Peace Maker by Finest Medicinal Seeds

Finest Medicinal Seeds, Canada

Indica-Dominant

Genetics: Super Skunk x White Widow

Potency: THC 17%

www.finestmedicinalseeds.com

If you’re actively involved in the cannabis community you’ll be familiar with Treating Yourself magazine, a publication launched to promote the responsible use of medical marijuana. Finest Medicinal Seeds, the publishers of this fine mag, also run a seed bank from their base in Canada, and one of their strains is the famous Peace Maker from the 90s. Bred in Holland, this combination of Super Skunk and White Widow is a hybrid with Indian and Brazilian heritage, as well as a genetic link to the formidable Skunk #1.

The name Peace Maker has become synonymous with big yields, short flowering times and great taste. The plant has a short and steady internode with a bushy buildup and short, strong branches. One of the most distinctive traits of this strain is the sharp, serrated profile of its leaves that may remind you of sharks’ teeth. It’s best to grow Peace Maker in a hydroponic system, specifically an open system using rockwool flakes with no recycling of water, to achieve its maximum yield and potency. If you’re more interested in cultivating the best possible taste, give soil a go, and even think about using organic fertilizers and nutrients. The vegetative stage should last around 36 to 40 days, and consider that, while 8 weeks is the general harvest point, leaving the crop for an extra week will increase the potency and sweetness of the extra-heavy buds. Despite the weight of these, staking shouldn’t be necessary thanks to the strength of the plant itself. Resin will start to form in the third week of flowering and peak at 8 weeks. This will make for an extra sticky harvest, so be sure to wear gloves and cover your eyes when you’re chopping. Failing to do so can result in a horribly powerful contact high and, should you wipe your eyes with resin-covered hands, you will get the worst kind of red eye.

The taste of Peace Maker is reminiscent of summer fruits with a candy aftertaste. When ripened for that little extra time, a hint of spice is added to this mix making for a spectacularly layered flavor. These older buds will give a very heavy stoned feeling that lasts a long time and gives great respite from MS and arthritis. Even the younger nugs deliver a decent punch and a full-body muted buzz that will make it near-impossible to tap dance around the room but should leave you in the right mood for good company and a funny movie.

Mamba Negra by Blimburn Seeds

Blimburn Seeds, Spain

Indica-Dominant

Genetics: Critical Mass x Skunk

Potency: THC 18%

www.blimburnseeds.com

Spain’s Blimburn Seeds is an emerging seed bank focused on credibility and maximum stability of strains as well as plants with psychoactive effects. SL Green Guide and a group of noted growers have teamed up to create the company, and they have set about making a name for themselves in the increasingly-competitive Spanish seed market. The exotic and dangerously seductive-sounding Mamba Negra has come from the hands of the same people who created the celebrated Kritikal Bilbo. Mamba Negra was bred from an Afghani and Skunk offspring from Mr. Nice Seeds known as Critical Mass, an award-winning and popular breed, which was crossed with another Skunk family member for stability and great growing strength. Critical Mass is known in the growing community for both its dense, heavy-yielding plants and the punch that it carries in its smoke, and was selected as a parent strain for those very traits. The Mamba Negra now on the market is the culmination of 3 years of improvements on the original 2008 variety, and is much more stabilized thanks to that effort.

Mamba Negra seeds will give a crop of very uniform plants, as the phenotype has been so secured, and each plant will exhibit a large central baton. Flowering will bring very tight and hugely fragrant colas, the bud of which is covered in red hair and smells like ripened fruit. Though the plant is particularly well-suited to an indoor set up, it will take advantage of the extra space outside, growing large and blooming extra early. Mamba Negra is very resistant to botrytis and the size of the yield depends on your level of growing skill; proper care can result in an even larger harvest. Flowering should occur between the 55 and 65 day mark, and upwards of 500 grams of dried, cured bud can be expected from each square meter of grow space indoors. If your Mamba Negra is growing outside, it should be ready for harvest around the end of September.

