Understanding the Difference Between Marijuana Strains

The marijuana industry has been absolutely booming of late. With that, many different marijuana strains are popping up in the market on what seems to be a weekly basis. All of these different names can get a bit confusing for buyers to know exactly what they’re buying. Ultimately, this is what happens when strains are named due to marketing strategies.

Strains are nothing but a pure hybrid variety of cannabis, created to intensify specific characteristics of marijuana for making it more effective or just for marketing. Yes, marketing is in the middle of all that. Certain kinds of strains are protected by its owner, grower, “creator.” Take “Mega Wellness” for example. There is no way to know how this strain was created since its genetics are protected and it can only be reproduced by one of its authentic cultivators, so if you want to buy this strain you will need to go to specific places to find it. These strains can also be licensed out to new users that would like to grow them and/or create hybrids.

Obviously, these growers have a vigorous control of their strains and know all the places where their products can be found. The name of the strain “Mega Wellness,” has nothing to do with the effects of the strain, as we said before, just a marketing thing that will always remind you of the cultivator.

As another example of marijuana strains, let’s talk about OG Kush. As one of the most popular strains in California, this strain can be found in almost every dispensary you go to. However, depending on the dispensary, the effects of this strain can be completely different.

How Can This Be?

Since every grower has different growing conditions, the results of this marijuana strain can and will vary depending on the conditions they are grown in. These various conditions alter the composition of cannabinoids and terpenes. So, if you like this strain and want to have the same effect every time you use it, make sure to buy at the same dispensary, or it might not necessarily be the same.

Thanks to the legalization of cannabis in many places, growers are able to  hybridize through selecting different strains, and if you guessed that most of the strains found were through landrace, unfortunately, you are wrong. Landrace strains evolved naturally with time and have never been crossed. All the results are due to the exposure to elements in their natural environment. The most known landrace strains originated in Jamaica, Mexico, Africa, South and Central America, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

So, What Now?

What really matters when looking for the right strain for you is where the cannabis is grown, harvested and processed. These things will directly interfere with the composition of terpenes and cannabinoids of the strain.

Most of the names are purely marketing, and there is nothing much to extract from what the name matters. Expect to see terminology like tangy, sour, and orange aromas with strains that share fragrance of citrus fruit. Strains with diesel on the name share a gasoline-like pungency. So yeah, sometimes there are definitely names related to the strain’s characteristics.