K
Karma Genetics
Having been a grower since 1994, I've sen a lot of buds, both my own and grown by others. Most fade into memory, but there are some standouts that I can clearly recall my first encounter with, and one I recall like it was only yesterday was a bud handed to me by my good friend Karma Genetics back in 2008 in Amsterdam. I had just arrived at the Greenhouse United to join the 420 cup festivities and sat down opposite Karma and was presented with a very impressive nugget, no words of praise or description accompanied this chunk of dank, he just handed it to me without a word, just a characteristic smile. I was immediately impressed by the density and chunkiness, it was not a large bud, maybe 3 inches long and 1.5 in diameter, but probably weighed a good 5g. I squeezed it and was surprised at it's resilience, a sign of a well grown flower that has been provided with just the right amount of P and K and not too much N, I nodded my approval and asked how many watts had been used to produce this fine specimen. 'Just a 400' Karma replied nonchalantly, I exhaled melodramatically and pressed the nugget to my nostrils. The smell matched the visual appearance – highly impressive indeed, but very hard to describe! Sweet and complex, many notes – floral, spice, solvent/fuel, all kinds of tones blending into a rich delectable odour. I passed the bud to one of my English friends to examine and his thoughts echoes mine – amazement at the chunkiness and density for only 400 watts and delight at the rich, complex bouquet or aromas it emitted.
I wasted no time in whipping out my papers and rolling a fat joint from this delectable bud, the way it crumbled so readily between the fingers and emitted a fiercesome odour as I broke it up told me it was very well cured. My fingers were soon coated in a thick, sticky layer of resin, in fact I remember holding up my hand to demonstrate how well glued together my thumb and forefinger had become, almost like I had been playing with Superglue! I had to rub my fingers together to remove most of the resin before I could pick up the paper piled with bud from the table to roll it. An impressive volume of brown finger hash formed in small worms as I rubbed, and this was put to one side to be enjoyed in a pipe. I lit the joint and sat back to enjoy, from the first mouthful, the smoke was expansive, but smooth, the taste on the tongue being fruity, citric and sweet; on exhale, deep skunky spice and rich fuelly notes, although I don't think it's really possible to fully describe the flavours, perhaps it is best to call it unique and complex!
The buzz was immediately apparent, I felt it first in the forehead, a rising wave of sensation from my eyebrows, as I toked more, my temples began to tingle, and I had the sensation that I find one of the most highly pleasurable – of my head from the eyes upwards turning into a block of ice with little rushes of electric current rippling through my synapses – definitely a smoke possessing a powerful psychoactive quality. I asked Karma to tell me all about this delicious variety of cannabis and as he began to relate the tale of how he acquired I became aware of a strong, soothing and relaxing body effect taking hold, a perfect accompaniment to the cerebral sensations I was already enjoying. 'When I used to work in a coffeeshop back in 96 we used to get some weed called Happy Brother' Karma explained. 'It was the strongest herb I'd smoked back in those years and I had already started growing myself so I really wanted to grow this oh-so-tasty herb myself'. By now the joint had me reduced to nodding sagely and smiling while I listened intently as Karma carried on with the tale. 'I asked the guy who brought it to the shop if I could get some seeds' he continued; 'He told me he got this herb from an old Rasta in Amsterdam, that the brother of this Rasta grew it for his paralyzed brother. The original grower said he made it, but the supplier wasn't so sure as he did not have any seeds'. I mumbled something about that being a pity and continued to merrily puff away on my joint. 'I didn't see the guy again until two years later, he came into the shop with a new supply of Happy Brother... and three clones of it!' I beamed a big smile and Karma grinned back. 'They looked like shit, but I grew them into nice plants and it was so special to watch them produce my favourite smoke, to this day it's still my favourite smoke!' I exhaled the last puff of my joint and as I ground it out in the ashtray I nodded and expressed my great pleasure that the tale had a happy ending.
I should mention that an incident many of my smoker friends still remind me of then happened – I wolfed down not one but two big slices of the Greenhouse's gorgeous chocolate cake and washed it down with two of their massive strawberry milkshakes! I can't place the blame for my glutony solely on the shoulders o the Happy Brother, but it surely aided and abetted my hearty indulgence! Then I noticed the little piece of finger hash that had resulted when I had rolled my Happy joint and eagerly toked it down in Karma's glass pipe, my memory fades into a haze after that....
