Our way of buying weed has changed dramatically. There has been an enormous shift in the way that smokers choose the type of cannabis they want to smoke. In order to make cannabis plants last longer, the hype machine that fuels trends is constantly churning. Today’s customers tend to buy from specific growers or brands, rather than cultivars. Cannabis Cups used to dictate the flavor we would smoke for many years, however it is difficult to find specific cannabis cross-breeds in today’s market due to limited availability. This leads us to the simple but important question: How long does a marijuana strain last?
When asked to discuss the current trends in cannabis genetics by Elise McDonough, the author and cannabis expert recalled a major upset at the Cannabis Cup 2004 when Reeferman from Canada won first place in the Dutch sativa category of Love Potion #1.
She said that “[Reeferman] was the one who came to their rescue, and he took all of [the Dutch] strains off its map by bringing something fresh and new,” I believe that what the Dutch did in the early 2000s and ’90s is the same as what Californians do now. There were certain strains in the Dutch, but everyone was crossing all things to each other until eventually, everything just became one.
McDonough said that Reeferman was responsible for creating Love Potion strains by traveling the globe, looking for landrace strains and growing them in large fields. Then, he made selections and then bred.
She said that Reeferman then was able to make very unique flowers compared with what was being produced in the Netherlands.
California is ready for the same thing, McDonough said. McDonough stated that everyone is tired of the Cookies cross. McDonough stated that everyone has grown the same thing and is now crossing it with everything else. It’s all just become a weird mess.
McDonough, now the marketing director of Binske sees strains’ lifespan from a new perspective.
She said that the other problem with hype breeding is the shortening the cycle of new strains. “As a brand person we feel pressure from the retailers.” The retailers want us to offer something new and unique on our menu.
According to McDonough, retailers have different goals than traditional cannabis breeders who spend many years maintaining and stabilizing genetics. McDonough compares cannabis breeding conversations to dog breeding. She says it took many generations to breed Labradors and Poodles in order to make Labradoodles.
She said, “And they are still quite crazy.”
As with dogs and cannabis, it can take generations for clear, consistent, predictable characteristics to be achieved.
McDonough stated, “[For breeders] it’s your IP. That’s, you’ve got to say, your special sauce.” That work can take generations. Stabilizing a strain takes many years. These hype strains are not stable and are therefore causing a lot of confusion.
While instabilities may be a reason for newer strains of cannabis not staying power, there are many other factors. Mike Doten is chief sales officer of Fig farms. He believes unique strains have a popularity parabola, which fluctuates in five years.
Doten stated, “We have had [strains] such as the Dark Karma we tried to retire.” The distributor said that the demand was too high to retire it and that you are just losing shelf space.
Doten stated that more popular strains will have shorter lives as consumers demand decreases.
We have a 6- to 8-month window to put out the standard amount, before having to drop it and then down again, or back it out.
Marketing is also a factor in ensuring a strain’s long-term viability.
Doten stated that sometimes we release four to five new strains per month and don’t have marketing packages for each. These are items that could extend the lifespan of a strain, and it’s worth having a marketing package.
A second aspect that makes strains stand out is the way they taste. They fit within popular categories like gas or fruit.
“Think of the hype strains having a life expectancy of five years,” stated Luigi Diaz . A comedian, has been in the cannabis business for nine years. That’s when cannabis becomes popular. It is then perfected by everyone. Next comes the cross-pollinating. By that point, there is a lot of hype and growers are looking for new sources. Gas is not going away.
Josh Vert is co-founder and CEO of Royal Key. He’s known for creating world-class live roses. The key to finding the right cultivar to release on the market, often, comes down to its potential to be a concentrate. The way that a strain is grown plays another important role.
Vert submitted a handful of flower entries to this year’s Emerald Cup. He says Riddles didn’t produce enough roses to make rosin.
He said that there were a few phenos… one was Yoplait, which I don’t believe we have officially killed but was so moldy that it wasn’t made it to the final cut. You don’t always find the details for these details, even if you do a few runs.
Vert stated that Riddles wasn’t cured until Vert noticed an aroma similar the Zkittlez tropical fruit essence and the bergamot orange essence.
Vert stated, “It turns to be just really special for me. But that’s okay.” We just need to look at the people, and see what is really striking and what makes people happy. We might not have seen or smelled everything.
Vert points out the fact that trends are driven by traditional markets. Vert says Zkittlez’s terpene profile is exceptional, but that’s only because the cultivar is associated with a company. Many other brands have also used the strain in their breeding programs due to its popularity.
He said, “Any time you breed with it, it has a Z on the it, so that it’s being marketed over-and-over.”
Vert explained that it is difficult to answer the question of how long a strain will last. “You could even get into the marketing budget for a brand and the strain stability.
The market perception, acceptance, and desire for the product are then achieved. Zkittlez excels in both of these areas.
Alyssa Robs is chief of staff at Kayla Excises. She agrees with McDonough that asking about the life expectancy of an average strain of cannabis can be a complicated question.
Roberts stated that the average lifespan of genetics is four to five years, when a strain has gotten enough hype and thrives. Variability and differentiation of strains are determined by the market, and the needs and desires of the market.
High Times published the post How Long is a Strain’s Average Lifespan?.
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