OG Kush
OG Kush is,
arguably the queen of the NorCal and US cannabis scenes…at least as far as the
illicit market is concerned. In terms of
market recognition, flower beauty and structure, aroma, taste, effect, price,
sales velocity and yield, no other strain is her equal.
As a
habitual smoker since my teen years in 1992 I’m a huge fan of old school skunk,
trainwreck and white strains. That said,
nothing compares to a bowl of fresh SFV OG topped with its own dry sift. For me personally, not even the most
exquisite live rez dab rivals the flavor and effect of this combo when grown
exceptionally well. As such, SFV OG,
Lemon Larry, Ghost, or the traditional herself are my very favorite strains to
grow. In terms of producing showcase
retail flower and creating exceptional economic value, core OG Kush phenotypes are
also a complete joy to farm.
While simple
to grow like all cannabis plants (give them what they want when they want it),
OG’s are finicky, they attract significant predation, and they don’t boast of
the strongest epidural layer. Combined
with relatively poor farming skills, this combination has led to enormous
amounts of shit weed coming out of Humboldt County. Many growers, hobbyist, professional and commercial
alike, produce tremendously small, twiggy, sterile, and ugly OG that ultimately
gets dumped for bottom dollar.
Seed stock
OG’s are not the real deal in terms of nose or bag appeal and leave middlemen
and buyers exasperated as people run to hell and back trying to fill a couple
box order. I recently heard of an
illicit market showing where of the 1,000 units requested, 2 of the 700 pounds
located by my friend were actually purchased.
Humboldt,
you are screwing up big time. Both white
and black markets want OG, and we have largely proven inadequacy in terms of
meeting market demand.
With
burgeoning supply of decent OG’s coming out of the central valley and elsewhere,
and with ever more white market distribution platforms coming on line, not as
many people need to trek to our neck of the woods for product. To the extent that finding good OG in
Humboldt continues to be nearly impossible (yes I know there’s tens of
thousands of pounds of last year’s product floating around), folks will simply go
elsewhere to purchase.
Finding OG
with predictable quality at acceptable volume and price is not a task for the faint
at heart. Friends of mine scramble to hell and back,
rounding up dozens of samples – at multiple price points – to be rejected far,
far more than not.
Buyers want
large, chunky, stinky, naked, lime colored OG’s that appear white given their
magnificent outer trichome layer. OG should
get you high every hit on the exhale, and it should taste like candy and go
down smooth as it annihilates you. While
high levels of limonene (like in the SFV) can be harsh for some users, well
done organic OG will require little nitrogen masking and should be both smooth
and tasty…even just days into drying.
Because many
buyers are failing to find good OG in Humboldt and can find shitloads of decent
product elsewhere, our weed market is in big, big trouble. Many I know have even quit trying to farm OG
and are opting for something less desirable they feel is easier to work with. Ouch!
In the midst
of what promises to be a painful economic collapse for Humboldt and the larger
Emerald Triangle, few growers I know are putting the puzzle together. They feel picked on, scared, and angry, and
many are whining like little kids while harkening back to the glory days in
conversation. Instead of getting real with themselves and honing their skills,
many have become bitter and have shown their true lack of professionalism,
determination, and grit. Some blame
politics and corporations, while none I know, at least publicly, blame their
own incompetence or inability to dance successfully with the most desirable
strain in the marketplace.
My advice to
growers in Humboldt is to learn how to grow OG Kush and other “sensitive
cultivars” at a very high level. Don’t
grow some bullshit seed stock or bogus pheno with the wrong nose and wrong bag
appeal. Grow one of the core phenotypes
mentioned previously or something else absolutely, unequivocally, and universally
accepted by buyers, farmers, and consumers as the real deal.
And chill
the hell out. G’s like it easy, like a
nice day on the ocean. Find the steep
hill video of a phosphorus loaded, red dogged piece of shit of a nug
representative of much market OG, versus the more natural and spectacularly
beautiful chunk to its side. Also stop
being lazy and start working with your damn plants. If you want to sell outdoor flower, it better
not look like it. And no, your dep
probably doesn’t look anything like indoor either. Slam the energy down on em thru manipulation,
drive it back up in transition with thinning, and keep the bugs and pathogens
away. You will have predictably huge,
chunky, heavy, beautiful OG buds more representative of the weed that made
Humboldt famous before tens of thousands of us were playing the game.
If Humboldt
could truly bring the magic back in terms of actually producing marketable
flower, things wouldn’t tank quite as fast.
The tremendously painful economic realignment we are just now facing
would be lessened to some extent and our reputation would start clawing its way
out of the gutter.
Because we
were largely secluded and because many us of grew the best stuff out of our
friend groups, we became overconfident and arrogant. We thought we actually grew good weed, which
was a faulty premise for most operating in the space.
The reason Oregon
craft farmers are now failing en masse is because they aren’t and never were
craft producers. Their weed is shit, or
marginal at best, which is not much of a selling proposition these days. Same story here in Humboldt and elsewhere in
the triangle… too many who are all bark and no bite.
Larfy,
twiggy, moderately frosty outdoor with poor structure, mixed phenotypes and questionable
nose is no longer in vogue. Outdoor
makes up approximately 20% of the white market by transaction and prices are
now averaging around $650 a pound nationwide.
What the less skilled hate to accept though is that the current range
for outdoor flower is from $300-$1700 according to data from
cannabisbenchmarks. Somewhere the Jedi
knights of cannabis are crushing it, as are some white market indoor operators
garnering $2,500 a unit versus an average a grand cheaper. The lesson is clear – the market has
segmented and will continue to do so.
Market weed is essentially worthless and will drive the small operators
producing it out of business in short order…it already is. For fantastic producers, opportunity is
abound, at least for now. Many will be
coming for that prize though, so be prepared and keep grinding.
Execute daily, stay true to your process and above all, keep rocking that stellar OG Kush.
Jesse Duncan
OG Kush is, arguably the queen of the NorCal and US cannabis scenes…at least as far as the illicit market is concerned. In terms of market recognition, flower beauty and structure, aroma, taste, effect, price, sales velocity and yield, no other strain is her equal. As a habitual smoker since my teen years in … Continue reading OG Kush →Read More
