Maui Wowie strain

The Maui Wowie strain is a piece of 1970s pop culture as much as a plant. CannaConnection notes that it appears in Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978), and the name became shorthand for sunny Hawaiian cannabis. Is Maui Wowie indica or sativa? Sativa: Leafly and CannaConnection classify it as a sativa derived from Hawaiian genetics, and AllBud lists it at 80% sativa.

Its aroma is overwhelmingly tropical. Leafly reviewers rate "tropical" far above every other note, followed by pineapple, citrus, sweet, tree fruit and mango. The lab data on Leafly shows a strongly myrcene-dominant profile, with pinene well behind and some beta-caryophyllene. Myrcene, which also occurs in mango, supports the ripe fruit character, while pinene adds a fresh, green edge.

Maui Wowie effects are light and upbeat. In Leafly's user data energetic and uplifted lead, followed by happy, creative, talkative and euphoric, and consumers most often mention fatigue, low mood and stress. Leafly describes the effects as lightweight and motivating, a good fit for outdoor plans. Reported side effects are few and mild — mainly dry mouth and dry eyes — and anxiety and paranoia score low compared with Haze-type sativas. Leafly's lab median is 19% THC and CannaConnection cites about 20%; AllBud's 20–28% range is well above what other sources report.

Maui Wowie shares its Hawaiian heritage with Pineapple Express, which Leafly lists as Trainwreck × Hawaiian. Compared with Acapulco Gold, another landrace-era sativa, Maui is fruitier and less nutty. For growers it is a warm-climate plant: Leafly recommends tropical conditions outdoors and bright light indoors, and CannaConnection notes a long 10–12 week flowering time, tall stature and a need for plenty of sun.

Maui Wowie developed from Hawaiian sativa genetics grown on the island of Maui in the 1960s and 1970s. Like other landrace-era strains, it has no single creator: local growers selected plants suited to the island's volcanic soil and year-round sun. As travelers brought it to the mainland in the 1970s, the name became a byword for island-grown cannabis, and its appearance in the 1978 film Up in Smoke fixed it in pop culture. Leafly lists it as Hawaiian crossed with an unknown strain.