Origins of the Species

420

Founder
Varieties of marijuana originating in India have been grown throughout the Caribbean and bordering coastal nations from Mexico to Brazil since 1834, when the British brought indentured Indian servants to their Caribbean colonies. Marijuana use did not become illegal in America until 1937, and large-scale commercial importation of hashish and marijuana into Europe and North America did not commence until the early 1960s.

Marijuana growing began in North America during the 1960s. At first, seeds cleaned from illicit shipments of marijuana were casually planted by curious smokers. Sinsemilla (Spanish for "seedless") marijuana was almost unheard of. Nearly all domestically produced marijuana that lacked seeds was immature, and mature marijuana was fully seeded. Tropical varieties from Colombia and Thailand grown in North America rarely matured before frosts killed them. However, some of the tropical varieties regularly survived until maturity in coastal Florida, Southern California, and Hawaii, where the climate is warm and the growing season is long. Alternately, subtropical Mexican and Jamaican varieties often matured outdoors across the southern two-thirds of the United States. All of these early introductions were called "sativas," a common name derived from the botanical name Cannabis sativa.

In the early 1970s, a handful of growers began to produce sinsemilla. Seedless plants are created by removing male plants from the fields, leaving only the unfertilized female plants to mature. Instead of setting seeds in the first receptive flowers, the female plants continue to produce copious additional flowers, covered by hundreds of thousands of resin glands. By the mid 1970s, sinsemilla was becoming the primary style of domestic marijuana production.

In 1976, a coffee-table book called Sinsemilla Marijuana Flowers, by Jim Richardson and Arik Woods revolutionized marijuana growing in North America. Not only did the authors accurately and sensitively portray the sinsemilla technique with their excellent text and lavish color photographs, they made the first attempt to describe the proper stages of floral maturity for an optimally potent and tasty harvest. Most importantly, this publication, just thirty years ago, suggested to growers that if marijuana can be grown without seeds, it follows that select female flowers can also be intentionally fertilized with select pollen to produce a few seeds of known parentage. This realization, in turn, gave birth to the expansion of conscious marijuana breeding and the myriad varieties portrayed in this article.

Early on, marijuana growers worked with any varieties they could procure in the search to find potent plants that would consistently mature before being killed by frosts. Since most imported marijuana was full of seeds, many landraces (traditional cultivars grown by indigenous peoples) were available to growers. Early-maturing northern Mexican varieties proved to be favorites as they consistently finished maturing at northerly latitudes. The earlymaturing North American sativa varieties of the early and mid-1970s (such as Polly and Eden Gold) resulted from hybrid crosses between Mexican or Jamaican landraces and more potent, but latermaturing Panamanian, Colombian, and Thai landraces. (In all hybrid crosses, the female seed parent is listed before the "x"–the symbol indicating a cross–and the male pollen parent is listed after the "x." If the sexual identity of the parents is unknown, a "/" symbol is used rather than the "x.") Traditional cultivars gave modern growers a strong start having been favored and selected for potent landrace varieties for hundreds of years.

Most varieties in the 1970's were adapted to outdoor growing, but others were specially developed for greenhouse or indoor, artificial light growing, where the season can be extended to allow latematuring cultivars to finish. Once varieties that would mature under the given conditions were perfected, pioneering marijuana breeders selected for high potency–high delta-1-THC content with low CBD content–followed by the aesthetic considerations of flavor, aroma, and color. (Delta-1-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the primary psychoactive compound in Cannabis. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is not psychoactive, but may alter the effects of THC.) Modifying adjectives, such as minty, floral, spicy, fruity, sweet, purple, golden, or red, were often attached to selected varieties, and thus domestic sinsemilla connoisseurship was born. Continued inbreeding of the original favorable hybrids resulted in some of the legendary sativas of the 1970s, such as Original Haze, Purple Haze, Polly, Eden Gold, Three Way, Maui Wowie, Kona Gold, Matanuska Thunderfuck, and Big Sur Holy Weed, which were almost always grown outdoors or in greenhouses. From 1975 until the end of the decade, marijuana breeders had great success continuing to develop connoisseur sativa cultivars. Sweeter, prettier flowers brought the grower great pride and even g reater prof it. Purple varieties gained popularity, largely following on the coattails of the extraordinary Purple Haze of Central California.

Durban Poison
By 1980, commercial sinsemilla cultivation had become much more common. Professional growers developed sativa varieties that were both high yielding and early maturing, and police awareness of commercial cultivation increased, especially in the western United States. Small aircraft were routinely used to search for larger marijuana plantations located in remote terrain, and many small growers were turned in to the police by snoopy, alarmist neighbors. The authorities soon learned that marijuana matures in the autumn so a variety that could be brought out of the field and into the drying shed by early October avoided some of the problems that might arise with a variety that matured in late November. Faced with storage problems resulting from numerous seizures, the authorities often merely counted seized plants and burned the bulk of the confiscated crop immediately without weighing it. Prosecution was based on the number of plants counted. Just enough dried marijuana was saved for laboratory analysis to be used as evidence in court. Concurrent with increased sinsemilla production was an increased incidence of crops being stolen. The fewer large and early-maturing plants a cultivator could grow, while continuing to realize a sufficient yield and profit, the better the chances of avoiding detection by law enforcement or thieves.

