Strain Review: Auto Daiquiri Lime

There’s a misconception that autoflowers are somehow inferior to regular, photoperiod strains. Without getting into all the pros and cons of each, I would like to humbly present one of the finest strains I’ve ever consumed (autoflowering or otherwise): the sativa-dominant Auto Daiquiri Lime. 

As the effects of cannabis are dependent on your immediate environment and inner mood, I think it helps for you to know how I’m feeling and what I’m doing whilst consuming. Here’s a couple of cannabis tales to attempt to convey my experience with this strain.

Taking the plunge

Just before lunch on a sunny December day, I headed to the local swimming pool. This was going to be a rather special swim. In my pocket, my Pax 2 was fully loaded with an organic, outdoor grown bud of Auto Daiquiri Lime which had been grown over the summer months in Holland, by the friend of a mate’s Mum.

On the short walk to the pool I booted up my vape and took a draw. There is a distinctly smooth lime taste to this strain. It’s not punchy, like lime juice, but the citrus undertones are there – like someone removed the bass of a lime track and inserted it in your mouth. I wasn’t getting the zingy top notes and it seemed to settle at the back of my mouth under my tongue round about where the lower molars reside.

Imagine this: it’s like if Jolly Ranchers came in lime flavour – I’m shocked to find that they don’t. Now suck this imaginary lime Jolly Rancher and remove all the sugary, sweet taste and the zappy lime flavour that hits the top of your tongue; what you are left with is how this weed tastes when vaped.

The high is mindfully focused. I paid at the front desk of the leisure centre and headed to the changing rooms. By now I was quite high, though not in a panicky way. I did wonder how my swimming would turn out, but I went with the flow all the same.

Once in the water, any pre-swim anxiety was dispelled. I was focused purely on my technique. Doing the crawl, my arms cut effortlessly into the water and I scooped my way through the pool. I was trying to swim slowly but my improved technique kept meaning I was catching up with those in front of me in the lane.

The pool was quite busy. There were around 5-6 people in each lane doing laps. I started in the mid-speed lane but soon switched to the fast lane and was able to keep pace with the other swimmers without tiring. I didn’t mis-time a breath or tumble turn even once – which is rare for me.

After 30 minutes, I’d had enough of weaving in and out of the others and made my way to the coin-operated jacuzzis. As my high was mellowing out the bubbles that were pulsating from under my body were divine.

I then proceeded to go about my day joyfully and productively.

Nature’s boy

My swim experience with this strain convinced me that it was something special. This morning, I had the rather pleasant task of making a photoshoot of a couple of vaporisers I have recently been testing. I’d been waiting for good light, and this sunny day presented the ideal opportunity.

This time I loaded my Firefly 2 up with Daiquiri Lime. It was around 10:30am and the sun was making it’s shallow arc through the sky and I was heading to the local forest. On entering the trail at the start of the woods, I took a draw from my vape.

A few hundred meters in and I was seeing beauty all around me. Every spot seemed to call for me to set a scene with the vapes I was shooting. Slowly I made my way from one beautiful spot to the next. The focus I had experienced in the pool was combined with a visually ethereal quality extenuated by the low, mid-morning winter sun.  

I was focused – but not intensely – on the task at hand, and after awhile had to make the conscious effort to stop as I knew the images were good to go and the more I took, the more I would have to process on my return home.

I still had a fair walk to go, so I continued on my way, all the while enjoying the beauty of nature with my camera slung over my shoulder.

For the past week, I’ve been suffering from a bit of a cold. The terpenes from the Daiquiri Lime were combining with the terpenes of the pine trees in the forest, and I felt my breathing ease.

In meditation I walked, picturing my skeleton neatly lined up and freely moving without constraint from my normally tense muscles. The pain and tightness I have in my left hip (due to breaking several bones in my leg as a toddler) were gone. This tightness had, in turn, lead to a double slipped disc in my lower back whilst practising Aikido as an adult. But all of this usual pain was nowhere to be felt after three draws on my vape.

Meanwhile, red squirrels crossed my path before scampering up silver birch trees and birds twittered to alert others of my presence – though I was no threat of any kind to anything. Far from it, I felt saint-like.

I was aware of every twig and pebble below the sole of my hiking boots. My senses were in overdrive – but not in an unpleasant way.

Then, I stumbled across a 30 foot cross monument with the sun beams shining through the surrounding pines. Now, I’m not a religious man – but I couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the scene in front of me. I expected an angelic fanfare to commence any moment.

Nature called and I stopped by a tree to relieve myself; which in itself is not a beautiful thing – however, this was special. I kid you not, with my back to the sun, I saw a rainbow in the steam and I waited in anticipation for a bluebird to land on my shoulder.

By now the high had levelled off enough for me to return home for the early lunch I was hankering for.

My mind had started to focus on a future article I’m working on. This is not a runaway, manic-paced high that you get with some sativa-dominant strains.

I stopped at the store to buy some freshly squeezed orange juice. It was a chilled out visit and I didn’t feel anxious or nervous about dealing with people (who were not high). I had no dry mouth, or any unpleasant side effects.

What’s it like to grow?

Being an autoflower, it is only available in seed form so you are unlikely to come across this strain unless you grow it yourself (or a kind buddy does so for you).  

To find out what it’s like to grow this strain I asked a friend who has grown it both indoors and out. He said that it is a tall plant for an autoflower – 165-175cm high. It produces heavy yields and the sativa dominance gives it a Christmas tree-like shape. The loose buds are favourable to those growing in damper climates and you can expect to go from seed to bud in 11 weeks in ideal sunny conditions, or 13 weeks for those experiencing some rain or clouds.

Indoors you can expect the same results, and experienced growers may even be able to pull off a sea of green with this autoflower. It is sensitive to nutrients, so for best results it’s advised to grow organic. The strain I sampled was grown with BioTabs.

For those interested in dabbling with autoflowering strains, I recommend you give this a try. I, for one, will definitely be growing this one next summer.