OG Kush strain

The OG Kush strain is the backbone of West Coast cannabis. Cuts and crosses of it sit behind a long list of later favorites, from Headband to GSC, and "OG" became shorthand for a whole style of smell and potency. Is OG Kush indica or sativa? Sources disagree: AllBud lists it as slightly sativa-dominant, CannaConnection as 75% indica, and Leafly as a hybrid. Leafly's user data, which leans toward hungry, relaxed and sleepy, supports treating it as an indica-leaning hybrid with a noticeable head effect.

Leafly describes true OG as smelling of lemon, pine and fuel, and its lab data backs that up with myrcene, limonene and beta-caryophyllene as the leading terpenes, plus pinene and linalool in smaller amounts. Limonene and pinene give the lemon-pine top, caryophyllene a peppery warmth, and the fuel note echoes its presumed Chemdawg parent. Reviewers most often call it woody, piney and earthy.

OG Kush effects usually combine a quick mental lift with a heavier body finish. In Leafly's data hungry, relaxed and sleepy lead, with euphoric and happy close behind, and consumers most often mention stress, winding down for sleep and everyday aches. Leafly notes that people tend to save it for later in the day. With a lab-data median of 25% THC on Leafly and 18–25% on CannaConnection, it is one of the stronger classics here, so smaller servings make sense for occasional consumers. Dry mouth and dry eyes are the most reported side effects, followed by dizziness and some paranoia.

Many products sold as OG Kush are actually one of its phenotypes or descendants — Leafly lists Tahoe OG, SFV OG and Ghost OG among them — so aroma and strength vary by grower. Compared with Bubba Kush, which shares its Florida-to-Los Angeles story, OG Kush is brighter and more head-forward. For cultivators it is demanding: Leafly rates it difficult, recommends a dry environment and roomy containers, and puts flowering at about eight weeks.

Leafly's genealogy traces OG Kush to Florida in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s Los Angeles grower Josh Del Rosso ("Josh D") challenged his friend Matt "Bubba" Berger to prove Florida weed was better than LA's; in 1996 Berger arrived with a handful of cuttings, and only one of the five survived. That clone became the OG Kush of Southern California. Its parents were never recorded: Chemdawg and Hindu Kush are most often named, and some accounts add Lemon Thai. Even the meaning of "OG" is unsettled.