Ultimate Sativa Thread

Well, I saw this great thread by motaco on icmag, and just figured this community would appreciate it, so I'll start it off. I'm just going to copy and paste, and of course I'll be sharing my own thoughts, opinions, buds. Post up pictures, talk about your grows, anything is welcome.

Thats right its back. from OG's strains and hybridization.

This is the everything sativa thread and the sativa growers community thread. Where people from around the world show their sativas. Old classics like Oaxacas, Pure Haze, Panama Red, Jamaican, Colombian Gold, Thai, Vietnam Black, Hawaiian Pakalolo, Malawi you name it. Plus bagseed sativas from brick from all over the world, and of course seed bank sativas and opinons and grows.


If you don't know me from back at OG. I was 420g now I am motaco and I'm from new orleans. Before Katrina I grew a small indoor patch of exotic sativas. I love hawaiians and mexicans. But I never did have pictures of my grows. And after katrina I don't have the space and freedom that I used to so I can't grow at all. Eventually I'll get back on my feet but for now all these pics are of my fellow sativa growers and friends. I am not a master grower and never claimed to be, but I know enough to help anyone that wants to produce their own sativa smoke to be able to; even in limited indoor conditions.

Most of this info is what I accumulated and typed mostly from memory from the original UST back at OG; where we had alot larger community, and we've lost alot of members in the transition. And so I built this thread to build the community back up, attract new faces, and give the old guys a place to come home to. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on info, add your own segments on regions, tell stories from travels, everything. This is a database of sativa knowledge available to everyone.

So I'm gonna start things off proper with a picture of Chamans tropical sativas, to get everyone in the mood. Two of my favorite sativa pics of all time. (shoulda been pic of the month ) PS- since most of these pics aren't mine if you see one that is yours or you just know is mislabeled please pm me so I can fix it.



This is the thread dedicated to all sativa growers and lovers to post anything they want. hybrids, pure, landrace, whatever. Just reminisce about old strains.


If you've ever seen the old thread at OG its the same layout. Info in the beginning and conversation a few pages in. This thread is just like the last one- divided by region, and set to give information about all sativas, but set up by geographic location to help put strains and info into a more visible shape and form. Sativa grow tips, preservation of genes, etc. its a collection of links (still working on that) for all strains from the area to help make it easier to find the threads that may be useful to you. I still haven't put links up and probably will eventually. But I have tried to recreate the old Ultimate Sativa Thread and put everything I learned from all the great people from OG and put it up here to share.

A calling to all my displaced UST friends

You know I said it wouldn't be like it was before and I was proved wrong. The community is as cool as ever just with new faces. But I'm hoping by rebuilding this thread will inspire many of our displaced friends to join here. derrayld, wannabebreeder, HighHaWynn(welcome back!), rahan(where'd ya go?), as well as many others.

It's easy to lose interest in internet pot forums with all the childish bickering, and literally kids on the boards. But we keep the community going here fellas with no drama. This is like a lil grower community among itself, so come and join your old friends, we still got me, raco, chaman, and alot of the old crew; as well as a whole new troop of sativa growers; all hoping to see you pop in. It can't be a database without people keeping the discussions and knowledge going! We hardly ever have fights, its a mature group, and alot of folks from all over the world. Many of us stay at IC specifically because of this thread.

And don't forget to preserve your rare and exotic sativa leaves for identification; a forward step on sativa conservation. It might be all thats left one day.




TO ALL UN REGISTERED READERS
So you've scrolled through this thing and you still don't have anything to say? What are you doing? join up! We are a community based on sativa lovers and growers and we need as big of a community as possible. It's how we learn from each other.

Just growing brickweed bagseeds you collected over the years and think nobody is interested? Man we love seeing other countries export. I got several mexican bagseed lines I saved because I loved them. We are not pot snobs here. All are welcome. Just an old timer that's smoked it all and got the cough to prove it? Those old stories about chocolate thai, acapulco gold, panama red. they are priceless come share them with others that remember them. Especially if you've got old scanned pics! we love them!

thirty year old santa marta colombian gold. grown by indians. (thanks desiderata)




Well lets get this started the old fashioned way. just like the old thread here are some exerpts of legends and grow pioneers ed rosenthal and mel frank


Marijuana grown in the United States is usually one of two main types: indica or sativa. Indica plants originated in the Hindu-Kush valleys in central Asia, which is located between the 25-35 latitudes. The weather there is changeable. One year there may be drought, the next it might be cloudy, wet, rainy or sunny. For the population to survive, the plant group needs to have individuals which survive and thrive under different conditions. Thus, in any season, no matter what the weather, some plants will do well and some will do poorly.

Indica was probably developed by hash users for resin content, not for flower smoking. The resin was removed from the plant. An indication of indica's development is the seeds, which remain enclosed and stick to the resin. Since they are very hrd to disconnect from the plant, they require human help. Wild plants readily drop seeds once they mature.


Plants from the same line from equatorial areas are usually fairly uniform. These include Colombians and central Africans. Plants from higher latitudes of the same line sometimes have very different characteristics. These include Southern Africans, Northern Mexicans, and indicas. The plants look different from each other and have different maturities and potency. The ratio of THC (the ingredient which is psychoactive) to CBD (its precursor, which often leaves the smoker feeling disoriented, sleepy, drugged or confused) also varies.


High latitude sativas have the same general characteristics: they tend to mature early, have compact short branches and wide, short leaves which are dark green, sometimes tinged purple.


Indica buds are usually tight, heavy, wide and thick rather than long. They smell "stinky", "skunky", or "pungent" and their smoke is thick - a small toke can induce coughing. The best indicas have a relaxing "social high" which allow one to sense and feel the environment but do not lead to thinking about or analyzing the experience.


Cannabis sativa plants are found throughout the world. Potent varieties such as Colombian, Panamanian, Mexican, Nigerian, Congolese, Indian and Thai are found in equatorial zones. These plants require a long time to mature and ordinarily grow in areas where they have a long season. They are usually very potent, containing large quanities of THC and virtually no CBD. They have long, medium-thick buds when they are grown in full equatorial sun, but under artificial light or even under the temperate sun, the buds tend to run (not fill out completely). The buds usually smell sweet or tangy and the smoke is smooth, sometimes deceptively so.


The THC to CBD ratio of sativa plants gets lower as the plants are found further from the equator. Jamaican and Central Mexican varieties are found at the 15-20th latitudes. At the 30th latitude, varieties such as Southern African and Northern Mexican are variable and may contain equal amounts of THC and CBD, giving the smoker and buzzy, confusing high. These plants are used mostly for hybridizing. Plants found above the 30th latitude usually have low levels of THC, with high levels of CBD and are considered hemp.


If indica and sativa varieties are considered opposite ends of a spectrum, most plants fall in between the spectrum. Because of marijuana and hemp's long symbiotic relationship with humans, seeds are constantly procured or traded so that virtually all populations have been mixed with foreign plants at one time or another.


Even in traditional marijuana-growing countries, the marijuana is often the result of several cross lines. Jamaican ganja, for example, is probably the result of crosses between hemp, which the English cultivated for rope, and Indian ganja, which arrived with the Indian immigrants who came to the country. The term for marijuana in Jamaic in ganja, the same as in India. The traditional Jamaican term for the best weed is Kali, named for the Indian killer goddess.

here is some info from mj botany.

a) Colombia - (0 to 10 north latitude)

Colombian Cannabis originally could be divided into two basic strains: one from the low-altitude humid coastal areas along the Atlantic near Panama, and the other from the more arid mountain areas inland from Santa Marta. More recently, new areas of cultivation in the interior plateau of southern central Colombia and the highland valleys stretching southward from the Atlantic coast have become the primary areas of commercial export Cannabis cultivation. Until recent years high quality Cannabis was available through the black market from both coastal and highland Colombia. Cannabis was introduced to Colombia just over 100 years ago, and its cultivation is deeply rooted in tradition. Cultivation techniques often involve transplanting of selected seedlings and other individual attention. The production of "la mona amarilla" or gold buds is achieved by girdling or removing a strip of bark from the main stem of a nearly mature plant, thereby restricting the flow of water, nutrients, and plant products. Over several days the leaves dry up and fall off as the flowers slowly die and turn yellow. This produces the highly prized "Colombian gold" so prevalent in the early to middle 1970s (Partridge 1973). Trade names such as "punta roja" (red tips [pistils] ), "Cali Hills," "choco," "lowland," "Santa Marta gold," and "purple" give us some idea of the color of older varieties and the location of cultivation.

In response to an incredible demand by America for Cannabis, and the fairly effective control of Mexican Cannabis importation and cultivation through tightening border security and the use of Paraquat, Colombian farmers have geared up their operations. Most of the marijuana smoked in America is imported from Colombia. This also means that the largest number of seeds available for domes tic cultivation also originate in Colombia. Cannabis agri-business has squeezed out all but a few small areas where labor-intensive cultivation of high quality drug Cannabis such as "Ia mona amarilla" can continue. The fine marijuana of Colombia was often seedless, but commercial grades are nearly always well seeded. As a rule today, the more remote highland areas are the centers of commercial agriculture and few of the small farmers remain. It is thought that some highland farmers must still grow fine Cannabis, and occasional connoisseur crops surface. The older seeds from the legendary Colombian strains are now highly prized by breeders. In the heyday of "Colombian gold" this fine cerebral marijuana was grown high in the mountains. Humid lowland marijuana was characterized by stringy, brown, fibrous floral clusters of sedative narcotic high. Now highland marijuana has become the commercial product and is characterized by leafy brown floral clusters and sedative effect. Many of the unfavorable characteristics of imported Colombian Cannabis result from hurried commercial agricultural techniques combined with poor curing and storage. Colombian seeds still contain genes favoring vigorous growth and high THC production. Colombian strains also contain high levels of CBD and CBN, which could account for sedative highs and result from poor curing and storage techniques. Domestic Colombian strains usually lack CBD and CBN. The commercial Cannabis market has brought about the eradication of some local strains by hybridizing with commercial strains.


Colombian strains appear as relatively highly branched conical plants with a long upright central stem, horizontal limbs and relatively short internodes. The leaves are characterized by highly serrated slender leaflets (7-11) in a nearly complete to overlapping circular array of varying shades of medium green. Colombian strains usually flower late in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and may fail to mature flowers in colder climates. These strains favor the long equatorial growing seasons and often seem insensitive to the rapidly decreasing daylength during autumn in temperate latitudes. Because of the horizontal branching pattern of Colombian strains and their long growth cycle, pistillate plants tend to produce many flowering clusters along the entire length of the stem back to the central stalk. The small flowers tend to produce small, round, dark, mottled, and brown seeds. Imported and domestic Colombian Cannabis often tend to be more sedative in psychoactivity than other strains. This may be caused by the synergistic effect of THC with higher levels of CBD or CBN. Poor curing techniques on the part of Colombian farmers, such as sun drying in huge piles resembling com post heaps, may form CBN as a degradation product of THC. Colombian strains tend to make excellent hybrids with more rapidly maturing strains such as those from Central and North America.


b) Congo - (5 north to 5 south latitude)


Most seeds are collected from shipments of commercial grade seeded floral clusters appearing in Europe.
d) India Centra1 Southern - Kerala, Mysore, and Madras regions (10 to 20 north latitude)


Ganja (or flowering Cannabis tops) has been grown in India for hundreds of years. These strains are usually grown in a seedless fashion and are cured, dried, and smoked as marijuana instead of being converted to hashish as in many Central Asian areas. This makes them of considerable interest to domestic Cannabis cultivators wishing to reap the benefits of years of selective breeding for fine ganja by Indian farmers. Many Europeans and Americans now live in these areas of India and ganja strains are finding their way into domestic American Cannabis crops.


Ganja strains are often tall and broad with a central stalk up to 12 feet tall and spreading highly-branched limbs. The leaves are medium green and made up of 7 to 11 leaf lets of moderate size and serration arranged in a circular array. The frond-like limbs of ganja strains result from extensive compound branching so that by the time floral clusters form they grow from tertiary or quaternary limbs. This promotes a high yield of floral clusters which in ganja strains tend to be small, slender, and curved. Seeds are usually small and dark. Many spicy aromas and tastes occur in Indian ganja strains and they are extremely resinous and psychoactive. Medicinal Cannabis of the late 1800s and early 1900s was usually Indian ganja.


e) Jamaica - (18 north latitude)


Jamaican strains were not uncommon in the late 1960s and early 1970s but they are much rarer today. Both green and brown varieties are grown in Jamaica. The top-of-the-line seedless smoke is known as the "lamb's bread" and is rarely seen outside Jamaica. Most purported Jamaican strains appear stringy and brown much like low land or commercial Colombian strains. Jamaica's close proximity to Colombia and its position along the routes of marijuana smuggling from Colombia to Florida make it likely that Colombian varieties now predominate in Jamaica even if these varieties were not responsible for the original Jamaican strains. Jamaican strains resemble Colombian strains in leaf shape, seed type and general morphology but they tend to be a little taller, thinner, and lighter green. Jamaican strains produce a psychoactive effect of a particularly clear and cerebral nature, unlike many Colombian strains. Some strains may also have come to Jamaica from the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and this may account for the introduction of cerebral green strains.


f) Kenya - Kisumu (5 north to 5 south latitude)


Strains from this area have thin leaves and vary in color from light to dark green. They are characterized by cerebral psychoactivity and sweet taste. Hermaphrodites are common.

h) Malawi, Africa - (10 to 15 south latitude)


Malawi is a small country in eastern central Africa bordering Lake Nyasa. Over the past few years Cannabis from Malawi has appeared wrapped in bark and rolled tightly, approximately four ounces at a time. The nearly seedless flowers are spicy in taste and powerfully psycho active. Enthusiastic American and European Cannabis cultivators immediately planted the new strain and it has be come incorporated into several domestic hybrid strains. They appear as a dark green, large plant of medium height and strong limb growth. The leaves are dark green with coarsely serrated, large, slender leaflets arranged in a narrow, drooping, hand-like array. The leaves usually lack serrations on the distal (tip portion) 20% of each leaflet. The mature floral clusters are sometimes airy, resulting from long internodes, and are made up of large calyxes and relatively few leaves. The large calyxes are very sweet and resinous, as well as extremely psychoactive. Seeds are large, shortened, flattened, and ovoid in shape with a dark grey or reddish brown, mottled perianth or seed coat. The caruncle or point of attachment at the base of the seed is uncommonly deep and usually is surrounded by a sharp edged lip. Some individuals turn a very light yellow green in the flowering clusters as they mature under exposed conditions. Although they mature relatively late, they do seem to have met with acceptance in Great Britain and North America as drug strains. Seeds of many strains appear in small batches of low-quality African marijuana easily available in Amsterdam and other European cities. Phenotypes vary considerably, however, many are similar in appearance to strains from Thailand.


i) Mexico - (15 to 27 north latitude)


Mexico had long been the major source of marijuana smoked in America until recent years. Efforts by the border patrols to stop the flow of Mexican marijuana into the United States were only minimally effective and many varieties of high quality Mexican drug Cannabis were continually available. Many of the hybrid strains grown domestic ally today originated in the mountains of Mexico. In recent years, however, the Mexican government (with monetary backing by the United States) began an intensive pro gram to eradicate Cannabis through the aerial spraying of herbicides such as Paraquat. Their program was effective, and high quality Mexican Cannabis is now rarely available. It is ironic that the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) is using domestic Mexican Cannabis strains grown in Mississippi as the pharmaceutical research product for chemotherapy and glaucoma patients. In the prime of Mexican marijuana cultivation from the early 1960s to the middle 1970s, strains or "brands" of Cannabis were usually affixed with the name of the state or area where they were grown. Hence names like "Chiapan," "Guerreran," "Nayarit," "Michoacan," "Oaxacan," and "Sinaloan" have geo graphic origins behind their common names and mean something to this very day. All of these areas are Pacific coastal states extending in order from Sinaloa in the north at 27; through Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero, and Oaxaca; to Chiapas in the south at 15 - All of these states stretch from the coast into the mountains where Cannabis is grown.


