Before their seed bank was created in 2007, RQS had long-time knowledge and passion for cannabis breeding. Following enormous interest in their strains, they opened our first shop in Amsterdam, the Damstraat location, in 2010. In 2011 they launched the Royal Queen Seeds website. In 2016 they welcomed first clients in our shop at Carrer dels Tallers in Barcelona, Spain. In 2022, they opened their newest location in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2023, they started operating in the United States and launched the first true F1 Hybrid Cannabis seeds in the market! Today, RQS operates in the US and in 28 countries in Europe and offers 100+ high-quality strains, growing equipment, growing advice, knowledge, tips and more!
The NASC Cast Crew had the pleasure of sitting down with Max of Royal Queen Seeds. Listen to what he has to say below, and follow us on Vimeo for even more content!
Breeding Cannabis from F1 to IBL with Dirty Bird Genetics
by: Beth Mathieu
First and foremost, I want to send a heartfelt Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers here at NASC + Dirty Bird Genetics, to our own mothers, grandmothers, and maternal figures, and to all of the beautiful mothers out there who have been a part of this community with us for the past 10+ years. We see you, we appreciate you, we LOVE you, and we want to acknowledge and celebrate how beautiful the maternal instinct is.
Last year for Mother’s Day, I sat down to write a blog about a plant mother that is near and dear to me personally, and to our NASC/Dirty Bird family: The Brunch. As someone whose career was built upon plant mothers, it seemed fitting on Mother’s Day. The article detailed the filial evolution of this flagship strain that the Dirty Bird Genetics team had created. It was the very first cultivar we bred that really shined, and it really propelled us into this new venture breeding. Looking back now, it’s fascinating to consider how much those first creations (like the Brunch) influenced the genetics to come, much like the generational connections that run through families. The Brunch now sits atop many Dirty Bird Genetics family trees; she’s a mother, a grandmother, and even a great grandmother to many.
This Mother’s Day 2026, I want to pick up where I left off one year ago today, filling in another year of progress as we work our way to the end goal of creating a Brunch IBL (In-Bred Line).
The Brunch F1
The original Brunch F1–a regular, male/female iteration of the F1 strain still found on our menu today–will unfortunately never be recreated because we lost the Peanut Butter Breath mother that was used in the original project back in the early 2020’s. It was a mother I had preserved for almost a decade prior, selected from a revered pack of seeds made by Thug Pug Genetics. These seeds were gold back in the day, and this cut was a favorite of many clone customers I worked with. She created incredibly dense, striking flowers with vibrant greens, dark purples, and bold oranges. Her bud was as top shelf as it comes–easy to manicure, high test, colorful and dense–but her morphology left a few things to be desired. While she wasn’t prohibitively tall, she did have very long internodal spacing, and she was definitely a plant that wanted to grow vertically. Her floral sites were spread out across long stems, meaning she wasn’t the best yielder. Her terpenes were self-referential: Nutty and earthy. We knew there was likely more to draw out here.
The Peanut Butter Breath cut #3 by Thug Pug used to create the Brunch F1
The Mimosa father, selected from a pack of Mimosa by Symbiotic, had beautiful morphology and strong, tangy terps that came through even on a stem rub of the vegetative male plant. He was vigorous, sturdy, and a well-suited, well-proportioned match to compensate for the Peanut Butter Breath’s shortcomings.
In our first test run of the Brunch (PBB x Mimosa) progeny, we selected two keeper phenotypes: the Brunch F1 #5 and the Brunch F1 #8. They weren’t perfect, but they stood out as special to us for several reasons. They were dripping in trichomes, testing between 25-30% THC / 1-3% CBG, they had insane, dark purple coloring with a gorgeous yellow fade, and to our surprise and delight, a unique apple terpene profile was seeming to emerge. We knew there was still work to do–we needed to bulk her flower up, and we needed to tighten her internodal spacing–but this was now a much stronger palette to work from than what we’d had previously.
The Brunch F1 #5
The Brunch F1 #8
The Brunch S1 (Feminized Iteration)
In order to create our first release, we knew it’d be beneficial to feminize our work, and that would also give us the opportunity to take the first step toward locking in some of the features we loved in the male/female test stock. To do this, we took the Brunch F1 #5 and the Brunch F1 #8 and we crossed them and selfed them across several different breeding projects, testing the progeny of each to determine who was the strongest, and which genetics we would move forward with. When all was said and done, and all of the seed lots were tested, we selected two cuts to mother in order to breed the Brunch lineage further. These cuts were named the Brunch - Dark Horse Cut (#8 x #8 - #3) and the Brunch - Lover’s Cut (#5 x #8 - #5) (aka the Arugula Cut).
The Brunch 88 #3 - Dark Horse Cut
The Brunch 58 #5 - Lover’s Cut aka “Arugula Cut”
Breeding and feminizing our favorite phenotypes of the Brunch F1 created some drop dead gorgeous feminized Brunch S1 genetics. The coloration had darkened from purple to almost black, and the yield and morphology was beginning to trend in the right direction: Less stretch and more flower. It was very hard to choose our keeper cuts from these seed lots, but we realized that was a good problem to have. It was at that time that we decided that the Brunch S1 would become our first Dirty Bird Genetics - Volume 1 release. Exciting! You’ll still find these seeds on the Dirty Bird Genetics Volume 1 menu today (although I’ll warn you guys, when they sell out, they will almost certainly be gone for good). You’ll also find this s1/f1 iteration of the Brunch in many of our genetic family trees, including staff favorites:
Dirty Mimosa: A Brunch backcross and outdoor champion that clocks in with a lightening fast 43-47 day flowering time
Dirty Mimosa pictured outdoors in a local Maine garden.
Bad Apple: Probably my personal favorite Brunch-related strain, and a cultivar that has only continued to impress me more as we’ve bred with it. The Bad Apple has pungent terpenes that range from rotten Apple to gym sock funk, and our keeper “Sugar Mill” cut is the single most trichome-laden plant I’ve grown in my 15 year career. In 2026, this Brunch-child created two of my favorite strains we’ve bred to-date: Apple Peelz and Candy Apple Kush.
Bad Apple - Sugar Mill Cut (Day 42)
Apple Peelz (Day 49)
Candy Apple Kush (Day 44)
The Brunch F2
We knew early on that the Brunch was a project that we wanted to fully realize the potential of by creating a stabilized Brunch IBL (in-bred line). Now that we’d created and tested several iterations of the Brunch genetics, we were able to formulate a set of goals for the project:
Preserve Apple Terpene Profile: It’s unique to the Brunch and we love it.
Morphology: Shorten internodal spacing, select for lateral growth, preserve high calyx-to-leaf ratio, and retain a foliage volume that is ideal for air flow, light penetration, and outdoor cultivation.
Yield: Improve yield by selecting cuts that stack well, have dense flower, and yield respectably.
Flowering Time: Ideally, under 56 days.
Color: Preserve the dark purples and maroons that are signature to the Brunch.
Effect: Retain the social, happy effect that is signature to the Brunch.
Using the Brunch F1 #5 and a Brunch F1 male that we labeled #12, we made the Brunch F2. In cannabis breeding, the F2 filial generation is known to contain the largest number of phenotypes and the most genetic diversity of any other generation. We found this to be true with the Brunch F2. We saw divergence in color (purple/green), terpenes (apple/earthy meh), and in both flower and plant morphology. Speaking generally though, these plants grew much more laterally than their F1 counterparts thanks to our parental selections. We were also able to eliminate the “scraggly” phenotype that appeared in about 10% of our F1 seed population. These F2 plants had stronger, more bushy structure as a whole, accompanied by a higher volume of foliage, more compact, golf ball shaped flowers, and tighter internodal spacing.
After carefully watching our F2s grow, we whittled our selection down to two winning cuts that we would use for our F3 breed: The Brunch F2 #7 and #13. They each had something we loved, but neither had everything. The #7 had the most incredible, vibrant, apple terpene profile; there was something that smelled distinctly more “appley” about this plant than any we’d smelled previously, and we were confident this was the direction we wanted to go with the terpene profile. The #7 plant wasn’t perfect though: it stayed vividly green way longer than we would have liked, purpling in the final week of flower, long after we’d written it off as a green pheno. This was something we felt cautious about because color was one of the goals we’d set for the project. The #13, on the other hand, took on a beautiful, deep purple color early in flower–something we loved–but it lacked an exciting terpene profile, leaning more towards the subdued, nutty, earthy profile of the Peanutbutter Breath.
The Brunch F3
Brunch f3
V79 have better floral mass . Long intermodal spacing and classic brunch nugs, small leaves
139 #1 - Apple terps.
**V79 #1 - stacking the most - best floral mass. Striped maroon and purple and yellow leaves.
V79 _#2 - shorter but similar burgundy and purple and sugar/ apple terps
V79 #5- Apple gas Peanutbutter - very purple but not a great yield
Brunch 139
Biggest nugs yet. long and skinny and tie together up the stem
*3- Apple cheese. Tall. Long stacked buds. Very impressive stacking and yield - double floral mass of what we normally see, and very high calyx to leaf ratio
4- more arugula look. Apple smell.
When it came time to make our Brunch F3 seeds, we had a choice to make: We had to decide whether to breed our F2 #9 male with the wonderfully appley #7, or the spectacularly purple #13. This choice proved to be an impossible one, so we decided we would take the more intensive path and breed in both directions. Over the course of the next year, two Brunch F3 seed lots were created: The Brunch F3 v79 (made with our #9 male and our purple F2 #7 cut) and the Brunch F3 v139 (made with our #9 male the wonderfully appley F2 #13 mom).
