Original Haze Strains Cannabis Seeds

How the haze brothers built something special

The Haze Brothers, R. Haze and J. Haze, wanted to create something different, so they crossed three Colombian sativas: Santa Marta Colombia Gold, Colombian Red and Chocolate Colombian. Then they bred the best females with a Thai male.

Friends travelling during the hippie era brought back seeds from all over, and Mexican Acapulco Gold and South Indian plants also made their way into the mix.

The result was a handful of distinct types, Green Haze, Brown Haze and the rare Purple Haze, each named after its colour and smell.

By the late seventies, a breeder called David Watson (everyone knew him as Sam the Skunkman) got hold of some Haze seeds from the brothers.

When cannabis laws tightened in the States in 1980, he packed up thousands of seeds and moved to Amsterdam.

There, he sold the strain as Cultivator's Choice. A Dutch breeder named Nevil Schoenmakers spent three years sifting through plants, keeping the best and ditching the rest, until he'd created the legendary Haze A and Haze C males. Later on, Nevil crossed his refined Haze with Northern Lights #5 to make Neville's Haze.

In 1995 he teamed up with Shantibaba to start Green House Seeds, and together they released hybrids like Super Silver Haze that went on to win loads of Cannabis Cup awards. That's how a backyard project in California turned into a global legend.

What it smells and tastes like

Original Haze has this really distinctive smell, people often say it's like frankincense or walking into an old church.

There's an earthy, almost basement-like dankness underneath, mixed with bright citrus notes like lemon and lime. Some say it has woody, spicy and musky hints, and some plants throw in touches of fruit, pine or even chocolate depending on which version you're looking at.

American Haze types lean more towards that frankincense vibe, whilst Dutch Hazes tend to be sharper and more lime-forward, with spikier buds.

The flavour follows the same path: sweet and sour at the same time, with herbal, woody and earthy layers, plus a citrus zing and a bit of spice.

Haze flowers are absolutely loaded with resin and terpenes, so the aroma really fills the room. The terpene mix usually includes plenty of myrcene (earthy, citrus), limonene (that bright lemon bite), pinene (fresh and pine-like) and terpinolene (herbal, spicy).

Exact profiles shift from plant to plant, but that complex, incense-like character is always there.

Tall, slender plants with loose buds

Original Haze is a pure sativa, and it shows. These plants stretch tall, often two to four metres, with long gaps between branches and narrow, elongated leaves.

They look more like vines than bushy plants. The buds are long and airy rather than tight and dense, which makes sense when you remember their ancestors came from humid jungles in Colombia, Mexico, South India and Thailand. That loose structure helps them breathe in warm, wet climates.

Seeds produce quite a range of plants. Roughly a quarter turn out legendary, half are decent to really good, and a quarter aren't up to much, that's just how F1 genetics work.

Original Haze only comes as regular seeds, never feminised, and it's considered a stabilised, true-breeding variety. Four main types emerged from the original work: Gold, Silver, Purple and Blue Haze.

Seeds spread quickly among growers back in the day, but genuine Original Haze genetics are hard to find now. Not many seed banks have the real thing, and even fewer know how to work with it properly.

Why it matters and why it's rare

Original Haze is the foundation for hundreds of famous sativas. Amnesia Haze, Neville's Haze, G13 Haze, Nigerian Haze, Lemon Haze, Cannalope Haze, they all trace back to this one strain.

Breeders love it because hybrids often end up stronger than either parent. Most Original Haze sits between 10 and 20 per cent THC, though some plants hit 27 per cent. CBD stays low, usually under 1 per cent.

You don't see Haze as much as Kush or Cookies lines in commercial grows, and there's a reason for that. The plants are delicate, tall and lanky, and they can take ages.

Most breeders want something faster and easier, so Haze has stayed more of a connoisseur's choice. Still, breeders have crossed it with faster-flowering strains to create modern versions that finish quicker and adapt better to different setups.

That's kept Original Haze's legacy alive across the world.