Sickmeds William's Wonder: grow journal. review and all things Wiliams Wonder

Well, after quite a long wait, Williams Wonder seeds finally are available again.

The breeder is Sickmeds seeds, a new breeder working out of Spain, and he's offering regular seeds that are supposedly derived right from beans he grew out of an old pack of Super Sativa Seed Club seedstock.

This breeder "Red" saw some of my posts on Williams Wonder (see below), and asked if I would be willing to grow out some of his ceeds and give an honest report.

https://www.rollitup.org/seed-strain-reviews/551726-william-wonder-f3-sickmeds.html#post7834010

Well, how could I say "no" to that? Ever since trying this one about 15 years ago, I've always wanted to grow it, and here is my chance.

Grow journal coming soon. . .

In the meantime, I'm also opening this up as an "everything Williams Wonder" thread. Post any experiences you have with the strain. . growing it, smoking it, longing for it. Questions are welcome.

All I ask is that you keep it civil.

So what is this Williams' Wonder anyway? Here is an abbreviated history I've managed to put together from the internet:

Williams Wonder is a famous strain that supposedly dates back to the 1970s. Like many of these Americanized strains, the true history of the strain is somewhat unclear, but some believe this is a pure pre-Soviet invasion Afghani (ie indica) landrace that developed in an isolated area such as on a mountain, so it didn't interbreed with other Afghan landrace strains and managed to maintain some unique characteristics.

The strain was imported into the USA and then acclimated to growing in the Pacific Northwest. The name is supposedly a reference to Williams Oregon, where the strain was first grown outdoors, and supposedly still is as an "heirloom" strain to this day.

Williams Wonder was first sold commercially by the SSSC (“Super Sativa Seed Club&#8221 in the early 1980s, and original SSSC seeds are highly prized and hoarded by a small number of old-time collectors.

After SSSC went belly up, for years, this strain was "clone only", though it does occasionally turn up for sale at CO and CA dispensaries.

Commercial seeds were re-introduced by Rezdog at Reservoir seeds, who took one of these "elite clone only” cuts of Williams Wonder, and backcrossed it with a modern diesel-type strain it to create his own Williams Wonder line. Ultimately he based many of the strains in his catalog on various Williams-Wonder hybrids before his recent arrest led to dissolution of the company. (I heard he beat the criminal charges against him. . .if anyone knows more on this, please post).

Reeferman of Reeferman seeds offered Williams Wonder ceeds for a short while until his company went defunct a few years ago. He has recently re-opened for business after a several year hiatus, but he's not offering William's Wonder at this time.

BC Bud Depot lists Williams Wonder seeds for sale on its website, but none of the seedbanks that carry their ceeds carry it, that company has a somewhat checkered reputation, and I have not been able to locate any grow reports of his version.


DNA Genetics offers a strain called "60 day wonder" which is supposed to be William's wonder crossed with Lowryder to make it autoflowering, then backcrossed over multiple generations to stabilize it. I've never grown this, but by report, its not fully stabilized (it gives varying phenos), but at least some of the phenos do have that crippling potency the strain is known for. Also, despite the name, reportedly typically takes 70-74 days from seed to fully mature.

Some people still think William's Wonder is one of the best (if not "the best") indica strain of all time. I can say its certainly one of the strongest indicas I've ever tried, and probably THE strongest.

For example, Dru West, Oregon medical grower, consultant, and author of the "West Coast Masters" grow manual, keeps Williams Wonder as one of the only strains he grows, and claims its the "only indica anyone would ever need".

Here is a review from another poster on this board in the "one hit quitter" thread (well worth a read, by the way); another poster also cites this one as a favorite down to post #65:
https://www.rollitup.org/seed-strain-reviews/551301-list-any-one-hitter-quiter-4.html#post7829474

The strain itself is known for its crippling narcotic-like potency, somewhat unique (for an indica) floral/citrus scent, and high yield. I think its the combination of potency, flavor, high yield, and relative unavailability that have made this strain a sort of “holy grail” for indica lovers.

