Hard pass on "earthy"

After very little research, there seem to be four general categories of strains: Skunk, OG Kush, Master Kush, Northern Lights.
Of course, there are others; but popular crosses seem to include at least one of these four strains somewhere in their genetics. So, my current list of strains (8, down from 15-19) includes the main four's genetics as a base/starting point (with the exception of Master Kush, I don't think I've got one in my stable).

Once I cover the bases, I'm more comfortable trying strains outside of the main four (e.g., Uzbekistan-native, Taskenti) (in my mind, I'm pissing away less money by picking strains that include genetics of one of the four "established" strains).

If I add another, I'd probably look for a Master Kush (preferably high-yielding indoors/hydro, THC north of 27%, high calyx-to-leaf ratio, high-resin, high-stank, LST-friendly, and a 7-9 week flowering time plant that does well without soil). So, let me know if you have any suggestions.

• Hard-pass on seeds with "earthy" as the first word in the smell description.
  • "Earthy" seems to indicate the strain's weak on funk and may even smell like hay.

Edit: I've got Afghani genetics covered, I suppose it should be a "main 5" but I think you see what I was trying to do.

I’ve had weed that smelled earthy, but not like hay, more like a dirt scented candle lol

Pre 98 Bubba has earthy tones sans the hay smell

Herb & Suds said:

Pre 98 Bubba has earthy tones sans the hay smell

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Not sure it was pre-98, but I just discontinued a Bubba Kush (from ILGM) (which I've read includes OG Kush ... possibly Northern Lights, but not Master Kush). All my Bubba was high-stank. But only one seed produced nice big, resin-crusted buds; the rest were finicky (partly my fault with light height early on). Seeds/clones didn't make it more often than other strains. And the one that did well had to veg longer than 3 mos. Also, my Bubba had a low calyx-to-leaf ratio. Stank but it didn't make the final cut. THC wasn't very high either (from ILGM).

Apostatize said:

Not sure it was pre-98, but I just discontinued a Bubba Kush (from ILGM) (which I've read includes OG Kush ... possibly Northern Lights, but not Master Kush). All my Bubba was high-stank. But only one seed produced nice big, resin-crusted buds; the rest were finicky (partly my fault with light height early on). Seeds/clones didn't make it more often than other strains. And the one that did well had to veg longer than 3 mos. Also, my Bubba had a low calyx-to-leaf ratio. Stank but it didn't make the final cut. THC wasn't very high either (from ILGM).

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3 - 4 months to veg from seed is perfectly normal

You are missing out if you're only smoking kush and northern lights, there is a whole world of strains out there to explore that have nothing to do with those. Most common commercial strains have a good deal of genetic overlap since those strains are picked for production as the first consideration and thc% as a second consideration, neither of which have anything to do with quality.

Herb & Suds said:

3 - 4 months to veg from seed is perfectly normal

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Absolutely. I should've focused my grievances on the longer than 7-9 week flowering time -- it wasn't terribly long, though.

My stable includes diverse genetics and phenotypes but I want them to be the same in veg time (2-3 mos. after seedling phase) and flowering time (7-9 weeks). Over the course of the year, losing 1-4 weeks every flip kills you (in my opinion).

Rurumo said:

You are missing out if you're only smoking kush and northern lights, there is a whole world of strains out there to explore that have nothing to do with those. Most common commercial strains have a good deal of genetic overlap since those strains are picked for production as the first consideration and thc% as a second consideration, neither of which have anything to do with quality.

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Oh, for sure. It's mostly economics. Tried out ~18 strains with this approach and still discontinued more than half of them. I'll be more adventurous.

There are some genetic redundancies in my current stable (e.g., 3 different thin mint GSC crosses (2 sativa-dom, 1 indica-dom) (GSC comes in under OG Kush)), but I've got some good genetics too:

4 sativa-dominant strains:
- 5 Alive
- Animal Crackers
- Bruce Banner (1.0, 2.0)
- Gorilla Cookies

4 indica-dominant stains:
- Grape Ape
- Larry Bird (Gelato) (might have green and purple phenos)
- White Widow
- Taskenti

If you really want to talk about redundancy in genetics, everything has an Afghan in it.
Unless you are an expert and grow from snow high or something

Usually when I've had hay smelling weed I thought it had more to do with the cure.
Earthy just means smells like dirt, kinda like many mushrooms smell "earthy" .

I've also had northern lights outperform a great deal of the new polyhybrids, especially in vigor, yield, and even smell.

Apostatize said:

Not sure it was pre-98, but I just discontinued a Bubba Kush (from ILGM) (which I've read includes OG Kush ... possibly Northern Lights, but not Master Kush). All my Bubba was high-stank. But only one seed produced nice big, resin-crusted buds; the rest were finicky (partly my fault with light height early on). Seeds/clones didn't make it more often than other strains. And the one that did well had to veg longer than 3 mos. Also, my Bubba had a low calyx-to-leaf ratio. Stank but it didn't make the final cut. THC wasn't very high either (from ILGM).

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Probably not pre 98..pre has coffee tones along with others..iirc..oh and it came as a clone to me

In my limited experience, really terpy loud ladies never taster earthy. My most loud ladies have been minty, garlic fuel and gelato creaminess. Currently excited about my Kens GDP and Runtz Bx. GDP has unreal sweet grape popping off at week 4 and my Runtz BX is the 1st weed strain I have ever grown with sugar candy terps.

tkufoS said:

Probably not pre 98..pre has coffee tones along with others..iirc..oh and it came as a clone to me

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I've had a few bodhi goji ogs ( kush) smell like coffe after chop/cure

Tartaria Genetics said:

In my limited experience, really terpy loud ladies never taster earthy. My most loud ladies have been minty, garlic fuel and gelato creaminess. Currently excited about my Kens GDP and Runtz Bx. GDP has unreal sweet grape popping off at week 4 and my Runtz BX is the 1st weed strain I have ever grown with sugar candy terps.

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Thanks. I'll check them out. Recently discontinued a "GDP," not Ken's GDP. So many cuts of GDP ... ILGM's GDP smokes well, there's just not a whole lot going on. Replaced that 100% indica with Taskenti (mint, lemon, hash). I'll likely need a few more seeds or make due for a while cloning the one seedling that's thriving right now.

I've been growing since the late 90s and smoking longer than that and I have never understood what the hell "earthy" is supposed to mean.

Hawg Wild said:

I've been growing since the late 90s and smoking longer than that and I have never understood what the hell "earthy" is supposed to mean.

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Ya its a bit of confusing term growers use...I always think of earthy as a musky incense, even slight patchouli smell. Ya I dunno though. I like a strong fuel funk with slight artificial candy smells on the backend. Like gas and big league chew gum.

Hawg Wild said:

I've been growing since the late 90s and smoking longer than that and I have never understood what the hell "earthy" is supposed to mean.

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To me "earthy" is like the smell of wet soil

mindriot said:

To me "earthy" is like the smell of wet soil

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Yeah with a touch of mold

mindriot said:

To me "earthy" is like the smell of wet soil

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That just sounds like mids to me. I've grown and smoked a lot of buds described by others as "earthy" but for most people that seems to equate to what I would call "kushy" or "hashy". The old 88 G13/HP we used to keep tasted like quality semi-sweet pipe tobacco and people would tell me they loved the earthy taste, but to me it was always "Captain Black Gold flavor" with a hint of leather and an even lighter hint of citrus.

Earthy tastes like fresh garden carrots.