In testing these two Brunch F3 lines we’d created, we saw the genetics take the most marked strides forward to-date. Most notably, the plants were stacking better than ever before, yields were improving, colors were popping (though continuing to diverge a bit between green, maroon and purple), and we were really starting to hone in on a consistent terpene profile. While the apple terpenes were predictably more dominant in the v79 seed population, we ultimately chose a cut from the v139 population to move the line forward to F4 (see pictured below). The Brunch F3 v139 #3 boasted the biggest colas we’d seen in a Brunch to-date. They were long, dense, and they tied together beautifully up the central stalk creating a long, beautiful arm of purple, funky, apple Brunch. The #3 cut had close to double the floral mass of any Brunch we’d seen before. It had an incredibly high calyx-to-leaf ratio, purple flowers, and its terpene profile was pungent and unmistakably apple. It checked all of the boxes, so the choice was a remarkably straight forward one.
Brunch F3 v139 #3
Brunch F3 v139 #3
The Brunch F4
In early 2026, we were able to test the Brunch F4s that we had made using only the F3 v139 #3 cut. This was the first time we had chosen to advance the Brunch line through a process called selfing (crossing a plant with itself through reversal). The v139 mother cut had so much to offer, and we were curious to see how this choice would evolve the line, so we created and tested our first population of feminized F4 seeds.
It has only been a month since we harvested our Brunch F4 test plants, and the project is still fresh in my mind. The F4s were easily the most exciting yet. The diversity we saw in the F4 generation was markedly different from what we’d seen previously. To use an analogy, imagine crossing a black lab with a poodle. The Brunch F2 + F3s were what I’ll call Bloodles; they were mutts. Their traits were messy and indistinguishable, resembling their parents in some ways while also blending together to form strange iterations of curly, black-and-white Bloodle soup. We saw countless combinations of traits–some that we liked and some that we didn’t–all unpredictably smooshed together. The F4 population was different. The traits we were selecting for were finally segregated in an easily observable way. Phenotypes were so much more identifiable. To circle back to our genius analogy: The Golden Doodle was born, alongside pups that looked remarkably black lab, and pups that looked remarkably Poodle.
While we did observe a little bit of inbreeding depression in our F4s–which is to be expected–overall the plants had several consistent qualities: They had an extremely short 50-day flowering time, a remarkably high calyx-to-leaf ratio, very compact, long, conical flowers, medium internodal spacing, 1.5x stretch, ideal foliage volume for air flow and light penetration, high trichome density, balanced vertical and lateral growth, and overall they were healthy, self-supporting, easy-to-grow plants.
One of the most interesting things about the Brunch F4 was that we finally saw a purely green phenotype emerge in 20% of the population. The 80% majority were purple: 50% solid, dark purple in both foliage and flower, and 30% predominantly purple with a little green fade. The terpenes were consistently apple-dominant–exactly what we wanted–and we were so excited to find that the apple smells were only deepening further, evolving into more of a complex, warm-yet-tart apple pie. For the first time, we did note some sour gas smells coming through on a slim minority of plants, with one plant exhibiting sour gas only; no apple.
The biggest obstacle we’ve faced in choosing our winning cut(s) of the Brunch F4s has been deciding what to do with the visual feast that is the green phenotype. We’d been very intentionally selecting for purple coloring from the outset of this multi-year project, and yet these green plants were hard to turn away from.
Thank you so much for reading about the journey we’ve gone on to create the Brunch, one of our most beloved plant-mothers. I’d like to wish all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother’s Day. Know that you are seen, loved, and celebrated every day!
by Ben Morris, Head Breeder of Dirty Bird Genetics
Introduction:
There is a plethora of pests that plague our gardens, green houses, and grow spaces but few can compete with the rapidity and malignancy of the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae). Two-spotted spider mites are small, herbivorous arachnids that feed on plant sap and chlorophyll by puncturing the underside of leaves with their tiny, piercing mouth parts called ‘chelicerae’.1 This feeding mechanism causes damage to the leaf which hinders the overall photosynthetic ability of the infested plant. These pests can reproduce rapidly and, if left untreated, can quickly lead to the deterioration, and ultimately, the death of an infected plant. The damage caused by two-spotted spider mites can lead to lower flower yields, seed abortion, and improper seed fill. This is a huge detriment for flower producers as well as for breeders and seed producers. These voracious little creatures are tiny (between 1/80th and 1/50th of an inch)2 and can be very difficult to detect before moderate to heavy infestation occurs. In the following sections, we will go through some of the visual signs growers can use to determine if they have a spider mite infestation and what approximate level that infestation is likely at (low, moderate, high).
Identification/Plant Signs:
As previously stated, two-spotted spider mites (TSM) are very small. Fully grown adult spider mites will appear as whitish to grayish-green specks with eight tiny legs and two dark spots on either side of their body. They are easy to mistake for small pieces of dirt of other, non-living debris but if you watch them long enough you will see them scurry about. They are largely found on the abaxial (underside) surface of leaves where they take advantage of any nooks and crannies they can find to hide and feed in. Having a hand magnifying glass or a jeweler’s loupe will make identifying these pests much easier than trying to observe them with your naked eye.
Early into infestation there are few signs of the two-spotted spider mite, the main indicator being the observation of the mites themselves. One can inspect a plant or clone they are obtaining using a jeweler’s loupe, or other hand magnification tool, to check under the leaves and on the stems for small whitish, gray/green bodies that often exhibit two large dark spots on both sides of the idiosoma3 (the main part of the body). One single female TSM can cause an infestation due to their rapid reproduction cycle and their ability to reproduce asexually. Thoroughly inspecting any incoming plants to your grow space is paramount in detecting pest issues. If there is a spider mite, or if there are multiple, inhabiting the plant’s aerial parts without any signs of insect feeding damage on the leaf and without webbing present, the plant is in the early stages of infestation.
As they feed, they pierce and damage leaf cells which ultimately leads to the desiccation and the eventual death of the cells they feed upon. This can eventually lead to the death of the entire leaf which obviously harms the plant. A sign of their feeding includes tiny, lightly colored dots that are observable on the adaxial surface (upper side) of leaves. These dots can appear whitish, yellow, or silver and give the leaf a mottled appearance. These damaged leaves can take on a yellow/gray or even bronze appearance as the damage spreads. If you see small, dotted patterns (also known as stippling) occurring on your leaves, check the underside of those leaves for the small, oval bodies of two-spotted spider mites.4
If the spider mites are left alone, they will continue to work their way up the plant, leaving visual indications via stippling/mottling on more leaves higher and higher into the canopy of the plant. Lower leaves, or leaves first infested, will begin to turn yellow and may start falling off. Eventually, when they reach a certain population size they will begin to make webs. These webs look just like spider webs and help the mites to protect themselves from predators as well as act as highways between plants for easier access to new feeding grounds.
Two-spotted spider mites focus on feeding and reproduction before they focus on making webs.5 This is good to know as it can help a grower determine what level of infestation they are dealing with. Below is a rough guide to determining the level of infestation and what action may be necessary. This rating scale was adapted from the work of Bruce Potter and Ken Ostlie6 (University of Minnestoa)
No Infestation: No spider mites nor plant injury observed.
Low Infestation: Minor stippling or mottling on lower leaves, no premature leaf yellowing observed
Low-Moderate Infestation: Stippling or mottling common on lower leaves; some premature yellowing observed
Moderate Infestation: Heavy stippling/mottling on lower leaves progressing into middle canopy; leaf yellowing and leaf loss observed; mites observed in middle and top canopy
Moderate-High Infestation: Lower leaf yellowing very apparent and leaf loss common; stippling/mottling, webbing, and mites common in middle canopy; mites and minor stippling/mottling in upper canopy
High Infestation: Lower leaf loss common and yellowing into middle canopy; stippling/mottling and distortion of upper leaves common; mites in upper canopy; webbing in upper canopy
Treatment:
The damage caused to leaves by two-spotted spider mites is not reversible2 so prevention, early detection, and treatment are of the utmost importance in ensuring your crop’s health and productive capacity.
There are many options available for treating spider mite infestations that largely reside within three categories: Physical, Chemical, and Biological.
Physical Controls:
Earlier into infestation a grower can use a hose or other means of spraying water with adequate pressure on the undersides of the leaves of their plant to physically knock the spider mites off of the undersides of the leaves. This method is not appropriate to use if mold is an issue in your grow space but can work for some growers in initially removing the mites. The drawback to this approach, besides a potential in increased mold presence, would be that mites not killed by being sprayed off could climb back up the plant and re-infest.
Some growers have had success in wiping their leaves down physically with a cloth and a small amount of insecticidal soap or oil. This can physically remove and crush mites and mite eggs but is time consuming and can lead to leaf damage if not done with care.
In early stages of infestation, removing heavily infested leaves and disposing of them immediately outside of your grow space can help to reduce the mite’s numbers as well.
Chemical Controls:
If the infestation becomes moderate or high, then chemical controls may have to be employed. Pyrethrins can be effective in killing mites but should be avoided due to the natural mite predators they also kill, which can lead to a TSM population resurgence.7 Pyrethrin should not be used during the mid to late flower stage of the cannabis growth cycle as it can be hard, if not impossible, to wash these chemicals from the flower/plant.8 Earlier in the flowering stage and/or during the vegetative stage pyrethrins can be somewhat effective in suppressing mite populations. Take care not to employ pyrethrins if you have adequate mite predators in and around your plants as these chemicals can also kill the beneficial insects, as previously stated.