When Cannabis responds positively to lots of water, sun, and nutrients, it produces huge plants, sometimes yielding up to five pounds (more than two kilograms) of dried flowers. The more they are fed and watered, the taller and bushier they become, even when heavily pruned. The larger the plant, the easier it is to spot from the air or over a fence. This situation kindled a desire in growers for plants with a short, broad stature and high flower yield. Before 1975, almost all sinsemilla was grown from sativa varieties. Correctly grown Colombian, Mexican, or Thai varieties averaged over eight feet (two and onehalf meters) tall when pruned or trellised, and could easily reach thirteen to sixteen feet (four to five meters) when grown unrestricted in full sun. As marijuana breeders continued to cross their shortest, earliest maturing, and highest-yielding sativa cultivars with each other and pruned frantically, they yearned for something new. Their salvation was manifested in a new and exotic foreign variety of marijuana called "indica."

Skunk #1
THE INTRODUCTION OF INDICA

Most modern European and Nor th American sinsemilla varieties are a blend of South Asian marijuana varieties called sativas that spread throughout South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and North and South America, and have been (since the 1970s) crossed with Central Asian and Middle Eastern hashish cultivars, commonly called "indicas," a name based on the botanical name Cannabis indica. The most well-known indica varieties came from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Indica plants are characterized as short and bushy with broad, dark green leaves, which makes them somewhat harder to see from afar. They usually mature quite early, from late August to the end of September, often stand only three to six feet (one to two meters) at maturity, and produce copious resin-covered leaves and flowers. At least several dozen introductions of indica seeds from Afghanistan or Pakistan into North America were made during the middle to late 1970s. Afghani No. 1, Mazar-i-sharif, and Hindu Kush were some of the earliest indica introductions and are still available today. Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, many more indicas have made their way directly to Dutch seed companies from neighboring Pakistan. Indica added economically valuable traits to extant domestic marijuana varieties, but it was considered rough by many smokers, being originally intended for bulk hashish production, rather than fine sinsemilla. Marijuana breeders still needed the traditional sativas to make hybrids that were both potent and cerebral.

Marijuana breeders intentionally crossed early-maturing indica varieties with the sweet, but later maturing, sativa varieties to produce early-maturing hybrids. Soon the majority of growers began to try a few indica/sativa hybrids. By the early 1980s, the vast majority of commercially produced sinsemilla in North America had likely received some portion of its genetic composition from the indica gene pool, and it had become difficult to find the pre-indica, pure sativa varieties that had been so popular only a few years earlier. There are now very few pure sativas grown in North America and Europe, as they mature late outdoors and require extra time to mature indoors, resulting in higher costs and risks. Many of the indica/sativa hybrids were vigorous growers, matured earlier, yielded well, were very potent, and were easier to conceal due to their shorter stature. Skunk No. 1 (Colombian sativa/Afghan indica x Acapulco Gold Mexican sativa) is a good example of a hybrid expressing predominantly sativa traits, and Northern Lights (Afghan indica/Thai sativa) is a good example of a hybrid expressing predominantly indica traits.

Citrol
Indica hybrids spread like wildfire. Although the influence of indica generally increased steadily throughout the mid-1980s (owing to its delayed introduction in many regions), its popularity in pioneering regions had begun to decline. Since Cannabis is wind-pollinated and sinsemilla is usually grown in enclosed gardens, accidental pollination often results in many seeds. Accidental seeds are far more common than intentionally produced seeds, and are rapidly and widely distributed in retail sinsemilla. Intentionally produced seeds are usually only passed along from one serious breeder to another or purchased from seed companies, and their distribution is more limited. Accidentally produced seeds containing varying proportions of the introduced indica gene pool were grown and randomly crossed again and again. Such random outcrossing produced a complex hybrid condition such that favorable traits were rarely consistently reproducible. Few of the offspring looked like their siblings, their gene pools having been formed from randomly collected genetic scraps handed down from their assorted predecessors. Over the next few years, the mixed gene pools reassorted, manifesting many undesirable as well as desirable characteristics.

Without careful selection and breeding, marijuana begins to turn weedy, and as natural selection takes over, varieties lose their vigor, taste, and potency. Accidental recombination of complex hybrids brought out some of the less desirable traits of indica that were previously suppressed. Reduced potency; a slow, flat, dreary high; and a skunky, acrid aroma and harsh taste quickly became associated with many indica/sativa hybrids. Also, indica's dense, tightly packed floral clusters tend to trap moisture, encouraging gray mold, for which it has little native resistance. This often results in significant crop losses that were rarely a problem when only pure sativa varieties were grown. Indica/sativa hybrids are still what the average sinsemilla consumer purchases today. To the sinsemilla connoisseur, indica has not proven to be all it was cracked up to be. Although consumers and commercial growers of the late 1970s adopted indica enthusiastically, serious breeders of the 1980s began to view indica with more skepticism.

