By GMO, Aug 16 2024
My journey into growing cannabis began in 2006, driven by an insatiable curiosity. What started as casual research quickly morphed into a full-blown hyper-fixation, consuming all my spare time and attention. The knowledge I absorbed from forums and Jorge Cervantes’ The Indoor Marijuana Grow Bible laid the foundation for what would become a lifelong passion for this remarkable, life-giving plant.
In October 2007, I planted my first cannabis seeds, marking the beginning of an adventure that has only deepened with time. Initially, I ordered seeds from Canada and Europe, relying on stealth shipping as the go-to method for acquiring genetics in those days. As I honed my skills and made connections within the cannabis growing community, I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to a private forum called Cannetics. This forum was a sanctuary for like-minded cannabis enthusiasts—a band of pirates united by our shared goal of enhancing one another’s success in growing this plant, freely sharing genetics, and spreading cannabis far and wide.
It was during my time at Cannetics that I was first introduced to the world of clones. Some of the very first genetics kindly shared with me included Stardawg Corey (still my favorite strain to this day, and one I hope to keep forever), Ken Estes’ cut of Granddaddy Purple, and Pre98 Bubba Kush.
As the years passed, I came to understand the importance of preserving these cherished clones. Some of the early cuts I had been entrusted with were becoming increasingly rare as newer, more modern strains began to dominate the scene. This realization sparked a deep commitment within me to maintain and protect these genetics for the future.
I’ve always grown cannabis for my personal use, and I’m grateful that I haven’t run dry in a very long time—especially now that my main method of consumption is cannabis tincture. With a steady supply of flower on hand, I’ve been able to focus primarily on strain preservation. My genetic library currently holds 65 mother plants, most of which have been run through my at-home tissue culture process. This technique allows me to back up genetics in a state of stasis, with the vials taking up very little space and the plants growing slowly in vitro. When removed from their tissue culture vessels, the plants exhibit a renewed vigor.
My collection of mother plants is a mix of old clone-only strains, newer “hype” hybrids, and a few of my personal selections from seed. One of my most treasured mothers is O.D.D., short for Ol’ Donkey Dick—a selection from an unreleased pack of Top Dawg Seeds gifted to me. O.D.D. is a cross of GMO x (Grape Ape x Tres Haze). The pack contained nine seeds, of which I kept five and gifted four to a friend. After growing them out, I found three males, one runt, and one exceptional female. This plant stretched for the first five weeks of flower, continuously stacking impressive colas. At harvest, after just over 11 weeks, I was rewarded with nearly a dozen colas, some as long as three feet, yielding a total of 26 ounces of cannabis flower. The laboratory test results showed O.D.D. had a THC percentage of 23.4% and a terpene content percentage of 2.10%. Not bad!
Since finding O.D.D. in August 2022, it has found its way to many personal and production facilities. It was even available at dispensaries in Oklahoma for a time, though it has since been discontinued to make room for quicker-flowering strains. O.D.D. has been F2’d and selfed—another important step in the preservation process.
When I first began to hear the term “genetic bottlenecking,” it raised concerns. I noticed that as medical and recreational legalization began to take hold, the cannabis available was becoming increasingly similar. Consumers seemed fixated on specific strains or visual characteristics of the flower they chose. For a while, if you didn’t have purple cannabis flowers, it just wasn’t going to sell.
Today, we see a trend toward what I call “Instagram Worthy Weed.” The effects of the strain seem secondary to its photo-ready appearance for social media. This shift in consumer focus highlights a deeper issue: the narrowing genetic pool of cannabis strains. As breeders follow market trends, the strains they use in their breeding programs become increasingly limited. What happens when we reach a point where phenotypic expressions dwindle, and all cannabis on the market begins to look, taste, and feel the same? How will we continue our quest for “better” cannabis that suits our unique needs as consumers?
The current strain fads all share a common origin—they were bred using genetics that someone, somewhere, deemed worthy of preserving and breeding. It will continue to be crucial that breeders and growers have access to older genetics to counteract the strain that genetic bottlenecking has created.
Reflecting on my decision to focus on preservation brings a profound sense of peace and pride. While the industry may be swept up in the latest trends, I remain committed to safeguarding the classics that have stood the test of time. These are the strains that provide diversity and depth to the cannabis gene pool—strains that future generations of breeders and growers will depend on to keep the plant thriving.