Moby Dick CBD: A gentle green killer whale with healing powers

Dinafem's famous Moby Dick strain hit the market 2005 and ever since then has been one of the big flagships of Spain's leading seed company. That has been showered with awards, unsurprisingly – what else than a real smasher should have resulted from crossing top-notch White Widow and Haze genetics?

Moby Dick has achieved iconic status, so it was an obvious option to breed more versions of it. One of these is Moby Dick CBD, for the creation of which a CBD-rich parental plant from the CBD Crew was used. When breeding this CBD variant of Moby Dick, the Dinafem breeders had the worldwide increasing number of medical growers and patients in mind of course, but also wanted to give recreational cannabis users and gardeners with a lower THC tolerance the chance to enjoy the pleasures and advantages of this premium cannabis variety.

Namely its extreme productivity – growers get flooded with dense resinous buds – great pest and mould resistance, plus an exquisite intense scent and taste with hints of lemon, cedar, incense and other spices. Due to its dominant sativa heritage (60%), this plant has fairly wide internodes and narrow shade leaves which makes for good air circulation and thus unhindered evaporation of transpired humidity. Which, in turn, makes it difficult for fungal spores to settle.

Moby Dick CBD, accordingly, is a good choice for outdoor cultivation as well, even in cold and humid climates. Being the monster that she is, she has a big appetite and generally requires above-average doses of fertilizer. However, one should closely examine every individual plant and then decide whether it really needs more. When grown indoors, to avoid space issues one should remember that she is a sativa dominant plant with a strong instinct to stretch both horizontally and vertically during flowering. After about 70 days of flowering, growers can look forward to potentially huge yields of up to 650g per square metre (outdoors, 600-900g per plant can be accomplished).

Breeders wanted to give recreational cannabis users and gardeners with a lower THC tolerance the chance to enjoy the pleasures and advantages of this premium cannabis variety

Moby Dick CBD has a THC/CBD ratio of 1:3, containing 5% THC and 15% CBD on the average – plenty of CBD and a considerably reduced amount of THC. Which means that the anti-inflammatory, antiepileptic, antidepressant and antioxidant properties of CBD should be very well pronounced in this strain. While its THC-derived psychoactivity is attenuated, it's still strong enough to deliver a nice lucid sativa sensation that finishes off with pleasant physical relaxation. It was highly experienced master grower Ellis D. who gave Moby Dick CBD a trial grow, together with Cheese CBD (also from Dinafem). He germinated two feminised seeds and it took them less than 2.5 days to vigorously break through the seedling soils surface and take a first bath in the LED light.

After one week, Ellis D. repotted them into 11 litre containers. The seedlings had three weeks to grow vegetatively and they used this period to produce many robust side branches. Leaf colour was dark green with both plants, but one of them exhibited wider leaves than the other and, fittingly, also a more bushy growth pattern. They were 30 and 39cm tall when Ellis D. switched them to flowering. The plants quickly responded to the change of the light cycle, already after six days Ellis D. detected initial female flowering.

Ten days later, the shoot tips looked densely filled, bud formation was picking up pace. After four weeks of flowering, Ellis D. wrote into his grow diary stem elongation was as strong as expected, with a more than doubled height. "Moby Dick CBD is about to fulfil the promise of being a true flowering machine as the clusters the plants have formed so far are enormously voluminous, raising expectations of thick juicy buds ahead. And this not only on top of, but throughout the entire branches. Also, on the calyxes and flower leaves some beautifully glistening initial trichome frost has appeared, indicating the strains White Widow genes".

The two plants were seven weeks into flowering, when Ellis D. reported: "Yessss! This blooming performance really enthralls me. Just like in the manner of the regular Moby Dick strain, my two CBD plants are forming massive flower clumps that make my heart leap for joy. While they resemble each other a lot, there are small differences – one of them has remained more compact and lower in height because of shorter internodes, and its flower hairs are longer which gives the buds a wilder look. Furthermore, it seems as if she's going to become even more resinous than her sticky sister."

The somewhat smaller plant with a final height of 68cm had matured after 67 days and in the end presented itself in a drop-dead gorgeous multi-layer resin coat that brought back memories of White Widow. The second specimen, grown to a height of 82cm, needed five days more. Its resin gland blanket was very appealing, too, but not as lavish as with the other plant. In terms of smell, there was hardly any difference, with the buds of both plants exuding a highly aromatic fragrance the bouquet of which displayed both spicy and fruity notes.

Weighing the dried buds revealed that with 69 and 80 grams, the dry harvest outcome of both plants was almost identical to their centimetre figures. Thanks to slight fermentation, Ellis D. could more finely differentiate the aroma now, it had a strong nose of incense and a tinge of cinnamon, plus a spritz of citrus –a quite contrary, but the more so captivating combination of aromas, commented Ellis D. To test the medicinal effects of Moby Dick CBD, he gave a couple of grams to a 58-years old acquaintance suffering from late-diagnosed, moderately severe adult ADHD.

Every now and then, that guy had discontinued taking the Medikinet pills prescribed to him and tried to do without, but after a while had to realise that he couldn't get along without medication. Never had he used cannabis in his life and now wanted to find out whether CBD weed in the form of Moby Dick CBD could be an alternative for him.

Three times a day he took 2-3 deep vaporizer hits. He easily got used to the slightly psychoactive effect and happily noticed that his symptomatology rapidly improved: "I feel more relaxed and at the same time more focused, my way of thinking is more structured, its easier to concentrate on things. Also important, my strong impulsivity has more or less gone, now I keep cool when feeling bothered by other people and don't start a quarrel immediately. Which makes me way more socially acceptable! Another big improvement is that I don't wake up at night that often any longer, and if it happens, I fall asleep again faster, in case of need by means of one or two vaporizer hits. Well, things are going amazingly well so far and I hope that I can stick to this herbal alternative practically free from side effects."

Ellis D. himself liked the mellow sativa buzz provided by Moby Dick CBD a lot, as he reported: This weed makes me active and enterprising, it's mood-boosting without clouding my mind. That stimulative effect naturally doesn't last too long, but for me, it doesn't have to because I use Moby Dick CBD as an activator, for example when I have to clean up my flat and can hardly bring myself to do so. But it basically enhances all kind of activities. And since this marijuana also is a true delicacy with its sweetish multi-spice flavour, it's a special treat to snack on at home or on the go. In conclusion, without a doubt this sublime CBD strain is on a level with its famous mother strain. Moby Dick CBD has proven to be a gentle green killer whale with healing powers that came swimming my way on a big wave of flowers."

Words & Pics: Green Born Identity G.B.I.

Cultivation data:

• Genetics: Moby Dick CBD (White Widow x Haze)
• Vegetative stage: 3 weeks (after germination)
• Flowering stage: 67 and 72 days, 70 days in general
• Medium: Compo potting soil, 11 litre pots
• pH: 6.4-6.7
• EC: 1.2–1.8 mS
• Light: seedling stage: 2x SAN light M30 = 55 watts / vegetative stage: 1x SANlight S4W = 140 watts / flowering stage: 2x SANlight S4W = 280 watts

• Temperature: 18-28 °C
• Air humidity: 40-60%
• Watering: manual
• Fertilisation: Organic Bloom Liquid from Green Buzz Liquids
• Additives/stimulants: More Roots, Humin Säure Plus, Big Fruits and Clean Fruits from Green Buzz Liquids
• Height: 68 and 82cm
• Yield: 69 and 80 g