Neem oil can also be used in a spray to knock adult mites off of leaves and the residue from the neem oil will suffocate the mite eggs, interrupting their life cycle and denying much of the next generation from being able to colonize and feed on your plants.4
There are organic chemical treatments that often employ some mixture of rosemary, clove, and mint oils to deter and repel mites. Many products are offered with these ingredients and can be used in foliar sprays as well as in the water the plants are fed to increase the amount of these substances in the soil and plant to further deter mites.9,10
Some growers have reported success with using a mix of isopropyl alcohol and water at a 1:9 ratio. This mixture can be used as a foliar spray to knock mites off the leaves and to also kill them. Isopropyl alcohol will also kill the mite eggs as well, attacking multiple generations of the mites at once. There are precautions to be taken if employing this method as isopropyl alcohol, if not diluted enough, can damage plant tissue as well. It also can dry leaves out if the temperature is high (80 degrees F and above). If employing this method it is best to test the spray on a few leaves first to see how the plant will respond before spraying the entire plant. It is recommended to spray near the end of the day to avoid the isopropyl alcohol sitting on the leaves and causing burning damage. While this method can be effective we do not recommend it unless no other options are available due to the risk of further plant damage but we wanted to include it as an option due to some positive reports from other growers.11
Insecticidal soaps can also be employed to kill and remove mites from plants. As with any insecticide, read the label that comes with the product and apply according to the manufacturer’s instructions to avoid any unnecessary plant damage.
Sucrose octonoate esters have been proven to be very effective in killing two-spotted spider mites, as well as other mite species and even aphids.12 One such product, Organishield, is made with these substances and, when applied as a foliar spray to the undersides of plant leaves, can kill juvenile and adult mites on contact by drying the waxy, protective cuticle that envelops them. Once this waxy cuticle is dried out it can lead to rapid dehydration and desiccation of the mites which leads to their death. Sucrose octonoate ester treatments are very environmentally friendly as they are non-toxic to humans, other animals such as pets, and they do not harm pollinators such as bees. Sucrose octonoate esters also have very low toxicity to aquatic life making them a very safe option for treatment. Sucrose octonoate esters also degrade rapidly (usually within 5 days) and only leave behind water, CO2, fatty acids, and sucrose so there is no lasting environmental impact such as with other, more toxic chemical treatments.
For light to moderate infestations a mix of 60ml Organishield per gallon of water, when applied in a foliar spray to the undersides of leaves, can be very effective in reducing the level of infestation and killing large numbers of mites. For heavier infestations a mix of 80ml Organishield per gallon of water is recommended by the manufacturer to lead to a faster kill on contact. After years of use we can personally vouch for this method of treatment as we have seen it to be very effective in reducing mite infestations while not harming our plants nor exposing our workers or the environment to toxic substances. As with any foliar spray treatment, remember to turn off grow lights during spraying to not potentially burn plants due to the magnification of light through water droplets.
Many of the substances discussed above will only act upon TSM nymphs and adults, not their eggs. We recommend applying another spray 3-7 days after the initial treatment to ensure the removal of newly hatched spider mites. For severe infestations, a treatment every 3-5 days (depending on insecticidal substance used; consult the manufacturer’s label) can be beneficial in continuously killing newly hatched two-spotted spider mites.
Biological Controls:
There are many biological and environmental (cultural) controls that can be employed in lieu of or in addition to physical and chemical treatments.
One common route is to employ predators of the two-spotted spider mite in your grow space. There are many species of insects and arachnids that predate on two-spotted spider mites and utilizing these species can be immensely helpful in combating mite infestation without the need for chemical treatment.
One such species, Phytoseiulus persimilis, is another kind of mite and a specialized hunter of two-spotted spider mites. P. persimilis can eat many adults and even more young two-spotted spider mites in a day. These can be purchased from several suppliers and then spread onto the infested plants. P. persimilis only eats two-spotted spider mites so they can be very effective in decimating TSM populations but will die off once their food source is depleted. These predatory mites are generally seen as good for rapid treatment when infestation levels are moderate to high.13
Neoseiulus californicus is another predator mite that has shown a decent effectiveness towards reducing spider mite populations. N.californicus has been reported to be hardier and able to survive hotter and drier temperatures than P. persimilis making it a good choice for growers with hot, dry grow area conditions. N. californicus can be used as a preventative measure as they have a wider range of prey they hunt and consume than just the two-spotted spider mite and thus may survive longer eating other pests in addition to TSM’s.13
Neoseiulus fallacis is a predatory mite that is more effective in cooler (50 – 800F), temperate climates and for outdoor grows as it has the ability to overwinter if enough food is present. By avoiding spraying chemical treatments and keeping N. fallacis populations alive and undisturbed some growers have been able to see this predator return the next year to continue hunting and eating two-spotted spider mites as well as other mite species and even some small arthropods.13
Ladybugs (of the family Coccinellidae and also known as lady-beetles) can also be used for mite control but aren’t the most effective at such a task due to their penchant for spreading out and away from grow areas as well as their preference for larger prey like aphids as opposed to two-spotted spider mites. However, there is a species of lady-beetle that is known as the “spider mite destroyer” scientifically named Stethorus punctillum that does hunt smaller insects and arachnids such as the two-spotted spider mite. These lady-beetles can also be applied to infested plants to hunt and reduce not only two-spotted spider mites, but a range of different mite species and even aphids. S. punctillum prefers spider mites for its diet but will eat aphids and mite eggs if juvenile/adult spider mites are not present making S. punctillum a good potential predator for integrated pest management. Unlike other, larger ladybug species, S. punctillum will not immediately disperse from the area as long as their food source is present making them good candidates for long term protection against plant pests, especially in green houses.14
The green lacewing (of the family Chrysopidae) is another species of insect that can be used effectively to treat spider mite and aphid infestations. While normally used more for aphid control, green lacewing larvae are voracious predators of smaller herbivorous insects and arachnids. Green lacewing larvae can be spread on the soil as well as on the leaves of a plant and left alone to hunt and eat many pests that threaten the health of your garden. If conditions are right (e.g. 68-900F temperatures, adequate pests for larvae to feed on, adequate flowering plants that produce nectar for adults to feed on) then a green lacewing population can be maintained throughout several growing seasons for lasting pest protection. Although the adult green lacewing is an herbivore it will not feed directly on cannabis plants and prefers nectars and pollen from flowering plants such as coriander, dill, or fennel, among others. Having any of these species as companion plants in your grow area can help to encourage lacewing population growth and can maintain their presence in your grow area.15
With any pest predators a grower should be careful about applying broad-spectrum insecticides as these can kill the beneficial insects you spent time and money on attracting and/or introducing to your grow space.
TSM Life Cycle/Prevention:
Two-spotted spider mites have 5 essential parts of their life cycle: Egg – Larvae- Protonymph- Deutonymph-Adult. Adult TSM’s usually live for 2-4 weeks and feed continuously on plant sap and chlorophyll from punctured leaf surfaces. Female TSM’s can lay anywhere from 2 – 20 eggs a day, with a rough average of 10-15 eggs laid a day in favorable conditions. Females will lay eggs regardless of whether male mites are present or not. Any unfertilized eggs will hatch as males, which will then fertilize the next batch of eggs to create more females.2,5 With this knowledge in mind, it is easy to see how even a single female TSM can start an outbreak that can take over your garden or grow space in very little time.
Two-spotted spider mites thrive in environmental conditions where it is hot, dusty, and dry. Between 68-860F, the spider mite life cycle can be completed in as little as 7-8 days, which means eggs have been laid-larva hatched-two nymph phases completed-and adult maturation achieved with another round of egg laying and fertilization occurring in about a week’s time. TSM’s optimal breeding and life cycle occurs also when relative humidity is less than 50%. 16
These temperature and humidity parameters can make environmental conditions difficult to balance as the low RH discourages mold and fungal growth but invites the presence of mites. The temperature range for optimal mite population growth also encompasses the temperature range for optimal cannabis growth (70-850F).
There are cultural controls that can be employed to reduce mite populations and breeding rates:
Make sure your plants are adequately watered. Drought stress invites mites to feed upon your plant so making sure it has enough water will aid in not attracting TSM’s to it. 4, 16
Raise the RH of your grow space to 60%. This will still allow for reduction and suppression of mold growth while slowing the breeding rates of mites at the same time.
Avoid over-fertilization with nitrogen, which can encourage the soft, succulent growth that attracts mites.17
Limit the amount of dust around your plants as dust can protect mites from predators. Using mulch to suppress dust in outdoor grows can be helpful. Sprinkler systems in outside grows can also help to reduce the amount of dust present on and around plants.
Keep your grow-spaces CLEAN. Remove leaf litter and other biological debris that could act as vectors for mold and hiding places for mites. Remove heavily infested leaves and discard them far from the grow area as soon as possible.
Reduce plant stress in any way you can. Stressed plants are much more susceptible to attack from mites, as well as many other pests. By keeping your plants healthy and happy you give them a better chance at not attracting mites in the first place.18
Feeding plants with potassium silicate can help to strengthen the cell walls of the plant, making it more difficult for mites, and other piercing insects, to puncture leaf and stem surfaces.19
Disclaimer:
This publication may contain pesticide recommendations that are subject to change at any time. These recommendations are provided only as a guide. It is always the pesticide applicator's responsibility, by law, to read and follow all current label directions for the specific pesticide being used. Due to ever-changing labels and product registrations, some of the recommendations given in this writing may no longer be legal by the time you read them. If any information in these recommendations disagrees with the label, the recommendation must be disregarded. No criticism is intended for products not mentioned. The author(s), Dirty Bird Genetics, and North Atlantic Seed Company assume no liability resulting from the use of these recommendations.
References:
1 Owens, D., Stubbs, C. (10/2024). Two Spotted Spider Mite. University of Delaware.
Our next toke is the Alpha Series' Apple Peelz by Dirty Bird Genetics. She is a cross of Sex Melon x Bad Apple. Read on to learn about our experiences.
The unique smell took me back to a stroll down a row at an apple orchard during a New England Fall. It has the fragrant and sweet aroma of a discarded apple core that has been sitting in the sun. I love the sweetness of this strain. It brings on a very functional and smooth high, which I found to be a great afternoon pick-me-up. This one will not lock you down or make you feel heavy. She would be a great companion for a walk on a beach or in the woods.
