My first OG Kush grow in 2018 was a disappointment. Not because the plant failed — it finished fine, yielded reasonably well, I did nothing technically wrong. The problem was the hype. OG Kush has this mythology around it that’s almost impossible for any real plant to live up to. I harvested, I smoked it two weeks later, and I thought: okay, it’s good. Not mind-blowing. Good.
Then I waited. Let it cure properly. Actually six weeks this time instead of the usual two I was doing. Smoked it in December, three months after harvest, and immediately understood what everyone had been talking about for 25 years. That pine-fuel-earth smell that hits before you even light it. The high that starts at the back of the skull and slowly spreads downward. Okay. I get it now.
Curing matters more for this strain than most. File that away.
So here’s what I actually know after four runs with OG Kush seeds.
The genetics question first because I know someone’s going to bring it up. OG Kush’s origin is genuinely contested. The most credible story goes: bag seed found in Chemdawg, probably early 90s, grown somewhere in Northern California, spread through the West Coast scene. The OG could stand for “Ocean Grown” or “Original Gangster” depending on who you’re asking. Leafly covers the debate and they did actual interviews trying to pin it down. They couldn’t. Nobody fully can. What’s not contested: OG Kush became the parent or grandparent of most successful modern cannabis genetics. GSC, Gelato, Wedding Cake — all trace back there.
Run two was where I learned about hermaphrodites. I had a small light leak in my flower room — maybe an inch of light getting through a poorly fitted panel — and didn’t catch it until week 4. By week 6 I had nanners appearing on two of my four plants. OG Kush is sensitive to stress in a way that some other strains just aren’t. Heat spikes, light interruptions, nutrient swings — the plant’s stress response is to produce male flowers and self-pollinate. I seeded maybe 30% of that harvest. My fault entirely.
The lesson from that run: OG Kush requires a clean environment. More than I was used to. Light-tight flower room. Stable temperatures — I aim for 24-26°C lights on, 18-20°C lights off. No wild swings. Once I got those parameters locked, run three went much better.
Run three is also when I figured out the cal-mag thing. Calcium and magnesium deficiency shows up in OG Kush as yellowing on older fan leaves starting in week 5-6 of flower. I’d seen it both previous runs and misdiagnosed it. Added cal-mag from week 3 of flower onward in run three and the late-flower yellowing was much reduced. Not completely gone — some of it is just the plant pulling nutrients from older leaves as it finishes — but the early aggressive yellowing stopped.
I’m growing run four now. Week 8. Reserva Privada genetics. The smell in the room at week 8 is intense in a way my carbon filter is barely handling — I went from a 4-inch inline to a 6-inch between runs three and four specifically because of OG Kush. The terpene load on this strain is just heavier than most. High myrcene, limonene, caryophyllene. The smell is part of what makes the finished product what it is, but during grow it will fill the room.
When you’re buying OG Kush feminized seeds, the source matters more than usual. The name has been applied to a lot of things by a lot of people and the variation in quality is real. DNA Genetics and Reserva Privada have credible lines. The strain reviews on seedbanks.com are worth reading to see how different banks’ OG Kush compares. And allbud.com has years of community grow reports on OG Kush that give you a realistic picture of pheno variation.
Actually pheno variation is worth discussing. I got noticeably different phenotypes from the same pack in run three. One plant was primarily pine-forward. Another was almost exclusively fuel. The high from each was subtly different. Running multiple plants from the same pack and selecting a keeper is something experienced growers do with OG Kush specifically because of this. If you only have space for one plant, you’re gambling on which pheno you get. Worth knowing going in.
Growing structure: OG Kush stays short and bushy — indica structure, short internodal spacing, lots of lateral branching. My plants in 10-liter pots usually hit 60-80cm max. This makes it good for smaller grow spaces and well-suited to SOG or light LST. Flower time is 8-9 weeks indoors for most OG Kush phenotypes. Outdoors in a good climate — Mediterranean, Southern California — it finishes in October.
The outdoor cannabis seeds section at seedbanks.com has OG Kush and related genetics suited for outdoor growing if you’re in a warm climate. For UK or northern European growers I’d honestly suggest looking at faster-finishing strains — OG Kush in a cold, wet October is a mold risk.
One thing about the high that’s worth saying: OG Kush is not a productive cannabis. It’s not what you smoke before you have to do something. The cerebral effect in the first hour is almost trippy and then the body component comes in hard. It’s evening weed, it’s weekend weed. Some people find it anxious at higher doses, especially if they’re sensitive to THC generally.
The other thing worth saying: the curing thing I mentioned at the start isn’t just my first-grow experience. Every time I’ve rushed OG Kush out of cure early it’s underperformed. This strain specifically rewards waiting. More than Gorilla Glue, more than Northern Lights, more than most things I’ve grown. The terpene complexity that makes it what it is takes time to develop properly. Minimum four weeks in cure. Six is better.
Run four comes down in about three weeks. I’ve already cleared shelf space and gotten more Boveda packs. Waiting the full six weeks this time.