Bubba Kush

Several accounts of the ancestry of Bubba Kush exist, and they agree only on the essentials: the strain arose by chance in 1996 in a cramped grow room in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, which Matt “Bubba” Berger shared with Josh D. A stressed Kush plant produced pollen and fertilized a plant that Berger had brought from Florida and named Bubba. Which strains these two plants were is disputed to this day.

Genetics and Origin:

According to a portrait of Berger at Greenpoint Seeds, the Bubba was grown in Gainesville in the early 1990s from Northern Lights seeds that came from New Orleans. The Kush reportedly grew from seeds found in a bag of buds bought in southern Florida. Other strain descriptions list OG Kush as the father and an unknown Indica from New Orleans as the mother, with Northern Lights only presumed.

Dinafem published a more detailed version in 2015. Berger is said to have begun growing in 1990 while studying at the University of Florida and, together with a roommate, to have crossed Skunk #1 with a Kush of unknown origin from Orlando. The actual Bubba Kush arose later in Silver Lake, when a hermaphroditic Kush pollinated the Bubba. According to Dinafem, the clone received the Pre-98 suffix around 1998, when inferior imitations were circulating in Los Angeles; it still designates Berger's original plant, which was passed on only as a cutting for a long time. According to the same source, the strain became known around 1998 through B-Real of Cypress Hill.

In seed form, the clone was first made available, according to Katsu Seeds, by Swerve of The Cali Connection, who reversed it into an S1 by self-pollination. As a parent, Bubba Kush appears in Kush Mints, among others, a cross with Animal Mints by Seed Junky Genetics. Katsu Seeds lists its own crosses with the clone, including AK98, Bubba Payton and Finishing Move.

Aroma and Flavor:

Coffee, chocolate, earth and a sweetish note reminiscent of hashish recur in strain descriptions and user reports. Some consumers add nutty and woody nuances, a hint of pine and a touch of diesel. Katsu Seeds also describes notes of grape and berry for the clone, and Dinafem gasoline, spices and citrus for its own line. Caryophyllene, myrcene and limonene are given as the leading terpenes; for medical flower of the strain grown in Germany, however, the producer lists myrcene, limonene and nerolidol.

Effects:

User reports mainly describe heavy physical relaxation accompanied by drowsiness and elevated mood. Some consumers, however, found the strain creative and rather stimulating, and its strength is also rated differently, from manageable to overwhelming. Side effects mentioned are dry mouth, dry eyes and dizziness, the latter mainly among less experienced consumers.

Cultivation:

The clone grows compact and bushy, with short internodes, broad leaves and sturdy side shoots, and according to grow reports hardly stretches after the switch to 12/12. The buds become dense, about golf-ball-sized on the clone, and carry a lot of resin. Their color ranges from forest green to pale violet; one grower observed lilac tones toward the end of flowering, while another describes the true Bubba Kush as naturally dark green.

Cultivation guides and growers give a flowering time of 8 to 9 weeks; some let their plants run for 10 weeks. Grow reports note that the pistils turn orange as early as around week 4 of flowering, while new white ones are still appearing in week 7 or 8; growers therefore judge ripeness by the trichomes.

Assessments of yield differ: one cultivation guide rates it as high, while growers and Katsu Seeds consider the clone rather low-yielding. Because of the dense buds, the strain is considered sensitive in humid climates; moderately warm, dry conditions at 20 to 27 °C are described. Before flowering it is said to take up a lot of nitrogen, calcium and magnesium, whereas one grower managed with low EC values in hydroponics. Topping and Sea of Green are described for an even canopy.

Versions from Different Breeders:

Not every seed line under this name draws on the clone. Dinafem developed its feminized version from its own Pre-98 clone and states 60 to 65 days of flowering, 500 g/m² indoors, 600 to 800 g per plant outdoors with harvest in mid-October, and 16 to 20 % THC. Seedsman gives the same flowering and yield figures for its line, which is also traced back to Pre-98, with 15 to 20 % THC. Katsu Seeds gives 63 to 70 days for the S1.

Barney's Farm describes a cross of an Afghan Kush landrace and OG Kush with 56 to 63 days of flowering, 600 to 700 g/m², 100 to 120 cm height indoors and 29 % THC. Green House Seeds lists Bubba Kush as Bubble Gum × Kush with 9 weeks of flowering, up to 800 g/m² and 23.17 % THC. Growers report hard, compact buds with a bubblegum flavor for this version; one complained of brittle branches, and some doubt the stated ancestry.