The global cannabis conversation reached a new frenzy last weekend with the 10,000-person Spannabis festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Top-ranked packs like Dying Breed Seeds OZ Kush, Peach Ringz, and Z 3.0 fetched 500 euros for 12 seeds. We’re busy adding dozens of new cultivars to the database. Watch along for more Day 1 and Day 2 highlights straight from the event and recorded live above Las Ramblas.

More industry tips for decisionmakers

Cultivar news for store buyers

Z strains dominated flower and hash competitions. Wizard Trees’ booth was so packed you couldn’t get near it. RS-11 is hot. Zoap is hot. Leafly’s Strains and Products reporting is right on the money.

The hash type of the moment is called piatella— a delicate, gooey solventless hash that is maximally terpy.

Legal market progress

California’s legal providers now serve 47% of that market, according to leading cannabis economist Beau Whitney. New York is at an appalling 4% penetration, which matches Spain under prohibition. Vangst releases the 2024 Jobs Report by Whitney and Bruce Barcott in two weeks.

Global market outlook for business development

Thailand is tightening back up after rapid commercialization engendered a backlash.

Germany is red-hot with decriminalization and medical advancements.

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Judging from vape supply sales at Abstrax—markets that are warming up include Japan, South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Argentina.

Prohibition markets are contributing as well. Britain and Italy are making names for themselves in hash and seeds ahead of legalization. It’s not binary. You have to be part of the underground now if you want to compete above ground later.

Cannabis is a field of infinite possibilities.

DJ Muggs, Cypress Hill, at the International Cannabis Business Conference

Global marketing

The cannabis genetics conversation is global and social. Hash trends circle the world in 30 days, due to social media, and the ease of shipping seeds or clones or counterfeiting a brand.

What’s your global marketing strategy? It has become table stakes for major flower and seeds brands to conduct international marketing campaigns. You’re either trying to keep pace with brands like Doja Pak, Terphogz, Alien Labs, and Mills Nutrients, or you are eating their dust.

Living soil in cultivation

Living soil is a wave. Jeff Lowenfels presented the latest research showing 40% of plant nitrogen coming not from the soil or bottles, but from cannabis plants cultivating and consuming bacteria. It’s called rhizophagy. A future of strain-specific beneficial bacterial inoculants is coming.

Seed technology

Seeds are getting easier. Regular male and female seeds are being replaced by feminized, autoflower, triploid, and stabilized lines. If you are in cultivation or extraction and don’t have a plan to take advantage of that technology—you will be outcompeted.

Meet the GastroBros

We learned the term “GastroBro”—a stoner who is also a big foodie. True marketing wins will fuse cannabis and culture like food, art, and music.

420 is going to be big in New York. The Astor Club is working with Archive Seeds on an awards show—The Billies—headlined by rapper Larry June. ‘How much did Larry June cost?’ we asked. “A lot. A lot.”

DJ Muggs’ words of wisdom

Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs— the closing speaker at the International Cannabis Business Conference—brought a message of optimism, authenticity, and grit.

“Cannabis is a field of infinite possibilities. It’s a struggle—a battle. It is what it is. Don’t be a little b*tch. The strong will survive. It’s not just get rich quick— those people will not survive.”

March has arrived, and with it your best chance of growing a monster outdoor plant—if you start now inside. As such, we conclude our seasonal 2024 guide to the hottest cultivars and breeders with a survey of award-winning strains bred for making excellent hash. 

Not all strains are created equal for extraction, farmers and hashmakers have learned. Some taste great as flowers, but flat as hash. Others make good oil for pens, but poor rosin. Some are true “dumpers”—releasing big, fat trichome heads on long, breakable stalks; all the easier for collecting into the ultimate dab. A great hash hit allows you to savor the soul of a strain like a Mortal Kombat villain. But it all starts with a perfect flower. Let’s dive in:

Reporting at The Ego Clash 2023 in Mendocino County, CA—hash remains very much in its Papaya Era, as well as its Honey Banana Era. So expect more trophies for these concentrates of tropical, fruity flavor.

