In the Noughties Sweet Tooth exploded onto the global scene, with High Times Cannabis Cup wins in 2000 (people’s cup) and 2001 (Cannabis Cup) it became one of the best known and sought after strains for a few years, but despite this global fame there is very little info out there about ST’s origins as a commercial strain in the ‘Emerald Triangle’ cultivation hotspot in California.
Recently a member here gifted me The Sweet Tooth clone.. the one that made ST famous in the first place, and the one that was, for many years, a major producer for the cannabis Farmers in that area - formed by Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties.
The clone dates back to 2001 and my contact, who regularly traveled to the states and was immersed in the Cali / biker /hippy scene back then, bought it back to the UK with him in 2017 and has kept it safe ever since. He gifted me the clone with a view to ‘preserving’ it for the community.
Sweet Tooth:
This has prompted me to research the origins of the line and, with some help from him, talk with the original breeder/creator of ST, who my contact often visited in Mendocino, and tell his story…
It seems that the growing community in the Emerald Triangle back then was made up of tight-knit groups who kept things very low key - partly due the the attentions of the C.A.M.P. (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) who were government backed and way out of control at that time, the heavily armed group once launched an RPG in the hills above Shelter Cove - they were dangerous and the scourge of the canna farmers.
The original breeder of Sweet Tooth, before the seedbank bandwagon, was called Chas. he is in his 70’s and by his own admission his memories are hazy - but was happy to ‘set the record straight.’ as best he could remember. Here is what he said.-
“..from what i recollect I crossed a top notch sativa with an indica to make the Sweet Tooth, don't remember what they were, in the late 90s I was experimenting with so many different strain…..Some were seeds from excellent bag weed and some were from other countries that I acquired through the internet.. the boom of the internet with trading seeds had just begun..Started getting seeds from Mexico, Panama, Columbia and even from Thailand with exchange from seeds I had here in Mendocino and Sonoma county..Back then many breeders in my area were creating some wonderful new genetics..I just got plain lucky I guess..I grew out this one cross I made that blew away anything I'd ever messed with, had a male and female and made thousands of seeds… ..A friend of mine said why don't you name it Sweet Tooth and the name stuck, not only was it Sweet but the buds were frosty and powerful as all hell.
Back then I knew so many growers and passed it around, eventually the word got out and I had this guy from Amsterdam come visit me who had a seed bank there.. I sold him a few thousand seeds for I think 2000 bucks and kept about 100 for myself… . next thing I know someone told me that my ST got published in High Times with a pic of a bud grown under lights and got voted #1 for that year's publication for high, taste and looks..Kind of took me by surprise.”
Around that time Chas got divorced and decided to concentrate on making some money so he could build a house on the Land he’d just bought in Mendocino where he was living in a trailer.
“ first year I grew 25 ST plants, from which i cross pollinated the plants and got a lot of seeds, sold the pot and decided to plant more next year
The next year I grew 50 and, tired of pulling males, selected the best females, saved clones of them, grew them again the next year and settled on the best plant and kept it,
““..breeding was fun for awhile but then started to focus on my gardens and make some money, living in trailer for 4 years got old and need money for building a house and traveling the world. I started doing big outdoor grows on my property here in Mendo,
“ I just kept 4 moms under lights of the ST for years and made clones, passed them around to friends here at home. I did mail cuttings out to other states but gave up on that, too much hassle with packing and shipping
“, did save some $$..but as you get bigger there are more and more expenses such as trimmers, fencing, barns for harvest, fans, dehumidifiers, etc..the list goes on..It was a fun ride and now I'm retired, can't do the work anymore and with legalization ya can't sell it anymore”
“ sometimes when messing with crossing, breeding, genetics ya just get lucky which was what happened in my case..was so happy to pass it around..”
Here is the same plant at 1 week flower. It's just in a small cab under LED and i've trained the canopy flat. Temps are cold but i am heating the rootball a little with a propagator base
Further to the info from the breeder Chas, another neighbour, S_ , also in his 70’s but more clued up on the specific genetics around at that time, tried to recall which strains were being grown in the area which may have contributed to the ST (which has officially been described as a containing Nepali, Hawaii and Afghani) again these are hazy memories from an old man.. but interesting nevertheless.
“There was an Affie brought down from Garberville, everyone was growing it “(Possibly he was taling about the famous ‘Black Afghan’ )
“The Nepalese was Nepal Jam from Sensi Seeds in 98? “(Nepjam was originally offered by CBG and used the Nepalese originally sourced by Reeferman)
“Hawaiian was from dirtboy and came from Hilo
There were a few people who crossed these out in Mendo.”