This is an interesting smoke which moves through waves of physical and cerebral effects in turn, without giving you the roller-coaster effect that can sometimes occur. The taste is rich and elaborate, with hints of fruit, and the smoke is a definite lung-expander. The effects are somewhat similar to parent strain Critical Mass in that it relaxes the toker, but this is a little stronger and longer lasting. The comforting yet exciting high, coupled with the fruity and delicious smoke means that Mamba Negra is nowhere near as vicious as she sounds. 

Blueberry by DJ Short

DJ Short, Canada

Indica-Dominant

Genetics: Blueberry Line

Potency: THC 16-24%

www.legendsseeds.com 

www.greatcanadianseeds.com

DJ Short’s Blueberry is possibly the most celebrated indica strain on the planet. Legends abound about this plant, and for good reason. Blueberry has been around since the late 70s and is known as a large producer of dense bud, as well as being father to a hell of a lot of Blue offspring strains. The fantastic Blueberry genetics can be found in hundreds of commercially available strains, many of which have become as popular as their parent strain, making Blueberry the Bob Marley of the weed world.

Blueberry plants have a little more stretch than many indica plants and can reach a medium-tall height with long side branches. Yield is great because all of these branches produce sticky, trichome-laden buds sporting medium to large calyxes. It can be grown indoors or outdoors, but indoor growers should ensure that plants have plenty of room to grow. Once harvested, Blueberry bud can be stored much longer than most strains, and enjoys a long curing process, so feel free to keep it stashed for a while.

Once your impatience has you reaching for the storage jar you’ll find bud with red, purple, and, of course, blue hues that have turned lavender in the curing process. The aroma and taste is a fruity reminder of blueberries, and the high is pleasantly euphoric and long-lasting. The stone is so potent that even the most well-seasoned of stoners will get high when they smoke Blueberry, no matter what their tolerance for high grade bud.  

Dready Berry by Dready Seeds

Dready Seeds, UK

Indica-Dominant

Genetics: Blueberry x White Widow

Potency: THC 16-20%

www.dreadyseeds.com

Dready Seeds is the breeding project of Weed World columnist and celebrated cannabis connoisseur Dready Bob, and his strains are fast gaining popularity worldwide. One of the most popular is Dready Berry, an F1 Blueberry and White Widow hybrid. This is quite the gene pool to swim in, with the acclaimed Blueberry from DJ Short being a breeder’s favorite and White Widow having dominated the scene since its introduction to the market in 1995, most notably in the coffee shops of Amsterdam. The plethora of Blueberry strains available these days are testament to the quality and popularity of these genetics and just mention White Widow to any stoner to understand that this mix is one to pay attention to.

Adaptable to both indoor and outdoor grows, Dready Berry goes mad when grown outside and can end up growing as much as ten feet high. It is quite the formidable looking plant as its blue/purple colorings emerge and, if you wish for a cold snap, you might even see it exhibit a gorgeous multicolored spread. If you drop the temperature of your indoor grow room a little too much you will also see this happen; however, beautiful though it may be, this cacophony of color is a good indicator that you need to nudge the thermostat a bit. Dready Berry’s preferred climate is a warm, humid one, and the plant resists mold well in these conditions. A good dose of nutrients can do well for this plant but be sure that you’re not over feeding – yellowing leaf tips and wilting leaves can all be signs that you’re hitting the nute bottle a little too hard. Make sure you flush with distilled water at least two weeks before harvest to make sure that your buds don’t taste of chemicals. Also bear in mind that once you notice the large, dense buds begin to increase rapidly in size during the last few weeks of flowering, extra care is needed to ensure that you don’t lose any of your yield to botrytis. Dready Berry will produce a substantial harvest with very resinous buds. Enjoy!

Though your crop may look spectacular from the vegetative stage, Dready Bob didn’t choose the parentage for this strain based on looks alone. The fruity taste and aroma of their Blueberry mother and the intensity of the White Widow have both been preserved, meaning that a bowl of blue Dready Berry bud is a wholly delicious experience. Strong enough to be felt but not strong enough to leave you lying on the floor dribbling, its penchant for pain relief means that it is a good choice for medicinal users and those who enjoy a relaxing toke that tastes like dessert.