Strains from Michoacan, Guerrero, and Oaxaca were the most common and a few comments may be ventured about each and about Mexican strains in general.


Mexican strains are thought of as tall, upright plants of moderate to large size with light to dark green, large leaves. The leaves are made up of long, medium width, moderately serrated leaflets arranged in a circular array. The plants mature relatively early in comparison to strains from Colombia or Thailand and produce many long floral clusters with a high calyx-to-leaf ratio and highly cerebral psychoactivity. Michoacan strains tend to have very slender leaves and a very high calyx-to-leaf ratio as do Guerreran strains, but Oaxacan strains tend to be broader-leafed, often with leafier floral clusters. Oaxacan strains are generally the largest and grow vigorously, while Michoacan strains are smaller and more delicate. Guerreran strains are often short and develop long, upright lower limbs. Seeds from most Mexican strains are fairly large, ovoid, and slightly flattened with a light colored grey or brown, unmottled perianth. Smaller, darker, more mottled seeds have appeared in Mexican marijuana during recent years. This may indicate that hybridization is taking place in Mexico, possibly with introduced seed from the largest seed source in the world, Colombia. No commercial seeded Cannabis crops are free from hybridization and great variation may occur in the offspring. More recently, large amounts of hybrid domestic seed have been introduced into Mexico. It is not uncommon to find Thai and Afghani phenotypes in recent shipments of Cannabis from Mexico.

k) Nepal - (26 to 30 north latitude)


Most Cannabis in Nepal occurs in wild stands high in the Himalayan foothills (up to 3,200 meters [10,000 feet]). Little Cannabis is cultivated, and it is from select wild plants that most Nepalese hashish and marijuana originate. Nepalese plants are usually tall and thin with long, slightly branched limbs. The long, thin flowering tops are very aromatic and reminiscent of the finest fresh "temple ball" and "finger" hashish hand-rubbed from wild plants. Resin production is abundant and psychoactivity is high Few Nepalese strains have appeared in domestic Cannabis crops but they do seem to make strong hybrids with strains from domestic sources and Thailand.
m) South Africa - (22 to 35 south latitude)


Dagga of South Africa is highly acclaimed. Most seeds have been collected from marijuana shipments in Europe. Some are very early-maturing (September in northern latitudes) and sweet smelling. The stretched light green floral clusters and sweet aroma are comparable to Thai strains.


n) Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (10 to 20 north latitude)


Since American troops first returned from the war in Vietnam, the Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese strains have been regarded as some of the very finest in the world. Currently most Southeast Asian Cannabis is produced in northern and eastern Thailand. Until recent times, Cannabis farming has been a cottage industry of the northern mountain areas and each family grew a small garden. The pride of a farmer in his crop was reflected in the high quality and seedless nature of each carefully wrapped Thai stick. Due largely to the craving of Americans for exotic marijuana, Cannabis cultivation has become a big business in Thailand and many farmers are growing large fields of lower quality Cannabis in the eastern lowlands. It is suspected that other Cannabis strains, brought to Thailand to replenish local strains and begin large plantations, may have hybridized with original Thai strains and altered the resultant genetics. Also, wild stands of Cannabis may now be cut and dried for export.


Strains from Thailand are characterized by tall meandering growth of the main stalk and limbs and fairly extensive branching. The leaves are often very large with 9 to 11 long, slender, coarsely serrated leaflets arranged in a drooping hand like array. The Thai refer to them as "alligator tails" and the name is certainly appropriate.


Most Thai strains are very late-maturing and subject to hermaphrodism. It is not understood whether strains from Thailand turn hermaphrodite as a reaction to the extremes of northern temperate weather or if they have a genetically controlled tendency towards hermaphrodism. To the dismay of many cultivators and researchers, Thai strains mature late, flower slowly, and ripen unevenly. Retarded floral development and apparent disregard for changes in photoperiod and weather may have given rise to the story that Cannabis plants in Thailand live and bear flowers for years. Despite these shortcomings, Thai strains are very psychoactive and many hybrid crosses have been made with rapidly maturing strains, such as Mexican and Hindu Kush, in a successful attempt to create early-maturing hybrids of high psychoactivity and characteristic Thai sweet, citrus taste. The calyxes of Thai strains are very large, as are the seeds and other anatomical features, leading to the misconception that strains may be polyploid. No natural polyploidy has been discovered in any strains of Cannabis though no one has ever taken the time to look thoroughly. The seeds are very large, ovoid, slightly flattened, and light brown or tan in color. The perianth is never mottled or striped except at the base. Greenhouses prove to be the best way to mature stubborn Thai strains in temperate climes.

 

GROW INFO AND TIPS
(for more detailed info go to the sativa grow thread linked earlier)

going to take a little time now to explain why growing sativas inside isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

the traditional method of growing marijuana dictates that you plant x amount of seeds, and over the course of several months of vegetive growth you weed out the weaklings and check for preflowers. etc. you know the drill. they flower for 60 days usually. but if your growing a sativa you might only veg a month but then you got 90 to even 115-120 days is not uncommon depending on variety and fertilizer regimen. so that is a LONG grow cycle for weed that doesn't yield very much when you put it up to the GE formula. not to mention its all to look for a mother and some of the plants will always be bad phenos.

the good news is that once you find a mom, and under most circumstances you can get a sativa you like that can grow with only two weeks of vegetive growth before flower and finish in 90 days and yield +/- and ounce and that is not a bad cycle for what you're getting.

so the trick is maximizing space, plant potential, and time. its about finding a mother remember that.

and my answer is 2ltr bottles. veg your sats in 2ltr containers planted densly and flower after just a few weeks. the point is not to get great bud off of it, or yield. the point is to identify your mother ASAP. good plants will be good plants and shit plants will be shit plants from seed. once you find the one that is like you want you can keep it. take the main growth tip for a clone, and once the new tips are taking off happily its okay to flower. this is the long, but safe way to choose a mom.

the idea is rather then spend the time and more importantly an entire light on a strain you know is going to take a long time, you limit it to a few feet of one light, and about 90 some odd days.

the short way is more dangerous but it fits the bill anyway because alot of you don't have veg space to be taking all these clones and waiting to see which ones are good or not. The only real difference is that you only wait 3 days for seedlings to harden up before you flower. don't keep the light that close at first, until they want you too. a cycle should finish anywhere between 75-120 days total from seed. plants will identify themselves sexually after only two weeks. when you select the one you like if you didn't have space to clone then you can reveg. but revegs don't always work. but luckily sativas are predispositioned to reflower/reveg. anyway you want to identify the plant you want. and weed out the rest w/o wasting the time and light on it.

no sense having a light full of one nice plant and six that you'll have to find someone to sell it to.

when you get the one you want THEN you can spend some time and a light on it.

people say the genes change when you reveg but at least IMHO that rarely is the case. I've never noticed much difference. but if you have the option cloning prior to flower is always best for safety if nothing else.

Now remember plants and taste will change with time anyway, but in my experience I've never seen a plant that was superior to the rest be overtaken in quality by a different plant, due to a reveg. The one that was the best before reveg was always the one that was best after reveg.

this is also a good way to grow homemade f2's and 3s.

now very few people realize this but how long sativas take to harvest is very closely linked to fertilizer regimen. during the end of mid flower leaves begin to yellow but the buds have more time to them. growers react the same way they do with hyrbids and touch it up with a tea heavy in N. when really the plant was getting ready to finish and its part of the sativas biological clock was kicking in; the grower inadvertently told his plant that death was not coming, to keep striving to live, and the plant takes much longer to finsih. let me get an exerpt from mj growers handbook to help me illustrate how and why this happens.

"Plants growing in the wild outdoors obtain their nutrients from
the breakdown of complex organic chemicals into simpler water-
soluble forms. The roots catch the chemicals using a combination
of electrical charges and chemical manipulation. The ecosystem is
generally self-supporting. For instance, in some tropical areas most
of the nutrients are actually held by living plants. As soon as the
vegetation dies, bacteria and other microlife feast and render the
nutrients water-soluble. They are absorbed into the soil and are
almost immediately taken up by higher living plants." - ed rosenthal

now in places like colombia or thailand where there are native strains that can take as long as 6 months (in extreme cases) it is not uncommon at all for a plant growing a hill side that catches runoff to grow gigantic plants of very old age. often there will be 2 weeks of flowering growth, 2 months of flowering growth, and buds that have BEEN dead all on the same plant. and every bud age inbetween.

so its a normal reaction to biological cycles. if it happens TOO early than go ahead and give it a lil N. but beware, sativas greatest joy in life is turning N into leafy elongated buds.

another determining factor to how long a plant grows is root space, which you will become well aware of if you grow sativas. if sativas have an unlimited root space they will want to flower longer, grow longer nodes, and ridiculous heights.

typically you will repot sativas many more times than other plants. you want them to feel their restrictions, before they get too tall. anyone who has flowered a true sativa from seed will attest to this. it is not uncommon for a sativa flowered from seed to reach 6ft in two months. it is also advised to bend your stems and keep high winds and all other tricks to promote healthy stems. not only does this make the stems capable of handling large buds, but also any energy you can detract from vertical stem growth and put into other positive attributes will help limit space between nodes, and thus give you bigger, denser buds. when you limit the roots your limiting allowed vertical growth which at the same time is making tighter internodes. so long as you don't get rootbound your doing a good thing.

you generally wait until it gets a good rootmass, where when you remove the pot you can see healthy rootmass from the outside all the way down and then repot. grazing the roots lightly during repot promotes new root growth.
when you repot remember your trying to keep the pots on the smaller side. once the real serious amounts of stretching are done a few weeks into flower you can give them much more rootspace for bud development.

IMHO sativas should be grown in a soil or soiless with slow release all organic mix. sativas often become quite unmanagable under aero or hydroponics and are well documented to usually prefering organics over chems.

 

MEXICO




PREFACE about mexican weed.

mexican weed makes up the majority of the marijuana south of the mason dixon line. The wide availability, cheap price, bang for the buck, and proximity to mexico all contribute to preferences. but bottom line most folks would rather spend 60 dollars for an ounce of schwag than 60 bucks for an 1/8 of beaster, which is often not much more potent bowl for bowl than a good bag of schwag.

During the 60's mexican was practically all anyone had. 5 finger lids from south of the border, untrimmed, full plant and males included. the counterculture explosion had not happened yet so for the most part exotic foreign strains were unheard of. as the culture expanded and a sudden gigantic market for marijuana developed the import came from increasingly further and further south. as hippies traveled and learned of more other cultures they became familiar with the potent flower tops sold by mexican healers and bruha's (witch doctors) at rural markets, and a more knowledgable smoking culture was beginning.

By the mid 70's weed seemed to be coming from anywhere and everywhere, but still mostly from south of the border. Colombian varities often with a higher bud to shake ratio and a stronger more narcotic effect were highly sought after. Without the type of radar employed today smugglers routinely flew large cargo planes from colombia. The optimism of the 60's were over and a new generation of smokers were more concerned with with how loaded they could get, and alot less interested in mind expansion characteristics and giggly weed they had grew up with. The travels of hippies introduced something far more important to the west than colombian weed though. They introduced hashish from the middle east and india. These new genes were very exotic, had a powerful opiate like stone that fit in perfectly in the 70s era of barbituates, but more importantly they introduced the first indica genes to the west. It was the first time for most people to have weed that could grow where they lived. For most of the early smokers "green weed" or "homegrown" was shit you couldn't sell. Now as crazy as this sounds its because they never had genes capable of growing where they were for most people. Homegrown was colombian flowered for one month (as you can imagine, shit weed), where as the colombian import was good weed just bricked.

With the indicas brought back they quickly lost the easily remembered region of origin names. it wasn't acapulco, or oaxaca, or chaipas. something they could remember. it was some place with -stan at the end of it. so they just became known as "wide leafs" except for one afghani in particular that is in many cali strains which was known as "x plant". this x plant crossed with many of the sativas collected through time in norcal became the basis of a good number of modern cali legends.

Today the situation faced by mexican commercial smokers has changed. To compete with other nations export mexico began trimming their harvest much better and removing most of the males to cut down on seeds. Todays mexican has dramatically improved over what smokers remember from the earliest bags. beginning in the early 80's non native phenos started showing up common in imports. the indica/commercial bug unfotunately had made it to mexico as well as many other nations. Usually not for the better IMO.

The product today is usually heavily bricked, maybe 5 seeds per dime, usually pure sativa or close, however bags touched up with indica are not uncommon. probably somewhere around 20-40% of mexican import is no longer native genes. However this does not change the fact that at least half of mexican import IS still pure native strains and classic varities including large amounts of oaxacas, golds, and lower amounts of zacatecas purple, michoacan, etc. are still somewhat common. Bare in mind the genes are RARELY completely pure. not to say it doesn't happen, but when I say native I mean its a native mexican, with a very small percentage of something else mixed in with it usually. 80-90% sativa. In the 80's the were experimenting with indicas, but most of them have been crossed and recrossed back to the sativas they came from. It shortened flower time and added a bit of yield but is still very sativa.