K2
The average commercial or home grower, however, may express quite a different opinion. Indica's hardy growth, rapid maturation, and tolerance to cold allowed sinsemilla to be grown outdoors in the northern United States, from Washington to Maine and across southern Canada. This revolutionized the marijuana market by making potent homegrown a reality for those living at northern latitudes, as well as widening the scope and intensity of sinsemilla cultivation. Production dispersed from the U.S. epicenters of the West Coast, Hawaii, and the Ozark mountains into at least twenty major producing states. Some sinsemilla is now grown outdoors in all fifty American states, across southern Canada, and throughout much of Europe. Indica/sativa hybrids have also proven to be well adapted to indoor cultivation. Compact indica/sativa hybrid varieties mature quickly, allowing three to four harvests per year, and yield an average of three to four ounces (one hundred grams) of dry flowers on plants only three feet tall. Sativa varieties are too stretchy and tall, take too long to mature, and the tops of the plants, near the lights, shade the bottom branches, preventing them from producing many flowers.

The introduction of indica also had a more subtle, and possibly longer-lasting, effect on sinsemilla breeding. Purple coloration had become a sign of quality and potency in late-maturing sativa cultivars like Purple Haze. The consumer's thirst for exotic purple sinsemilla created the short-lived "Purple Craze" of the early 1980s. Growers discovered that indica varieties would often turn purple if they were left out through a frost. For a year or two, many growers were able to get more money for purple flowers, but early-maturing indica varieties, when left in the field through a frost, lost much of their potency. This abruptly ended the Purple Craze, and enlightened marijuana breeders realized that many traits prove to be desirable only in certain varieties under certain conditions. The conscientious breeder should be extremely selective when experimenting with new introductions.

TURNING THE INDICA TIDE

In their search for high-quality genetic stock, connoisseur sinsemilla breeders have returned to some of their original pure sativa varieties. By crossing them into the now highly inbred indica/sativa hybrid varieties, breeders can enhance the hybrid's flavor and boost its potency. Breeders are continually searching for new sources of exotic seeds. Pure unhybridized indica varieties are still highly prized breeding material, and new indica introductions are occasionally received from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sativa varieties from South Africa have recently gained favor with outdoor growers, a s they mature early but don't suffer from many of the aesthetic drawbacks of indica. Pure South African varieties, originating far south of the equator, often mature in August, but are shorter in stature, moderately potent, and relatively high yielding. Hybrid crosses between indicas and classic indica/sativa hybrid varieties such as Skunk No. 1 are usually vigorous and early maturing and may express the desirable sativa and indica traits of high potency, fine fragrance, and high yield.

Prior to 1980, a few breeders also worked with weedy sativa varieties from Central Europe. Most Western growers call these varieties "ruderalis." These weedy varieties begin maturing in July or early August, which hastens the maturity of outdoor hybrid marijuana varieties. Unfortunately, they are almost entirely devoid of THC and are high in CBD. Potency suffers in hybrid offspring, and subsequent selections must be made to restore high levels of psychoactivity. However, the biggest problem with weedy varieties and their hybrids is that they are not determinate. A single plant will continue to produce new flowers until it is harvested, rather than all of its flowers maturing before harvest, so its full potential is never realized. Ruderalis hybrids will likely prove of great value only to outdoor growers at near polar latitudes where little else will grow.

Big Bud
North American breeders also used other exotic imports to impart particular flavors to the smoke or to enhance the potency of hybrids. Landrace varieties from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kashmir, Korea, Nepal, Africa, and other far-flung locations were occasionally used for these purposes. Since commercial shipments of marijuana did not often originate from these regions, usually the seeds were collected in small numbers and were relatively rare compared to seeds from the major marijuana-producing regions such as Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica, and Thailand. Presently, it is nearly impossible to import seeds from new, potent, imported varieties. They rarely can be collected as there are very few locations remaining where indigenous farmers maintain traditional high-potency landraces. Basically, we are stuck with what we have in circulation, like it or not, and breeders must make the best of what they have.

A few strong branches of the North American marijuana family tree were transplanted to the Netherlands, and the remaining scions continued to flourish and evolve, leading to the tremendous diversity of marijuana varieties grown in North America and Europe today. Resulting from the openness of marijuana seed sales in the Netherlands, Dutch seed companies provide an easily documented model of the sinsemilla breeding that has continued simultaneously in North America. The Dutch seed companies described much of the heritage behind their varieties in their early catalogs. The following information comes directly from published seed catalogs and is supplemented with personal comments from breeders and seed company owners.

G13
DUTCH SEED COMPANIES

During the early 1980s, several marijuana seed companies appeared in the Netherlands, where cultivation of Cannabis for seed production and the sale of seeds were tolerated. Political pressure on marijuana growers in North America forced the thrust of progress in sinsemilla breeding to the Netherlands, where the political climate was much less threatening. For North American and European growers, this meant continued availability of exotic high-quality marijuana seeds.

Almost all of the Dutch varieties contain germ plasm from one or more of the founding genetic building blocks brought from North America. Cultivars such as Original Haze, Hindu Kush, Afghani No. 1, and Skunk No. 1 were established in California before their seeds were taken to the Netherlands in the early 1980s. As these cultivars were relatively stable seed varieties, breeders had a greater chance of selecting a favorable male plant as a pollen source for breeding. Cultivars such as Northern Lights, Big Bud, Hash Plant, and G-13 went to the Netherlands from the Pacific Northwest as rooted female cuttings. There were never males of these varieties, and, therefore, commercial seeds were all made by crosses with a male of a different variety such as Skunk No. 1, or more rarely by masculinizing a female cutting to produce pollen for self-pollinating.