We’re getting best-in-class germination rates from CHA seeds of Humboldt County, CA, so we proudly recommend the CHA Honey Belts, or the CHA Frenchy’s Grapes x Grapaya. Honey Belts takes the Honey Banana craze to the Rainbow Belts. That’s candy on candy. Frenchy’s Grapes x Grapaya promises dumb levels of grape taste in a crazy, dumper strain.

The team at Bloom Seed Co. carries a lot of clout in the hash world, and throws down with their MAD Honey (Honey Banana x Sherbanger). 

You really can’t talk about banana terps without giving Masonic Seeds his dabs. The Compton-based “Mace” has powered a ton of hash wins, and dabs like a boss. Masonic always has an affordable, diverse lineup, with winning work on his strain Wilson, as well as his Banana God.

Wilson crosses and Banana God keep winning awards into 2024. On Feb. 29, he put us on to the Acapulco Gold Wilson and the Sour D Wilson among many others. And there’s always money in the Banana Man.

Keep the Honey Banana vibes going with DNA Genetics’ Honey Banana S1—they’ll bring that heat to the entire world in 2024.

Moving up the coast of California, we arrive in Oakland, CA, where Purple City Genetics has a whole slew of crazy hash strains. Check out Fez (Rainbow Belts x Moroccan Peaches) and Habibi (Z x Moroccan Peaches)—they make phenomenal hash and yield over 4%. 

PCG’s Canal St. Runtz washes at 5%, which is kind of a big deal around here. It means 100 grams of flower will yield 5 grams of tasty hash. Generally speaking, the higher the hash yield, the more profitable the cultivar. 

In clone form only, Canal Street Runtz comes from PCG’s El Krem collection. It has “a Bubblegum Runtz terp that’s lacking in the hash market, but obviously has demand,” said PCG Founder and Head Breeder Auryn McCafferty.

“This cultivar is dual usage as the flower looks amazing, and tests at 33% and has a better yield than Runtz. Our favorite El Krem seed is probably Sour Peaches (AJ Sour Diesel x Moroccan Peaches); huge plants with amazing resin- look for this one to pick up some awards this year.”

In the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas and beyond lies proper cannabis country, and it has even more for you.

Famous for Tangie and Banana Sherbert, Crockett Family Farms brought seeds of Day-O (Tallymon x Papaya Banana Sherbert) to The Ego Clash. That’s a killer cross. Both those strains have won recent awards and remain the talk of the sesh.

Keep your candy super-juicy with Bloom Seed Co.’s Rainbow Guava (Rainbow Belts 2.0 x Strawberry Guava—for the win).

Even more fruit comes from California Seed Bank, which has One Fritter Quitter—an Apple Fritter project.

One Fritter Quitter comes from Apple Fritter x Banana OG x Donny Burger x Mike LarryV2 with a fruit cereal-flavored fuel smell, among other fruity kushy gas flavors.

“It comes out super gassy and potent. Plus it has the Apple Fritter structure along with the Modified Banana structure & hashing capabilities—less leaf, leaving room for more weed and resin!”

Happy Dreams Farms, which helped bring the world Vanilla Frosting, recommends Garlic Slurry for all the hashmakers this year. Also on the savory tip, California Seed Bank keeps the stanky GMO terps flowing with Papa Burger.

Over in Colorado, Cannarado has Big Hunk (Fatso x Papaya). 

“Expect large yielding, high terpene, plants that will finish in approx 10 weeks. These have been producing well for solventless concentrate as well as straight flower. Funk and fruit!”

And then we end with some old-school craziness. 

Good ole Bodhi Seeds slangs beans as good as ever, and has Razzleberry Hashplant, a cross of Goji Raz F2 x 88G13HP. That’s good stuff. The Goji Raz should offer a more lip-smacking raspberry, and the 1988 G-13 Hashplant indica promises to bomb you back to the set of “Stranger Things.”

OK, we’ve independently reported—without fear or favor—more than 3,000 words over three posts on what seeds and clones to grow in 2024. Today is the day to pop a pack, find a keeper, and change the world with your weed. So let’s get growing!