Between about '78 and '92 the mexican brickweed was supposed to be at an all time low. I wasn't there for it but from talking to older heads they say these were the worst times. Bad genes, bad shipping, bad grow methods, everything. But since the mid 90's quality has steadily been going up and getting more sativa. The last 15 years or so have seen a revival in potent, quality (as in genetics) sativa brickweed from mexico.

here is a pic of what todays mexican commercial next to what older commercial used to look like.

you can see the newer is more trimmed buds, and the other is more leafy and stem.

close up on modern schwag. bought in new orleans by me in '04 or 05?



photo from ancient one. this is just how schwag looks around here too


red rider schwag from georgia


old style



Contrary to popular belief most mexican IS NOT bad genes. many things such as intended price its to be sold at, what cartel brought it in, what region it is from, how old it is, how long they let it sit before shipping, how well it was dried, how well it was stored including what tempature and bricking, and when it was harvested all have to do with quality of import. its not one simple answer like "mexican weed just sucks"

another common myth is that the cartels grow the weed. the cartels do grow weed but it is a tiny percentage of what they can export. most of the weed they own is not grown by them, but rather collected by them and put towards a shipment to eventually be sent in. They are the smugglers. Rural mexican farm families that have been growing the same strains for centuries are the mainstay of the import, and that is not likely to change.

MEXICAN STRAINS AND HIGHS

IMHO despite the size of mexico the weed seems to have been bred with two general uses in mind.

There is a happy buzzy lighthearted mexican that makes you giggle and have a good time, provides good optical effects giving things a trippy magic eye kinda look and is very good for socializing with friends. it seems they are usually the neon green vibrant buds, that are mellow and giggly lighthearted weed. I am personally under the idea that this weed is what was meant to be smoked for menial tasks, and hard manual labor, making them both tolerable and amazingly somewhat interesting. I've had a great time mowing my lawn and weed whacking high as shit on mexican that was happy enough to make you laugh, and buzzy enough to keep you on your feet and busy. These types of mexican I consider the beers of mexican sativas, with strains like highland oaxaca, lima limon (new school mexican "lemon lime"), and the golds.

The other type of mexican is usually the uglier more brown colored sativas that have ending the day as the use for the strain. Stone similiar to a trainwreck type high. VERY stupifying (not uncommon for it to stop you from doing simple math in your head), drunken and narcotic. IMHO this is one of the strongest types of weed there is to be had and I personally believe trainwreck echoes mexican stones far more than thai highs. Paranoia inducing and narcotic these are very typical mexican strains. They are alot more beligerent and drunken than happily euphoric but do cause self introspection which is probably why it is favored among bruhas. strains falling into this category include lowland oaxaca and zacatecas purple as well as numerous un-named strains. I consider these the mezcal of mexican marijuana.

however mixes of these two strains are also common and can be quite a complex quality stone.

Native strains tend to echoe native culture and mexican strains are no different. Smells are often described with words like dry, spicy, herbal, sugar cane, bay leaves, or peppery.


Where you are located (what cartel puts what you smoke in your pipe) will also have a good deal to do with your opinion of schwag. This VERY crude map I drew will give you the basic idea of what cartels are where, and what varieties you may expect from what geographical location they collect from. Keep in mind I'm not a mexican gangster so I don't really know, but I know there are two main cartels, one on the left, and one on the right who fight over territory.

The main idea I'm trying to get across here is a majority of the weed comes from a couple places that sell to different areas. The general point is one cartel collects its weed from the gulf coast of mexico and sells it east of texas usually. This part of mexico is much more humid and is condusive to growing sativas because indicas mold and don't flourish as well so the indica influence is naturally kept in check. The other cartel collects weed further towards the acapulco to baja area and sells it north of texas and into california which is a much drier area and has more indica'd up genes since the climate allows them to develop and they yield more faster.



Gangs and territory and distribution areas change every year. Its impossible to say where your pot is coming from. But in general though individual groups may change the geography and old prejudices keep marijuana going to certain areas. Texas and eastwards tend to get the best marijuana because of long reaching tropical habitat. Towards the west of texas extending down the middle of mexico is very dry and arid is known for bad marijuana. This area includes new mexico and large portions of arizona to california. Though arizona does have some passable marijuana on occasion it's less common and rarely anything that will wow you like the occasional gulf coast bags. Much higher population densities also sees that good pot is dispersed much faster and gets to less people per resident. Western mexico is more prone to indicas and lower quality export.

Bare in mind that despite wherever you live, your pot could have come from anywhere. Much of schwag is actually domestic low branches. Still more of it is brought around by independent smugglers. You may have cali schwag in new york, appalachian schwag in iowa, etc. You don't know who sent what where to make a buck. Everything depends on who you know and people leave cities to make a buck in other cities all the time. But in general you are likely to see geographical distribution similar to the map. Gulf coast and south east have the best schwag. Followed by arizona and cali, with a distant third running in between them.

The south east is really the best place to find bagseed sativas in the US. All the ports, being located near the caribbean, and many other factors make our pot stand out and occasionally find a diamond in the rough gravel. Aside from schwag though what I LOVE is when they send us quality sensi mota. this traditional gold mexican was 180 dollars an ounce I think. worth every penny. This appears to be the gold and it was sensi anyway, but lightly seeded bags of lima limon, what appears to be oaxaca, zacatecas purple, as well as plenty of others come in similiar quality.

this came from cali east so its probably a western mexican

trimmed




how I bought it




in contrast the uglier darker lowland oaxaca I grew(one of several lowland or coastal oaxacas, this one is called sugarcane). doesn't look that resinous I know, but I'll put this up against TW gram for gram anyday believe it or not. Like I said its a very powerful herb, but not the most euphoric. very dumbing.






and the other distinct variety to look for like I said is the lighter green colored ones. often the happier trippier ones reminiscent of carribbean sativas.

here is a pic of highland oaxaca. courtesy of oaxaca spice. the pic below it is (I think) the same weed as it appears in schwag. I could be wrong though, we'll have to ask OS when he shows up.







Tijuana cartel eyes kind bud prices

summary from a very long and interesting thread from another site.

last november a mexican ganster from the tijuana cartel was seen in a'dam buying tens of thousands of dollars of dutch seeds they suspect would do well in mexico to start new seed crops. rumor is they got fever of trying to start stealing the beaster market from the canucks the next few years and replacing it with a bricked mexican ak47 or early durban type weed. whether they will be able to pull it off and how well they can do the dutch seeds is anyones guess but I suppose we will see this december. this year is mainly the seed crop but they intend to start phasing in dutch genes.

the problem is the grow methods, dry/cure, storage, and shipping. not the mexican genes themselves. but it seems they want to get more neon chunky fruity nugs that already have a market, than trying to revive the faith of mexican sativas from the 70's considering they already have a negative stereotype of mexican weed in general and I guess it would be harder to market the more flat buds, earthy smelling, less vibrant colored native sativas.

that is the tijuana cartel and affects mostly the socal and desert potheads, but also texas who nobody owns. I'm under the geographic reach of the la zeta so unless I happen to catch one coming through randomly it'll probably be years before I see a bag of the mexican dutch weed (assuming it takes off to begin with.)

but alot of socal growers are nervous about it putting a dent in availability and purity of native strains. alot of people on that site (including myself) horde beans from quality field import like nobodys business. there is a long thread there dedicated to brickweed as well. Nobody in the grow community wants to deal with mexican gangsters so quality mexican is hard to find through respectable sources.

hopefully it will taint the east mexican coast mota growers much less.

But nevertheless, this idea has the potential to create not only a fortune for the tijuana cartel, but an entire new $$$ classification for a type of weed.

southern smokers don't have a steady supply of midlevel weed. the options for the most part are schwag, beaster, or AAA. many don't have the money for AAA and get let down on the quality of beaster. the vaccum sealed bags are frequently up to a 1/2 ounce off per lb, badly dried, and quickly deteriorating. if the cartels can come up with a steady supply of super sativa mexican midgrade I do in fact believe most southern dealers will replace their bc'ster nugs. which could even affect price as a whole. if la zeta sees the tijuana cartel making money you better believe they'll piggy back that idea 2x as fast.


THE GANJA SITUATION IN MEXICO Tienes mota mi amigo?



Weed is usually pretty easy to find in mexico. By far the easiest places to find it is in border towns. What they call coyotes are everywhere down there. Coyotes are what they call smugglers. For anywhere between 2g and 4g USD they will smuggle a mexican across the border. Many people don't have this kind of cash so in order to lower the fee many coyotoes offer a deal. Carry a bale of weed on your back and they'll do it half price. Some mexicans want to come in with the weed anyway; coyotes get half up front and half on delivery so if they **** up and leave a bunch of mexicans to die in the desert they still got half the money. But if they've not made much money off of them but put money on their back then they have a vested interest in making sure they get across the border safely. So if your asking for a coyote (won't take you long to find one in a border town) he probably also has weed (mota) waiting to make it over. Weed in mexico varies alot in price. the cheapest brick can be bought for about 100 dollars a lb. Higher grade can go for up to 400 but has a US price of 1200 dollars once its over the border. The other good thing about a border town is its not going to be one type of weed. There will be hundreds if not thousands of coyotes and many of them will have different weed that has been sent from all over the country to the border awaiting a good shipping day.

Other sources of weed are open markets often sell weed discreetly, not as easy if you are a tourist. If you start heading to south mexico you will begin getting to more towns and villages. By the time your rural enough that the locals aren't speaking spanish but some native dialect is a good sign. The markets here will often have weed for sale much more openly, as well you should be able to find medicine men (cuanderos? I think) and witch doctors (bruhas) who also keep several types of very well grown and preserved weed as medicinal herbs and are your best bet for true kind in mexico.

Be careful where ever you are especially in a border town taxi drivers and weed dealers are famous for selling you weed, then ratting you out so the cops will give the weed back to the dealer free and no arrest them for the arrest they've given him.


JAMAICAN WEED

photo from la mano negra of jamaican sat in spain.


Jamaica is well known for ganja, and for good reason. Supposedly the jamaican rasta weed growing culture started when escaped slaves ran so far into the mountains that they could no be pursued and lived an isolated existence; growing african and indian sativas and living off the land. In the seventies as the cocaine problem started kicking in heavier pressure on colombian crops meant dealers were looking for weed from elsewhere. Jamaica was just a short plane ride from florida and nowhere near as far as colombia and the weed industry boomed in jamaica. This is about the same time sensimillia came onto the scene and jamaica began producing "semi sensi" or mostly seedless crops. no more than fifteen years later though more indica genes started showing up.

Due to its year round photoperiod Jamaica has 3 harvest seasons per year. Two short and one long. It's worth mentioning that if you are going to jamaica in search of sativas. don't go in winter as you would expect like at a higher latitude. That is actually their conclusion to the shortest season and is full of immature 50 day flowered from seed lolly pop indica buds. the nugs are 5 inches long with a gram on the end of half leaf and you can see the roots at the bottom of the stem. If you want sativas you should go around april when plants have had 4 months to cycle instead of a month and a half. This is the season they grow their larger higher yielding plants that can have a veg cycle. in winter they grow mini super fast indicas to get a quick harvest. but it sucks.

photo from gyspy here at IC



Its often been speculated that jamaican ganja descended from native hemp and strains brought from India. I personally don't believe this because Jamaica was first inhabited by "Arawaks" from south america and the "Caribs" from the amazon. Jamaican ganja is often described as looking like south mexican and colombian strains but pole straight, and 3-9 ft in height. I've no reason but to believe they are just what they sound like. Jamaica is not mars... considering how far cannabis has traveled I can certainly get over the idea of Mexico to the Caribbean. I personally belive they are descended from several local well known regional strains acclimated to Jamaicas 4 month life cycles, and interbred with each other and the strains brought from india and africa by slaves. After all, strains of that entire area are somewhat alike and mexican strains are as old as the dirt they are grown in. Nobody accuses them of being descended from hemp any more than any other strain.


JAMAICAN STRAINS. NOW AND THEN.

As I said, IMHO native ganja was probably acclimated regional strains as well as a few imported ones. When you flower sativas from seed they grow one main cola, and minimal side branching. Jamaicas grow climate causes this to happen naturally. Plants flower at or almost immediately after sprouting. So its no surprise acclimated jamaican ganja looks like this. Pictures of jamaican patches often look like a little outdoor SOG. Jamaican ganja is bred with happiness in mind, much more than power. Used to ease labor and as Marley said "reveal you to yourself" you can tell spirituality played a part in breeding. Many jamaican ganja strains are racy, probably to help give energy to a very hard working people, as well as euphoric and philosophical in nature. Old timer rastas and growers are not very big on names but do distinguish between strains. Stony weed was referred to as Kali herb (goddess of destruction), and other terms such as "lambs bread or breath depending who you ask" were also common terms. A common myth is that Jamaican strains smell and taste earthy and smoky. This is not true at all it simply has to do with primitive curing procedures which we'll get into later. Fresh native ganja is usually very sweet, fruity and floral. These strains gained popularity as the herb market and reggae music exploded. With no nation capable of producing enough herb for all the smokers Jamaican cargo planes dropping giant shipments of strains like jamaican red into the gulf states were a daily event. Jamaica's contribution was particularly a blessing when mexican stockpiles ran out during the summer because the year round jamaican harvest still came through.



However today native Jamaicans are harder and harder to find. Towards the end of the 80's visitors thinking they were doing a good thing brought over dutch genes which were ill suited to Jamaican life. Never the less since they stay short and are harder to see from helicopters, and finish so quick tiny indicas yielding a few grams to an ounce makes up the mainstay of jamaican ganja today.

The nations growers having somewhat simple breeding techniques accidental open pollination spread and the result ended up being a wide variety of hybrids of native ganja with dutch genes which all in all lowered yield. Jamaicans were used to 90-120 day sativas that grew tall, were heat and pest resistant, and didn't need much ferts, and yielded 1-4 ounces a piece. Todays average jam ganja grows between 2-4ft, and flowers for about 70 days, and yields about 1/2-2 ounces. They are much more prone to mold, and require more tending. Jamaicans are also more fond of euphoric highs, and they were given more opiate type highs. Wiser growers began dropping plants with more evident indica genes in them and are headed back in the right direction with sativas more suited to where they live. Many growers plea for tourists to bring "old world thin leafs" back to them. African, south american, etc. Really just any good sativas, they don't care if its kali mist of good mexican bagseed. Aside from a few dutch genes they speak highly of, such as skunk, purple skunk, and bubblegum they usually speak in a negative way about the genes they were brought. Common dutch genes they received include several repeating names, such as ice, afghani, northern lights, and purple star are common in gardens. Today the dealers call weed whatever is selling to tourists best. In the last few years some have even taken to saying "diesel" and "trainwreck" though that is not what they are selling. If you tell him you want the strain "red reaper death" though it does not exist he'll probably tell you he is the best grower of red reaper death in all of the Caribbean. How lucky you are to have found him. However a handful of strains are there and are sold by name. A strain that popped up in the early 90s called "orange hill indica" is popular with some collectors. Its rumored to be an old native colombian type plant crossed with some type of fruity indica. probably bubblegum or cali orange. Also blue mountain sativa and a handful of other natives are still kept pure by some rastas who did not trust foreigners and their seeds.


