Hmong Ganja

Description

Genetics: Tai Cannabis Landrace – Ganja
Sourcing: The Real Seed Company, Laos, Southeast Asia, 2024
Purpose: Ganja (sinsemilla or semi-sensi)
Latitude: 18° N
Regional Harvest: Seed to harvest = 6 months
Height: Up to c. 4 metres
Characteristics: Narrow leaflets; aromatic and resinous inflorescences; high THC
Classification: Cannabis sativa subsp. indica var. indica
Grow Type: Greenhouse or outdoors

A ganja landrace cultivated by a Hmong household in Bolikhamsai Province, Laos.

Hemp is a traditional crop of the Hmong. By contrast, ganja is a crop that Hmong villages have only recently begun to cultivate.

During the 19th Century, Hmong clans began to migrate south out of China to escape strife with the Chinese state, which imposed forced labour on Hmong villages as a form of tax.

In Thailand and Laos, these Hmong communities reestablished their villages on hilltops in remote areas far outside of the reach of the Thai and Lao kingdoms. Hemp was a crop they brought with them from southern China.

Hemp is a crop grown by the Hmong for cordage and textiles, including shoes, garments, and shrouds used in funerary rites.

Ganja is a distinct crop that requires specific landraces and techniques, both of which Hmong communities have only acquired through relatively recent contact with Lao and Thai folks at the southernmost limit of their migrations in provinces such as Phrae and Bolikhamsai.

Expect plants with classic tropical Sativa morphology, intense aromatic resins, and a strong uplifting high.