So, all a bit confused, that tells the story as best as i have been able to research it, we may find out some more as we go on.
More soon, the plant is at 3 weeks flower currently.
VG
Recently a member here gifted me The Sweet Tooth clone.. the one that made ST famous in the first place, and the one that was, for many years, a major producer for the cannabis Farmers in that area - formed by Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties.
The clone dates back to 2001 and my contact, who regularly traveled to the states and was immersed in the Cali / biker /hippy scene back then, bought it back to the UK with him in 2017 and has kept it safe ever since. He gifted me the clone with a view to ‘preserving’ it for the community.
Sweet Tooth:
This has prompted me to research the origins of the line and, with some help from him, talk with the original breeder/creator of ST, who my contact often visited in Mendocino, and tell his story…
It seems that the growing community in the Emerald Triangle back then was made up of tight-knit groups who kept things very low key - partly due the the attentions of the C.A.M.P. (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) who were government backed and way out of control at that time, the heavily armed group once launched an RPG in the hills above Shelter Cove - they were dangerous and the scourge of the canna farmers.
The original breeder of Sweet Tooth, before the seedbank bandwagon, was called Chas. he is in his 70’s and by his own admission his memories are hazy - but was happy to ‘set the record straight.’ as best he could remember. Here is what he said.-
“..from what i recollect I crossed a top notch sativa with an indica to make the Sweet Tooth, don't remember what they were, in the late 90s I was experimenting with so many different strain…..Some were seeds from excellent bag weed and some were from other countries that I acquired through the internet.. the boom of the internet with trading seeds had just begun..Started getting seeds from Mexico, Panama, Columbia and even from Thailand with exchange from seeds I had here in Mendocino and Sonoma county..Back then many breeders in my area were creating some wonderful new genetics..I just got plain lucky I guess..I grew out this one cross I made that blew away anything I'd ever messed with, had a male and female and made thousands of seeds… ..A friend of mine said why don't you name it Sweet Tooth and the name stuck, not only was it Sweet but the buds were frosty and powerful as all hell.
Back then I knew so many growers and passed it around, eventually the word got out and I had this guy from Amsterdam come visit me who had a seed bank there.. I sold him a few thousand seeds for I think 2000 bucks and kept about 100 for myself… . next thing I know someone told me that my ST got published in High Times with a pic of a bud grown under lights and got voted #1 for that year's publication for high, taste and looks..Kind of took me by surprise.”
Around that time Chas got divorced and decided to concentrate on making some money so he could build a house on the Land he’d just bought in Mendocino where he was living in a trailer.
“ first year I grew 25 ST plants, from which i cross pollinated the plants and got a lot of seeds, sold the pot and decided to plant more next year
The next year I grew 50 and, tired of pulling males, selected the best females, saved clones of them, grew them again the next year and settled on the best plant and kept it,
““..breeding was fun for awhile but then started to focus on my gardens and make some money, living in trailer for 4 years got old and need money for building a house and traveling the world. I started doing big outdoor grows on my property here in Mendo,
“ I just kept 4 moms under lights of the ST for years and made clones, passed them around to friends here at home. I did mail cuttings out to other states but gave up on that, too much hassle with packing and shipping
“, did save some $$..but as you get bigger there are more and more expenses such as trimmers, fencing, barns for harvest, fans, dehumidifiers, etc..the list goes on..It was a fun ride and now I'm retired, can't do the work anymore and with legalization ya can't sell it anymore”
“ sometimes when messing with crossing, breeding, genetics ya just get lucky which was what happened in my case..was so happy to pass it around..”
Here is the same plant at 1 week flower. It's just in a small cab under LED and i've trained the canopy flat. Temps are cold but i am heating the rootball a little with a propagator base
Further to the info from the breeder Chas, another neighbour, S_ , also in his 70’s but more clued up on the specific genetics around at that time, tried to recall which strains were being grown in the area which may have contributed to the ST (which has officially been described as a containing Nepali, Hawaii and Afghani) again these are hazy memories from an old man.. but interesting nevertheless.
“There was an Affie brought down from Garberville, everyone was growing it “(Possibly he was taling about the famous ‘Black Afghan’ )
“The Nepalese was Nepal Jam from Sensi Seeds in 98? “(Nepjam was originally offered by CBG and used the Nepalese originally sourced by Reeferman)
“Hawaiian was from dirtboy and came from Hilo
There were a few people who crossed these out in Mendo.”
So, all a bit confused, that tells the story as best as i have been able to research it, we may find out some more as we go on.
More soon, the plant is at 3 weeks flower currently.
VG