THE GANJA SITUATION

Weed is everywhere in Jamaica, but don't be a fool. It is still very illegal. Not many years ago an American college tourist was arrested with one spliff and handcuffed to a bed for days before he was processed, during which time he got sick and had to go to the hospital. But most of the time cops, and judges just like everyone else are just looking for a handout and want you to just leave your money and go home. But American influenced propaganda as well as tactics including road side stops, helicopter patrols, speed boats, and drug dogs are the norm. Despite all this its still everywhere and deep in the culture. However do not assume that everyone there smokes. They don't and many do not appreciate the stereotype, they view asking every jamaican about weed like going to Colombia and asking everyone about cocaine. Asking the wrong person can get you set up to buy from an undercover just like the states. In Jamaica just like everywhere else smoking weed instead of drinking is considered a low class, criminal class hobby. If you go make sure you pick your hotel wisely. Many resorts and chain hotels do not like pot smokers.

Scoring weed in jamaica should be a very easy thing to do. Many people come back from jamaica and say they only have crappy schwag. The truth is no different than anywhere else. They saw your white tourist ass coming from a mile away. If they CAN sell you schwag at regular price than they most likely will. Or just rip you off entirely if you give them the chance. Weed is usually sold on the entire stem so when they are talking to a tourist if they pull out a fistful of 18 inch schwag buds and the guys eyes light up like he's never seen that much weed before in his life than the dealer has got his # already. He's not going to even show him the normal stuff he sells for 30 dollars an ounce if he knows he can sell this year old shit nobody else wants at the same price to this guy.

But if you give him a totally unimpressed poker face and simply say "no thanks I'm looking for something better" they'll know your not ****ing around and rather than lose the sale, (and it now having been made somewhat of a pride issue, no smoker wants to be thought of as the guy with crappy weed after all) they want to prove to you that they DO have the good buds and they'll try to prove you wrong. Which is okay by me. If they don't pull out better buds get it from someone else. Simple as that.

Another dealer trick is to hand you the weed. Especially if you are in their field. We are used to being able to inspect and smell the herb before you get it. This is not necessarily the case in Jamaica. If its in your possession its yours. They may refuse to take it back and demand the money instead. It is often hard to understand jamaicans and the tiny island has upwards of 700 murders per year. The last thing you want to do is get into an argument over a few dollars and hear "thieves answer to jah." So if the weed doesn't look like it interests you don't even sniff it. Don't give people a reason to not like you.

For safety its a good idea not to go far from the hotel, don't go to the back of any businesses to get weed, make dealers bring it to you, somewhere you feel safe. Don't ask just anyone and everyone for it be specific to someone you know is not a cop and probably is educated about good weed. And taxi drivers have been known to take money from police for dropping off dumb tourists into traps so beware. Don't smoke in public, find a safe spot. Don't buy pre-rolled joints they are probably just shake leaves. Don't give people money to come back. Basically don't do anything you wouldn't do in your home town is a good rule of thumb.

Highliter in jamaica in early 80's





PRICES in JAMAICA vary all over the island but 95% of the tourists going to jamaica are going to Negril or Kingston. Roadside vendors with coconuts and fruit as well as small businesses often sell about a gram for a dollar, with a paper. Street dealers with ounces(guess-timated weight and not including stalks) usually sell them for 30-50 dollars or 200-350 USD for a whole lb. While it is true that herb actually sells for as little as 80usd per pound even for quality weed it is not right to pay that for it. Remember that this is not "the time machine" and jamaicans are not morlocks there to serve you. They are a slave to a crippled economy and work their asses off to be able to feed their family. They risk their freedom selling weed and you should really think about which one of you truly knows the value of a hard days work before you haggle down an honest man to piles of weed for chump change. I don't know who said it but I'll never forget the words: "The extreme uncertainties of subsisting without working made excesses necessary and brakes definitive. Suicide took many, alcohol and the devil took care of the rest." What this means is if you have the money to go blunting, beer bonging, and tom catting around jamaican resorts than you've got the kind of money to give some of the most hardworking people you'll ever meet a fair price for his product. It boils my blood when I hear people say they haggled down some dealer to next to nothing like ****ing poor people out of money is something you should be impressed with.

But do know that market style bartering is somewhat a part of Jamaican culture. So when you give him what you feel in your heart to be a fair price for what you bought and how much money you have make sure he knows you did not give him that much money because you are a stupid tourist, but because you want his family and his people to have it. That your giving it as a tip, not because you think weed costs that much.

GROWING AND STORING METHODS

Jamaica has the same kinda helicopter patrols and snitches like the states. For growers to combat this they have done the same thing they do in norcal. Very few big patches. It's an army of dedicated small growers spread out everywhere and they can't be stopped. When its all put together it makes their country full of weed.

Jamaican growers have resorted to lugging thousands of lbs of soil through jungles and swamps, building raised soil beds in marshes, or planting on steep rocky cliffs with dams under the plants to catch water. Rarely are patches larger than 2 acres, with most of them being about a half an acre. An area is chosen and usually burned of vegetation and stumps, this is in part a problem of the islands deforestation. only 30% of the island is forested now and that is in part due to slash and burn techniques.


The rocky shallow soil is pick axed into holes and amended with quality soil and ferts. Then they build something to collect and store rainwater. Not an easy task and once its done they usually stay at the same spot for many years. Jamaicans are big on organic ferts and frequently use bat guano, blood, various different types of shit and anything else you can imagine.

jamaican admiring his work on a steep hill

Unfortunately despite being adept at grow techniques drying and curing is still a very primitive process for most jamaican growers. Probably less than 1/4 of the growers know how to properly dry and store weed for their condition. This is what attributes to alot of the negative stereotypes about jamaican weed. Many of the growers simply machete chop the stem at the base above the soil line and just hang upside down. With no leaves removed, full stem and stalk, and the plants hanging closely next to one another in the high humidity it takes FOREVER for plants to dry like this and much is lost to mold. Some noticed they dried faster and without mold if they hung them in open sun, which deteriorates trichomes quickly and turns buds brown, others started drying in sheet metal shacks in the sun which are like an oven. Then they simply store it in bags. Another common technique is to hang buds close to an open fire which is a quick way of drying and attributes to many of the "smoky" sterotypes of jamaican herb smells.

But there are wise growers in the woods that learned and have great kind bud and know how to properly dry and store it in the humid climate. To do so they trim buds into small branches, split the stems for drying, and remove all large leaves. left in open breezy shady areas the weed dries just fine. After being trimmed to their liking they store by burying in water proof containers like buckets or ice chests. Weed will stay perfect like this well past the next harvest. Many growers live year round with their plants and tend them everyday. Many of whom are rasta and it is their religion that babylon (modern civilization) will fall and that weed is a spiritual sacrament. A gift from god. So when you combine those two beliefs its no surprise you can get some very wise rastamon with amazing plants. But as you can imagine with the quick deterioration rates of weed in heat, and the ignorance that comes with failed infrastructure, and lack of electricity for anything including AC there are alot of dealers looking to sell the cheap overabundant schwag to someone dumb enough to take it. So make sure you choose wisely. Dank is certainly available to be had when a proper grower produced it.

jamaican kind. photo credit CC


COMMERCIAL JAMAICAN

Unlike the situation in Mexico the Jamaican weed is usually not brought in by cartels. Or if it is they operate under enough privacy that they don't make waves. Jamaican weed import is a tiny fraction of what it once was. the distance and no border makes it alot harder to get shipments in. Entrepreneurs in speed boats, as well as smugglers lining the bottoms of boxes in fishing boats, and shipping containers, usually are freelancing it. Buying it with their own money and smuggling it at their own risk to private markets. They usually choose the weed they want from several growers, whittle it off the giant stems they sell it on, brick it and ship it. I understand that now in the dragging on of the Iraq war and the low troop levels many resources have been allocated to other places. The US government knows there is no real terrorist threat so they took many of the people and agencies who were riding around primarily for show in the gulf and put them in the OTHER gulf. With less people doing drug interdiction activities I hear brave souls in speed boats have regained some popularity. But it simply can't come through in the amounts without the organization and dedication of a large cartel.

random jamaican bud pic from the net


wallyduck's photo of jamaican ganja they bought for hashmaking. Don't forget to watch the ICMAG dvd.


I'm not in the position I once was to come across much jamaican anymore. For many years I chased the best imports but after getting tired of the droughts, paranoid of the large quantities, and unpredictably quality around '99 I started focusing on exotic headstash from cali instead of imports.

The last good jamaican bud I had personally was around '00 or '01. There was a sheriff and some crooked cops a few parishes over who were selling fake badges, body armor, as well as guns and drugs they were taking off of people and letting them go instead of putting them in jail. They all got busted for it eventually. Anyway some white trash a friend of mine knew had an uncle who was a deputy in all that shit. They had confiscated a shipment of ceramic alligators filled with weed coming from Jamaica. My friend called me up knowing I used to be a big fan of imports and told me he had some killer jam. I went over to see it and this white trash guy was at his house selling the most bricked weed you've ever seen in your life. I asked him what he wanted for it and he told me ten bucks a gram. I said WTF!! I can buy 28 grams of shit like that for 50 bucks. But under advice from my friend I bought one gram. He chipped it off a little slice like a loaf of bread and 1g was about half the size of one playing dice. I broke it up and smoked it at my house and sure enough it was potent enough that it got me high as shit 3 different times. The first time I smoked it while holding in a lung full I dropped the pipe in sort of a black out moment. The high was very potent and dream like. My mind was racing a mile a minute but I was very calm. I guess because of how fast I was thinking time was moving VERY SLOWLY. a minute felt like 5. The taste was hashy and slightly bitter from the seed oil of the two giant seeds crushed flat and paper thin. But all in all it was very good weed. I'd love to have had it off the drying rack.

The entire Caribbean shares most of the same strains and the best spot for collecting Caribbean bagseed would have to be south florida hands down. New Orleans is a port city with a huge Caribbean influence but the proximity is what does it.

photos from gypsy

 

AMERICAN SATIVAS


While it is true that America probably doesn't technically have any "native" plants unless you want to argue about if weeds birthplace was the middle east, africa, or india then I don't suppose anywhere has any true natives. But US has had many plants here for the better part of 100 years if not more. Thats long enough for me how long you wanna wait? As far as I'm concerned once you've been breeding your own genes to acclimate to the climate in your region for about 10 years you can go ahead and call it a pseudo native (assuming when you obtained it that it was highly unstable or numerous polyhybrid so that it can still be bred into a custom strain, not a spinoff.) After all, by that time its bred to be where you are, not where it was originally from. But if its stable, an IBL, or landrace it will still probably be much the same as it was when you started. Some strains have been here since at least the '20s so thats plenty long enough for me to call it native US. Many countries have only had marijuana in it for a couple hundred years but are quite distinct local varieties.

MAJOR US GROW REGIONS AND FLAVORS

CALIFORNIA is first up there on the list. Producing a large portion of the nations kind bud harvest all of california but specifically north california. In the 70's and 80's after the hippy movement fell apart many ended up in the hills of north california. North california has always had a growing community; even as early as the 20's and 30's. Well before the rise of the hippies and to be honest I'm not sure exactly where it came from. The emerald triangle as it came to be known consisting of three counties and the areas in between where many growers ended up and mixing in. The "hill people" as they are called are much less hippy and alot more country than you might think. The logging business fell out there leaving many a blue collar unemployed who decided to take up the local tradition of pot growing. I've been told they are very generous and modest, great people. But that you better watch your ass if you go strolling on private property off the highway. Due to the perfect weather for growing and the local law turning a blind eye to something they'd always been doing out there; before the days of helicopter patrols and the cat being let out of the bag about where the weed was coming from the entire area was a real smokers market. Strains they favor out there have been many thais and south east asians soldiers brought back after wars. As well as some koreans. The base strains have always been mexicans and genes from south of the border play a crucial role in many of the famous cali grass strains. But do to the amount of growers in the region and how we like to network there were strains from anywhere and everywhere available in the area. And no surprise was where "x plant" first showed up. The nations first indicas or "wide leafs" as they were called back in the day.

Today the emerald triangle is constantly assaulted by aerial observation and many of the original growers got fed up and left. Many of them stayed though. Its alot of area and many hills you can't see the valleys of from a birds eye view. They can't get it all. But honestly the smoking culture there is kept alive on a commercial level still mostly by the hill people. Many country families growing sparse weed patches on their property. They are small towns where everyone knows one another, and when all the folks in all the small towns put in their share it keeps norcal a large producer of the nations weed. Many of the older cali growers went and formed other small communites elsewhere. Some went to canada, some made a lil spot in the sierra nevada foothill where the weather is very stable, and some just left the triangle.

OLD SCHOOL CALI GRASS

Hill folk rarely keep names and its a shame because there are god only knows how many incredible strains nobody has a specific name for. Typically about 75% sativa hybrids they vary a ton due to the amount of genetic diversity in the region, but often are mellow dreamlike sativas. Good for goofing around and conversation. Many of them smell piney and herbal. I'm sure you've heard of many of the older cali strains, but if you haven't yumboldt, big sur holy, garlic bud, killin garberville, mendocino madness, and endless others. Cali folks seem to be big on kush's too. Especially the new school. With the fertile soil and optimal conditions cali plants can easily reach 6-12ft tall and yield 1/2 to 2lbs per plant with regularity. The best tip for if your going to cali in search of sativas is to go to a humid part of california. the coast where fog settles in for instance insures there will be more people growing sativas than the drier regions further inland.

Some typical norcal import.









APPALACHIA GROWERS

Some time around the 80's I suppose the appalachia hill billies got wind of the cali hill people making money off growing and decided to do it on a mass level too. ENDLESS woods, hillbillies stumbling onto a grow scene in progress, land stretching georgia to kentucky, and not as bad of helicopter harassment made this an odd weed growing region. While I know good kind comes out of there I'm not sure exactly how much and I know its not like Cali. But appalachia is probably the best place in the country to get cheap quality mids. I've come across alot of REALLY GOOD field grown lightly seeded bud from there cheap and the people I've talked to who had it said its cheap as dirt up there. an ounces of mids you might buy for 200+ bucks for in most of the country is usually about half price. They are hell for not naming anything either and to be honest I'm not sure where or what their strains consist of so I'm not going to go there. I know that they have other local strains besides killer newhaven and original heroin bud but I can't remember them right now. Hopefully a local can drop by and fill us in on the culture. It appears they mostly wild sow seeds and kill all the males they can. But I could be wrong.