Durban Poison
When connoisseurs of North American sinsemilla comment that "All the Dutch varieties seem the same," this should come as no surprise, since Dutch varieties share so much of their heritage. Of the nearly 150 varieties offered for sale by Dutch seed companies in 2000, 80 percent of them contain germ plasm that first came to the Netherlands prior to 1985. Most of the seed companies have continued to reshuffle the heavily stacked deck of original North American germ plasm, and since the 1980s few companies have introduced anything new. The perpetuation of monotony has been punctuated, only infrequently, by new introductions from North America or traditional marijuana- producing nations. Most seed companies have simply recombined founding cultivars from which breeders selected star clones to represent their seed companies in competitions. What goes around, comes around!

But where would we be today without the common building blocks of our common varieties? Many varieties have been tried throughout the years, and the persistence of the original founding germ plasm to this day is testimony to its desirability. If more potent, better tasting, and more productive varieties had been introduced, growers would certainly favor them today. In fact, seed companies generally introduce a new variety by simply crossing a new introduction with an established Dutch variety, itself built upon the initial founding varieties, and give the resulting plant a new name. As only a handful of North American varieties were used to make "Dutch" sinsemilla varieties, they are usually potent and commercially lucrative, but often boring!

The founding blocks of germ plasm used in most Dutch sinsemilla cultivars are described below by seed company, cultivar name, date of introduction, origin, and genetic heritage.

Among the earliest Dutch varieties were Holland's Hope and Amstel Gold, which were introduced in the early 1980s and are still available today. Although these predominantly indica cultivars are not very potent, they mature much earlier than most varieties, as they were bred to grow outdoors in the Netherlands. Both were bred from selections of imported Afghan hashish landraces. The following eight cultivars were brought to the Netherlands from California as named seed varieties and were released by Cultivator's Choice seed company bet ween 1980 and 1983. They were relatively consistent when inbred or crossed and now make up part of more than two-thirds of the varieties offered by Dutch seed companies. Many of the Cultivator's Choice varieties have been faithfully maintained since their introductions and are presently offered by the Flying Dutchman seed company.

- Skunk No. 1 kick started the high-quality Dutch homegrown scene. Even today, nearly half of the varieties sold by Dutch seed companies have Skunk No. 1 in their background. Skunk No. 1 was first introduced in the Netherlands in the late 1970s, and immediately revolutionized Dutch marijuana growing. The Dutch, basically a hashish-smoking culture, attempted to grow marijuana both outdoors and in greenhouses throughout the 1970s. Mostly, their efforts met with little popular success and Nederwiet, literally "low weed," was considered a joke among serious smokers. Skunk No. 1 changed everything. Under Dutch greenhouse conditions, Skunk No. 1 regularly matured and consistently produced high yields of potent buds, even when crops were grown from seed. Skunk No. 1 was originally a three-way hybrid combination between a Colombian/Afghan hybrid and an imported Mexican Acapulco Gold plant. This combination was inbred in California for several generations until the stable combination known as Skunk No. 1 resulted. Although indica makes up a quarter of Skunk No. 1 and contributes to its branchiness and compact bud structure, Skunk No. 1 is primarily a sweet-smelling sativa hybrid rather than an acrid-smelling indica, so the name "Skunk" is actually somewhat misleading. Despite its general uniformity, there are several different bud forms in Skunk No. 1, ranging from red, hairy buds with small bracts to large bracts with copious resin glands.

- The Original Haze is a late-maturing variety from Central California and was almost always grown in greenhouses, allowing it to finish in December or January. Original Haze was always connoisseur stash, and even in the 1970s it sold for as much as $200 an ounce. Original Haze is a pure sativa stabilized hybrid arising from crossing all of the best females with a male of a different imported sativa variety each year. Starting with Colombian/ Mexican hybrids grown from seeds from the first crop, a South Indian male plant was used as a pollen source the second year, and a Thai male plant was used the third year. Depending on which year Haze seeds were collected, they resembled either Colombian, South Indian, or Thai plants. Original Haze varies in taste from citrus Thai notes through the gamut of sativa highlights to the deep spicy purple Colombian flavor most common in Dutch Haze cultivars. Although Haze has been available in the Netherlands since the early 1980s, it gained wide popularity only in the mid 1990s. Increasing levels of connoisseurship led to higher prices for exotic and flavorful (but later maturing and more costly to produce) Haze hybrids in preference to the redundant plethora of Dutch Skunk/Northern Lights type buds. Original Haze presently makes up part of about 15 percent of varieties available in the Netherlands, and its frequency is steadily increasing.

Aussie Haze monster
- Both Afghani No. 1 and Hindu Kush are pure indica landraces from Afghanistan. Initially selected for dense buds and copious resin, they are true-to-type Afghan primo hashish varieties.

- Early California is a very early maturing indica/sativa hybrid introduced in the early 1980s from California. It is relatively true breeding and stable.

- California Orange is another California indica/sativa hybrid well known for its distinctive orange color and flavor.

- Hawaiian Indica is a strongly indica, indica/sativa hybrid that has been used in several Dutch hybrids. Its primary traits are very large bracts and copious resin production.

