Bubba Kush: From lucky punch to world star

Characteristics of the Bubba Kush

Bubba Kush is omnipresent in the USA, enjoying enormous popularity both with recreational and medical users, from all walks of life. As Peter Tosh said, "doctors smoke it, lawyers smoke it, sound guy smokes it." Such Bubba Kush loving sound guys include famous rap group Cypress Hill – with their unconcealed Bubba enthusiasm, B-Real and members of the entourage caused a veritable Bubba Kush fever in 1998 with which other rappers, rock stars and Hollywood actors quickly got infected. At the peak of that Bubba mania, half a kilo was traded for US$ 8,000! 

Bubba Kush's history of origins has been well documented in diverse publications, so here's just a brief summary: Although the foundation for this strain was laid already in the early 1990s, its development lasted until 1997, due to the fact that it was more or less accidentally created by hobby growers and not targetedly bred by a professional seed company. Circa 1990, together with some of his pals, in Florida a student nicknamed "Bubba" experimented with different genetics, making own breeding attempts for example with Skunk #1, but then also with plants they had grown from unknown bag seeds. Without knowing what it actually was, they arbitrarily called these plants "Kush". In the year of 1997, meanwhile living in Los Angeles, Bubba was growing some of those "Kush" plants along with his own breeding line created over the years which he had named after his own nickname – Bubba. Without him noticing, a hermaphrodite Kush pollinated the Bubba, thus accidentally giving birth to what he called "Bubba Kush" then. These new Bubba Kush seeds were soon grown out, and the resulting plants proved to be absolutely awesome, a rare lucky punch every breeder dreams of. In no time, Bubba Kush rose to prominence in California, then spreading across the entire United States like wildfire – as already mentioned above, also thanks to the support of Cypress Hill.

It's probably the best indica that has ever been around. Super strong, with quite a physical effect indeed, and the taste is legendary fuel with coffee.

Dinafem managed to get their hands on a "Pre '98" Bubba Kush elite clone and advanced it into an actual seed strain. Breeder Dr. Kush speaks highly of this plant, having fallen in love with Bubba Kush: "It's probably the best indica that has ever been around. Super strong, with quite a physical effect indeed, and the taste is legendary fuel with coffee - my favourite indica of all times, no doubt about it!" A strong bushy plant, Bubba Kush is easy to grow, fast flowering and a heavy yielder, delivering thick compact buds drenched in resin. A perfect choice for novices and experienced growers alike. The effect, lasting several hours, is a classic indica one - very strong, relaxing and sedative, thus being perfect for unwinding and medical purposes. It contains about 18% THC and only 0.22% CBD. Bubba Kush's scent and flavour are fairly unique, blending a strong fuel aroma with hints of earth, spices, coffee and citrus fruits. After a flowering time of 60-65 days, growers can expect indoor yields of up to 500 g/m2. Under natural light, it matures around mid October, and it's suitable for outdoor cultivation, too, performing best in a dry temperate climate, with potential yields of up to 600-800 grams per plant. When exposed to a decline of at least 10°C between day and night temperatures, Bubba Kush tends to exhibit very attractive lavender and purple hues. 

Growing experience

No one less than Mr. Power-Planter put Dinafem's Bubba Kush version to a test grow – grower legend encountered strain legend! Three feminised Bubba Kush seeds went into Jiffy Pots and germinated perfectly, after about three days, all the three seedlings simultaneously showed up above the surface. In the course of the four vegetative weeks they had been given by Mr. Power Planter, they grew into beautiful dark green plants. When he induced flowering, he looked at a pretty homogeneous scenario of plants with a bushy compact growth pattern and only small differences in height. 