And here is the ad copy from the Super Sativa Seed Club, circa 1989. "Plantlet method" refers to "Sea of Green", just the latter term wasnt' in wide use until the early 1990s. :

Super Sativa Seed Club - William's Wonder

M31
A special Indica Indoor hybrid. Very suitable for commercial indoor growing when making use of the plantlet method. Pick out the plants you like the best and reproduce. Heavy yields of extremely resinous buds. The buds are, due to their structure and the amount of resin on them, weighting very heavy. Small, compact plants. You can easily grow 4 crops a year indoors. Experienced growers can yield 1500-2000 grams per square meter per year. Two people could not finish a joint. The plant on the picture has been taken outdoors after flowering was inducted indoors. The plant turned purple because of a very cold fall. Williams Wonder can't be grown outdoors without being inducted to flower artificially previously.

So that's enough background, I think. Without further ado, the actual grow journal.

Day 0:

Ceeds arrived in a plain envelope from Europe, simple yet discreet.

The ceed packaging itself is classy. On the front side is the strain name, and on the back, an image of the plant with an embossed hemp seed, presumably to prevent counterfeiting.

The ceeds themselves are packed in a small plastic resealable test tube, with a plug of cotton, and then some dessicant on top to keep them dry.

Nice touch, and frankly a lot of the bigger name seed houses don't do as good a job here.

Ceeds themselves look great; they're big, dark, and have the “tiger stripes” that everyone is looking for. So far so good.

where did you order from?

greenghost420 said:

where did you order from?

Click to expand...

Right now ceeds are available on Cannazon, and directly from the breeder (which is where I got mine from).

They're going to be shortly available from another big ceed bank soon, but I forget which one.

OK, started two random ceeds from the pack into soil in 16 ounce cups.

I cover the plants with 1/4 inch of soil, mist heavily on top with water, and put a plastic bag over the top so they don't dry out. Cups are put about eight inches under a 13(!) watt CFL, just to give them something to "aim" at when they break soil.

Soil I'm using here is a custom blend. Base is made from Miracle Gro "Moisture control", which is a potting mix with coco coir, an added wetting agent, and included slow-release nutrients pre-added. I screen it to take out bark/wood chips, then cut it with about 30% peat moss 10% perlite, and 5% vermiculite to create a nice airy mix.

Mock all you like. . .the mix works awesome. I'm sure there are better mixes available off the shelf, but not in my area, and this one is easy and cheap to make up.

And here are our baby seedlings. 2/2 broke through dirt and started with their little leaflets less than 72 hours after first putting in dirt.

This is about as vigorous a germination as I've ever seen. . .that's a good start.

I don't have any personal experience with this strain, but my good friend swears that Williams Wonder was the best strain that he has ever smoked. I know this guy has smoked some really good weed before too. I would love to grow this strain out if it is a true representation of the Williams Wonder of folklore. Lol! I can't wait to see what it does for you. I'm subbed...Good Luck!

kentuckyboy said:

I don't have any personal experience with this strain, but my good friend swears that Williams Wonder was the best strain that he has ever smoked. I know this guy has smoked some really good weed before too. I would love to grow this strain out if it is a true representation of the Williams Wonder of folklore. Lol! I can't wait to see what it does for you. I'm subbed...Good Luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks.

In fact the major reason I'm growing this is to find out the truth of your question: is this the real deal, or not? Fortunately, I have actually tried the real thing back in the day before (see above), so hopefully I'll be able to shed a little bit of light on this when I'm done.

A lot of "old school smokers" still claim that Williams' Wonder is the best thing they've ever tried and is as good as anything around today. If you're looking at commercially available lines from the late '80s/early '90s, by almost all accounts, this one is one of the best.

In my opinion, from a grower's perspective, its not that this strain has the highest yield, best flavor, or absolute highest potency but its one of those rare indica strains that delivers an awesome combination of all three things. Most of the potent indica strains are more "hashy" than fruity, and its also pretty hard to find any high-potency strain that is also high yielding.