- Early Girl is a well-known commercial California seed variety from the late 1970s. It is generally leafy and of moderate potency, but consistently matures early. It was included in a number of the early Dutch hybrids. The following five cultivars were brought to the Netherlands from the Pacific Northwest as female cuttings and were introduced by the Sinsemilla Seed Company in the early 1980s. The Sinsemilla Seed Company is now known as the Sensi Seed Bank and continues to offer many hybrids bred from these original North American varieties. As there were no males of these female clones, they were always crossed with another variety in order to make seeds.

- Northern Lights was well established as a Pacific Northwest indoor seed variety by 1978 and arrived in the Netherlands as four sister clones. Northern Lights lines eventually came to incorporate Skunk No. 1 and Haze varieties around 1980. Northern Lights was mostly used as a crossing partner to provide the furry resin look often associated with potent varieties. However, Northern Lights also tends to have very small resin heads, both in comparison to the length of the gland stalks and in relation to other sinsemilla varieties. Northern Lights is found in at least 10 percent of Dutch varieties.

- Big Bud was established in the Pacific Northwest as a commercial indoor clone and was brought to the Netherlands in the mid-1980s. It is predominantly an indicatype indica/sativa hybrid and has very large, if at times leafy, buds.

- Hash Plant is a Lebanese/Thai hybrid. It was originally offered by the Super Sativa Seed Club, but the Sinsemilla Seed Company cutting was brought from North America. It is a very strongly indica hybrid variety.

- G-13 is a clone allegedly spirited away from the U.S. government pot farm in Mississippi. It is also a very strong, nearly pure indica variety.

- Ruderalis seed was collected from weedy roadside plants in Hungary by the Sinsemilla Seed Company and used for breeding in an attempt to develop earlymaturing varieties. Although hybrids with Skunk No. 1 and other North American cultivars began to flower very early, they also expressed their weedy background, never stopped flowering, and matured unevenly.

Aussie Haze monster
THE NAME GAME

Tracing the varieties used by the seminal six Dutch seed companies is relatively straightforward. Seed catalogs usually tell the customer what landrace or North American varieties were used to create the seeds, and the founding germ plasm was often shared by several seed companies. With the appearance of more than ten new seed companies during the early 1990s, the situation became more complex. Seed catalogs often changed the names of the varieties used in breeding or omitted the pedigree information altogether. Competition between seed companies heated up, fueled largely by High Times magazine's annual Cannabis Cup. The new companies were associated with some of the original companies and often incorporated the traditional varieties into their own cultivars, while also introducing new varieties that were quickly adopted by rival companies. Several seed companies appeared for only a year or two, and many others began to resell seeds produced by the major companies. It is easy to buy another company's seeds and change the variety name, making it appear to be a new and different variety. Some companies mistakenly sold seeds resulting from crossing two hybrid plants, resulting in great variability, with few, if any, of the offspring resembling either parental combination. The most common and successful way for seed companies to create new varieties was to simply cross a good female plant from an existing variety with a Skunk No. 1 male. In general, the 1990s were characterized more by a reshuffling of the original deck of varieties than by new introductions of landrace or North American varieties.

Unfortunately, some early Dutch breeders made very poor selections from the initial seeds they were given. The most common bad selection was for copious red hairs instead of for large bracts. Red hairs are a sign that female flowers are present, but they are not in themselves psychoactive. A preponderance of red hairs indicates many, but tiny, flowers with little surface area for psychoactive resin glands to develop. Second, selection for dense buds having a good retail appearance led to the proliferation of nested bracts that feel hard when squeezed, but once again lack sufficient surface area to develop copious resin glands. The third common erroneous selection was for fuzzy-looking resin glands with long sparkly stalks, but small resin heads. All three of these unfavorable traits occasionally reappear in modern Dutch varieties and should be avoided.

Sometimes crosses have been released as new varieties, with a lot of introductory hype about something new and exotic before being tested by growers. When the new crosses are actually grown, they often prove to be substandard. These so-called "varieties" usually disappear quickly because growers give them bad ratings. Most of the consistently popular cultivars have been around for several years, and many are still available today.

Fortunately, some of the more recent introductions from North America are markedly different from the previously available Dutch varieties. The T. H. Seeds Company, formerly known as the C.I.A. or the K.G.B., introduced several North American varieties in the mid-1990s. The most interesting of these is S.A.G.E., which is a Haze-based variety from the coastal mountains of Big Sur, California. S.A.G.E. stands for "Sativa Afghanica Genetic Equilibrium," which is an appropriate explanation of the genetic background of many stabilized indica/sativa hybrids. Bubblegum is a well-known seed variety from Indiana that came to Amsterdam via New England in the early 1990s. Akorn, Heavy Duty Fruity, Mendocino Madness, and Stinky Pinky are all indica/sativa hybrids introduced as female cuttings.

Most recently, a series of wellknown outdoor cultivars from the Pacific Northwest has been introduced by Dutch Passion and Sagarmatha seed companies. They come from a single breeder and are called Flo, Blueberry, and Blue Velvet.