They are the nations second major weed producer with kentucky and tennessee fighting over second and third every year. But the entire mountain range grows weed. In many ways it has replaced brewing moonshine as a heritage type thing. Most of the weed is sold on the eastern seaboard.



SOUTHERN GROWERS

All throughout the south there are true rednecks tending plants deep in the woods. Except for perhaps the midwest growers they are the most isolated and hard to find. The giant amounts of empty space in the south as well as the low amount of growers makes it alot easier to get away with than in alot of the country. There are alot of growers in norcal and appalachia, so they spend alot of helicopter time trying to spot them. You can spend alot of time in a helicopter in mississippi before you'll find a weed patch. So they do it alot less. Unfortunately not all of these growers are really that adept at it, despite many of them doing it for 30 years now. Oldschool techniques are quite common and usually not for the better. Its still common to buy completely untrimmed colas from them that appeared to have been sun or heat shack dried and stored simply, often just in bags. While I believe in constantly adapting I try not to hold onto tradition just for the sake of tradition but I have to appreciate the merit of doing what works for you. The south is littered with a grower here, or a grower there and most of them have been growing for a long time and often with one or more unique strains they've made themselves. Breeders for the most part have elected to just ignore the growing needs of quite alot of people. Not making strains suitable for intense sun and able to deal with heat and the elements.

Not going to let this stop them growers started breeding their own, out of the bagseed most of us grew up with, mexican and jamaican strains. Tweaking and acclimating to our conditions, so they still yield AAA with the heat and humidity. People say you can't grow AAA bud in heat and humidity, thats nonsense, some of the best weed in the world has originated in areas much more hot and humid than the south. And the strains we grow often show this. Very common to come across pure or slightly indica'd up are strains named after region. oaxaca, sinolan, baja, jamaican, etc. Or they are named usually with a simple name denoting smell or stone. Lemon, or pine bud, etc.

Due to the heat and humidity the south is a good place to find local sativas. You really can't grow indicas very well here. Grow techniques have gotten more advanced with a new generation to eventually fill what is considered ol' timers. To get yields here you basically either have to buy, find, or make seeds that can take the conditions and finish in time. Its a mix of being sativa enough to handle the elements but finish fast enough to avoid the frost. But even with this our untended outdoor usually just doesn't come out as good as cali untended outdoor. But for the growers who plan ahead and understand the conditions they can produce as good of bud as anywhere else. To get quality field weed in the south is often a problem because many of us share this goddamn concrete clay soil. You've as much chance at growing a healthy plant in broken glass and parking lot gravel as southern US indian clay. Backbreaking labor and ingenuity is the answer to this. Growers started digging ditches down hills that already had a small trench running down them. They dig the trench out until its a full blown ditch running down hill at least a foot deep, and small logs or boards put in the ground diverting rain runoff into the path of the ditch to help irrigate. The good news is the clay is like concrete, and once you dig it once it stays dug forever, you just have to mark it on a gps and amend the grow medium every year. It going downhill and water being diverted to it makes it a pretty good draining and water collecting patch. Better than most outdoor plots. To make up for the heat, humidity, and low root space many growers have adopted growing pakalolo; which often produce quite well, are used to the conditions anyway, and the soil is so shallow and depleted on the islands that they thrive in something as small as a ditch.

The other new school southern growing technique is the revival of the force shading for tarp and make shift greenhouse growers. Growers using african or mexican genes or something similar can plant in march and force shade mid april and be looking at a harvest before the real heat sets in during july. Some growers only grow during this time of year because no helicopters are out and they are much safer. Aerial surveillance usually doesn't start until about august. Once the july harvest is done they go ahead and plant new seeds or just reveg and start the force shading again a few weeks before the natural flowering phase begins, and they get two full blown sativa harvests in one year. Since they are so sativa they rarely lose much to the elements like mold. So long as the strain they are growing can handle high light and heat the first harvest is kind bud ready during prime season. The yearly summer weed droughts.

But be warned. The south is one of the hardest, most dangerous, and most expensive place to buy weed probably in the entire country. If you are out of the loop, its REALLY hard to find quality weed; Even enough to smoke personal. Even when you are in the local loop.

THE MIDWEST.

The midwest really started growing weed as the farming economy fell there, farmers who couldn't make ends meet ended up blending it in or clearing a patch in the middle of a corn field and using it for herb. They are a much smaller group and really are not necessarily sativa growers so I don't have much to say about them. Not to mention I don't know hardly anything about them.

HAWAII

HAWAIIAN PAKALOLO PREFACE

The islands of hawaii has had herb on it for an unknown amount of time. Native hawaiians began smoking it well before the herb scene exploded in the 60's but exactly when and what type of weed is unknown. Many believe they were mostly asians shipped in during the hawaiian heyday of the "roaring '20s" while prohibition revived a pot market. Hawaii is another one of those places with 3 seasons a year and plants grow just like the jamaicans. Straight SOG style plants, that take up little rootspace and handle heat and humidity with grace.

Hawaiian herb got to be famous during the 70's when there was weed from all over. One of the very first shipments was a strain called Maui Waui. How much truth there is to the legend we'll never know I suppose but they say a local botanist by the name of Dr. Waui began working with a strain of thai descent that would grow well in the shallow hawaiian soil. Dr. Waui had found a strain that would grow between 2-4 ounces per plant each season. There was no helicopter patrol at the time so it was pretty much open planting and within 3-4 seasons he had numerous 55 gallon drums of Maui Waui but the market was already overflowing in HI. So one summer after a word from his friend he shipped the barrels to California. It was a summer drought like always and people were ecstatic to get fresh island bud. And supposedly this is how the legend was born.

HAWAIIAN POT SCENE: THEN AND NOW

What people refer to as "old school pakalolo" from the 70's were mainly in reference to the numerous strains being grown by locals. Typically near or pure sativa what hawaiian growers refer to as "90 day wonders" because they typically finish start to end in about 90 days. In the early days weed was plentiful and cheap because there were enough growers and few enough police. The reality of the situation is most of hawaii has shallow rocky soil and is often nutrient depleted or extremely high in ph. The constant change of seasons makes it impossible to give plants any real amount of veg time so they flower almost immediately, and yield a really sad average of between 5-30 grams per plant for two of the three seasons. The long season is capable of growing large plants but many don't get the time to finish before the next season comes.

But since there were enough people and empty land there was simply enough weed. You could plant as many plants as you wanted. And before the helicopter patrols you could plant giant growing sativas that would yield well. Each island had its own little flavor and specialty buds. Some famous strains of the day were elephant ear, buddha stick, molokai leper bud, maui waui, blood, and many others were plentiful and easily available.

Unfortunately the scene today is changed quite a bit. There is endless helicopter patrols who make no real arrests but spend all day ruining personal growers stashes. Its very hard to grow commercial plots of herb in hawaii so its mostly personal growers who let off the excess harvests to the market. As you can imagine with yields being so low and situations so tough there isn't that much to go around. So hawaii stays in a perpetual state of being semi dry and its a case of "who you know" more than probably anywhere else because there is constantly a harvest going on, you just need to find it. Since local grown bud is unreliable to say the least dealers started importing weed. Surprisingly alot of the bud you'll come across in hawaii is the same shit you might come across in new jersey or southern california. Beaster and everything else.

There is plenty of local grown bud but since the helicopter harassment is so bad alot of it is loosely tended and rarely truely ripe. Growers make touch and go plots that produce midgrade type weed and thus they rely on alot of mail in for the high end stuff.

What people tell me about hawaii pakalolo prices is pretty much the same thing every time. Incredibly expensive or pretty much free. polar extremes. Shitty beaster 1/8s for 60 bucks or more quality for about 80 and 1/8. 600 dollar ounces are not uncommon at all. On the other hand since prices are so high many people grow their own weed. So you may meet a grower with a deal. Like my friend told me when he moved to hawaii. He was there 2 weeks flat ass broke living out a van and couldn't afford any bud. He was surfing and met some hippy who offered to sell him some. My friend said "thanks man but I gotta save up for rent, I can't afford weed right now." The hippy told him to follow him to the woods. They walked down a trail and he showed him a little patch of herb deep in some bushes. They then walked further down and the hippy had a garbage bag buried. When he opened it up there was about a half a lb of weed in it and he gave both of my friends two heaping handfuls each for 10 dollars and told him "welcome to hawaii."


As far as finding classic pakalolo nowadays its really more of a name than a reality. Hawaii has 3 seasons per year and this means strains change 3x as fast. When first brought to the island hardly any plants do very well. But they get used to it and start thriving and adapting. That is one thing I've spoken to several hawaiian growers about and they all agree its very hard to keep a stone how you want it there. They just keep evolving and strains don't stay the same. So the bud you remembered 30 years ago might have a totally different effect today. However the flip side to this is good news. It means new hawaiian strains are being created all the time as they adjust. However they are more and more often having indica genes in them from the same old sources. The new scene has an indica fetish in hawaii and its not good for native outdoor bud.


The best place to find old school ones is probably the hardest. The native hawaiians are usually not very friendly in particular with white people and there is alot of racial tension there. The native hawaiians feel as though they've been ****ed and its not that easy for an outsider to make friends. The government gave the hawaiians one island to do their native traditions as they please, and I think they don't even have chopper patrols there. My friends tell me this would be the best bet.

My particular friends from hawaii are from the north shore of Kuai. Each island is different and has their own little culture and vibe. When I get some time and money I'm going out there to visit. My friend used to live in the woods with the hippies and wants to show me the library and have me talk to the growers.

You see all over hawaii there is a real "squatter" problem. Homeless folk. Many of them are willingly homeless and would just rather surf and grow weed than get jobs. The government doesn't exactly like their presence and stomps out their camps when they can. My friend used to live with these people when he was too poor. Eventually he bought a van and started living in it but for several months he was with the hippies. They have several guys that do mostly growing in the group and my buddy says they are pretty knowledgeable. I'll have to see what they are growing. The thing that really got me interested was my friend said they have a "hippy library." A bunch of books in ziplock bags in water proof box in the communal area they share. He said they are mustly smelling and mostly falling apart but legible. There is apparently a book written by the growers who've floated through there for many many years. at least since the early 80's and they've all written about the strains they are growing and tips and tricks. I'd like to see what they have written down from the old growers.


Just a lil more later I'm tired of typing. a few strain descriptions to come.

MOLOKAI FROST is one of my most favorite strains off all much less from the islands. I smoked it all up before I got a picture, seems how thats how it goes with the best weed. Molokai frost is like a tropical bubblegum. it smells like some type of super tangy bubblegum that might be named "tropical treat" or something like that. THE softest smoking strain I've ever had and smokes and tastes amazing the day its off the plant. doesn't even really need a cure, its just that delicious. its a lazy sativa, but I love her. so happy.

pic courtesy of zion.



molokai frost by "iceman"




US STRAINS
America has always been a haven for breeders and growers despite the horrible laws. Far too many strains to name have been developed here but I'll list some of the most important and some of my favorites.



HAZE- the original ultimate sativa. pic courtesy of cedarberry




quotes from several growers via pike

There will end up being countless haze pics in this thread so I'm not going to put one up.

"Purple haze was a strain from positronics .
Which is haze x purple#1 . Before that was no such thing as purple
haze . There was only haze from the haze brothers"

SamS,
What a crock, Positronics did not even have any Haze until I gave it
to them after the mid 1980's. They crossed Haze with a local Pars
Purple outdoor variety that was weak shit pot that had a nice color.
FYI, Purple Haze was sold in the early 1970's by the Haze Brothers
in Santa Cruz, I should know I smoked it back then every day for
years....
BTW, some of the Purple Haze needed cold to turn purple, others did
not need cold and were purple even if never cold. Purple Haze was
pure Original Haze, and the purple color was not dominate, so easy to
lose.
I also like the Silver Blue, and Lime Green Haze better then the
Purple Haze, because they were more up, clear, and energetic in the
high. But the Purple may have been the strongest Haze and got the top
prices. It also looked great.
Did eneyone ever hear the band the Original Haze? Jerry Miller from
the Moby Grape started the group in the 70's after smoking the
Original Haze in Santa Cruz. He loved the Haze and bought a lot!!!

-SamS




joellama,
The question is "i'm pretty sure the haze bros have kept a clone or
two or original haze"

SamS,
First of all neither Haze Brother is still a grower, second they
never made clones or used clones when they were growers. But if you
are pretty sure then you must be right, even though you have never
met the Haze brothers or smoked any of "their" Original Haze, have you?

-SamS



The haze bros. gave birth to the strain that is the real purple haze.
The columbian part of the haze was done by the haze bros. It is this
original columbian pheno that came to be known as the purple haze.
Their original haze was created by using several landraces: mexican,
thai, Indian and columbian. This line was never stabilized by them,
but passed on as seeds and eventually clones. wernard of positronics
fame had two or three of the original clones and made seeds with them
years ago. Among the clones he had, was the purple pheno or purple
haze. nevil and Shantitaba also both posess the original haze
line(haze bros) and are still working with them(although they only
sell hybrids). Purple haze is still out there, either in seeds or
clones. I know several people with seeds via the bros, but haven't
seen the purple clone in several years. But I'm sure there are many
others who hold their clone or seeds very close.


I think alot of the mixup on this strain and doubts have stemmed from
songs and for the fact that many people call any purple weed, purple
haze due to it's hype. Although, this makes it more difficult to
verify for some and a myth like G13, there is still a real purple
haze around.

That being said, there are probably 5000 to 1 hybrids of the haze
around compared to the original. This is for many reasons. easy of
growth and finishing time being the most common. And this has not
really diluted the line, just made it much harder for the average
customer/grower to obtain, as many haven't preserved or sold their
original, never crossed lines.


I also have to say, I find an African haze very hard to believe. I
have grown pure sativas for close to thirty years, many being
African, columbian, and thai. I have never once found an african
sativa that even slightly resembled a pure haze. Don't get me wrong,
I'm not ragging on you or anything, as it's possible you may hold the
only african haze in your garden, and it's never seen
the light of day or by anyone else for that matter. Just my personal
experience. take care

GM

I passed on the Purple Haze from Positronics, but Posi was the source
of my Haze pictured, Positronics "Original Haze". Their "Purple Haze"
was a hybrid i believe w/maybe purple#1?. You'll have to check with
Sam Skunkman as to what the other component in the Purple Haze was,
he was doing the breeding for them at the time. What folks really
want is the pure haze, but they just can't get that song out of their
heads

Best Regards,
Tom

Hello all

it seems all of you are deeply moved by trying to prove some points
here. Maybe I can try and clarify somethings for you.

