The Guy Downtown
“The Guy Downtown” is a name that evolved when I was growing in my basement in college. Often when I dropped off flower with my buddy, I would stick around to burn one with him and people would already be stopping by to grab it. Being prohibition era, I couldn’t let them know that I had grown it, so a story evolved that this guy who lived downtown from the campus area was responsible for it and they always “just missed him”.
The Lolab Valley Lemon Kashmiri project is an effort to inject some undomesticated, feral genes into modern genetics to impart some ruggedness, pest and disease resistance, and investigate the unique aspects that this primordial landrace brings to the table. Lolab Valley is situated in the northern most part of Indian occupied Kashmir. Due to geography and elevation, the growing season is short and rainfall and humidity are plentiful causing heavy foliar disease pressure, especially at the end of the season, which these plants have grown to strongly resist. This is a true landrace population, influenced solely by natural selection and from a genetic and biodiversity aspect, is an invaluable gene pool. Seed stock used was originally sourced from @archaic_serpent_reprealms in 2018 and made available through @irrazin at @indianlandraceexchange and @fullpowerselections, grown in central Maine 2019 and 2020 in an open pollination reproduction and hybridization project under nuclear fusion lighting, with normal photo period, and fed natural and organic inputs to positively influence epigenetics for growing in the great outdoors in a northern climate. These crosses are intended primarily for outdoor cultivation and to be used as breeding tools. Due mostly to the size of the plants and general growth pattern but can be cultivated indoors if you’re determined and dedicated. If kept inside it is advisable to keep them lit 24/7 and do not allow them to become pot bound. These are not like true auto flower plants but I would describe them as very eager to flower due to the short season in Lolab Valley and once they graduate from the juvenile plant stage to mature stage they will look for any excuse to reproduce. It is also advisable to refrigerate or freeze seeds for a few weeks prior to germination as there is potential for some of the cold dormancy genes from the feral genetics. Seed is packaged sealed in rice so that you don’t need to worry about condensation. Females in the Lolab population are not known to have intersex traits although reportedly this can occur late season in males of the population, however I have not observed this personally. 22-26ish per pack. Thank you
Little Bit ‘O Soul = Lemon G x Lolab Valley
Lemon G is a legendary cultivar from Ohio that some consider the zenith of lemon expression. Lore says that this was sprouted from original Colombian import and thankfully she was held tightly in several circles to ensure that she is still around today. I have found expressions in the Lolab population that are a dead ringer for this exquisite cut, there’s lemon magic hiding in these seeds with the combining of these genes.
Sundae Morning Comin’ Down = Sundae Driver x Lolab Valley
Sundae Driver combines Fruity Pebbles OG and Grape Pie, two heavy hitters in the fruity flavor department. The selection used is from Black Sheep Farms and produces amazing tasting flowers, I expect most of the offspring of this cross to have berry/grape flavors.
She Don’t Use Jelly = Grape Ape x Lolab Valley
The legendary West Coast classic, Grape Ape is powerhouse of grape candy flavor and throws some impressive colas. This is the selection that was tissue cultured by Phinest and performs wonderfully outdoors, this should be a very vigorous combination for under the sun.
No Particular Place To Go = Gas Pedal x Lolab Valley
Sometimes the destination isn’t as important as the ride itself. Gas Pedal is an offering from Dying Breed and is aptly named, she’s a gassy one with Chem 4 and Fireball OG as parents. Historically, lemons and fuel is a match made in heaven, this cross should exemplify this type of pairing.
Girl, You Know It’s True = Putang x Lolab Valley
Putang is Tangie x Star Pupil and this is the MMS breeder selection used in the cross. I found her to be slightly susceptible to powdery mildew but the genes from Lolab should fix that. She makes beautiful purple flowers due to the likely Pakistani Chitral Kush in the genes and has loud Chinese orange chicken flavor contributed from the Tangie. Expect great colors from this cross at harvest time.
A Sears Poncho = Mendobreath x Lolab Valley
Mendobreath is quite a heavy hitter of a strain, with whole seed companies founded on its genetics. OGKB meets Mendo Purps in frost city. Seriously, the frost level on this plant is super impressive with great caramel/Creme type of flavor and performed amazingly outside.
A Real Poncho = Oaxaca ‘hiking trip’ x Lolab Valley
The Oaxaca came to me from a friend of a friend whom, as the story goes, collected the seed stock on an ecotourism trip in Southern Mexico. She is not the thin leaved type plant you would think of when you think of Oaxaca, she has broad leaves and can deal with a short season like a champ with great pest and disease resistance. Likely the seed collected was from the highland area of the region. She colors up slightly by harvest with cold weather and has a creamy/berry profile. Offspring of this cross should be outdoor champions.
Lolab Valley Lemon Kashmiri ‘f2 ex-situ outdoor open pollination’
This is pure Lolab Valley stock that has been reproduced in Central Maine full term for two seasons with natural inputs in an open pollination to retain the natural variability that makes this landrace so rugged. This is a feral population so there are some things to keep in mind: no selection for yield considerations have ever been made in the natural history of this population, these plants can grow quite large in the right environment with vigorous secondary branching so give them space, and while they are not an auto-flower type of plant like C. ruderalis- they are VERY eager to flower meaning that once they graduate from the juvenile stage to maturity, they may be difficult to keep in a purely vegetative state indoors, especially if they are allowed to become pot bound or given any dark period. All of the seeds I pack have rice included in the vial to act as a desiccant, you can put the pack right into the crisper drawer of your fridge or into your freezer which is recommended for atleast a couple weeks prior to germination. As a survival mechanism, these seeds do not germinate all at once or even right away. Germination may take several weeks for some seeds so please be patient with them and ensure they have proper moisture and favorable conditions. Direct sowing outside is recommended, these seeds are built to survive, as long as the potting medium doesn’t dry out, they will eventually sprout and catch up to their earlier siblings quickly if given enough sunlight. Also take care not to bury the seed deeply, they are surface sprouters. It should also be noted that if left to their devices, they will create a self sustaining population in most environments due to early flowering, quickly ripening seed, and a natural seed auto-ejection mechanism where the bract splits upon ripeness being reached, if this is unwanted vigilantly cull any rogue plants and exclude all males from the area.