Switching to flowering took the three plants little time, after just a week already, female preflowering set in. And then it was about time for the big Bubba Kush flower show… Within approximately nine weeks, the three plants produced lots of terrific indica buds of enormous fatness and density that were almost exploding with resin glands. In particular, their three imposing head buds were a glistening feast for the eyes, but also those many big side buds made a great showing with their chubby voluptuous shape, sporting trichomes in abundance. The entire plants looked liked dressed in white fur. Another quality feature, for an indica strain the calyx-to-leaf ratio was unusually high. Said Mr. Power-Planter, "wow, these three Bubba Kush plants really look stunning! The appearance of these splendid indica specimens alone makes me easily understand why they're all mad about this strain in the USA. And then there's this unbelievable scent… I am an ardent lover of a pronounced oil/gasoline odour when it comes to cannabis plants, and this strain has plenty of it, refined with a slight citrus note." It came as a (beautiful) surprise that although the plants weren't undergoing a steep drop of temperature at night, one of them revealed a slightly purple bud colouring.

With final heights of 81, 92 and 101 cm, each one differing from the other by about 10 cm, the three plants looked like organ pipes. Two of them matured simultaneously - on day 63, in the middle of the harvest window stated by Dinafem, Mr. Power-Planter could pull out the scissors. The third plant, which was the tallest one, required another nine days though, "but it's always easy to wait if you know you'll get a huge reward", said Mr. Power-Planter with a smile. Weeks later, after the Bubba Kush buds had been dried and weighed, he found himself in possession of 243 grams of extremely crystalline nuggets that felt as hard as concrete and still smelled very much like fuel, but now Mr. Power-Planter was able to also detect a pleasant note of coffee, accompanied by a still present hint of citrus.

Bubba Kush is fantastic for true stoners and certainly also medical marijuana patients. And that stupendous potency is further sweetened by a unique flavour, so it even is a medicine that tastes extremely well.

He was totally stoked when it finally came to test-smoking the legendary Bubba Kush. Being the high-dose smoker that he is, Mr. Power-Planter filled a whole gram of Bubba Kush into an almost pure weed joint and solemnly sparked the lighter. The smoke rising from the joint looked unusually dense and concentrated, and exactly felt like that in his mouth also. "It almost was as if I was inhaling a Bengal torch", Mr. Power-Planter joked, "but a highly special Bengalo with a lovely earthy and spicy flavour that even had an espresso note to it!" And while he was amazed by that unprecedented delicious full-mouth flavour experience, he sensed a mighty wave of stonedness building up in his head… which after a few more tokes broke, flooding his brain convolutions with masses of THC. Which gave rise to strong euphoria, causing a continuous smile on Mr. Power-Planter's face. Commented his girlfriend,"he almost looked like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland!" Mr. Power-Planters extremities felt like spaghetti, and after he had finished the entire joint, even like spaghetti ice melting in the sun… Thus feeling like poured onto the sofa, in a state of blissful stonedness and deep relaxation he happily spent the following hours watching the Summer Jam Festival on TV.

Concluded Mr. Power-Planter: „Bubba Kush truly is a mighty indica killer, but a good-natured killer who consequently eliminates gloomy thoughts and physical tensions. Simply fantastic for true stoners and certainly also medical marijuana patients. And that stupendous potency is further sweetened by a unique flavour, so it even is a medicine that tastes extremely well. Also, it's really easy to grow, high-yielding and looking like a cannabis super model – no wonder that so many people are crazy about that stuff!"

Cultivation data

• Genetics: Pre '98 Bubba Kush x Pre '98 Bubba Kush (90% indica, 10% sativa)
• Vegetative stage: here: 4 weeks
• Flowering stage: here: 2x 63 and 1x 72 days, 60-65 days in general
• Medium: Plagron Growmix, 11 litre pots
• pH: 6.5-6.8
• EC: max. 1.6 mS
• Light: approx. 500 W HPS/m2
• Temperature: day: 26-28°C / night: 18-20°C 
• Air humidity: 60% (veggie stage), 40% (flowering stage)
• Watering: by hand
• Fertilisation: HeSi TNT-Complex, HeSi Blüte-Complex, HeSi Phosphor Plus from the 4th week of flowering
• Additives/stimulants: HeSi SuperVit, HeSi Wurzel-Complex
• Height: 81, 92 and 101 cm
• Yield: 3 plants = 243g