Brazilian landrace accessions apparently weigh heavily in many of the selections from the K. C. Brains seed company and in White Widow offered by the Greenhouse. The White Widow series may also have come as seeds to the Netherlands from the southeastern United States. Often a seed buyer cannot determine a variety's heritage because the lineage is concealed or unknown. At harvest time, what matters most is whether the cultivar was appropriate for the grower and growing conditions, rather than simply its supposed heritage or fancy name. Many of these excellent new varieties hold great promise for the future as breeders continue to fine-tune them for indoor, artificial light growing.

by Robert Connell Clarke
 
Very well researched- but I have one problem with this post.

He said "origin of species" - in the Charles Darwin sense, this should mean the actual ORIGIN of the plant. In this perpsective, the origin dates back millions of years with the first ferns and flowers, which we think may have appeared in China, long before the Jurassic period, hundreds of millions of years ago.

The true origin of flowers, buds, and non-fern plants is one of botany's most enduring mysteries. Darwin called the mystery "abominable." We may never know the true origin of the wonderful wacky plant species we all love so much.
 
HI ALL,

the start..

2700 bc: First recorded use of cannabis as a medicine in China

1200 bc: Cannabis mentioned in the sacred Hindu text Atharvaveda as 2 sacerd grass, one of the five sacred plants of India. It is used as an offering to Shiva.

550 bc: The Persians prophet Zoroaster writes the Zend-Avesta, a sacred text that lists more than 10000 medicinal plants, Hemp is top of the list.

500 bc: Hemp is introduced into the countries of northern Europe for the first time by the Scythians.

430 bc: Greek historian Herodotus observes the ritural and recreationol use of cannabis by the Scythians.

AD 70: Dioscorides mentions the widespread use of cannabis as a medicine in Rome.

AD 200: Roman historian Galen observes that it is sometimes Hemp is given to guests to promote hilarty and enjoyment".

AD 800: Islamic prophet Mohammed permits the use of cannabis - but forbids alcohol.

1100: Cannabis smoking by now is commonplace in the Middle East.

1150: Moslems use cannabis to start Europe's first paper mill,mashing the hemp leaves into pulp and rolling them into tough parchment.

1200: Arab traders take cannabis to the Mozambique coast of Africa.

1378: One of the first dissenting voices is heard when Ottoman Emir Soudoun Scheikhouni issues an edict against eating cannabis.

1430: Joan of Arc is accused of using herbal "witch drugs" such as cannabis to hear voices.

1484: Pope Innocent V111 labels cannabis as an unholy sacrament of the Satanic mass and issues a pay-pal ban the sale of cannabis seeds on ebay, so nothing really changes then eh,

1533: The use of hemp for fabric assumes vital importance in naval Britina, where it is used to make sails. Henry V111 issues a drcree in 1533 that for every 60 acres of arable land a farmer owned, a quarter acre was to be sown withn hemp. The penalty for not doing so was three shillings and four pence.

1563: Queen Elizebeth 1 orders landowners with 60 acre or more to grow cannabis or face a 5.00 fine.

1564: King Philip of Spain orders Jack-Frost to be grow throughout his empire, from Argentina to Oregon.

1597: English physician John Gerard recommends cannabis as it "consumeth wind and dryeth up semen" fucking weired guy,

1650: Cannabis becomes a major trade item between central and southern Asia, its recreational use spreads across the Middle East

1653: English physician Nicholas Culpepper claims cannabis allayeth inflamation, easeth the pain of gout, tumours or knots of joints, pain of hips.

1798: While in Egypt, Napoleon is stunned by the use of cannabis among the lower classes. He bans it - his soldiers take the smoking of marijuana as a pastime back to France with them.

1840: Cannabis-based-medicines become available in the USA, while cannabis sold in Persian pharmacies .So you guys at skunk.co.uk nicked this copy first ,Le Club Hachicins, or Hashish Easter Club in Paris

1842: Cannabis becomes a popular medicines in Victorian England, used to treat aliments such as muscle cramps, menstrual cramps, rheumastic and the convulsions of tetanus, rabies and epiliepsy

1890: Sir Russell Reynolds, Queen Victoria's physician, writes in the Lancet that he prescribed cannabis for the Queen to relieve period pains. He later writes: 'When pure, it is one of the most valuable medicines we possess.' It is grown, bought and sold freely in American shops.

1911: South Africa outlaws cannabis, saying mine workers are less productive while under its influence.

1915: America follows suit. Over the next decade most countries place controls on the drug.

1928: The Dangerous Drugs Act of 1925 becomes law and cannabis is made illegal in Britain. Derivatives continue to be available on prescription for medicinal purposes.

1930: Jazz singer Louis Armstrong is arrested in Los Angeles for possession.

1941: The press publishes details of Henry Ford's plastic car, which is made using cannabis and fuelled by it. Ford is known to have grown the drug illegally.

1943: The American and German governments urge farmers to grow it to help in the war effort. The drug is commonly used by military personnel.

1951: Despite a virtual world-wide ban, the United Nations estimates 200 million people around the world still use it.

1952: First UK cannabis bust at the Number 11 Club, Soho.

1961: The UN Drugs Convention passes international restrictions aimed at eliminating its use within 25 years. Campaign to legalise cannabis gathers steam in the sixties

1967: In London's Hyde Park, more than 3,000 people hold a mass 'smoke-in'. The Times newspaper begins a pro-legalisation campaign supported by David Dimbleby, Bernard Levin and the Beatles.