- Crystal
Apple Peelz (Sex Melon x Bad Apple) by Dirty Bird Genetics is a fast favorite! This plant is beautiful, smells sweet like apples, and has stunning deep purple leaves. The buds are dense and covered in crystals. It’s a great sativa-dominant hybrid that provides a lovely daytime high. It will calm your nerves and melt away your worries but won’t deplete your energy. I smoked this in the morning and then spontaneously deep cleaned and rearranged my dining room and kitchen. I would highly recommend this strain for when you want to take the edge off but still feel energetic and functional.
- Mariah
Read more about the differences between Alpha Series, Limited Series, & Tester packs.
A Comprehensive Shopping Guide By Growers, For Growers
Looking for recommendations that you can trust this 4/20? Look no further. At North Atlantic Seed, not only do we have the unique opportunity to work closely with our breeders and our customers, but we also love to grow as many genetics as we can each year. This year, we’ve taken all of this anecdotal breeder and grower experience and we’ve combined it with NASC Here are the standouts we’ve identified this 4/20:
BEST SELLERS 2026
Below are NASC’s Best Selling Autoflowers + Photoperiods of 2026 pulled directly from our Q1 2026 sales data.
NASC Best Sellers: Top 3 Autoflowers
Purple Lemonade Auto by 420 Fast Buds
Blue Dream Auto by 420 Fast Buds
Acapulco Gold Auto by Auto Seeds
NASC Best Sellers: Top 3 Photoperiods
Acapulco Gold (F) by Barney’s Farm
Mandarin Cookies V2 (F) by Ethos Genetics
Blueberry Muffin (F) by Humboldt Seed Company
BEST OUTDOOR STRAINS 2026
This year NASC set out to curate a line of genetics that commercial farmers and outdoor home growers could rely on for uniformity, resilience, quality and performance. We are asked for outdoor recommendations every day, and because we live in one of the harshest climates in the US for growing, we know the struggle it can be to find reliable genetics. The NASC Commercial Cultivars series was sourced from US breeders and tested and bred on a commercial scale to meet the needs of the home grower and the commercial grower alike. For that reason, this line of True F1 Hybrids and IBLs are our picks for outdoor 2026:
NASC GROWERS CHOICE - COMMUNITY-VOTED FAVORITES:
The strains below are YOUR favorite strains of 2025. These results came directly from the Grower’s Choice survey that NASC conducted in Jan 2026.
Strain of the Year - Autoflower:
Gorilla Cookies by Fast Buds
Banana Purple Punch Auto by Fast Buds
Banana Jealousy Auto by Ethos Genetics
Frostbanger Auto by 420 Fast Buds
Gorilla Zkittlez by 420 Fast Buds
Purple Lemonade Auto by 420 Fast Buds
Strawberry Milk and Qookies by Night Owl Seeds
Grape Gas by Twenty20 Mendocino
Double Grape Auto by Mephisto Genetics
Guava Auto by 420 Fast Buds
Strain of the Year - Photoperiod:
Blueberry Muffin by Humboldt Seed Co.
Slurricane #7 by In House Genetics
Dirty Mimosa by Dirty Bird Genetics
Mandarin Cookies V2 by Ethos Genetics
Orange Cream Pop by Humboldt Seed Co.
Bubba Whip by Twenty20 Mendocino
Chem Funk by Ethos Genetics
Chicken N’ Wafflez by Humboldt Seed Co.
FX3 by Solfire Gardens
Irie Maiden by Romulan Genetics
Strain of the Year - Extract:
Blueberry Muffin by Humboldt Seed Co.
Honey Banana by Lovin In Her Eyes
Trich Beast by Solfire Gardens
Orange Cream Pop by Humboldt Seed Co
Golden Sands by Humboldt Seed Co.
Irie Maiden by Romulan Genetics
Maui Wowie Squared by Dirty Bird Genetics
GENETICS FOR A CAUSE:
This year, we have been hard at work behind the scenes trying to educate lawmakers and influence positive policy changes for cannabis seeds and genetics in DC. We’ve recently started a campaign called Keep Seeds Legal! When you purchase the strains on this menu, 100% of proceeds go towards fighting the “hemp ban” set to take effect this Nov 2026.
We are a family-run farm in southern Virginia just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We use natural farming practices that go beyond organic methods and we strive for a closed-loop regenerative agriculture system utilizing what is available on our property and foraged from local surrounding areas to benefit the soil and plants we grow. -Jolly Pond Farm
We are very excited for this new addition to the NASC menu, Jolly Pond Farm. For this smoke report, I smoked Tropighani, which is (Trop Cherry x White Afghani F3). Mariah tried Trop Cherry x Garlic Grove. Read on to learn about our experiences.
White Afghani S1 (parent strain to Tropighani)
Tropighani She can definitely be your partner in crime if you're looking for a fun and goofy time. The intense euphoria that immediately started was great! I felt like I was put into a spacey and giddy trance. I became so forgetful that my dogs were almost fed second-dinner by mistake. Overall, I'd say this strain is balanced, but because of the intense head-lift, I didn't want to move far from my couch or be active. With causing such heightened senses, I think this would be great for watching a movie or listening to music. It could also assist with bouts of laughter in a laid-back social setting. The taste and smell toggled between a representation of both parent strains. It had this sweet and earthy flavor from the Trop Cherry side, but a strong note of herbal spice from the Afghani lineage. I would absolutely smoke this again and I look forward to trying more from Jolly Pond Farm! - Crystal
Trop Cherry x Garlic Grove I enjoyed this strain from Jolly Pond Farm! It really does smell like cherries with some peppery undertones. It’s definitely grown with care; the buds are dense and frosty with flecks of purple. I felt immediately relaxed as soon as I smoked it. It tastes great, and the high is super mellow and uplifting. The stress of the day melted away, and I was able to get out of my head and just chill. I tend to smoke in the evening before bed and this strain definitely helped me to relax before falling asleep, however I think it would provide a great daytime high as well if you had the day off. 10/10! - Mariah
Read further for advice about strain selection for your outdoor garden, including the new NASC Commercial Cultivars line.
Considerations For Outdoor Strain Selection
Flowering Time: A cannabis plant will likely not last through multiple frosts, so keep the flowering time in mind if you live somewhere that starts to experience colder temperatures in October. Late September-early October is a sweet spot for Northern and New England climates.
Resistance: Considering a strain's resistance could narrow down your options. Keep an eye out for strains that are resistant to common outdoor problems such as mold, mildew, septoria, and pests.
Seed Type: For the beginner grower, I would caution against putting regular seeds in your garden without sex testing. A burst pollen sack outside is infinitely more detrimental to other plants in stages of flower than a similar situation inside, simply due to natural winds and air movement. Check the sex sites of feminized plants as well.
For more details On preparing your outdoor garden, check out this post!
The genetics you will find in NASC’s Commercial Cultivars line have been carefully selected by industry veterans for their overall commercial crop viability. This includes outdoor resilience and resistances, early finishing times, complex terpene profiles, high performing test results, extract performance, overall bag appeal, overall plant and flower morphology, dependability and stability. These are genetics that have been bred and tested in large commercial settings with the utmost integrity, and these are genetics that you can trust, at a price point that is reasonable.
Click the images below to learn more about each of these strains!
With 20+ years of cultivation experience and over 250 unique varieties created SinCity Seeds is among the worlds most respected cannabis breeders. They stand behind their work and always offer a full satisfaction guarantee on all their products.
The NASC Cast Crew had the pleasure of sitting down with Don of Sin City Seeds. Listen to what he has to say below, and follow us on Vimeo for even more content!
Sticky Finger Seeds is a Cannabis genetic collective that specializes (takes pride) in growing and breeding heirloom and landrace cannabis genetics. Now closing in on five decades of cannabis farming and breeding cannabis enthusiast Will Grinnell has been seeking, trading, purchasing and collecting a variety of the best cannabis genetics possible, along with the Sticky Finger Seeds collective of heritage craft farmers and their seed collections.
The NASC Cast Crew had the pleasure of sitting down with Will of Sticky Finger Seeds. Listen to what he has to say below, and follow us on Vimeo for even more content!
Let's agree: the Dirty Bird Genetics family are nerds (in the most endearing way...obviously), so of course we would overthink things like pricing when it comes to assigning value to our genetics. Because we recently threw a new menu at you with the launch of our Alpha Series, we wanted to take a moment to explain where our heads are at when we are deciding which of the menu tiers a strain gets released into:
ALL STRAINS ARE:
Highly promising and exciting on multiple levels.
Tested by a lab for cannabinoids and terpenes
Grown out and tested indoors by yours truly.
Herm-free unless specifically noted in the profile (which would be tremendously rare).
VOLUME SERIES: Volume releases are reserved for the best of the best. What that means is very personal and it evolves with time as we learn and grow, and as our genetics become more and more refined. If a cultivar is released in the Volume series, then you know that strain is some of our best work to-date. We have a very high level of confidence in these genetics, and that standard only grows month-to-month and year-over-year. At present, a strain released into the Volume series meets the following criteria:
Test results for cannabinoids + terpenes came back very favorably.
Morphologically stable and vigorous - We are looking for homogeneity here and will always speak to phenotypic variation within the strain descriptions.
Expressed desirable traits such as well-proportioned internodal spacing and high calyx to leaf ratio.
Terpene profile is ON POINT - complex, pungent, in your face. We are big fans of unique terpene profiles.
Quality observed is consistently high-level in all of the seeds we tested.
Yield is moderate-to-high
Overall bag appeal and trichome coverage is high
ALPHA SERIES: The ALPHA Series is the newest addition to the Dirty Bird Genetics menu. As we’ve grown and evolved as breeders, our standards– like our genetics– have grown and evolved, too. We set a very high bar for our Volume series, and it’s a bar that is increasingly rising. Many of our favorite projects may miss that bar ever so slightly, for one silly reason or another, while still being truly phenomenal overall. The ALPHA Series is home to these genetics. It offers budget-friendly, high-end cultivars that go well above and beyond the genetics you can source at similar price points.