The seller, Sickmeds, has posted this analysis on their website:

https://www.sickmeds.com/cannabis-seeds/#willywonder

Cannabinoids:
THC 20.5%, THCV 1.0%, CBD 0.7%, CBG 1.3%, CBN 0.4%, CBC 1.1%

Click to expand...

Now, he didn't say how he got the numbers, but assuming they're correct, this puts his version of William's Wonder at 25% total cannabinoids.

Not only is that as good as most of today's "super strains" (ie all the OG/Kushes/Diesels/etc), if not better, but I think anything in that range is probably approaching the genetic maximum potential of cannabinoids you can get from cannabis flowers.

Subbed..... Older guy I used to work with said it was the best weed he ever grew... He'd lost his cut some years before and seemed to really miss it. He said outside the buds could get as big as footballs....

Update: Veg day 6 (day 9 from planting ceeds).

Seedlings have been "upgraded" from 13W CFL to 23W CFL to reduce stretching a bit and are growing vigorously. Put a straw by one to help prop it up. Also started gently flexing the stems of the seedlings to toughen them up a bit.

Note the fat indica-like leaflets. So far so good. . .

View attachment 2423834View attachment 2423835

look ns i'll subb,chk it out.rdr.

This looks interesting.

subscribed! im also looking at this strain good luck!

Update time. Here is one of the plants at day 13 from planting (10 since sprout). The other looks nearly identical, but is a bit taller.

They're putting a perfect symmetrical indica "box" shape with fat leaflets, and give off a distinct skunky smell when touched/rubbed.

I've also since put them under a 45W CFL where they will remain until they're ready for flower.

Day 17 of vegetative growth.

Seedlings have been transplanted to 2.5 liter buckets and are kept about 4 inches under a single 45W CFL. They'll stay in these intermediate containers until they show gender before going into flowering.

Meanwhile growth is vigorous, leaves are nice and dark green, and plants are smelling serious skunky, especially if touched or rubbed. Good bushy structure forming. . .we'll see how well that holds up.

Again, two plants are highly similar, one is just about 1" taller than the other.

Red from Sickmeds saw my early comment about potency, and sent me a copy of the third party lab analysis he had done on his William's Wonder:



Without getting into too much detail here, Alpha-cat is a reputable European lab, and the individual running it has significant credentials and extensive background and experience in testing cannabis. The results, I think, speak for themselves.

Their "chemotype" is a proprietary way they use to classify samples based on both presence/ratios of individual cannabinoids. To me this is absolutely fascinating, because they've taken all the guesswork out of the subjective "high quality" from different strains, and categorized them based on actual cannabinoid ratios. This is the only lab I've seen that is actually doing anything like this.

In this case, because of its significant CBD and CBG fractions, the William's Wonder tested out in their "hashplant" category, predicting a classical stoney/narcotic/sleepy/muscle relaxant hash-like effect.

Makes perfect sense, given that this strain is probably a pure Afghani indica.

Day 28 (from sprout):

Plants still under 18-6 lighting with 45W CFL.

Topped plants about a week ago. No fancy "FIM", just pinched off the top shoot to create two dominant tops.

One of two plants has female "preflower" pistils at a few nodes, and is definitely female. The other doesn't, I'm assuming its a male.

This one will be shortly transplanted into its final 3 gallon pot, and will go into 12-12 flowering as soon as I have room in the flowering area.



I've also taken off a few of the bottom branches for clones using the sophisticated Jogro cloning technique:

a. Chop stem at 45 degree angle with razor and strip off lower leaves.
b. Dip in rooting powder (optional, but I have it, so might as well use it).
c. Drop in cup of water and place 18" under CFL bulb.
d. Wait.

Here's a clone 11 days after cutting.

Again, its cut stem with razor, strip leaves with same, dip bottom into rooting powder, stick in cup of water under light, wait.

Fancy cloners can certainly be helpful, but they may not be necessary.



(No coffee was harmed in the making of this clone).