Cannabis Cross Strains

July 15, 2016

It may sound simple, get a male and female plant together, put them both in a room, then put on Barry White, and wait for pollenation to give you a new strain. It's a bit more complicated if you want a stellar cross-strain, although Gregor Mendel's principles of inheritance still applies. Cross-strains or cross-breeds are very common because of the benefits of inheritance. The combination of traits from two different genetics can yield wonderful results making a new strain more fruity or more relaxing. The possibilities to create a brand new strain are endless because each new generation of the cross-breed has its own unique characteristics, blended together from it's parents. The difficulty in breeding a great strain requires two things: numbers (lots and lots of plants) and recognizing desirable traits from the plants in which you want to breed. The reason why it requires so many plants is because out of one hundred plants, maybe only five to ten will be really special, that is, have the desired traits you're looking for. An experienced breeder has the intuition to recognize things like vigor, strength, and other traits like taste, smell, and effect. Like an artist that combines several shades of blue to paint the perfect sky, a breeder knows what desirable traits to breed the perfect cross-strain.

Popular cannabis cross strains, like those of the Girl Scout Cookies heritage have made their way into dispensaries commanding higher prices becuase of their popular traits. Girl Scout Cookies is a combination of OG Kush with Durban Poison. Durban Poison is a very popular landrace that originated in South Africa, specifically around the port of Durban. It happens to be our favorite strain becuase of the intense lemon flavor, the scent is overpowering with citrus. That's because of the high concentration of limonene, a terpene well known for elevated mood and stress relief. It's a sativa, so it's very uplifting, but the best part is how clear the high is. It gives such clear focus that you could write an entire book in one sitting. The origins of OG Kush are rather murky, however, its prevalence is high among most dispensaries. It's become a classic staple, and many cross-breeds contain OG Kush phenotype.