Alpha Series strains meet all of the same criteria as the Volume series, but one thing likely gave us pause. For example, the Apple Peelz (Sex Melon x Bad Apple) is one of our favorite boutique strains to-date, but 10 days into flowering we threw out two plants in the test run that had really serrated, arugula-like foliage (like the Brunch “arugula cut”) because we needed to save space. The project finished phenomenally, but because we weren’t able to see how that phenotype finished, we felt we couldn’t release it into the Volume series. This series will definitely be maximum bang for your buck!
TESTERS: Let me first say, it was probably unwise to name the Tester series, “Testers.” One might assume we haven’t grown these out when in fact we have. The Tester series is home to the projects that we see a lot of potential in and think people would enjoy, but that missed the mark in a meaningful-enough way that we cannot justify releasing it as an Alpha or a Volume release. This might include long internodal spacing, too much phenotypic variation, or foliage that is denser than we prefer. Many of these projects are good enough to continue breeding forward, or working into other projects. Testers are released at a price point that is super affordable for any grower, but the quality is good enough that we think even the connoisseurs would find loads of keepers here. Some of our favorite cuts ever have come from Tester series genetics.
Solfire Gardens, a Pacific Northwest seed company where passion meets biology, innovation intertwines with tradition, and selection creates the extraordinary. Their genesis dates back to 2015, when their founder, a dedicated University of Washington biology student from Seattle, decided to cultivate an institution out of his sheer fascination for pheno hunting and the world of seeds.
The NASC Cast Crew had the pleasure of sitting down with Sol of Solfire Gardens. Listen to what he has to say below, and follow us on Vimeo for even more content!
Twenty20 Mendocino has always taken the difficult path, the right path, the path less traveled. Their objective will never be to sell the most seeds, but to create the finest product. This is not a race and their goal isn’t to win; their goal is to stand the test of time and maintain pride and craftsmanship in everything they do. As sure as the sun will rise, they pledge to never release seeds to the public that have not been grown, tested, and approved by us. In a world of rapid-fire releases, social media hype and whimsical market demands, they promise to create our own path, march to the beat of their own drum, and always put quality over quantity.
The NASC Cast Crew had the pleasure of sitting down with Aaron of Twenty20 Mendocino. Listen to what he has to say below, and follow us on Vimeo for even more content!
In House Genetics specializes in micro-breeding cannabis seeds, offering a variety of high-quality strains that cater to all types of growers, including those looking for outdoor cannabis seeds. With new strains released every month, In House Genetics consistently leads the way in innovative crossbreeds and exclusive limited runs. The team’s years of experience and in-depth knowledge of genetics have allowed them to produce some of the most potent and sought-after seeds in the industry. Passionate about their craft, they continue to push the boundaries of cannabis research and development, securing their position at the forefront of the cannabis seed industry.
In 2025, In House Genetics dropped some new strains like Electracane, Purple Rush, Dripzilla, Midnight Zushi, Jamz, and many more! They offered a variety of freebies and constant discounts as well! Below, you'll find the top five strains by In House Genetics at NASC.
JELLY BREATH S1
Jelly Breath S1 is a hybrid strain that is a producer of very dense frosty flowers ranging from grape to cookie flavors.
BANANACANE
Bananacane grows vigorous, resinous heavy buds. Her aroma and flavor profile include ripe banana, berry/sherbet, caramel and earth. This strong indica-leaner can cause sedation and is excellent for sleep. She is a great option for extracts, too!
SUGAR CANE
Sugar Cane is an absolute eye-stopper. She is a mood-booster that will help you focus. You can expect a flavor and aroma profile of sweetness with floral and grape notes.
SLURRICANE #7 S1
The buds of Slurricane #7 S1 become large and resinous. She brings on heavy, sedative effects. You can expect a profile of loud, grape gas with creamy undertones.
PLATINUM KUSH BREATH REMIX
Both of the parental strains of Platinum Kush Breath Remix are very heavy duty so this is not one for the inexperienced smokers out there. She has a lovely, pure-gassy flavour and aroma which will have all the Kush lovers out there going crazy.
Changing the ethos of cannabis, with commercial boutique innovations, game-changing genetics, mind-opening insights and the best possible products, Ethos uses science and data to apply the best practices, make the most effective combinations and produce winners time and again. Offering the most elite, most efficient cultivars – from F1s to IBLs and Alpha Fems to autoflowers – Ethos Genetics, founded by Colin Gordon, is based in Colorado, USA. Colin and his team work to produce quality in their products as well as their contributions to the greater community. ETHOS is raising expectations.
Mandarin Cookies V2 grows like a champion and can put out very colorful and flavorful flowers. The V2 version has added even more citrus along with the always-welcome gasoline by moving away from the Forum Cut into a much chunkier, OG-Kush-heavy version named Ethos Cookie #12.
PLANET OF THE GRAPES RBX
Planet of the Grapes is made to produce and is extremely high in both cannabinoid and terpene percentages. Heavy flower yields are easy to get on this low-maintenance, medium-height, strong, lateral plant. She tests and extracts huge in usable oils! Her aroma is only outdone by her flavor: sharp grapes, sweet citrus and the signature musky, greasy flavor of Chem D. Acrid aromas like propane and "hooch" accompany the more citrusy pheno. You can expect intense, heavy, classic “Indica” effects.
CHERRY GAR-SEE-YA R1
This is not your typical compact, leafy cherry variety. Cherry Gar-See-Ya R1 stacks chunky, baseball-sized nugs from top to bottom. She is easily trained, beginner friendly, and loves growing outdoors
10TH PLANET R1
10TH Planet R1 leans to the heavy side, with intense, classic “hybrid” effects. Journey into an otherworldly blend of grape, citrus, gasoline and thick, skunky spice. Chunky, large and dense flowers give phenomenal yields in any system or space.
CRESCENDO RBX1
Crescendo RBx1 is medium-tall with some stretch. Sour, gassy and citrus flowers are crushingly strong! She is beginner friendly and is a high yielder!
Before their seed bank was created in 2007, RQS had long-time knowledge and passion for cannabis breeding. Following enormous interest in their strains, they opened our first shop in Amsterdam, the Damstraat location, in 2010. In 2011, they launched the Royal Queen Seeds website. In 2016, they welcomed first clients to their shop at Carrer dels Tallers in Barcelona, Spain. In 2022, they opened their newest location in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2023, they started operating in the United States and launched the first true F1 Hybrid Cannabis seeds in the market! Today, RQS operates in the US and in 28 countries in Europe and offers 100+ high-quality strains, growing equipment, growing advice, knowledge, tips and more!
In 2025, Royal Queen Seeds dropped some new strains like Sticky Queen, Sticky Queen Auto, Mexican Rush, and Mexican Rush Auto. They offered freebies and BOGOS as well! Below, you'll find the top five strains by Royal Queen Seeds at NASC.
SPECIAL QUEEN #1 AUTO
Special Queen #1 Auto offers tantalising flavors and a deeply stoning experience. Perfect for quiet evenings, this cultivar will melt your body into the couch while keeping your mind alert and switched on. You can expect a bountiful yield in a matter of weeks.
NORTHERN LIGHT (F)
Northern Light has been the basis for many of the award-winning classics in the history of cannabis. It is simply one of those knockout smokes that guarantees a couchlock session for the next few minutes. The Afghan heritage really shines through in the smoke and anyone looking for that strong stone need seek no further than this beautiful strain.
SPECIAL KUSH #1 (F)
Special Kush #1 likes to grow wild as if in the mountains of Afghanistan; this means it will fill up any space it can. Indoors, care should be taken that it doesn’t overgrow its space, but given enough space, like outdoors, it can grow to over 3 meters tall. The smoke carries a very hash-like taste with a full body stone present from its Indica background.
NORTHERN LIGHT AUTO
Northern Light Auto is a versatile strain that is as perfect for discreet indoor growers as it is for high-volume, home-growers outdoors. After a brief vegetative phase, this strain begins producing an abundance of flowers, finishing its entire life cycle in 10–12 weeks after planting the seed. She provides a generous harvest and might be one of the highest-yielding autoflowering strains available.
SPECIAL QUEEN #1 (F)
Perfect for a first-time grower who doesn't want to invest too much in his experimental growing, this Special Queen is a classic skunk that grows with ease, doesn't stretch too much and can be harvested in 8-9 weeks. The smoke is that of a classic skunk stone. It is mostly mental and provides smokers with an uplifting high that will relax even the most anxious stoners.
Every season, I take a gamble and test new genetics in my outdoor garden, hoping to find a keeper that checks all the boxes important to me as a grower: finishing time, unique and pungent terpene profile, stunning bag appeal, and ease of harvest. I always find a few solid strains - it’s hard to find perfection, after all. Every so often, however, I get lucky and a strain checks off all my boxes and then some. Head Candy by Dirty Bird Genetics proved to do exactly that this season.
Earlier this fall, I featured the Head Candy in Homegrower Happenings: Outdoor Harvest 2025 as my favorite strain. I found myself so impressed with the genetics through every step of the grow, and not at all surprised when the strain was a dream to harvest. The leaf to calyx ratio lended well to my arthritic hands, and zero bud rot or mold/mildew was to be found in the dense, sugary, greasy buds that filled my basement with pungent piney citrus scents. I’ve since bagged up my harvest, happy with the high yield and dense structure of the dried buds (sometimes a large cola shrinks down in drying - not the case here!). The stunning terpenes and color were still present when bagged up, with sugar and bud density not to be rivaled.
