Late May heralds the high season for cannabis planting in North America.
Millions upon millions of starters root in soil for their 2023 full-sun run. The clone trays at Mainstage dispensary in Sacramento, CA look picked over.
On the weed contest circuit, strains like Grape Stank and Trop Cherry are crushing it in Oregon. Blue Face brought gas back to California at The Emerald Cup May 13.
And fresh on seed banks this week: new crosses from Seed Junky, Compound, and Clearwater.
Here’s what’s cooking in the white-hot magma core of the US’ $60 billion cannabis industry. Here’s Leafly Strain News Weekly #5.
New in the Leafly Strain Database
We’re living in a Golden Age of cannabis cultivars—adding new strains to the 5,000-strong Leafly database every day. Recent additions include:
Blue Face, the Emerald Cup 2023 winner.
Blue Guava, a Transbay Challenge 2023 qualifier.
Blue Lobster, the East Coast Zalympix 2023 winner.
Strain creators who want to get listed can email us at strains@leafly.com.
Top strain news
Grape Stank wins two ways at Oregon Leaf Bowl
Oregon’s major contest the Leaf Bowl concluded May 26, with the frontrunner growers Left Coast Standard and TrueCare Farms slugging it out for first and second place in five categories of sungrown flower.
The indoor contest proved ferocious; ten brands won or placed across five categories. Watch out for that Trop Cherry by Verdant Leaf—the Best Exotic Fruit. A Grape Stank strain won the citrus and sap category and took second in the fuel/og/chem category.
Desserts rule—a Biscotti Pie from High Noon Cultivation won the Open category, while a Z-type called Moonbow 112 from Archive took second.
In mixed-light/greenhouse, the brand Real Eve swept four of six categories with the strains: Hash Burger, Super Boof, Sherb Cake, and Chem-Lato. Huzzah.
Overall, we see lots of Leafly Buzz and Strain News Weekly faves holding trophies; very affirming. Read up on the Oregon Leaf Bowl winners in carts, extracts, edibles and more.
Related
How to order weed delivery online with Leafly
Blue Face takes The Emerald Cup 2023
The smoke has cleared on the epic May 13 Emerald Cup Awards 2023—the world’s biggest cannabis contest. Seed Junky Genetics‘ beastly Animal Face phenotype Blue Face, grown by Fig Farms, took Best in Show. Double OG Chem returned to the podium. Here’s the full list of winners, we’re cooking up a buyer’s guide for your summer.
Gucci Mane will headline the Zalympix Awards Show in LA June 17 (ticket link). We’ve smoked all 25 jars in the judges kit; plenty of gorgeous weed and a good amount of great-smelling weed. The proof came in the taste and effect, where a few clear winners emerged. Overall—the California Zalympix 2023 showcases intense competition on the top shelf. Yet space remains on that shelf for newcomers who can blast our taste buds with unique, revelatory flavors. Here’s an hour of us judging live on Instagram May 26.