In the opinion of most experts with real experience of working at scale, there is only one hybrid to emerge from the underground breeding projects of the prohibition era that’s genuinely true-breeding: ‘Skunk No. 1’
Notice how in this ‘Catalog of SEEDS’ from High Times of February 1981 ‘Skunk No. 1’ is already listed as a ‘Pure Variety’. Plus it’s the only listing that’s not available at a 25% discount on orders of $1000 and over. Consistent quality and an even, early finish made for high demand among farmers planting big fields.
According to David Watson (Skunkman), the main goal of his ‘Skunk No. 1’ breeding project was always to incorporate the best qualities of tropical Sativas into a stable variety that would finish outdoors north of the 30th parallel.
In that sense, the Afghan side of ‘Skunk No. 1’ was a means to an end. Early maturing landraces from Afghanistan provided a vehicle by which to bring north the intense tropical highs of the best Colombian and Mexican landraces.
These and ‘Thai’ from the ethnic Lao region of northern Isan and the ‘South Indian’ from Kerala are the cannabis Watson is on record as stating he valued most highly, both for the quality of the smoke and their powerful effect.
Unfortunately, they’re not only absent from most modern seed catalogues. As with all drug cannabis landraces, they’re either critically endangered or close to extinct in their source countries, either due to crop eradication (Kerala) or introduced modern hybrids and lax farming practices (Thailand).