Once the Head Candy was cured up, the quality could not have been more clear. The stunning magentas and deepest purples blended beautifully with shocking lime greens and dense white sugars, all visible in hand when crushing up dense dank buds. The tropical fruity citronella pine terpenes overwhelmed my senses in the best way straight out of the bag. After harvest and cure, those terps remained shockingly strong, offering a unique and intense smoking experience. Expect a relaxed, happy, heady high that lasts and lasts.
The Sex Melon x Grape Cake Head genetic pairing proved truly something special to grow, and to my sheer delight just as special in smoke. I cannot wait to cozy up on these chilly nights to enjoy the Head Candy high for months to come; and then I'll probably just grow more!
A perfect selection, if you're looking to wind down after a long day and enjoy your partner's or a good book's company. I can confidently say the Head Candy was my absolute favorite plant this past season in every way that matters from seed to smoke. I urge any grower to give it a shot - you will not be disappointed!
Head Candy (F)
DIRTY BIRD GENETICS > HEAD CANDY (SEX MELON X GRAPE CAKE HEAD)
It is that time of year! Harvest season is in full swing, and we're here to share the best of Alyssa's garden (so far)!
I could type for ages about why I love the strains I grew outside this year, but we all know what the growers really want. Check out our Outdoor Garden Glamour Shots 2025!
BEST OF THE GARDEN 2025
Head Candy (Sex Melon x Grape Cakehead) Dirty Bird Genetics
Harvest Date: October 4th
Black Phoenix (The Brunch F1 x Bahama Mama) Dirty Bird Genetics
Harvest Date: October 4th
Dirty Mimosa Bx2 (Dirty Mimosa 'White Cap Cut' x Mimosa) Dirty Bird Genetics
Harvest Date: September 30th
Arguably the best harvest I have seen outside for years! I could not be happier with the performance of these strains. The Dirty Mimosa is just about ready to bag up! I have a couple honorable mentions in the wings - stay tuned!
And what about those Mauis?
The Maui crosses featured in the garden this year thrived in the heat and humidity, but they did struggle a bit to handle the drought like conditions! My well was the real MVP for a couple weeks there! Unlike our Brunch genetics, the Maui seems to have brought a similar proclivity to resilience from mold and mildew, but a bit longer of a flowering time! I anticipate these ladies to harvest this week of October 13th - 20th! I snapped a few shots yesterday as the Hawaiian Skunch nears harvest. She was the star of the veg cycle show, and has some interesting pink and lime coloring showing as she ripens!
After the Frost....
Every year I leave a few lower branches on plants that I harvest before the frost, just to have the opportunity to take some fun, frosty pictures - and to see if the plant would have handled a frost, had we had an earlier than usual one. This year, all of the plants handled the frost - check out some shots (during and after!).
I have had a heck of a season this 2025, and cannot wait to share more educational tips and tricks, and of course some notes from the bong after these beauties have time to dry and cure up! I hope you all enjoyed these bud pics - feel free to shoot us an email and share the fruits of your season's labors! Happy Harvest!
Explore more of my Maine Outdoor Selections!
A curated list of cultivars I have had success with outside over the last decade or so!
Seed and Soil is the newest addition to NASC's breeder line-up, and one that we can vouch for first hand! Beth had the pleasure of visiting their farm last season, and just knew there was something special there.
A Note from Ben and Betsy:
"Providing Midcoast Maine and beyond with cannabis seeds, cannabis plants, herb/flower/vegetable plants & seeds, worms & worm compost, and whatever other farm goodies happen to be ripe at the time. Core ethics of ours are environmental sustainability and sharing. All of the domesticated organisms that support us humans have passed down through human generations and horizontally across ethnicities, traditions, and geographies. As we co-create our agroecosystem with the land and discover synergies, we are committed to support the generative will of all the organisms at play by providing offspring to anyone inspired to steward them. For cannabis and beyond, we favor plants and animals that delight us and don’t require too much pampering, which instead thrive by instinct in our environment. Here's to our wild gardens - Enjoy!"
Seed and Soil is the life's work of Ben and Betsy Samuelson. They are not just cannabis breeders, their integrated farm stewards many garden species. Seed production is core to their farm, but bees, sheep, and treefruit are also part of the system. They release a carefully crafted, story-rich seed catalog each winter. Find the 2025 digital version here.
After putting in the work introgressing the sharp fruit and sweet cream aromas of Raspberry Parfait into an autoflower, the recipe for this "quick version" was a no-brainer! We used Raspberry Parfait Auto pollen [gritty trichome selection] on Raspberry Parfait Photo moms. Given the excellence and fidelity of aroma in our auto version, and the inconvenient lateness of the photo version, this Quick is a tidy option for the outdoor garden. You can bet that we’ll be packing our field with it. Our harvest goes to extraction, and terpene diversity of approximately 20 detectable terpenes makes this extract very lovely and complex. For washing live, there's a real chance of having acceptable yields, and a certainty of making some spectacular hash. However, it would be prudent to make a selective harvest and have uses for some of the plants who won't give up their heads so easily. Nobody agrees on effects, some report clean-the-house type energy while others are taught the oneness of all creation through the wisdom of the couch.
This project began with our niche pursuit of "regularizing" some of our favorite fem-only strains. Blessed by Humboldt Seed Company with a few seeds from the original regular cross of Blueberry Muffin and a Tangie cut which gave rise to Squirt, we began using those males on the fem-only squirt line. Tangie in the Sun earned its name when that first backcross to the F1 male resulted in a plant that stood apart from the sparkling grapefruit vibe with a more juicy passionfruit aroma than its Squirt sisters, deadringers for the eponymous grapefruit soda. That mom deserved, and got, some sibling male pollen, and the next generation doubled down with another delightfully passionfruity mom, parent to our ‘23 release. Our ‘24 garden revealed this release to have the passionfruit note pretty dialed in. At long last, seed from a gorgeous passion-fruity mom from a feminized seed chamber will be released for you tangie sommeliers out there. Expect tropical fullness from the “Tangie in the Sun” that will turn a lot of heads. It's quite like the Squirt, but we've put in quite a bit of love under the Maine Sun with it and the resilience to septoria seems to have benefitted.
The Omaha Jazz seed line is a dragon quest seeking the memory of the legendary “Sweet Jazz” clone-only strain. These layered complex flavors come to you from the jam band scene of Betsy’s homeland of Omaha, Nebraska circa 2010. It is the hands-down best smoke in the opinion of many seasoned revelers. One doob burning in a crowd of other doobies is said to have an unmistakable perfume begging the question “who’s got that Jazz?”. As a clone-only strain, it existed in only in the super secret indoor grows of Omaha Nebraska, not an early adopter of cannabis normalization! We offer it with humility and gratitude for the “traditional” market, people who took real risks to carry cannabis genetics forward when it was illegal. A Jamaican bag seed female (supposedly Lambs Bread) was crossed to Sweet Tooth and the Sweet Jazz unicorn was hunted from that cross. It has been said, “Sweet Jazz is like nothing else”. We agree that it cannot be described in much of a useful way... it has a floral note, and a camp-fuel lime-like twang. Even just a sniff is intoxicating. Terpinolene, Humulene and Bisabolol all appear in roughly equal concentration, together accounting for about 50% of total terpenes, while pungent Farnesene carries 10% of total terpenes. Farnesene while somewhat uncommon in cannabis, is the most abundant aroma compound in gardenias. Most eccentric of all, the Myrcene load in Omaha Jazz is a microscopic 3% of total. Effects are balanced - musical and dancey but without being too speedy. Omaha Jazz does quite well in our field. It grows very large plants without many inner branches, leaving plenty of airflow. It puts on weight and benefits from trellis. For the late finisher slot, there is no more reliable offering than this one. On average, later harvest means greater risk of mold or frost injury. But Omaha Jazz breaks this trend, reliably finishing thick colas with very little bud rot at the last minute in October. Mostly all green with some plants expressing light purple tips or, rarely, completely lavender colas. Septoria? Unquestionably our most resilient strain. One mustn't say resistant, because that's supposed to mean the plant can't get the disease, Omaha Jazz leaves any few pimples behind on the lower inner fans and doesn't miss a beat.
Lemon Pez Candy | Skunk| Earth | Uniformity 7/10 | 90 Days from Sprout Harvest |
Etrog Auto is a Seed and Soil original introgression. This means that we crossed an auto to a photo and selected for three subsequent generations from LOTS of plants, about 1000 in this case. These introgressions are our proudest work! Lemongrass is Etrog Auto’s photoperiod ancestor and its rounded lemony gas clearly shines through. Expect a narrow range of gassy lemon, to sour green apple, to shimmering lemon pez aroma. An etrog is a type of citron, a big ass lemon, used in the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. It has a wonderful citrus aroma – makes a martini special for the Fall season. A nod to the tribe, Kosher Kush will welcome a new friend to chief with.
The genetics offered by Seed and Soil are proven, tested strains, uniquely suitable to the Maine outdoor climate. All across the vast cannabis grower spectrum - from the beginner grower right through to commercial farmer - we are confident Seed and Soil has something to offer. I personally cannot wait to try them out!
Are you as intrigued as we are? Check out the current strains we carry below!
Are you a commercial grower looking to purchase in bulk for a top performing outdoor farm this season?
Contact our Wholesale Department for bulk special ordering today! Additional Seed and Soil strains featured - more information to come!
Explore more exciting Outdoor Selections from NASC Staff!
Maine Outdoor Selections
Our favorite strains to grow outdoor in Maine. We absolutely think attentive beginners growing in New England would enjoy a successful outdoor harvest from any one of these strains! Visit our NASC Journal to learn more!
You know the saying, “If I can do it, you can too!”? I don’t know about you, but my Mom and Dad sure did echo that sentiment to me growing up. It comes as no surprise, then, that my early years of growing cannabis started right in their backyard. I started growing cannabis outdoors in Maine in 2012. It was the early days of medical marijuana legalization in the great state of Maine, and I found myself between careers, having moved back to my roots with a vested interest in the blooming cannabis industry in Maine. Legality was a gamechanger for me - bringing to life dreams and ideas of cannabis as a career. I was young, opportunistic, and excited for the support of my friends and family; starry eyed at the thought of my professional career crossing over into one of my very favorite pastimes.