Nev and Sam worked on several things together at one stage in their
careers. This meant there was shared work in seed and clone form. The
Haze originals and the Skunk lines were two of these . The Haze bros
were their original source of Haze in seed form. However after people
begin working on seed from this point on only their particular
versions of what they gave names to were based on their particular
versions of that line.So of course differences will be manifest in
breeding lines.
While Nev and I and Arjan joined forces Nev did his lines and I did
for the GHSco selling our versions originally under the GHSco name.
While Sam and Dave and others did their thing and in their versions
(selection). The Sensi seed was originally Nev who supplied Ben with
strains to sell in his shops. When Nev finished with Sensi like when
Nev and I finished with GHSco we took our versions of the cup winning
pedigrees away leaving only the strains that were owned jointly by
the seed companies in question. What happened to the Haze and
breeding programs at Sensi and GHSco neither Nev or I can be
responsible for. What is clear is now at Mr Nice Seedbank the
original versions of selected female and male plants that won all
those cups with our old seed companies got a home together. What Sam
and the others did with their versions I and Nev can also not be sure.
So if this helps clear up some of your myths I will be glad as I think
that the proof is in the pudding. Grow out the versions and see for
yourselves if you are still a skeptic...that is always my solution to
curb all the bullshit that is floating in hot air.
All the best Shantibaba

There was also lots of 'Hazes' or 'Haze herb' so everyone might be
right, as it was a generic termingology for being 'hazed' out,
applied to the best herb...imho.

From the 50s there was great Mex and Colombian imports into the US,
mostly small private importers i would assume. From the early 60s the
communes in Cali where trying to grow/acclimatise some of these
import genetics.

Haze was a generic name coined by them for these lines i think.
As the seeds for many of these early grows would have been bag seed
the name would have been chosen to fit, and what a perfect fit the
name 'Haze' is for the Best S.American Sativas..but no one knows the
varieties that went into any of these other lines. As prior to
landraces being collected in the 60/70's there was only really seed
from import, odd seeds here and there from mostly unknown strains.
Collections of specific cultivars collected at source started in the
60s, and KIA4S one of the very first and all time greatest
collectors..

When the returnees from the early Nam excursions came home there was
also Thai experience available, this from the mid to late 50's! Many
of the Cali communes where growing and developing 'Haze' lines to
fuel the rapidly expanding market in Cali. Nam returnees are recorded
as saying they where 'Hazed' in the jungle in Thailand in the late
50s on great Thais. Special Ops returnees, in '56..

The biggest suppliers at the time in Cali where also becoming highly
organised and profficent growers to back up the imports and produce
insitu in Cali..but they where also seeking out and bringing back the
best herb from most corners of the great herb growing regions, South
America and Asia particulary. It must have been a incredibly connisuer
market in Cali at the time. So if the 'Origional Haze' was the best
of these, ever, it must have been just as incredible and legendry as
its described to be, i can believe it to be like a lick of Acid.

Only looks like a couple of these Haze lines have remained in pure
forms. Albeit many times inbred from the origionals. The 'Origional
Haze' marketed and developed by the Haze Bros was indeed the most
famous, maybe because of its BOEL connection, the most expensive ever
and last of the truly great 'Hazes', purely bred to feed that real
old school hippy market who had been brought up on the absolute
finest landrace Sativas from South America and Asia. So it must have
been good.

Thanks to the Haze bros and KIA4s, BOEL etc we have the great
legend of the 'Origional Haze', the one sold in Cali in the 70's
with the posters, tshirts, etc, and proberly the best herb grown
anywhere on earth at the time, but not the only Haze lines there
where. They started breeding their Haze in 69/70 i think.

KIA4S is 100% right as usual, the only 'Origional Haze' there is, is
from the lines of the 'Haze Bros' of Santa Cruz, and thanks to him,
the third Haze brother, its been shared with the world, the legendry
Origional Haze, possibly the best herb grown anywhere on earth, ever!
but not the only Haze.

Just my take on it..

Queijo




APPLE is about as oldschool american as it comes. its supposedly been grown by native americans south of new york for 20 generations or something and nobody remembers where it came from. This is one of my favorites, just hits me right. sweet green apples and flowers smell. pleasant up stone that won't take you too far into anxiety, super soft smoke, one of my favs.







BANANA
as far as I know its anyones guess where the hell this next one came from. But its an american favorite. rare and exotic. This is the natural color of these buds. they grow a distinct olive, gold and grey color. The smell is amazing and intangible. like banana nut bread and peppery spices. mellow stony happy high. Thick cigar smelling smoke.





SOUR DIESEL

no american strain list can be without the new york city powerhouse celeb of sour diesel. pungent skunky diesel smell that whips your ass. a real head smasher


BULLRIDER is a cali favorite. lime and dry cinnamon smell with a stone that keeps you coming back for more. A true example of a well balanced high. the indica and sativa blend in a noncompetitive way.

 

COLOMBIAN SECTION

la mano negra colombian black





Okay I don't know much about Colombians, in fact I've never grown a pure colombian to my knowledge. Unless it was bagseed. But nevertheless I'll try to build this section too.

Primo colombian red rider collected while staying in colombia.



special thanks to RACO, not only for having the foresight to save this but also the heart to type it back into english for us. Thanks bro. I really mean it.

The Legend of Panama Red"
by Anonymous

"In this story you´ll learn who and how this 12 ton load of Panama Red was smuggled into California.
Have you ever heard the legend of Panama Red?.I mean you have heard of Panama red,haven´t you?
Well,here´s the true story about a load that came into california,in 1969.
I drove up Highway 1,to Maple Street,in Tam Valley,and turned left.If you know where this is,it´s near to Mill Valley.I went to my connection´s house to see what what exotic weed had come in..He had Yucatan Green,which was fully filled into white plastic bags.It had a fruity aroma,and you could uncoil the kiwi colored green leaves back into their natural finger and hand shapes.I´n never seen weed cured this well.It was somehow cured like pliable tobacco leaves.The price was $150 a pound,which was a lot back in those days.Next,a brown grocery sack came out of the closet,which I noticed was full of white plastic bags and the brown grocery bags.From my quick glance I estimated about 10 bags of weed in all.

As the top of the brown bag was unfolded,I immediately smelled the strong aroma of fresh tilled earth,perhaps the smell when you turn over a mulching log,combined with red clay.Then I distinguished another smell.The smell of fresh earth with a strong hashish smell.A handful of the well dried small nugs was pulled out and laid on the stainless steel plate of the triple-beam.I was in wonder as I had never seen any weed that wasn´t green or gold.To my amazement these small buds were a bright rusty color.Not brown like the Columbian Gold I scored a few years later,but you know,a rusty red color.I asked where is this weed from?

My connection told me the story

This is Panama Red.This stuff grows in the mountains north of the Panama Canal.The soil is red to black,with rain all the time.It´s impossible to get this weed but I have access to about one ton of it.

How much is it for a pound?I asked him.

It´s 220 a pound.My wad of cash choked in my pocket,as I had thought that the Yucatan Green was expensive.he could read me.He pulled out a paper from his Zig-Zag packet,and rolled a pinhead joint.Then he lit it up,making a yellow flame as the empty paper end burned into the weed.He took the first puff,which sent off two thin intertwined lines of blue gray hashish like smoke,heading towards the ceiling.
If this were possibly,he looked even more euphoric from the one hit,and his eyes rolled back,and closed,as he slowly stabbed the smoking pinner across the table in my direction.As I reached out for it he said in a choked breath while exhaling smoke:
"you´ll probably never get weed this good again"

I knew his word was always true.My connection and his group had smuggled hashish from Afghanistan,India and Morocco.he´d been busted for importing hash in the bottom of a crate of snakes.He always had exotic weed and hash.He wouldn´t mess around with the weed I could get from the pilots in my part of the state.The only stuff I could get in my area was Mexican weed which ran from $80 to $120 a brick.We called this weed "reg" for regular.The reg kilos or bricks came wrapped in red,green or blue construction paper and was taped off with masking tape.This was the regular bottom line,non exotic weed that was somewhat harsh to the throat but got you stoned.We resold for $10 a lid,or if you weren´t around back then,a lid is an ounce.

The hash smell of the pinner was overcoming my thoughts as I took a hit of pure heaven.The smoke was so smooth,with a taste just like is unburnt of fresh clean earth and hashish.I thought it tasted like Lebanese Red hash,mixed with fresh earth,as I barely watched the smoke vining it´s way upwards.It was hash without the bite.Then the stone came on as I took my second hit.My senses sudenly kicked into hyper space as I became acutely awared of everything.My hearing,my thinking,my senses were all rocketed into Stonesville,which is a different place for every one of us.Whitin a minute:I realized I was really stoned.I laughed.Shortly after three hits,I started seeiong trails,colors,and realized this weed was a psychedelic high too.Lots of colors and laughs,in a mellow floating state.A weed to bring out your innermost thoughts,to philosophize about the finer points of life and existence,with those of like mind.

In 1969, i bought five pounds of Panama Red, which is the most stony weed I have ever smoked,even to this day.When I got back home,where the local hippies were used to $10 price of an oz. of reg,I knew I couldn´t sell this rusty red weed.First,since it wasn´t green,they wouldn´t believe it was weed.Second,the price would be about four times what they were used to paying for an oz. of reg weed.I kept telling myself nobody was ready for this rusty weed which would send anybody,especially these locals to heaven.I knew that if I rolled pinners,it would take me years to smoke all this exotic weed.I figured out at least 80 joints to an oz,,and I had 80 ozs.,and let´s see,that´s 6400 joints.I couldn´t take time to do one a day,so I figured maybe 150 a year,and um,it would take me over forty-two years to smoke all of this weed.It would lose it´s potency after one year or two.Then the lightbulb came on.I´d roll about ten pinners and just give them away.I understood that even my friends could figure out that this was the best weed in the world.After they had smoked the fantastic weed,they would realize how stoned they were,and with the weed rolled up they wouldn´t know it wasn´t green!Great idea!I reached into my pocket again as I arrived at the toll booth on the Golden Gate Bridge entering to San Francisco,stoned out of my mind.

I want you to know something,when I got home,that´s exactly what I did.I passed out the pinners and asked my friends to just try it and give me their opinions.The questioned me about the small sized joints,and I said:what are you complaining about?it´s for free.Then the phone started ringing with questions like "What was that?,Is that laced with acid?That can´t be ordinary weed,Do you have any more?Then I got to tell the story of Panama Red to them,which if you ever smoked the real thing,I need not to say more.

MEETING THE SMUGGLER

On another score trip north,about one month later,I discovered that my connection had moved to Stinson Beach.You might know where he moved if you ever went there.It was the third house back from the beach.It was on the left,the one with the purple door.When the purple door opened,I gasped as I thought I saw my dad sitting down counting cash on a coffee table.I realized that it really wasn´t my Dad,but the guy was a dead ringer to my Dad.He had a receding conservative haircut,with brown hair,and graying sideburns.Same facial features.My connection introduced him,and for his protection,I´ll just call him Roy.Roy wqs counting out $40,000 cash,another installment for the fronting of his illegal,precious cargo of Panama Red to my connection.This was a lot of money for a weed deal back in 1969,and probably,one of a hundred bags of money picked up by Roy.You figure it out,if he sold his Panama Red for only $120 a pound,times 24,000 pounds he grossed about $2.9 million from his load.Thirty years ago this money had the purchasing power of about 4 times more than it woul buy today.However,I have no idea what Panama Red would cost today,as I never found it again.I´ve had Colombian Gold,but it´s more of a brown tobacco color.Red is a very earthy,and I haven´t ever seen any counterfeit stuff offered.I haven´t even seen the seeds offered.The $40,000 Roy was counting was only a payment for about 300 pounds.Payment for a ton woul be $240,000.Don´t forget he had the money from selling the fish too.

Roy was a very candid person,treating me as if he´d known me his whole life.He explained the Panama Red saga.He bought a surplus submarine chaser,a 90 footer.He sold most of the military gear and paid for the vessel with money left over.It was a typical government deal where millions were spent to build and outfit the ship,and then it was later sold for peanuts.Roy outfitted it as a fishing boat.He got a crew together and went south.He loaded in 12 tons of Panama Red and then he and his crew went fishing
got a small fleet of fishing and sailboats together.This fleet was obviously pre-planned.The fleet was a fleet of smugglers who went under the Golden Gate Bridge out about 25 miles and towards the Farallon Islands,where the panama Red was quickly offloaded onto these smaller boats.One Harbor Master inside the bay was in on it too,so there was little change of anybody getting caught.I can´t tell you if it was day or night,foggy or anything about the conditions,but I do know from other smugglers that they use the worst weather conditions for all of their activities.If it´s hard for them,it´s hard for the cops to catch them.Roy said he retired off this trip,and that he sold his fish,the ship and intended on paying the IRS it´s taxes on the fish,if any were due.Roy told me the city he lived in,and I´ll give you a hint,he lived between San Francisco,and San Jose.If you know him,tell him thanks from me.

I grew some plants from the very small brown seeds.The plants had stalks with alternating green and purple vertical lines.The dark green leaves had purple veins.I got tired of watering them,so I sold the crop where they stood by selling a map with it´s location.My friends nicknamed me Panama Red for waking them up to this high.There´s been no more Panama Red,that I´m aware of.If I´m wrong,I´d like to hear your story"


LINKS
alduous colombian
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=30830

chamans tropical grow thread
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread....t=south+america

potential in south america
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread....t=south+america

chamans smoke descriptions for some colombians

Colombian Red.

Origin very contraversial, but likes the dryer seasons and higher elevations. This plant starts off very fatt leafed and has tighter nodes which makes you think it's an indica in many ways or a hybird, as it even smells while young too, but will finish to be very if not 100% sativa.

The Reds will grow about 1 to 2 feet tall, sex, and flower only dobleling in size under 12hr conditions and tropical climate if that as too a Gold when starting can finish 3 or 4 times her size easy. the Reds will put out red colors on leaf stems, branches and main stalk too. Leafs are a darker green then the golds and the smell is strong, even with out rubbing or touching. When cutting jeje stand back even...It's a more pugnent, sweeter smell.

Leafs don't revert as much as the golds, but doo to a degree.

It can finish in half the time the Golds but realy do prefer drier climates since can get some mold on their flowers. Very heavy on the tric's as she looks sugar bathed indeed.