1967: Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are 'busted' for possession. Their convictions are overturned on appeal.

1967: Valentine's Day, New York, guitarist Jimi Hendrix funds a 'mail-out' of 3,000 cannabis joints to random addresses chosen from the phonebook.

1968: A Home Office select committee, headed by Baroness Wootton, publishes a report saying cannabis is no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol and recommends a reduction in penalties for possession. A campaign is launched in America, protesting against the use of cannabis by soldiers fighting in Vietnam. The military backs down and soldiers switch to heroin.In Vietnam, US soldiers often fought on a high, me too scary shit that Vietnam.

1969: Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan rejects the findings the of the Wootton report. Parliament introduces the Misuse of Drugs Act prescribing a maximum five years' imprisonment for possession. This law remains in force today.

1971: The Misuse of Drugs Act lists cannabis as a Class B drug and outlaws its use for medicinal purposes.

1972: President Nixon brands drugs 'America's public enemy number 1', and launches a $1 billion anti-drugs campaign. Meanwhile, the state of Oregon takes steps towards the legalisation of cannabis.

1975: The US Supreme Court rules that anyone consuming it in the home is protected under 'right to privacy' laws. Possession in public is limited to one ounce.

1980: Singer Paul McCartney spends ten days in a Japanese jail for possession......

ETC...

Respect !
 
(Delta-1-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the primary psychoactive compound in Cannabis. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is not psychoactive, but may alter the effects of THC.)

I am sure this is just typo;

-It's "Delta 9 Tetrahydrocannabinol"
 
Question, two years ago I crossed a Sour Diesel male with a Flo and Blue Dream female. So what I have is Flo/SD and BD/SD cross. I started to use the seeds, plants look great but out of the 50 I started 16 were female and so far 4 have been hermie. Is it common for first year cross to generate hermie and low female ratio? Flo strain from what I read is a great strain to cross with, so I plan for the next 8 years or so to breed a pure Flo again. thoughts? BTW plants were germinated indoors, sexed and placed out doors June 1. All is good so far plants reange from 5 to 10 ft. all in 15 gal pots. 8 to 10 hours of direct Sun.
 
Question, two years ago I crossed a Sour Diesel male with a Flo and Blue Dream female. So what I have is Flo/SD and BD/SD cross. I started to use the seeds, plants look great but out of the 50 I started 16 were female and so far 4 have been hermie. Is it common for first year cross to generate hermie and low female ratio? Flo strain from what I read is a great strain to cross with, so I plan for the next 8 years or so to breed a pure Flo again. thoughts? BTW plants were germinated indoors, sexed and placed out doors June 1. All is good so far plants reange from 5 to 10 ft. all in 15 gal pots. 8 to 10 hours of direct Sun.

Not sure why so many males and hermies sometimes happen. As far as the cross, I am growing plants this season from a cross from last year. Similar to yours with one male crossed with two different females. I did get more males than females but not growing that many. It was close to 50% but really 60%-40%.
 
Thanks Bone Head, checked plot this morning. It appears what is female is stable. I have few JR's that are really coming along great too! One issue I have a with Flo and BD stains is they get so tall and huge! Both strains are heading in on 10ft, last year I had to chop the Flo's in half at about 12ft in middle July 1 to about 6ft. Note: My area is limited in Height of 12 ft. By the time they were finished late Sept they were back to 12 ft, crazy plants. Really reminds me of old school Mexican Gutierez we would buy in the late 60's.
 
Re: Origins of the Species : history question***

Sometime around 1970 or so, Hashish ( red and green Leb's Nepalese and Ghanni) was the standard in the Philadelphia/ New York area. Weed tended to be brick stuff (usually crap) wrapped in colored paper, and shipped from Mexico. We didn't smoke much pot...very much preferring the hash.Then came the Jamacian...long colas, often harsh...but it worked pretty well. Weed went from 50bucks a quarter lb (15 or 20 an oz.) to 100 to 125. Next change came in '73 when one guy offered a Colombian bud. They were about thumbnail sized, bright gold, lots of tiny black seeds, and it was fantastic! Tasted like popcorn! It was called "Chiba Chiba" and it was a one and done....by the time I got back up to him...it was all gone never to return.
Soon we had a wonderful deep red product...also from Colombia. Same tiny black seeds, and fantastic smell, taste sensational buzz. That Red lasted most of the fall (1974 or 75 I think) The "Colombian" weed dominated the scene from there till the cocaine took over everything Colombian in the late 70's early 80's....and all things seemed to turn Mexican . Never again did we see anything like that one batch of Gold, or that larger batch of Red. We did see golds and reds (still do see Mex golds) but NOTHING like the first. They are the reason weed went from 20 bucks an ounce to 90 or 100.Until those two varieties, no one would even consider more than 25 or maybe 30 per oz.(Whacky weed from Panama was 30 bucks hahaha)
In hindsight, they paved the way for the sensi/homegrow movement. The same way that 5 buck gas helped make electric cars suddenly the fashion. They put REAL dollars into weed for the first time. Everyone wanted something THAT strong again...THAT tasty. And they were willing to pay for it. A couple years after they came and went, I saw the first Big Sur Homegrown, and then Big Bud (both around 100 per oz. as I remember) But never again anything like that GOLD or the REDS. [some late 70's Thai came close:) )