I embarked on my first cannabis growing adventure with the direct support and guidance of our very own Beth and Siobhann. My backyard was right around the corner; the Maine Clone Company growing space inside, mine being outside. It’s funny - the core principles and practices of growing remain the same for both indoor and outdoor; but the outdoor environment brought a factor to the table that I simply, albeit naively, did not predict.
The Maine climate proves brutal, not at all for the faint of heart, and I truly believe offers what can only be described as an intense hazing experience in outdoor growing. We were committed to learning, down for nothing less than 101% effort in doing so, and boy did we learn the hard lessons in those early days. I spent several years growing in my familiar childhood backyard, learning and improving and harvesting better cannabis year after year.
When my wife Siobhann and I bought our home together in 2016, we took the opportunity to secure a property that allowed for my home hobby to truly flourish into our professional careers in the cannabis industry today. We have delighted in testing Dirty Bird Genetics outdoors for the past few years - both the genetics chosen for their breeding projects, and the resulting cultivars.
As I reflect on my most recent outdoor harvests now that we both have years of solid experience under our belts, the lessons learned in my first few outdoor seasons have certainly stood the test of time, remaining steadfastly essential for a successful outdoor harvest.
Getting the Strain Right - Strain Selection for a New England Outdoor Grow:
Flowering Time: A healthy cannabis plant can withstand 1 frost, maybe 2, some may even prefer a light frost to finish up nicely; however, no plant can withstand several frosts, ongoing freezing temps, and simply not enough hours of daylight. I would recommend steering away from any plant that finishes later than early-mid October in Northern regions, and one would have to make sure that was a truly hardy plant! Late September-early October is a sweet spot for Northern and New England climates. Late September runs the risk of not quite gaining the bud density after a particularly humid summer, but by and large a strain with that flowering time would harvest well! A strain referencing a 7-8 week flowering time will yield the most successful harvest outdoors, 8-9 is a decently safe range; tread much more critically with strains listing 9+ on the approximations for flowering time.
Resistance: With only flowering time in mind, a wide variety of strains offer the opportunity for an outdoor harvest; however, select strains can really stand out from the crowd through resistance to common outdoor problems such as mold, mildew, septoria, and pests. Plant morphology, which I will speak to later, plays a huge role in resistance(s). It is inherent to the genetic composition of some strains to be naturally resistant to disease and pests, which truly sets those cultivars apart when selecting a strain for outdoor growing. In consideration of resistance, the pool of strains narrows significantly, albeit necessarily.
Seed Type: For the beginner grower, I would caution against putting regular seeds in your garden without sex testing. A burst pollen sack outside is infinitely more detrimental to other plants in stages of flower than a similar situation inside, simply due to natural winds and air movement. All that being said, feminized seeds do still require ardent checking for sex sites, but the risk is much less. I always suggest checking plants as frequently as possible - checking for signs of plant sex sites every day, multiple times at the start of flower, if possible.
Fem: Pistils start to show
Fem: Pistil and stigmas stack
Male: Pollen sacks bursting
Location: know where you are growing, and plan accordingly. Do you live where your plant will live? Is your backyard particularly windy? No protection from the elements? Shade during certain times of the year? All of these are important questions to ask yourself when considering if you have the right space to grow plants, and in which way to grow them. Open air or greenhouse? In pots, raised beds, or in the ground? The size of the space, as well as the environment it lends itself to are important considerations. Open air requires a more sturdy plant, or a more skilled staker. Open air provides more air flow and circulation, but also has zero protection against the elements. Greenhouses do run the risk of pests and mildew running rampant, but I would venture the pest situation likely would not be any worse - just different. The bud rot, however, is much riskier in a greenhouse - maximum air flow required! Greenhouses with open bottoms and ends, and solid upper ventilation that allow for a combination of raised bed, potted plants, and in ground planting is absolutely a great set up; however, open growing is where I have proven most experienced and effective. It seems most reasonable and wide spread of a method - inside of a fence, in some combo of potted and in ground. When growing this way, sturdiness and hardiness becomes a key consideration, as does flowering time. Sun and shade shifting over the changing seasons is another important consideration. If you find the plants will largely be in shaded areas if planted in the ground, I urge you to plant in pots and move the pots around the space accordingly. If planting in pots is necessary, be sure to transplant early, in a medium with solid aeration, and in a size that is manageable for shifting with the sun’s exposure. I use a wagon to move my 10 gallon pots around!
Low Maintenance, High Return: Plants that respond well to an uncontrolled environment are imperative - not requiring proactive preventative measures or round the clock monitoring, but rather thriving naturally without needing additional training. An uncontrolled environment calls for a plant that does not require much controlling. Plant morphology that prunes and trains itself, forming strong sturdy lateral branching, wide internodal spacing to allow for airflow, and not a leafy vegetative presentation during bloom; naturally suited to the environment. If size and space is a concern, it is important to note this and plan accordingly for when and where to transplant and top. If you need to top plants, or train plants with low stress techniques, it is important to keep in mind that stressors should be spaced out - as in I would not suggest transplanting when the daylight hours are set to start to shift into flower, as that is multiple stressors compounded.
Eagle Eye: As a plant nears the end of the flowering cycle it is prudent to check as frequently as possible for any signs of bud rot. Any signs of dying leaves or bud, and the area must be cut out of the plant entirely; bud rot is ruthless and lethal, and spreads rapidly when unchecked. Pests such as spiders also have a way of burrowing into buds and forming webs - be sure to check and remove any pests daily. Powdery mildew can also spread quickly, ruining otherwise harvestable buds. It is, of course, important to do these things at every stage of plant growth, but it becomes that much more imperative due to the lack of visibility that occurs as a plant fills in and matures for harvest. Pulling the plant back and looking in the way pictured below is great for visibility. Be careful not to damage while doing so, though!
Timing is everything: Warm temperatures do not mean it is time to put your plants out! If you start your seeds inside, which I do recommend simply for sprouts to not get eaten by slugs or birds, it is important to keep the seedlings under a light to allow for enough hours of exposure to remain in vegetative growth stage. If the plant is put outside too early in the season the plant will either fully flower, preflower and then quickly revert to vegetative cycle while stunting any growth in the process, or simply die due to lack of light and probable cooler evening temps. In Maine I choose to put my plants outside in the first week of June. Any earlier than Memorial Day is just asking for preflowering or chilled roots troubles! Expect plants to naturally start flowering in mid-August when the daylight exposure starts to shift to fewer than 15 hours of daylight. Full flowering should be in swing no later than the third week of August!
To cut, or not to cut: As the season comes to a close, monitor frost and be sure to harvest wisely. If the plant is near harvest - cloudy trichomes but not yet any amber - I normally make the judgment call to harvest the plant rather than run the risk of bud rot following a particularly strong frost.Once you’ve decided that a plant is finished, the urge is always there to simply go ahead and harvest the whole dang plant. I find that outdoors it might make sense to harvest a plant in rounds, where the top buds are harvested and the remainder of the plant is left a bit longer to finish up. I find this is a solid practice for plants with very large or dense top colas that clearly have cloudy and amber trichomes, and run a bit higher of a risk of bud rot due to dew and exposure. I encourage use of a scope to ultimately base the final decision on a combination of the environmental factors listed above and the buds’ trichome count and color!
The above suggestions and considerations are not meant to overwhelm or deter, but to rather help and narrow down what is a wide variety of quality cultivars! Cannabis seeds come in many shapes, sizes, flavors, colors, you name it. Over the years some have proved much more suitable to outdoor conditions than others, and it is by asking the questions and following the considerations above that growers may select the best strain for their early growing seasons, and beyond!
At this point I have a solid list of top strains that I love to grow outside, and would recommend to any grower. My absolute favorite of all time is the Dirty Mimosa. I took the time to put together a collection for our readers. I absolutely think attentive beginners would enjoy a successful harvest from any one of the strains on my list!
Check out some of my Maine Outdoor Selections below!
This season I am most excited to grow the Roadside Haze outside, which was just released this year and is a cross between two of Dirty Birds strains that do well outdoor; the Sour Lime Haze and Skunch!! I am also super pumped for the Dirty Mimosa Bx2 and CANNOT WAIT to grow some new D.Mim genetics outside a third season in a row!
Our Wholesale Commercial Grower program offers licensed commercial growers a variety of cultivars available for bulk purchase from well known and trusted breeders. Our Team is proud to work with the best cannabis seed breeders in the industry to offer our customers sought after quality, reliable genetics suitable for commercial outdoor growing.
The following collection of recommendations was sourced straight from the minds (and gardens) of some of our most sought after US Breeders: Twenty20 Mendocino, Brothers Grimm Seeds, Dirty Bird Genetics, Humboldt Seed Company, and Sticky Finger Seeds.
Twenty20 Has a deep rooted connection to outdoor cultivation. Our origins date back to the prohibition era of cannabis in Northern California and have transcended through multiple iterations of the murky waters of legalization. We pride ourselves on our relentless support of R&D and our continual desire to never stop pushing the envelope as we evolve with the ever-changing demands of the cannabis industry. In 2024 we expanded to Michigan with a full time facility dedicated to R&D and breeding. This move, coupled with our pre-existing relationship with large farms in the state has bolstered our ability to selectively breed at a scale never seen before. We are proud to say that we have a multi year relationship as the sole genetics provider for one of the largest farms in the US, with over 300,000 plants and a canopy size of over 200 acres. As the fungal pathogen Septoria has been rampantly devastating outdoor cannabis farms throughout the country, our well established relationships with large farms has enabled us to quickly breed resistant cultivars while continuing to keep our sights on yield, potency, hardiness, and mold resistance. Our recent development of a new line of Hybridized Earlies has further fostered our relationship with outdoors farmers by providing them with a lineup of September ripening cultivars that enable farms to beat the cold, beat the fall and beat the odds. If there is one promise we can make, Twenty20 will never stop working at chasing the ever evolving needs of farms, home growers, and the cannabis community.