High isn't as tripy or energetic as the gold but sets in faster and hits realy hard, thought disorientation is easy...forgetting what you just did, where doing or wanted too do is too easy.

It's taste is awsome, some chocolate even but it's not easy too take in, the smallest hit for some can make me and friends cough. High doesn't climb after smoking but does last for a considrable amount of time and doesn't make you feel hungover after, few to many hits can put you out though as your body goes numb...not like the Golds where you can smoke more anytime and feel higher and alive agian almost make'n you get up and dance'n. Both will give a good luagh as you do the stupidest things...

Easy to clone and revege when young, likes water only when she needs it in comparison with Golds. Very easy to care for, with plenty of branches and great main cola the yields are rewarding.



Colombian Gold, Pure sativa.

Origin is uncertain, since so many stories have been made, but these due best in vallies and lower elevations, along rivers and in humid areas.

Grows very well when started in humid seasons, and under tropical conditions best. A plant that thrives on as much water, sun as she can get while young, resulting higher female ratios and growing vigorously with mold resistance, finishing in time for the dry season.

She can go into flower under 12hr day/nights around 2-3 feet tall but will continue to grow easily even in opposite phylo reaching 6-9feet tall with branches that can come from her lowest point that can be just as long as she is tall. In Containers along with water deprivation maybe a little string, she can be controlled.

Normally very long thin colas, but not always as some will fatten as they like too keep putting out fresh pistils when allowed and cared for, giving impressive long colas, coverring from there tips all the way too the main stalk. Color goes from a very light if not florescent light green to a very dark forest green on mature leafs. When trics appear, normally in later flower these plants sparkle in the sun covered in fine sugar that makes them look almost silver.

Grows in a cone shape, nodes are tight for such pure Sativas and get very woody stems, while still green can be easy to train, or bend.

Leafs appear from single blades then 3 digits 5, 7 and up to 9 digits are common. Very heavy serrations, even double serrated sometimes. When mature leafs will revert from 9 to 7, 6, 5, 3 and finally single blades again. They will then yellow out from the bottom up, from larger to smaller then falling while pistils go from white too pink in majority. In Colder nights the calyxes can turn a wonderful purple even blues.

Smell is very special, mostly only when rubbed or mature but is of a sweet, yet kind of sour diesel pine smell. With long dries and a good cure the buds turn a copper color, hence “Colombian Gold”.

The high is energetic, stimulating mind and body, it's a soaring rocket fuel awaking high that can make some go pale, feel a accelerated heart beat and numbing of the body and brain.

The taste and smoothness make it easy to take a nice long deep hit...but wait to you let it out, thick clouds of white smoke that can bring a few tears out cough'n. Long lasting high that sets in as your starting your joint, that just keeps climb'n take'n you higher and higher even long after you finished, make'n it hard to measure when to stop smoke'n jeje

Realy makes you happy, joyfull and glow as you wish everyone could feel as great as you are. Worth the wait indeed. Can draw for hrs, sit and stare at somthing for hrs...talk for hrs jeje wifes faovrite is you can have sex for hrs too ! friends have always said the same...jeje herbal viagra, some even have called it love potion.


Colombian Creepie

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colombian Creepie,

Origin, un known for sure, seeds came from comercial bricks also. Plants seemed very much like the Golds, but I noticeds that these would grow to a certian size and then start to tip over on there own, very week looking at first as it's branches don't stiff out seem to never stiffen actually, they bend and curve with the wieght but don't snap.

The Colas have a way of getting very fat as they just stack on more and more, if the plant isn't tied up she would almost look like a vine with tips pointing up searching for light when fully mature.

The high is very special, jejej but hard to calculate. See you smoke now, feel it, but doesn't realy kick in till later. Just creeps up on you...Great laughter, very energetic, even tripy like the Golden, except kinda seems to not want too stop climbing. Easy to want too smoke another right away since you don't feel so high jeje but you'll feel it later definitly. Great to smoke before a movie or work jeje as you'll be alert, social and waiting for a good laugh.

Creepy much like the gold can be hard to calculate when to harvest as they don't seem to want to finish, coka cola bottle fat types.

 

Of course! Make sure if you hear anything interesting, or get any nice sativa smokes, post about them here! Have a chat, share your smoke report. I'm sure it will help others decide whether they are interested in the strain or not.

Here are some pictures from ezra off of ic, one of his Durban grows.

 

VERY nice man! I love seeing pictures like that. Keep 'em coming. That old school picture is sooo awesome. Hahah. How is the smoke from your grow?

Check out this Sweet Skunk at week 14, originally posted by cannabis cowboy on ic

 

Yea, I was instantly intrigued as I started to take in this information, and just figured I'd get it out there for others like yourself who enjoy it as much as I.

Sounds like the best way to read all of this. NYC Haze is very appropriate for the topic.

Yea, man, I'll re-post them all. Doesn't take much work, and they are well worth it! Gimme a few minutes, maybe hours, I've got some stuff to take care of. They'll be here for you though! Just remember to check back.

Here's a pic of some dried Haze from back in the day.


Some Mexican Sativa.






The grower of those plants also said...

"lynz420's Krush, reported to be an Afghan Sativa.. Best sativa I've smoked by far, and the most unique aswell.. I know it doesn't really look like a sativa in these finished pics of lynz's, but it does everything else like one. Flowered as clones with zero veg, topped to 4 nodes (4-6") at day 15 12/12, finishing at about 2.5-3' (mine went 3'+ in summer grow), at aprox 95 days of flower. I'm sure some will remember the extensive Krush thread on OG. In veg she looks much, much more sativa. this is the only strain I've seen the fan blades get wider on while in flower, and the go from 7, 5, 3, to 1 finger leaves.."






Here's some more information for you guys.

A retrospecive of the best marijuana varieties from the 70's and 80's

by DJ Short, creator of the Blueberry and Flo strains

COLUMBIAN
Colombian Gold

Colombian Gold came from the highland Colombian valleys near the equator, as well as on the coast (the Caribbean and the Pacific).

This was specialty pot offered commercially in the mid-70's, for about $60 to $100 per ounce. It was seeded, but most of the seeds were undeveloped, white and useless. A few rare, viable seeds were found that were dark, small-sized and roundish. The buds were leafy and the most beautiful golden blond color. Legend has it that upon maturity the plants were girdled, then left standing to die and cure in the mountain sun and mist.

The color and cure were unique, and the aroma, flavor and high were equally so. The smell was that of sandalwood incense, almost like frankincense. The flavor was that of a peppery cedar. It was some of the most unique tasting herb in the world, and the high was just as exciting. It was truly psychedelic, powerful and long lasting.

First came the great flavor, then the stupefying awe of the shift in consciousness followed by a giddy excitement and bursts of joyous laughter. Smile-lock and red-eye made it painfully obvious who was under the influence of this great psychedelic herb.

The plants from the seeds of the Gold were primarily of Sativa origin. They grew a medium to tall size outdoors at 45N (Seattle), and were mostly symmetrical. On occasion the symmetry was interrupted by one side outgrowing the other, causing a rounded and bulging tipped bush look. The leaves were long and slender.

When grown in Washington state, the finished product was a sweet, spicy Sativa bud that matured around mid-November. The high was adequate but not as good as the Oaxaca Highland grown at the same latitude. The plants were also slightly hermaphroditic.

Colombian Red

Colombian Red was the near polar opposite of Colombian Gold. This lowland jungle pot (possibly from Brazil) was made up of dark red, almost black, chunky little nuggets of what appeared to be hash, stems, leaf and seed. The aroma was that of cedar and hash.

In the early 1980's, the Red cost only $30 to $60 an ounce due to its appearance, making it one of the best deals going. This pot was a narcotic, knock-you-down-and-out, super munchie, red-eye express. The joints would only burn half way before drowning in their own resin! The smoke was very expansive in the lungs with a powerful pine/hash flavor.

Before subjecting its victim to fits of gorging and deep snoozing, the experience usually included ridiculously long spasms of uncontrollable laughter. The silliest little image could induce hilarity beyond belief. This was the main herb around when the Cheech and Chong movies first came out.

The plants from the Red were among the first grown out by Americans. There were many seeds, medium-sized and dark grey, that sprouted and grew easily into a finished product that was more than adequate. The plants grew low, dark, and bushy, with uneven and somewhat scraggly branches that were easily broken from wind damage. The locally grown varieties rarely budded very much, so it is not certain when they would have finished. It would have been relatively late in November at the earliest.

MEXICAN
Highland Oaxaca

Highland Gold, somewhat similar to the Colombian Gold, lacked bright gold color but sported purple and red calyx tips on its blondish-brownish-green buds. It had larger buds surrounded by long, skinny leaves.

I smoked this variety during brief periods in the early 70's and again in the late 70's, paying anywhere between $40 and $120 per ounce. It was some of my all-time favorite because the aroma and flavor were of a super-spicy cedar incense with a slight fermented berry taste, in a very comfortable yet powerfully psychedelic pot. This herb contributed to many great parties, concerts and events of the era because it produced a very socially-conscious experience and mixed well with other psychedelics.

With a long lasting, creeper high that kept coming on in waves over the hours, this stuff had no ceiling. One phenomenon consistently reported from the Highland Oaxaca experience was that of peripheral visual distortions of primarily cartoon color images. This tended to increase the visual distortions caused by other psychedelics such as mushrooms or LSD.

The Oaxaca Highland Gold was a nearly pure Sativa which grew tall at 45N, outdoors. It was also one of the most symmetrical Sativas I have encountered. The plants grew long side branches toward the bottom, and the even growth made these productive beauties look like Christmas trees when mature.

The finished product was a very sweet and spicy herb of the highest quality, with a hint of fruity pine aroma. The seeds for this variety were small, dark and round, and the plants exhibited slight signs of hermaphroditism and required surveillance to maintain seedlessness.

Guerrero

This strain from Mexico's coastal mountains came in famed green, seeded spears and cost $60 to $120 per ounce in 1977. It had a spicy, almost wintergreen fragrance compared to the other Mexicans with a very clear head high and a most pleasant smoke. It was not as strong as most, but this herb still had a way of satisfying all its own.

There was a legend about a group of entrepreneurs who imported seed from Lebanon to Guerrero and grew the famed Lebanese Upper Mountain (LUM) from the late 1970's to 1980. The LUM was electric, psychedelic and slightly sedative as well. A unique herb that I wish there would have been more of.

The seeds from the Guerrero were medium to large in size and grey to green in color. The plants from these seeds grew similarly to other Mexican and Colombian strains: a medium to tall, bushy, productive plant. The Guerrero Green, however, is where some of the famed onion and garlic flavored bud of the Pacific Northwest originated.

Michoacan Brown Spears

From the high valleys of Michoacan, this strain was very similar in shape and texture to the Guerrero, but dark brown, and with a more peppery, spicy, woody aroma. $40 to $60 bought a seeded ounce in 1975. Although it was somewhat more bland tasting than the Guerrero , this semi-commercial pot was by far better than the commercial Mexican that was all too available. It had a more distinct, spicy flavor than the regular Mexican, as well as a brighter high that was not as susceptible to tolerance or burnout.

The plants from the Michoacan Spears were nothing great. They were thick and bushy and matured earlier than the Colombians. Some were ready in late October, but most were ready in early November. The seeds were medium grey and plentiful. Like the Guerrero, they produced some unique spicy flavors when grown outdoors in the Pacific Northwest.

THAI
Highland Thai

Highland Thai was among the absolute sweetest and fruitiest herb on the planet. The delicate, sticky Sativa buds so efficiently tied to the little sticks were among the finest of herb.

The Highland Thai, I believe, is at least partially where the Haze variety originated. It was one of the finest Sativa plants grown for its finished product at 45N.

It is from this variety that Juicy Fruit Thai came. Juicy Fruit Thai was one of the original (and very successful) P1's of my breed stock. Juicy Fruit Thai grew fast, long and very unevenly. Every week or so another side branch would erupt in a growth spurt, compete with and conquer any existing meristem (main stem), and become the temporary meristem until another faster shoot overtook it. The leaves were very long and slender, containing as many as 13 leaflets, and deeply contoured.

The Juicy Fruit Thai took anywhere from one to 19 weeks in the indoor bud cycle to finish. Outdoors, the Juicy fruit was smokable, but undeveloped and leafy, by late September. Small buds developed during October and would ripen and swell during November. The longest I was ever capable of growing Juicy Fruit outdoors was until mid-December, in a greenhouse, and the plant could have gone on longer.

The primary drawback to growing the Highland Thai, after its leafiness, was its hermaphroditism. Though few seeds were found, and plants grown from the seeds produced only minor quantities of seed, all of the product was hermaphroditic. Also, many of the male flowers were sterile on some of the plants, or on certain parts of certain plants.

Out of all of the varieties that I have worked with at 45N, this Thai produced some of the most powerful herb. This stuff was purely cerebral, yet mentally devastating in quantity, with absolutely no ceiling. Once, a seasoned smoker friend and I tested how far we could go with the homegrown Juicy Fruit. I recall making it to the 14th bong hit and being completely incapable of continuing. My coordination and depth perception were so skewed that I was unable to physically conquer the bong! The experience rivaled that of taking too much LSD, causing an incapacitation of the psychedelic kind. Yet, it was also uniquely enjoyable, entertaining and educational at the same time. I had sparkly eyes for a day or two afterward.

The aroma was a super-sweet fruity tropical punch and the flavor expressed itself both in the bud and the smoke.

Chocolate Thai

The Chocolate Thai was another being entirely. Chocolate Thai came in larger wrapped sticks of a deep, rich, roasted coffee color and a coffee-chocolate aroma that was heavenly. It is my uncertain estimation that the Chocolate Thai was a lowland variety.

The imported product itself was unique not only in its aroma and flavor but in its strength as well. This was a dreamy, sleepy, narcotic high that was long lasting and consistent. The aroma possessed a deep, rich chocolate, appeal.

The seeds, many of which were pure black, were extremely small and round. They were few in numbers and only a few would sprout. The plants that did survive were terribly difficult to grow, and all were hermaphroditic. The leaves were long, dark and slender, with most sprouting trichomes early on. This strain was successfully crossed with the Oaxaca Highland to create what came to be known as Purple Thai.

Vietnamese

There was a bit of the Vietnamese herb around in the 70's, primarily early harvest which was mostly badly-cured leaf. Nonetheless, it had a quality all its own with a spicy, tangy flavor and crisp high. It was great joint pot, but I never grew any.

I heard rumors that a Vietnamese strain was cultivated in the Emerald Triangle in the 70's and early 80's.

