a Desfrán then we would have harvested closer to 500g. These were grown in a 0.9m2, so Desfrán really is a solid yielder.
The yield even could have been a bit higher had I taken the time to wait another week or two for the latest foxtails to ripen. But growing for myself I will always take quality over quantity so that was a no-brainer.
Remarks after curing :
Her aroma remains very special. After a good cure most of the tropical tones have become a little more subtle, but it seems she became even more multilayered than before. I let my friends smell the curing jars and almost everybody recognised a different type of fruit. Either melon, lemon, pineapple, lychee, pear, apples, mango and peach. She is such a fruity Sativa, just amazing to smell and smoke. Her taste became a little sour and very fruity too.
The high is simply amazing, such a clear headed, energetic vibe you get with this strain. Smoke some more and your head can get a little racy, it’s definitely a strong Sativa effect! I think it was even more powerful because the buds were very ripe.
Desfrán overall rating (5 star rating) : 4+
| Aroma | ★★★★½ (4,5 stars) |
| Taste | ★★★★☆ (4 stars) |
| Effect | ★★★★★ (5 stars) |
| Bag appeal | ★★★½☆ (3,5 stars) |
| Overall rating | ★★★★☆ (4 stars) |
Overall a very good mark. For me personally it is the high in combination with the aroma which are the two main reasons why you should grow Desfrán. Being a Sativa fan, the effect was everything I expected and hoped for (and maybe even a bit more).
Special Remarks on the Desfrán grow
Desfrán is a special Sativa. Unlike most traditional Sativa’s or Haze plants these genetics grow like a pure Sativa with a slightly faster flowering time. The plants are pretty stretchy and are ideally grown in a SCROG.
I think you could also do a SOG grow with her, but probably it would be best to grow her under 12/12 straight from seed. Her stretch is quite huge, so best to take this into account and try to plan your grow accordingly.
The terpenes and the high are what makes this such a unique variety. Soaring ‘up-high’, cerebral, energetic, clear and powerful. A truly amazing smoke! Definitely a strain you should try at least once.
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