Later that year, while again in Amsterdam for the High Times Cannabis Cup I confided to Karma that my goal for my new 400 watt medical closet grow was to come close to matching the density and quality of the Happy Brother bud he had handed me back in April. In his typical modest way he shrugged and replied 'hey man, it's not so hard' but I just smiled and assured him that if I did eventually produce a bud with the same qualities I would be a very happy bro indeed! A broad grin stretched across Karma's face and he rooted in his bag then held out his hand, palm down and placed in my hand a packet of seeds with a simply printed label, I read the type and returned his grin with an even larger one of my own when my eyes discerned the words 'Karma Genetics – Happy Brother BX1'. I clapped my unassuming Dutch friend heartily on the back and assured him I would grow these seeds with the utmost care. 'I've been working with the Happy Brother for a long time now' he explained. 'It is not a big yielder, but it’s very strong against insects and diseases, makes rock hard little nugs that don’t shrink much when dried.' I placed the seeds in one of the little zippered pockets of my jacket where they were safe from being lost in a stoned stupor, as does happen when one is in Amsterdam! 'I tried a lot of crossings to Happy Brother' Karma continued. 'I started with HB x Ultra Skunk, very unstable. Then I did a HB x New York City Diesel, too much Diesel. Then came HB x Chocolate Chunk and HB x Sage, I found some good HB dominant male plants, but not one special enough to do my first backcross.' I nodded slowly to indicate my regret. 'The last I did was the winner for the BX project – Happy Brother x Chemdog D IX1' exclaimed Karma and I beamed a smile. 'The Chemdog D IX1 is not so stable but it gave pretty stable offspring in this cross' Karma explained. 'I finally found the good male after all these years, one worthy of doing the backcross!' With that I joyfully patted the pocket holding my precious seeds and we toasted the successful breeding endeavour most appropriately – with pipe hits of Happy Brother dry sift!
Sundry issues have prevented me from starting my new medical closet grow, my brand new 400w digital light is still to be fired up, but I will be finally setting it up in a few weeks, and the first genetics it will illuminate is an obvious choice – the Happy Brother BX1 seeds Karma so kindly gifted me a few months ago, I look forward to sharing the product from them with their creator this November when we meet once again in Amsterdam. After delighting and destroying me with the buds and dry sift of his favourite strain, I am eager to pit my wits against the Happy Brother oil Karma has promised to smoke me out with, and he assures me the HB breeding project continues apace. In a (cannabis) world obsessed with elite names, profit and hype, it is so refreshing that one talented and dedicated Dutch breeder is focused on a project with none of these things in mind, but merely to preserve his favourite smoke. I am sure in years to come, many growers and smokers around the world will be very grateful that he chose to preserve and share his favourite genes for us all to enjoy
B.H.
I wasted no time in whipping out my papers and rolling a fat joint from this delectable bud, the way it crumbled so readily between the fingers and emitted a fiercesome odour as I broke it up told me it was very well cured. My fingers were soon coated in a thick, sticky layer of resin, in fact I remember holding up my hand to demonstrate how well glued together my thumb and forefinger had become, almost like I had been playing with Superglue! I had to rub my fingers together to remove most of the resin before I could pick up the paper piled with bud from the table to roll it. An impressive volume of brown finger hash formed in small worms as I rubbed, and this was put to one side to be enjoyed in a pipe. I lit the joint and sat back to enjoy, from the first mouthful, the smoke was expansive, but smooth, the taste on the tongue being fruity, citric and sweet; on exhale, deep skunky spice and rich fuelly notes, although I don't think it's really possible to fully describe the flavours, perhaps it is best to call it unique and complex!