Opium Soaked Herb

An element was added to certain shipments of Thai herb in the 70's: "early water." A by-product of the heroin trade, early water was the leftover water used to create the heroin from the raw opium. It contained all of the constituents of opium except most of the heroin.

The curing Thai herb was soaked in the water and redried to absorb the opiate alkaloids. The result was a high that was sought out by some, but more than most bargained for. A good wash was an enjoyable thing, but some were over-laced, which caused a dilemma for those who would start spinning after a few hits on a joint.

SPECIALTY HERBS
Black Magic African

This herb is the strongest ever. Although I have only smoked the Black Magic a very limited number of times, and I've never had more than a joint of my own, I feel it needs mention. I did once get to see a bag of this herb that belonged to someone else. It looked like rotted, black leaf, some leaves intact but crumpled, plus a powdery black shake. It had no particular odor other than sweet spicy moldy hay, and rolled best into thin pinjoints.

The smoke was slightly harsh, but with a very deep, rich flavor. I also recall that it produced lots of white smoke. Anyhow, this stuff was dangerous! I often questioned if it was truly pure herb. I have, however, sampled the same product from different sources at different times, all with the same story.

It was equatorial Black African, the supposed herb of some tribe, Pygmy group, or another equally incredible origin! It was likely an indigenous Central African herb. One pinjoint between three or four people was more than adequate. This was truly the most devastating and consciously inebriating herb I have ever smoked.

I do not recall ever passing out or losing consciousness, but I did have to let go in order to come back . This stuff alone could cause one to reach 3.5 pluses on the Shulgin psychedelic rating scale!

I never was able to acquire seeds from the Black African, though I have tried. It is one of the few indigenous strains that I am interested in working with.

Durban Poison

Durban herb has reached semi-commercial levels in the past. All of the South African herb that has made it to market that I have tried has been a bit too powerful and speedy. I always get that heart racing effect similar to the Jamaican. There are, however, very many people who enjoy a good carnival ride herb, and Durban is a very powerful choice, indeed.

The seeds of Durban that I grew during the early to mid-80's produced medium/tall Sativas with spear shaped buds – uniform plants in both structure and finished product. Although production was good, the flavor was a sharp, astringent, chemical odor that burned the nose and sinuses.

The high was intense and strong but not notably enjoyable, so the Durban was dropped from any further breeding work.

Venezuelan

There was some fine Venezuelan herb available briefly in the mid-1970's for between $50 to $70 an ounce. It was sort of like the better commercial Colombian or Mexican of the day, but it was a bright yellowish color and not as tightly bricked, making the buds fluffier than most other bricked shipments.

The smoke was sweet, then spicy on the exhale – evidence of a good cure. The head was also a bit more pleasant than the more commercial varieties.

Unfortunately, I was never able to grow any of the many seeds available from the Venezuelan. I remain curious as to how they would fare both indoor and out.

Indian Elephant & Buddha Stick

There was a small supply of Indian tied stick pot available at the end of the 70's and the beginning of the 80's. These sticks were characterized by their large size compared to the smaller Thai Stick.

The Buddha stick was lighter colored and sweeter with a distinct juniper flavor. It was very stimulating to the palate. The Elephant stick was the largest tied sticks, some up to an ounce each, and darker. Of the two, I preferred the Buddha due to its being more cerebral and heady, but the Elephant stick was a fine and powerful product as well.

I was able to grow some of the seeds from the Buddha stick. It produced a pungent smelling herb of the juniper/licorice flavor. Most of the plants grew medium bushy, and most, but not all, were hermaphroditic. The harvest time was medium as well, 10 to 12 weeks indoors, very late October to November outdoors at 45N.

I called the product Gin Blossom and grew a bit of her in the late 70's and early 80's. It was not until I replicated the flavor in the Blueberry lines that I retired the Gin Blossom strain.

Panama Red

From what I've gathered, Panama Red comes from any number of brash entrepreneurs who have damned the tides of oppression and grown copious amounts of primarily good old Colombian Red seeds in the wonderfully situated country of Panama, or any of her many isles.

Located a mere eight or nine degrees north of the equator, this tropical paradise has a coast on both the Pacific or the Caribbean Sea, without much distance between them, but a lot of elevation. The Panama Red that I am accustomed to was similar to the Colombian Red, but airier – not as compressed. It had a unique island flavor to it, with a spicy/sweet Sativa rush. Some called it the Tequila of herb, as it produced a high that greatly lowered inhibitions, creating a desire to consume more until it was too late!

For some drinkers, the Panama Red did not mix too well with alcohol, but for most it was a pleasant party high.

I did grow some seeds of Panama Red on more than one occasion. The plants were of the medium bushy character of the Colombian Red, with a little more hermaphroditism, and very long flower cycle (12 weeks indoor, late November outdoors). Unfortunately, however, this was at the same time that I was also growing the famed Highland Thai and new Afghan plants that were so unique, new and powerful, and the Panama Red became neglected.

HASHISH
Moroccan

Moroccan hash is the North African staple. It appears anywhere from deep brown to golden yellow and has a spicy leather flavor to it. Almost all Moroccan hash is screened and pressed. Though lower in potency than most black hash, this commercial offering costs less and tends to be more readily available through the years.

Moroccan plants are shorter and designed to grow tightly together, producing a single hemp-like stalk and a fat and dense single cola at the top. It is an apparent Sativa/Indica cross.

Lebanese Red and Blonde

Lebanese is another Sativa/Indica cross of short stature and density. A bit shorter and bushier than the Moroccan, it had a dark reddish hue.

The legendary Red Lebanese hash holds its own place. Red Leb had the distinct pine/juniper flavor and aroma, with a tangy spice leather to the exhaled smoke. It was sharp on the sinuses and nasal passages.

Most Red Leb hash was screened and pressed, except for the legendary Red Lebanese Honey Oil. The famed oil, only available to me from 1973-77, was in a class all of its own. The oil had a sharp juniper/cedar smell to it. It was the most powerful, lung expansive cannabis product that I had ever encountered. We would buy these glass oil pipes simply to find them useless, as no one could hold even the smallest toke of this stuff.

The oil had to be smeared onto a rolling paper or the side of a cigarette, or it had to be chased into a pile of herb with a flame from below. It was truly some of the finest. The home-grown isomerized oils of the 80's were pale in comparison to the great Red Leb.

Lebanese Blonde, the "working person's hash," was a lower grade of hash than the Red, and quantities were less expensive as well. It was less dense, making grams appear larger and giving the illusion of economy. Good Blonde had character, a spicy/woody flavor and aroma, plus a clean, woody taste. The high was a bit more than the Red, furthering the appeal to working people.

Nepalese temple balls

The Buddhists have a saying: "May all beings be happy." They also have a hash to back it up with: black finger rubbings from high in the Himalayas. This was some of my all-time favorite.

Nepalese is among the most cerebral of hashish. A strong yet pleasant head journey packed in every puff. This is some of the happiest hash I have experienced. The taste is spicy/fruity/earthen and among the most enjoyable of hash flavors. Most Nepalese hash is from rubbings, although I have heard from travelers to the area that screened and pressed varieties are available.

Simply put: Nepalese Temple Ball is some of the happiest, fruitiest and most pleasantly flavorful, highest quality hash that I have ever experienced.

Afghanistan & Hindu Kush

Rolling off the great crest of the Himalayas to the west and to the north are an apex of mountainous zones that define the northern borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Squished among these is the little region of Kashmir and the Hindu Kush mountains. This area may well be the oldest hashish producing area in the world, perhaps the birthplace of hash!

The plants of the area, the Indica variety, have been manipulated and bred by humans since antiquity. Short, dense and stout, with wide, dark leaves, these plants make the best of their high mountain, short-seasoned environment. They were bred to produce large amounts of easily detachable glandular resin heads, ideal for hashish production. These areas incorporate both rubbed, screened and pressed methods of hashish production.

Afghan hash, and the Indica strain for that matter, possess a much more sedative, dreamy, narcotic effect compared to the Sativa. This is true of the Afghan and Hindu Kush plants grown in the Pacific Northwest since 1978.

I believe more Indicas should be made into hashish, which is where the finer qualities of the Indica appear.

A quantity of Afghan seed was smuggled to the Emerald Triangle in 1978. Commercial production of the strain began shortly after that. There may have been earlier trials with Afghan seed in the region prior to 1978, but none ever made it to commercial production quantities or to public market.

THE ISLANDS
Hawaiian

Hawaiian a true classic. There is something special about a good island herb, and Hawaiian is among the best. When properly grown outdoors it has a wonderful and unique bouquet of fruity spice, similar to the sweetness of the fine Thai, but with a kind of tangy taste.

Good Hawaiian herb has always been a devastatingly powerful experience for me. It is very psychedelic and internally focused, contemplative and overpoweringly meditative. A Walk with the King, a Dance with the Queen, and a sunset on the beach! Aah... Hawaiian!

I have tried to equal the Hawaiian experience outdoor on the mainland, and indoors, with no success. Everything I have grown from Hawaiian stock turned out to be nowhere near the quality of the parent stock. This is true for three generations of trials. The product from Hawaiian seed was equal to the best plants grown from mid-quality Colombian stock!

This led me to a hypothesis about Hawaii: that just about any stock grown in Hawaii will turn out to be of unique and relatively high quality. Hawaii just happens to be one of those special places, I suppose.

All breeding attempts with Hawaiian stock were dumped from my garden by 1983. It was a pretty and robust plant though, and also quite productive. Just not all that impressive when grown outside its homeland.

Jamaican Lion's Herb

It has been on rare occasion that I have sampled truly enjoyable Jamaican herb. These rare samples came directly from friends who knew growers there. It was similar to the Hawaiian experience, but with more of a take-your-breath-away feeling of excitement.

The problem I have encountered with the commercial Jamaican is that it is too damned strong and speedy! Jamaican is renowned for its lively herb, for which I can vouch. It is a heartlifting herb and I have a sensitive heart. So I am careful with the samples of the commercial Jamaican ganja that I try.

Much like Hawaiian, the Jamaican strains are perhaps best expressed in their homeland, because I have had little success in producing an adequate example. Both indoors and out, the Jamaican behaves and ends up much the same as mid-level Colombian. Perhaps all Island herb is unique in this fashion.

Philippine Thrilla from Manilla.

The Philippines are another Island chain renowned for producing great herb. I once possessed a small quantity of what was supposed to be Philippine herb in the late 1970's. It had a strong citrus aroma that produced a spicy smoke and a heady high. I never grew the strain, so I have nothing to report on the plants. The herb was a light green Sativa and seeded, so hopefully someone has had experience with this strain."

 

Dead already? hahaha

Pacific area

- Philippines Sagada sativa
- Papuasia New Guinea sativa
- Philippines Kalinga sativa
- Pakalolo sativa


South East Asia area

- Continental Thaï sativa
- Dutch Thaï Brick sativa
- Thaï highland Chiang Maï sativa
- Thaï lowland Koh Samui sativa
- Thaï lowland Koh Samui II sativa
- Paï Thaï sativa
- Chinese Sichuan indica
- Yunnan Chinese sativa
- Phnom Penh Cambodian sativa
- Cambodian sativa


India and Himalayan area

- Indian Mumbaï mithai sativa
- Nepalese (Bart) sativa / indica
- Malana shepperd sativa
- Bangladesh sativa sativa
- Sri Lanka sativa

Pakistani and Afghan area

- Hunza indica
- Afghane Anthaeus indica
- Mazar I shariff indica
- Purple yarkhun indica


African area

- Swazi Rooi Bart sativa
- Ivory Coast sativa
- Ethiopian highland sativa
- African goblin sativa
- Malawi gold sativa
- Ghana sativa
- Burkina sativa
- Ghana Accra skunk sativa
- Zamal St Anne sativa
- Comorres and Mayotte sativa

Maghreb area

- Egyptian Sinaï indica
- Maroccan II indica
- Ketama Moroccan sativa


South and Central America area

- Panama Red-CBC sativa
- Chiappas Mexican sativa
- BSC Colombian Santa Marta gold indica
- Oaxacan sativa
- Brazilian Red sativa
- Amarillo sativa
- Honduras sativa

Antillas area

- Jamaican Blue Mountain sativa
- West Indies Fil Rouge sativa

List for those of you not reading the info, it's in the previous posts if you see any names that catch your eye.

 

Some strain information originally posted by Rahan.



Indian x Ethiopian is a cross between the South Indian sativa called Indian Mumbai mitai which was brought at Overgrow by Papienyce (bless him) and the Ethiopian highland.

An Ethiopian highland that I'm right now smoking a spliff of, by the way.

The Ethiopian is a very shorty sativa with two phenos, one less productive and more late flowering than the other. But notice that grown with a correct setup and sufficient amount of light (i.e. 100 000 lumen per square meter), I didn't see no more the two phenos. You can find a complete report of this strain here: http://strainguide.overweed.net/landrace.php?id=6

I like a lot the high of this strain. It's very fine and dreamy, one very complex high that you do not forget. The flowering time of the strain is decent even for indoor, between 9 and 11-12 weeks I'd say, according to your grow conditions.

The Indian is a totally pure tropical sativa. Unfortunately, I didn't found time to translate the template of this strain so I can not give you a link. I'll try to describe it shortly. It grows very bushy with many fine stems with very narrow leaves. She is very tall and lanky. She takes forever to finish, I harvested it at 14 weeks because the seeds were done but it could have matured at least one or two weeks more. The production is very low. This strain is very hard to grow indoor. I saw a 400W HPS grow end as a disaster, with quite nothing to smoke after 15 weeks of flowering. The high is really psychoactive. I use to decribe the high with the words: "it's like your brain was a lamp that is brutally thrown down to the soil by a man every 5 seconds". The high is really totally worst the pain caused by the grow.

The cross was not realized in very good conditions I'm sorry. I was reproducing the Indian Mumbai mitai for the first time. 5 seeds on 150 had sprouted and I saw 4 Ethiopian highland to complete the grow. I had two males of Indian. One remained pure but the other turned lately hermie. Too late, he had released his pollen already...All the 4 Ethiopians were pure females. You have seeds from this 4 females because I didn't segregate the weed when I harvested.

I expect this cross to be a real Diva. Something very hard to grow, with a considerable amount of time necessary to mature (up to 14 weeks). I hope the high will combine the dreamy altitude of the Ethiopian with the Powerful Psychoactive effect of the Mumbai mitai. I will be very interested to follow your grow, here or at the strainguide forum. I hope you 'll find time for her and that you will work on it a little bit.

Here are some pics of the grow where the cross was done.

 

South Indian x Skunk

 

Yea, man, it is a bit much, but just know that it's here for you whenever you need it.

Just in case you get bored or curious, it's available.