The mere denomination Haze is synonymous of high quality sativa strain. They are one of the most important contribution of certain breeders to the cannabis universe.
Many years are left before the Haze brand quits being considered a legend. And even more before most of hybrids quit incorporating Haze genes to their DNA.
As usually, it all began in California in the early seventies. At this time, middle of the hippie age, most of Californian users cultivated only sativa strains. These strains came from Mexico, Thailand, India, Colombia and other tropical places.
Even though it seems to be paradoxical, these difficulties to cultivate sativa strains didn’t care the growers, because they were what they knew. Reaching this point, we recommend you to read our article ·”The origin of cannabis Indica strains”, in order to understand the enormous influence the indica strains had to shorten the long flowering periods of sativa. Thanks to the hybridization between indica strains from Afghanistan and the mentioned sativa varieties used in California, the flowering period of the sativa plants became much shorter. Remember a sativa plant has up to 16 weeks of flowering period. But let,s go back to Haze genetic.
In the early seventies, two breeders known as “the haze brothers”, who used to work with tropical sativa seeds that they bought in California, began to cross them among themselves. This way they obtained pure sativa genetic. Later on, a breeder known as “the skunkman” and the Haze brothers got together and started to work to obtain the real Haze genetic.
Their first hybrid, origin of the HAZE, was a crossing between a pure Mexican sativa (Acapulco Gold) and a another pure Colombian cultivar (Colombia Gold)
After selecting the best female plants from this crossing, they were crossed again with a potent male which came from the south of India. And to finish this genetic cocktail, the females obtained were crossed with a selected male from Thailand.
As we can see, the HAZE strains were born as a mixture of sativa landraces which came from Mexico, Colombia, Thailand and South of India. But the process took little time and the result wasn’t too stable, which was an important failure. But even with this problem, the quality was so high that many cultivators began to grow them like crazy, without caring about the problems. Among the different hybrids, the most remarkable was the Purple Haze: the most Colombian strain of all. And it was the most expensive too.
At that time I was a “globe trotter” who used to travel with a close friend, hitchhiking across the west coast of USA. When we reached San Francisco and we tried for the first time Colombia Gold, Acapulco Gold, and Thai Stick, we became spoiled. From that moment on, every other grass seemed bullshit to us. Therefore, we started to save money and buy only the mentioned varieties. And the Thai Stick was one of my favorites. Unfortunately it was the most expensive too. We used to work doing part time jobs in San Francisco and Sacramento, and whenever we had money enough to continue travelling, we did quit the job and began a new journey.
This way (hippie age) we could meet tones of people and try tones of different varieties of grass. Of course no need to mention we tried Thai Stick, Colombia and Acapulco Gold: three of the four components of the HAZE genetic. The fourth variety was a landrace from the south of India . I had the chance to try it later in Kerala (India) and I remember it seemed explosive for my standards. I mean: Haze genetic have in their genome the potential to reach a stratospheric trip.
In order to give an idea of its power, I will tell you the way a simple joint was smoked. People rolled such a thin joint that it was impossible to hold it with the fingers. Because of this, in any paraphernalia shop you could buy a very little scissors which had blunt edge. This was to avoid cut the joint instead of holding it. Holding the joint with the scissors every person could have no more than one or two drags. But believe me: it was more than enough. Tremendous trip!
Fortunately, the skunkman began to work seriously with the HAZE in order to give them more stability. After a conscientious process, he got what came to be known as the HAZE ORIGINAL. With such a genetic treasure, he went to Holland and there he began to sell those seeds with the name of “The Cultivator,s Choice”.
3 varieties from Ketama Seeds with Haze genes
FRUTILLA HAZE KAMNESIA CREATIVE
Effect of the Haze
The “kick” isn’t fit for the fainthearted. Like any other variety of cannabis, it must be avoided by people with tendency to suffer psychotic outbreaks. Even though this is valid for any variety of cannabis, the cerebral potential of Haze strains makes this tip more recommendable for those with this kind of pathologies.