The buzz was immediately apparent, I felt it first in the forehead, a rising wave of sensation from my eyebrows, as I toked more, my temples began to tingle, and I had the sensation that I find one of the most highly pleasurable – of my head from the eyes upwards turning into a block of ice with little rushes of electric current rippling through my synapses – definitely a smoke possessing a powerful psychoactive quality. I asked Karma to tell me all about this delicious variety of cannabis and as he began to relate the tale of how he acquired I became aware of a strong, soothing and relaxing body effect taking hold, a perfect accompaniment to the cerebral sensations I was already enjoying. 'When I used to work in a coffeeshop back in 96 we used to get some weed called Happy Brother' Karma explained. 'It was the strongest herb I'd smoked back in those years and I had already started growing myself so I really wanted to grow this oh-so-tasty herb myself'. By now the joint had me reduced to nodding sagely and smiling while I listened intently as Karma carried on with the tale. 'I asked the guy who brought it to the shop if I could get some seeds' he continued; 'He told me he got this herb from an old Rasta in Amsterdam, that the brother of this Rasta grew it for his paralyzed brother. The original grower said he made it, but the supplier wasn't so sure as he did not have any seeds'. I mumbled something about that being a pity and continued to merrily puff away on my joint. 'I didn't see the guy again until two years later, he came into the shop with a new supply of Happy Brother... and three clones of it!' I beamed a big smile and Karma grinned back. 'They looked like shit, but I grew them into nice plants and it was so special to watch them produce my favourite smoke, to this day it's still my favourite smoke!' I exhaled the last puff of my joint and as I ground it out in the ashtray I nodded and expressed my great pleasure that the tale had a happy ending.
I should mention that an incident many of my smoker friends still remind me of then happened – I wolfed down not one but two big slices of the Greenhouse's gorgeous chocolate cake and washed it down with two of their massive strawberry milkshakes! I can't place the blame for my glutony solely on the shoulders o the Happy Brother, but it surely aided and abetted my hearty indulgence! Then I noticed the little piece of finger hash that had resulted when I had rolled my Happy joint and eagerly toked it down in Karma's glass pipe, my memory fades into a haze after that....
Later that year, while again in Amsterdam for the High Times Cannabis Cup I confided to Karma that my goal for my new 400 watt medical closet grow was to come close to matching the density and quality of the Happy Brother bud he had handed me back in April. In his typical modest way he shrugged and replied 'hey man, it's not so hard' but I just smiled and assured him that if I did eventually produce a bud with the same qualities I would be a very happy bro indeed! A broad grin stretched across Karma's face and he rooted in his bag then held out his hand, palm down and placed in my hand a packet of seeds with a simply printed label, I read the type and returned his grin with an even larger one of my own when my eyes discerned the words 'Karma Genetics – Happy Brother BX1'. I clapped my unassuming Dutch friend heartily on the back and assured him I would grow these seeds with the utmost care. 'I've been working with the Happy Brother for a long time now' he explained. 'It is not a big yielder, but it’s very strong against insects and diseases, makes rock hard little nugs that don’t shrink much when dried.' I placed the seeds in one of the little zippered pockets of my jacket where they were safe from being lost in a stoned stupor, as does happen when one is in Amsterdam! 'I tried a lot of crossings to Happy Brother' Karma continued. 'I started with HB x Ultra Skunk, very unstable. Then I did a HB x New York City Diesel, too much Diesel. Then came HB x Chocolate Chunk and HB x Sage, I found some good HB dominant male plants, but not one special enough to do my first backcross.' I nodded slowly to indicate my regret. 'The last I did was the winner for the BX project – Happy Brother x Chemdog D IX1' exclaimed Karma and I beamed a smile. 'The Chemdog D IX1 is not so stable but it gave pretty stable offspring in this cross' Karma explained. 'I finally found the good male after all these years, one worthy of doing the backcross!' With that I joyfully patted the pocket holding my precious seeds and we toasted the successful breeding endeavour most appropriately – with pipe hits of Happy Brother dry sift!
Sundry issues have prevented me from starting my new medical closet grow, my brand new 400w digital light is still to be fired up, but I will be finally setting it up in a few weeks, and the first genetics it will illuminate is an obvious choice – the Happy Brother BX1 seeds Karma so kindly gifted me a few months ago, I look forward to sharing the product from them with their creator this November when we meet once again in Amsterdam. After delighting and destroying me with the buds and dry sift of his favourite strain, I am eager to pit my wits against the Happy Brother oil Karma has promised to smoke me out with, and he assures me the HB breeding project continues apace. In a (cannabis) world obsessed with elite names, profit and hype, it is so refreshing that one talented and dedicated Dutch breeder is focused on a project with none of these things in mind, but merely to preserve his favourite smoke. I am sure in years to come, many growers and smokers around the world will be very grateful that he chose to preserve and share his favourite genes for us all to enjoy
B.H.
