GSC

An euphoric start followed by growing relaxation in the body: this pattern runs through the user reports on GSC. The hybrid was called Girl Scout Cookies until a dispute over the name and comes from the Cookie Fam, a breeder collective from the San Francisco Bay Area. What it contains genetically remains disputed, as does how much of what is sold under the name goes back to their plants.

Community Experiences:

The reports disagree on what follows the first phase. Some describe drive, focus and inventiveness, one person a stimulating effect lasting around 10 hours. Others become drowsy or find the strain calm and body-centered from the start. Side effects mentioned include dry mouth, dry eyes and dizziness, occasionally headache; one report from a first-time use describes nervousness and racing thoughts.

The flowers are also described differently: small and rather loose in some reports, dense and sticky with orange hairs in others. Behind this lies the question of authenticity. A strain profile from 2020 considers a large share of what is offered to be offspring grown from seeds found in flower, or imitation. The Cookie Fam called such plants “Fortune Cookies” in 2014 and later marked its harvests with a hologram sticker.

Genetics and Origin:

The common short formula is OG Kush × Durban Poison. In an interview with High Times, the Cookie Fam described a three-step path in 2014: an F1 kept secret was crossed with Durban Poison, and the result then with a Kush said to have reached San Francisco through acquaintances from Florida and to have received the name OG Kush only later. According to a strain description citing the same interview, breeder Jigga called the two-parent formula a story meant to keep imitators away. Another profile speaks of a subtype of OG Kush and an intermediate form called F1 Durban.

The strain has carried the name GSC since the Girl Scouts of America took action against cannabis businesses selling under the cookies' name; according to a 2018 report, with success in many places. Known selections include Thin Mint GSC and Platinum GSC. As a parent, GSC is in Sunset Sherbert by Mr. Sherbinski (with Pink Panties), in Animal Cookies (with Fire OG) and in Cookies & Cream by Exotic Genetix, a cross with Starfighter that took 1st place as Best U.S. Hybrid at the Cannabis Cup in Denver in 2014. Gelato came from Sunset Sherbert and Thin Mint GSC.

Aroma and Flavor:

Mint, sweetness and earth form the common denominator. Depending on the description, cherry, lemon, skunk or a creamy, floral side are added; the author of the 2020 profile smelled musky pine and was reminded of cherries in chocolate. Consumers compare the taste to mint cookies or find chocolate, earth and pine.

Caryophyllene leads the terpene data, followed by myrcene and limonene or by limonene, humulene and linalool. The 2020 profile cites a terpene fingerprint from the lab Steep Hill but gives no amounts. One strain description puts figures at 0.6 % caryophyllene, 0.3 % humulene, 0.29 % limonene and 0.21 % myrcene, without naming a lab or sample.

THC and CBD Content:

One strain description gives 25 % THC and 1 % CBG. For their versions, the breeders state 20 to 28 % THC: Fast Buds 20 % for the autoflower variant, up to 22 % in the product description, Zamnesia Seeds 23 % and Barney's Farm 28 %. Zamnesia Seeds and Fast Buds put the CBD content at 0 to 1 %.

Cultivation:

Cultivation notes from the Cookie Fam come from the 2014 interview. Jigga described GSC as growing tall and slender, more demanding to care for and with higher tolerance for nutrients. The flowering odor would penetrate even new filters, the yield is not high, and a slow, natural cure is what matters.

Versions from Different Breeders:

Several breeders offer seeds under the name. Zamnesia Seeds states for its feminized version 8 to 9 weeks of flowering, 110 cm height indoors and 190 cm outdoors, up to 500 g/m² and up to 500 g per plant respectively, and harvest in October; the breeder rates the cultivation once as medium difficulty and elsewhere as easy. Barney's Farm likewise gives 8 to 9 weeks, plus 120 and 200 cm height, up to 650 g/m² and more than 1000 g per plant.

Elev8 Seeds lists Thin Mint GSC as a feminized phenotype with 9 weeks of flowering. The autoflower version from Fast Buds needs 9 to 10 weeks from seed to harvest, grows to about 100 cm and is said to yield up to 600 g/m².