ICE

A fuel smell runs through several seed lines that go by the name ICE: Nirvana Seeds describes the aroma of its cross of Afghan, Shiva, Northern Light and a Skunk as almost gasoline-like, while Female Seeds lists diesel with a trace of licorice for a genetically different strain of the same name. Royal Queen Seeds, by contrast, gives earthy and peppery notes with mint and pine for its ICE and reads the name as an abbreviation of Indica Crystal Extreme.

Aroma and Flavor:

Another strain description from the Nirvana line also gives diesel as the smell and assigns menthol, mint and a chemical note to the taste. Growers describe it differently: summarized indoor reports list acidic, hash-like and woody smells, with nectar and something reminiscent of cough syrup in the taste; a single report mentions frankincense and citrus. Terpenes are given as limonene ahead of myrcene and caryophyllene, as a statement from a strain description and not as a lab value.

Genetics and Origin:

Nirvana Seeds states that it selected the strain from thousands of plants. A pedigree lists it as a presumed cross of an older ICE made from Afghan, Skunk #1 and Northern Light with Shiva; several seed sellers, however, put White Widow in place of the Afghan.

For ICE, Nirvana cites a win at the Cannabis Cup 1998, without category or placement. Female Seeds refers to the same competition: at the High Times Cup 1998, the highest THC value was reportedly measured in its own ICE, at 22 %. A retrospective of the Cup years attributes almost all trophies for 1998 to Greenhouse and does not mention ICE.

As a parent, Nirvana's strain stands behind Papaya (Citral x Ice), White Castle (White Widow x Ice) and Raspberry Cough, for which the breeder gives Cambodian IBL x Ice.

Versions from Different Breeders:

Royal Queen Seeds sells ICE as a feminized cross of Afghan, Northern Light and Skunk with 90 % indica and 10 % sativa. The breeder gives 55 to 65 days of flowering, 400 to 450 g/m² indoors, 500 to 550 g per plant outdoors, heights of 80 to 120 cm indoors and 150 to 200 cm outdoors, and a harvest in September. Growi Seeds Amsterdam combines the same 3 lines in a regular ICE with 8 weeks of flowering.

The ICE from Female Seeds has a different pedigree. It goes back to a Swiss cutting selected in 1996 from 500 female plants of a cross of Skunk Special and White Widow and later crossed with Blueberry; it appeared as a feminized version in 2003. Female Seeds gives around 60 days of flowering. ApeOrigin crossed Nirvana's Ice with itself and gives 8 to 9 weeks.

THC Content:

For the Nirvana line, a strain description lists 16 % THC and 1 % CBG. Royal Queen Seeds gives up to 18 % for its version, ApeOrigin about 20 %. All of these values come from breeders or strain descriptions, not from lab analyses.

Effects:

Nirvana describes a heavy, body-focused effect, and Royal Queen Seeds gives physical relaxation up to couch-lock for its version. User reports vary more widely. Besides relaxation and euphoria, talkativeness, creativity, focus and a tingling sensation are mentioned; some describe the strain as sociable and energizing, others as strongly calming. Dry mouth, dry eyes and headache are listed as side effects. One report considers the effect weak.

Cultivation:

Nirvana's strain description gives 9 to 11 weeks of flowering, 400 to 500 g/m² in a Sea of Green, medium height and suitability for soil as well as hydroponics. Dense flowers heavily covered in trichomes and a high flower-to-leaf ratio are emphasized. The strain was offered as regular and feminized.

Across 9 indoor profiles, flowering took 56 to 76 days, 63 on average. Stretch after the start of flowering ranged from 1.7 to 2.8 times depending on the report; one grow ended at 45 cm, another at 175 cm. 3 phenotypes are described: a stretched, slow-flowering one with a sativa lean and 2 fast-flowering ones with indica character, one of them compact. The dried flowers are considered hard and compact, 2 reports rate them as averagely compact; in one grow they turned purple. Supporting the plants with nets or stakes during flowering is advised.

Community Experiences:

Reports diverge on care requirements and robustness. One grower found the strain undemanding and tolerant of changing fertilizer strengths, another reports a high fertilizer demand, and yet another warns of nitrogen sensitivity in the growth phase. The summarized evaluation rates the Nirvana line as little prone to fungal problems, whereas 2 individual reports mention susceptibility to mold. A report from 2013 describes hermaphroditism, along with a statement that only 2 of 5 seeds germinated.

For the ICE from Female Seeds, growers report 57 to 64 days of flowering, a high nutrient demand and susceptibility to powdery mildew.