I have 2 Landraces from Iran going on at the moment - one from Hamedan and one from Esfahan... The history of cannabis in Iran is much much more interesting and colourful than you think... for a start, it's proximity to Afghanistan and Pakistan (it shares borders with both countries to the South East..) and to Turkey (again, it shares a border to the North) almost guarantees that there are hash plant lines a plenty - but there is also a culture of smoking weed there, too - especially in the North. A lot of Iranians smoke weed, from what I have heard and it is deeply embedded in their culture.
The Iranian cannabis populations are extremely varied (especially along a North/South divide) and not closely related to any other populations now. Hash plants were almost certainly brought in from Turkey many many many generations ago - and there are definite sativa traits in the plants I have seen so far (the Esfahan, for example is more sativa than hash plant, to me.. Esfahan is directly in the Centre of Iran..). I don't know where these sativa genes came from originally - are the original populations even still in existence? Who knows?
One thing is for sure - what a great place to mine new and exciting cannabis lines from!
My experience so far with the Hamedan - it is lovely! It is so lush and vigorous and it absolutely stinks. definitely a hash plant but also there are sativa-like traits there, too. It is a real pleasure to grow (so far.) I can't wait to see how she performs, smoke-wise.
I know that cannabis was used for fibre, seed, etc but I am certain that these Hamedan lines were drug lines - with the aromas that they are putting out there is no doubt in my mind that the farmers have been selecting this line for smoking. Sometimes you can wonder if the drug lines were selected from the available hemp population (or at least lines used for fibres, etc..) or if it is the other way around - and they selected their fibre plants from the drug making population..
I'll attach a photo of my favourite Hamedan female - she is a real corker! She really stinks, too.. the one behind is also a Landrace from Hamedan.. Hamedan is in the West/Central region of Iran - it is actually quite far North but very high up - the elevation is something around 1850m - so as high as the tallest mountains in Cyprus - still, even that high up the days are hot (it is mid thirties there now.)
It's an ancient place - believed to be amongst the oldest cities in Iran and as famous for it's hospitality as anywhere else in the country (the Iranians are famous for their hospitable nature..) I'd love to visit and I'm Well-Jel of the guys for having been to such a wonderful place - still, if they are going to bring back gems like this for me then it's all good!
The Iranian cannabis populations are extremely varied (especially along a North/South divide) and not closely related to any other populations now. Hash plants were almost certainly brought in from Turkey many many many generations ago - and there are definite sativa traits in the plants I have seen so far (the Esfahan, for example is more sativa than hash plant, to me.. Esfahan is directly in the Centre of Iran..). I don't know where these sativa genes came from originally - are the original populations even still in existence? Who knows?
One thing is for sure - what a great place to mine new and exciting cannabis lines from!
My experience so far with the Hamedan - it is lovely! It is so lush and vigorous and it absolutely stinks. definitely a hash plant but also there are sativa-like traits there, too. It is a real pleasure to grow (so far.) I can't wait to see how she performs, smoke-wise.
I know that cannabis was used for fibre, seed, etc but I am certain that these Hamedan lines were drug lines - with the aromas that they are putting out there is no doubt in my mind that the farmers have been selecting this line for smoking. Sometimes you can wonder if the drug lines were selected from the available hemp population (or at least lines used for fibres, etc..) or if it is the other way around - and they selected their fibre plants from the drug making population..
I'll attach a photo of my favourite Hamedan female - she is a real corker! She really stinks, too.. the one behind is also a Landrace from Hamedan.. Hamedan is in the West/Central region of Iran - it is actually quite far North but very high up - the elevation is something around 1850m - so as high as the tallest mountains in Cyprus - still, even that high up the days are hot (it is mid thirties there now.)
It's an ancient place - believed to be amongst the oldest cities in Iran and as famous for it's hospitality as anywhere else in the country (the Iranians are famous for their hospitable nature..) I'd love to visit and I'm Well-Jel of the guys for having been to such a wonderful place - still, if they are going to bring back gems like this for me then it's all good!