EXTREMELY uniform. full term but still harvests around October 1st, very outdoor worthy. The Snow-G is an F-3 that had been hunted in MI for multiple generations. It is a high yield, highly resistant variety that performs very well for concentrates (both solventless and solvent). Home run winner for almost every farm that grows them.
EXTREMELY uniform. harvests early October, extremely Septoria resistant strain that was grown and hunted in MIchigan in 2023 and 2024. Limonada is more of a Sativa and will likely yield more biomass than any other variety in the entire field but the potency is a bit less. Homerun winner for almost every farm that grows them.
(SnowG F3 Photoperiod x Honey Badger F7 Autoflower)
by Twenty20 Mendocino
Proven by a very large farm in Michigan last year and this farm plans to grow them again this year. Potency is high 20's and ready for harvest in mid September. Out of the earliers it is the most uniform and was the first to be harvested.
(Jack Herer female x STS-induced Cinderella 99 female)
by Brothers Grimm
Won top 10 strains in the world in high times 2018. Our highest yielding plant, our most medicinal strain, high in thcv 4.+, CBD and CBGA THC 25-30%, over 330 growers in the Australian grow off right now growing Rosetta
(Genius female x Cinderella 99 female pollen donor)
by Brothers Grimm
The Apollo strain is famous because of its potent and long-lasting uplifting effects, often described as creative and mentally stimulating, similar to the Greek god Apollo who is associated with inspiration and the arts; this makes it a popular choice for users seeking a focused and energetic high. It also highest thc 31%- 33%
Dirty Bird Genetics hails from the north-eastern climate of Maine, a climate characterized by one of the most challenging growing seasons in the US, and yet a climate that for decades has produced some of the best flower in the country. We take our Outdoor seriously here. If you don't know someone who reads bedtime books to their plants for eight nerve-wracking weeks a year, then you probably don't live in Maine. As a group of cannabis enthusiasts with deep roots in the clone industry, one of our initial goals when we first conceptualized Dirty Bird was to breed genetics that would thrive in our finicky and unpredictable climate. We saw the demand; and if they could thrive here, they could thrive anywhere in the US, we hypothesized. One thing that really set us apart at Dirty Bird is the insane genetics catalogue at our fingertips. With strong breeder relationships, we've pheno-hunted genetic lines for 15 years, and we've gotten feedback on these genetics, both indoor and out, from thousands of growers in the community around us. While we still continue on this lifelong journey of developing cultivars that are supremely viable outdoors, both commercially and for home growers, we are tremendously proud of the work we have done thus far, and eager to share it. We come to the table with experience and an unrelenting dedication to quality, transparency and integrity, and we are passionate about learning and growing with the community around us.
(Mimosa x The Brunch [Peanut Butter Breath x Mimosa])
by Dirty Bird Genetics
Siobhann says:
An absolute winner outdoors, as an early October finishing sativa strain. Super easy to grow and maintain, with lots of consistency across the seed population
Beth Says:
The Dirty Mimosa is my single best recommendation for outdoor grows, especially in Northern climates with a short growing season like we have in Maine. She is an incredibly early finisher, both indoors and out, and she is colorful and beautiful. It's one of the few cultivars we've grown that can achieve indoor-quality flowers in an outdoor environment.
Has already won 2 outdoor competitions that we know of! A NASC's Discord picture contest - Outdoor Category and the Ohio Farmer's Cup (outdoor indica). A combination of 2 powerful indicas - Bubba Whip and Grease Monkey - that have both excelled in Maine's short/cold grow season.
Beth says:
The Necromancer Kush is one of the strongest testers we have, and this year, she surpassed our expectations in outdoor gardens across the country, even winning 1st place in the Indica Outdoor category at a harvest cup in Ohio. This cultivar has that classic kush structure but with great stacking, intense sugar, and amazing pine/gas terpenes.
(Grape Jelly* x Platinum Kush Breath Remix) *Jelly Breath x Chocolate Pie
by Dirty Bird Genetics
Siobhann says:
A little more phenotypic variation than the other 2 strains, but very high quality. Very unique creamy lemon and gas/pine terps. About 50/50 purple to green ratio. Boutique quality with commercially viable yields. A stretchier plant in bloom, so while supports are needed outside, Pine Tree Kush has ideal growth for optimal airflow, especially in high humidity regions.
Beth says:
The Pine Tree Kush was one of our favorite cultivars of 2024. Her sharp and complex meyer lemon, pine, and berry terpene profile and her extremely dense, colorful bud structure make her stand out in any garden. It can handle a harsh environment and it produces high quality, colorful, terpy flowers.
Bred In Nature, Perfected By Science. For over two decades, Humboldt Seed Company has defined cannabis excellence from the heart of Northern California’s legendary growing region.At Humboldt Seed Company, quality isn’t just a priority—it’s a promise. Founded in 2001 by scientists in California, we began by breeding seeds for patients under Prop. 215 and have since expanded to serve both recreational and medical growers worldwide. With over 20 years of expertise, we are proud to be California’s largest licensed cannabis seed provider, offering a diverse selection of feminized, autoflower, triploid, and regular seeds. Our products undergo rigorous lab testing and extensive annual phenotype hunts, vetted by California’s top cannabis farmers, ensuring stable genetics, high germination rates, and exceptional performance.
(Jelly Donutz (#160 x #17) x Hella Jelly x White Runtz)
by Humboldt Seed Company
We specifically bred Jelly D for that candy gas terp that everyone's loving these days! It's made from the Emerald Cup winning cut that made Runtz go viral!
(Jelly Ranger Bx3 X Notorious T.H.C. X Very Cherry)
by Humboldt Seed Company
The Candy terp strain that tests in the thirties, finishes in mid Sep. and pretty much grows itself! Resilient to many pests and pathogens H. Jelly is both a farmer fav and a flavor fav!
When I created/discovered the Blueberry Muffin strain in 2009 on our NE Humboldt medicinal farm I knew it was special. A trimmer actually called out the name and it was like a light shone down upon the plant and a chorus of ganja angels sang her praises, so I grabbed some cuts lol. Anyways over the years since, we've engineered (naturally) Blueberry Muffin seeds that 100% breed true for that original unicorn (that's our thing) and in the 15 years since, it's become a beloved strain all over the planet known for it's flavor, growing ease, early finish, and its anti-anxiety effect!!!!
Sticky Finger Seeds is a collective of Maui’s Medical Marijuana growers that have joined to breed the best medical cannabis genetics possible. Creative founder, Will Grinnell has been collecting and breeding cannabis genetics for over 48 years locally here in Hawaii and around the globe. Sticky Finger Seeds is a Cannabis genetic collective that specializes (takes pride) in growing and breeding heirloom and landrace cannabis genetics. Now closing in on five decades of cannabis farming and breeding cannabis enthusiast Will Grinnell has been seeking, trading, purchasing and collecting a variety of the best cannabis genetics possible, along with the Sticky Finger Seeds collective of heritage craft farmers and their seed collections.
(Hawaiian Dream (50 yr Maui Hierloom x Blue Dream x Grandaddy Kush) x KY Jealousy (Ziplock Seeds 'Sinful' Cut Watermelon Mimosa X Jealousy))
by Sticky Finger Seeds
This plant has been pure magic since day one. I was lucky enough to be gifted this old Hawaiian heirloom cultivar in 2010. I still use it as one of my primary parent plants for breeding as well as for current flower production. Hawaiian Dream is a monster grower (see attached pic) For me it is easier to grow outdoors in the open because it needs the space. It's a very stable and robust plant. The name "Hawaiian Dream" has a double meaning. When I was gifted this plant in 2010 I was having serious issues with my personal garden and strains (Root Aphids!) I had to start all over and this was the plant I used. Its success eventually allowed me to live the "Hawaiian Dream" again.
Probably my most fun and robust entourage crosses I have made. The stability and simplicity of this cross is divine with only Hawaiian Dream and Royal Blood as the parents. These 2 cultivars created spectacular characteristics together with the Hawaiian Dream's vitality and the Royal Blood's vanilla terps with gas. The Maui True Blood plants will bleed a blood red sap when cut. This novelty is lots of fun and seems to add a unique brix to the plants.
Another fun one that is a monster grower. I was super lucky to get these old Hawaiian "sock drawer" seeds and have a few pop and live. Over the past 30 years here on Maui I have had many Hawaiian friends gift me old Maui Wowie seeds that were long lost in a sock drawer or somewhere but they would never germinate. I then finally I got just a few to pop and that was the new start to the Maui Wowie legacy that we now call Maui Wowie 2.0. The parent lineage of this plant going back 60 years was entirely outdoor guerilla grow in the jungle so it is always ready to produce in a big outdoor farm.
(Hawaiian Dream x Blueberry Muffin (Humboldt Seed Co.))
by Sticky Finger Seeds
A perfect combo cross with Hawaiian Dream and Blueberry Muffin by Humboldt Seed Co. This simple cross made some magic. A very robust and large producer in the sun. This strain makes the entire neighborhood smell like a granny's having a blueberry bake off.
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Disclaimer: Cannabis seeds are sold as souvenirs, and collectibles only. They contain 0% THC. It is imperative that you check your state and local laws before attempting to purchase seeds, and we are not liable for what you do with seeds after receiving them. The statements on this website and its products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Consult your doctor before use. North Atlantic Seed Company assumes no legal responsibility for your actions once the product is in your possession and is not liable for any resulting issues, legal or otherwise, that may arise.
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