**My question(s) 1. What in the world were those strains? Were they Colombian? (I remember 3 strains Chiba Chiba (gold) Red Colombian, and Black Colombian....all in '73/'74/'75)
2. What became of those strains? Are they extinct?
3. What made them so different? That potency was not approached until more modern Hydro creations came along
3. I had heard it was killed by paraquat, but I don't believe something that special would not have seed set back somewhere.
Thanks :nicethread:
 
"Big Bud" was a Sativa polyploid in it's final form,developed from Mexican/Burmese/and Colombian "Panama" Red in the region where WV/Ohio/and KY come together,beginning in the mid-60's. It was known outside the region as "Meigs County Gold" or "Meigs County Red" and grew to a height of 12-18 plus feet in it's native region. It whupped the Haze strains under the name of "WV Baby Dew Drops" in the '79 High Times Awards for best Domestic Cannabis.

It is the one and only original "Big Bud",all other's are sporting the name are puny Indica's not worth the effort.

As for Sinsemilla,I can remember the battles raging in the mid-70's over whether Sinsemilla was merely seedless weed or a special Mexican varietal that produced very few seeds,in other words which was true Sinsemilla? I grew my first Sinsemilla in the summer of 1974 using the original Big Bud strain,before it was a polyploid.

I'm a bit touchy about others using the "Big Bud" name. It was a locally developed strain,being grown by people I knew,when I wasn't much more than a boy,in the mid-60's. If you're going to continue the fiction of the original "Big Bud" coming from the NW,be prepared to be called on it.

Bobby Clarke needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that superior homegrown weed and strains were grown and developed in other places other than Cali,Hawaii,and the Netherlands. And still are.
 
Chopper,I actually picked up a few ounces of the Colombian Red this past fall. It's still around here in the SE,but these kids call it "Good Regs" LOL!!!

The guy I bought it from had no idea he was selling Punta Rosa. I knew it when I got a look at it and took the first toke,there's no mistaking that stuff. No weed tastes that good. I bought all of it he had on the spot.

It turns up a few times a year,usually in the spring or fall.

Yeah,there's been a lot of solid Mexican Golds showing up the past year. Most of it I've seen is nearly seedless and in the 120 buck range. It beats the hell out of the indoor mids that sell at twice the price.
 
HI ALL,

the start..


AD 800: Islamic prophet Mohammed permits the use of cannabis - but forbids alcohol.


Respect !

With all due respect, this piece of info is not correct.

Islamic prophet Mohammed peace be upon him was born 26 April 570, and died on 8 June 632. and there is not any saying or quote by the prophet that mentions cannabis, let alone permit the use of it.

for more info Muhammad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

:peace:
 
I am fortunate to have 2 Afghani # 1 seeds that I got for free with some Kush feminized seeds I bought . I pray to the Indica Gods that at least one of the Afghanis will be a female so I can harvest and clone it for future pure strain Indica crops . Pure strains are not feminized so it is a lucky shot , they could both be males also .
 
Re: Origins of the Species : history question***

:420:This is for Chopper....pls. forgive me..I am new here. just getting use to how to post! His name escapes me right now but during the 70's to early 80's for about 7-8 years I believe...there's this Jewish guy who created a million dollar a month smuggling gig. He actually inquired the law authorities as to where do most of dope coming in to U.S. appear to be entering at. He was told "usually San Diego or Seattle", so he set up an easy game plan to bring in some of the sweetest smelling & tasting brown bush (then the red & gold a little later) right under everyone's noses (including my own cuz this is where I live!) San Francisco Bay Area! He brought most of it in in Halfmoon Bay (San Mateo county) San Francisco Bay & Bodega Bay! Yeah, those were the days fer sure! I sure miss the stuff! How he got busted was STUPID! He had breakfast in a Denny's restaurant in a small town in northern Ca He left his so called little black book on the table and left. The waitress looked in and it seemed suspicious so she called cops & the rest is history my friend! Happy Harvesting.....mrwzrd:peace:
 
Chopper,I actually picked up a few ounces of the Colombian Red this past fall. It's still around here in the SE,but these kids call it "Good Regs" LOL!!!

The guy I bought it from had no idea he was selling Punta Rosa. I knew it when I got a look at it and took the first toke,there's no mistaking that stuff. No weed tastes that good. I bought all of it he had on the spot.

It turns up a few times a year,usually in the spring or fall.

Yeah,there's been a lot of solid Mexican Golds showing up the past year. Most of it I've seen is nearly seedless and in the 120 buck range. It beats the hell out of the indoor mids that sell at twice the price.

I picked up crazy looking buds in mid 2000's the guy said it was the good Mexican My eyes popped out it was small grayish green red buds not in brick form. I would have called it goblin bud myself . I don't remember any seeds it had a different flavor and a smooth burn, the smell was light like wet clay i wish I had a seed now. $40 a quarter oz. worth every penny but easy come easy go. went back for more and my aunt kicked the dude to the curb and wouldn't call him for me women dam.
 
Great read, nowadays all strains are so much uniform: Skunk #1 + Northern Lights everywhere, that it's hard to come by something really mindblowing. I wanna grow some landrace sativas myself to check this legendary high and then maybe do some crossing.
 
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