Skunk Strains

Out of all the iconic adjectives that describe cannabis, Skunk strains is one of the most instantly recognizable and easy to understand. Skunk kind of encapsulates dank, loud, top shelf and others while standing all on its own as it comes from the original Skunk or Skunk #1 as it is often known.

The name Skunk should give you at the very least an idea of what a strain bearing this name would be like, however, let’s take a deeper dive anyway.

What are Skunk strains?

So the first thing that stands out rather obviously is the strong and pungent aroma that will consume your grow room if you choose to grow some Skunk seeds, whether the original strain or some descendent in the Skunk family. This means you are likely to need something like carbon filters in the grow room to help balance the smells or at least some grow tent ventilation.

Skunky strains are almost guaranteed to be pungent and petrol-like with their aroma, the fuel smell from these plants has only, well, fueled the fandom around Skunk strains which has persisted for around three decades now.

Lemon Skunk

This is our favorite skunk strain, we love our Lemon Skunk seeds they really are the perfect Skunk strain for the modern age.

If you want a strain that grows well and is pretty resistant to pests and diseases then this Lemon Skunk strain is for you.

Sour Diesel

You might be thinking, ‘what? This isn’t a Skunk strain – it’s Sour Diesel!’ but if you don’t know, Sour Diesel seeds were originally a cross between Chemdawg and Super Skunk. Sour Diesel is potentially even more well-known than the original Skunk strain and all the strains bearing the Skunk name.

GMO

If you take Skunky to mean a pungent smell then you can’t get a much more skunky strain than these fire GMO seeds. This strain is called Garlic, Mushroom and Onions – GMO but in any other world it may as well be a skunk strain, it carries on that skunky heritage – carrying the torch for the classic strain type.

Where does Skunk come from?

Skunk originates in the 70s, quite early for a cannabis family that still exists and is prevalent today, when certain strains hit US shores and breeders began taking note of the exquisite traits of said strains. Growers in the USA began to crossbreed squat hashish strains that originated in mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. These breeders took these small strains and bred them with tall sativa strains from Central and South America or even the more tropical climates in parts of Asia.

Because of the unique breeder pairings, these Skunk strains could be grown outdoors in the USA in more temperate climates across the country, specifically in Northern California. These are some of the first strains that could grow well whether they were in Humboldt County fields or greenhouses in the Netherlands – in some ways, these paved the way for the modern hybrid strains we take for granted.

Skunk Strains around the world

Skunk is a universally used term but it does also have different meanings in different cultures and countries.

Skunk in the USA

It doesn’t take a genius to see the etymology of the name clearly given that the animal bearing the namesake of the Skunk family is native to the states. The eye-watering odor of certain weed strains being bred in the 70s led to growers and breeders naming these strains Skunk or Skunky.

Skunk in the UK

Skunk is perhaps even more prevalent in the United Kingdom where it took on a life of its own when referring to cannabis. Bear in mind that the UK cannabis scene is far different from the one that has grown and evolved here in the USA since the 60s.

The United Kingdom has never experienced much of a widespread cannabis renaissance like we’ve had here and chances of full cannabis legalization there can’t be seen on the horizon and perhaps are unlikely to happen within our lifetimes. However, small progress is still progress and the UK has embraced CBD, exports medical cannabis, and has certain stipulations pertaining to what counts as personal use and what amount of cannabis possessed or grown can be cause for prosecution.

Skunk is a term commonly used in the United Kingdom to demonize cannabis culture and keep it on the fringes of society. Skunk, however, became a blanket term to describe the most popular strains for breeders in the UK which are potent and strong smelling whether they are actual Skunk or not is doubtful, this term is far more generic when used here.

This Skunk became particularly widespread in the 1990s after advances in growing techniques which incorporated high pressure sodium lights (HPS) for growing weed as well as HID grow lights, hydroponic weed setups also became popular during this period.