For most of its history, no-one has been too interested in the ‘forgotten’ member of the cannabis family known as Cannabis Ruderalis. Unlike Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa, Ruderalis lacks the potent pyschoactive properties and for this fundamental reason Ruderalis has been largely ignored.

Cannabis Ruderalis is a branch of the ganja family that has adapted for life in extreme northern climates such as Northern Europe, Northern Russia and Canada. These regions have short growing seasons, just 3 months of half decent weather. Normal cannabis indica/sativa simply can’t grow properly in these cold climates with short summers. Cannabis Ruderalis however has cleverly adapted to the extremely short growing season by adapting an automatic growing cycle. With only a short summer to use, Ruderalis plants germinate and immediately set about a frantic growth cycle that allows them to grow, flower and seed in just 10 weeks. This is the only way Cannabis Ruderalis can survive.

For many years Ruderalis was an unusable curiosity in the world of weed. Then, a few years ago breeders came up with the idea of using the Cannabis Ruderalis 10-week life cycle and tried to combine it with the potency of traditional sativa and indica strains. The result was a new type of cannabis which flowered automatically. A seed could be planted and 10 weeks later, irrespective of lighting or grow conditions, the plant was fully mature.

The first generation of cannabis indica/sativa strains crossed with Ruderalis genetics were called ‘Automatic’. Dutch Passion made their automatic strains fully feminised and called them ‘AutoFem’ strains. Today some of these AutoFem strains are more popular than the traditional varieties which we have sold for deacdes. AutoFem strains have been a revolution for medical and recreational growers. They are maintenance free, they grow to around 1 metre (easy to hide) and are ready in just 10 weeks. Everyone is growing them.

Modern AutoFlowering strains are much improved over the first ones that were produced. Inconsistent growth, hermie problems and lack of potency issues have all been overcome. In Dutch Passions case, the AutoFem varieties are stable, and very potent. 25-50 grams of great bud is typically produced from AutoFem strains grown in small containers. But if the AutoFem plant is given good soil and light then 100-200 grams is regularly achieved.

It is ironic that Cannabis Ruderalis was ignored for so long. Dutch Passion now invest heavily in research and development of Cannabis Ruderalis as it has allowed an exciting new branch of cannabis genetics to open up. AutoFem strains are easy to grow, easy to keep hidden in your garden and have excellent potency. People that only ever grew indoor cannabis strains now plant a pack of AutoFem seeds every year. Growing them couldn’t be any easier!