Jack Herer strain: every version compared

Which Jack Herer should you grow?

The right Jack Herer comes down to space, patience and which cut of the lineage you want. The table above has the figures.

Photoperiod or autoflower? Photoperiods give the full plant and the biggest listed yield (800 g/m²); bloom times vary widely. Autoflowers finish on their own clock from seed; the quickest is listed at 63 days, a figure three versions share, out to about 84 at the most patient.

Feminized or regular? Feminized packs grow out all-female, so a first-timer has one fewer thing to watch for. One regular Jack Herer is here too, for breeding or taking cuttings.

Jack Herer photoperiod (feminized and regular)

The photoperiod versions are the full Jack Herer: you cut the light to 12 hours to flower once the plant is the size you want. Bloom times vary widely: a longer cut can take up to about 70 days, while two versions are listed at 49, one of them Herbies' Fast Version. Listed THC on the photoperiods runs 16–23%. Heights are listed at 110–150 cm, so check both the flowering time and the height before you buy.

Jack Herer autoflower

The Jack Herer autos take the timing out of a strain once known for demanding it: they finish on age, with no switch to 12/12 to get wrong. There are 6 autos here, and they are the easy way into a lineage whose longer cuts can flower for ten weeks. Seed-to-harvest times run 63–84 days. Heights are listed at 80–110 cm while keeping the resinous, uplifting character. Listed THC on the autos runs 15–26%, so the range is wide; read the figure on the one you want. Most autos list Ruderalis; Seedstockers cross in AK420 Auto. If it is your first grow and you want Jack Herer without the long wait or a light schedule, start here.

How Jack Herer grows

Jack Herer used to be a strain you needed some skill to grow. The modern versions have mostly taken that difficulty out, and Fast Buds say it plainly: their version of a plant once demanding of skill is considerably easier to grow. So the grow is more about picking the version that suits your space and patience than about technique.

Size is the first choice. Green House's auto is listed at 80 cm and 700 g/m². The feminized cuts run taller and build real weight on the branches, and that is the one structural thing to plan for: Advanced Seeds note even their auto develops thick, heavy buds on wide branches and warn the branches may want support as the flowers fill out. A stake or a bit of trellis before she needs it saves a snapped branch later. Heights across the family run 80–150 cm.

The feminized Jack rewards attention at the controls. Green House are direct about it: get the feeding and the timing right and their feminized cut, listed at 56 days and 800 g/m², gives back handsomely, with even light and good support doing the rest. Herbies say their Fast Version, listed at 49 days, ripens outdoors in cooler climates than the original. Pick compact, fast or heavy to suit your setup, keep the canopy lit and supported, and Jack Herer is no longer the handful she once was.

Where Jack Herer comes from

Jack Herer is a classic name with a tangled pedigree, and the breeders tell it differently. The usual telling folds a Haze into Northern Lights and Skunk. Green House Seeds build theirs from Haze and Red Skunk instead, crediting the Haze with the stimulating, uplifting head and the Red Skunk with the heavier bud and a forest-floor nose; others list variations on the NL5 x Haze x Skunk theme. The indica-to-sativa split is quoted all over the map, from 70/30 one way to 20/80 the other, which tells you how much the versions differ. With a pedigree this tangled, each version's page keeps its own breeder's account.