StarBud Feminised

Germination and early veg, days 1-14. StarBud seeds generally crack inside 48 hours on damp kitchen roll and break the surface around day three. Early growth came in squat and willing — broad seed leaves, then the wide dark fans the indica side is known for. Four nodes by day 14 with the internodes already tight. Damping off is rare around 70% relative humidity, which is also roughly what an unheated British room sits at in spring.

Veg, weeks 3-6. Side branching took off after a top at the fourth node. The plant held a 60cm square by week five and stayed under 40cm tall, which is the shape you want in the small tents most people actually own.

Bloom, weeks 1-9. This is where the 76/24 balance in StarBud showed itself. The myrcene came up in week three and kept building; trichome cover was obvious to the naked eye from week five. Indoor yield: 500 g/m2. THC testing at 21%. Rated intermediate.

Mid-bloom, weeks 4-6. The change came quickly. Sites that were loose and wispy at week three closed into defined colas. Density went up almost daily; by week five a developing bud squeezed like a firm rubber ball. Fan leaves came off at the start of week four to move air through the bottom of the canopy, which mattered — the room sat around 55% humidity through a British autumn and dense flower at that density does not forgive still air.

Ripening, weeks 7-9. Feeding dropped to plain water for the last ten days. The myrcene got strong enough that carbon filtration stopped being optional in a terraced house. Trichomes ran clear to milky across the final fortnight, amber showing on sugar leaves first. Around 15% amber on the calyxes is a common place to stop.

Drying and curing. Whole plant hung in the dark at 17°C and 58% humidity for twelve days — both numbers held by a dehumidifier, because an October room in this country will not hold either on its own. Stems snapped rather than bent, which is the test worth trusting. Four weeks in glass followed, burped twice daily for the first fortnight and once daily after. Final weight matched the 500 g/m2 figure. The caryophyllene was far more present after the cure than at harvest, which is the argument for curing properly: the process makes flavour rather than merely keeping it.

Flowering: 8-9 weeks. Indoor yield: 500 g/m2. Outdoor yield: Medium. Rated intermediate difficulty. Feminised seeds.

StarBud arrives in stages. The first draw at 21% THC brings a musky earthiness that coats rather than cuts. The creative, uplifted, calm character follows within minutes, starting as weight behind the eyes and working down through the shoulders and chest. By about a quarter of an hour it has become a physical stillness — not sedation so much as a strong disinclination to get up. Two to three hours at a moderate dose. The caryophyllene underneath adds a warmth that keeps the whole thing anchored.

Primary: Myrcene · Secondary: Caryophyllene · Tertiary: Linalool. This combination turns up often in cultivars that win things, and it is usually the one growers comment on when a jar is opened for the first time after curing. Myrcene anchors the aroma, caryophyllene occupies the middle, and linalool sits behind both — which is the part that separates this strain from others sharing its primary terpene.

Who does well with StarBud? Indoor growers who want the timeline under their own control. Outdoor growers who want to choose when flowering starts. Anyone with the room and the patience to veg it properly before flipping. Difficulty is rated intermediate, which means a moderate learning curve that rewards attention without demanding a laboratory.