In KETAMA SEEDS we don’t believe cannabis is the panacea to all evils and diseases. In fact we think some people shouldn’t smoke it at all. It is irresponsible to say this substance is completely innocuous.
The effect of Haze strains can be too potent for novice users. And even for the most experienced users depending on the circumstances. When I was young I used to smoke them without any problem. Now, I think it twice before having a single drag. Eventually you can lose control. In fact, sometimes, the effect is quite similar to LSD (25 dietilamina of lysergic acid).
The effect is absolutely cerebral and quite psychedelic. It is highly creative and very stimulating. It produces a kind of clairvoyance. Because of this effect, it is the choice of many artists like musicians, sculptors, writers and so on. The effect can be very long lasting and has peaks of sudden highs which demand to be careful.
It is very funny in reunions where all the assistants are in the same wave. Being so stimulating of the imagination, there are many couples who find in the Haze genetic a useful help to recuperate the spark necessary to renew their sexual life. If you suffer from insomnia, avoid to smoke Haze at least three hours before going to sleep.
Like all the good sativa plants, the Haze strains are excellent to open the appetite. If you smoke it at home, try to have your refrigerator full of light products, in case you are following a diet. Your sense of taste and all your other senses will increase.
Any cannabis smoker should his limits. This is the key to avoid bad experiences. Being an excellent sativa strain, it can eventually produce tachycardia. Therefore, if you are old or have suffer from any heart disease, try to be moderate or avoid its use. Perhaps you better smoke indica varieties or hybrids. Because you can fly very high with just a couple of drags.
Organoleptic properties
Roughly speaking, most of the varieties of cannabis are similar in odor and taste. You need to have a fine smell and well trained palate to feel the difference among several buds of different varieties together.
This doesn’t happen with Haze strains. You must have a poor sense of smell to not recognize them immediately. They have many nuances. But, maybe, the most remarkable is that sharp touch of incense that makes this plant even more exotic and mystic, provided this is possible. It reminds of the smell that comes out from the temples n Kerala (South of India) and the forests of sandal trees. These two nuances are the most remarkable and unmistakable. But just immediately after a little bit , we can feel an aftertaste to citric and tropical fruits: the heritage of their Thai ancestors.
Culture of Haze strains
These plants represent a challenge for the average grower who doesn’t have good logistic means. Only the fact of having a 16 weeks flowering period discourages to many cultivators who prefer other options. Because of this, the skunkman worked very hard to get hybrids with indica genetic that, not only could shorten the flowering period; to avoid the plants to become real giants unable for medium size indoors. In fact, those who decide to go ahead with pure Haze strains, give the plants no more than 5 or 6 days of growing period. And some of them prefer not to give them a single day. They just go directly to 12/12. But even in these cases, the plants grow like crazy and some indoors can be too small. But I must say that even with sativa plants, it all depends on your imagination more than in the morphology or photoperiod of the Haze strains.
The question of the long flowering photoperiod is unavoidable. But the enormous size of the plants and their intermodal distance can be solved with a little bit of ingenuity. You can use systems like SCROG (sea of green). And you can also bend the branches. After bending the branches, you can place them across the walls or whatever.
Of course it is always easier to grow hybrids of indica genetic. But it is also true that you don’t have to be McGiver to cultivate sativa strains indoor.
When it comes to outdoor cultures, the situation isn’t much better. But if you live in a warm area, the culture will be much easier. Unless you live in a warm area, the plants will suffer a lot in autumn and winter. Most probably they will die when December comes. You will have to deal not only with low temperatures but also with a culture which will last too much to be discreet.
Fortunately, being excellent plants, the Haze genetic resist very well the high humidity and moisture fungi like botrytis. If you decide to cultivate in outdoor, be ready to deal with plants which can reach up to 4 meters in height. You always can grow Haze strains, indoor or outdoor, using SCROG cultures.
Written by Javier Marín for KETAMA SEEDS