Enjoy Cookies 2.0

Ocean Grow Cookies and Blueberry Cookies

We visited Dinafem to discuss their new Kush 2019 catalogue with the two flagships Ocean Grow Cookies and Blueberry Cookies J. Searcher

The Cookies family

The market demands innovation. That end consumers like new flavours and strains never tried before is normal. The origin of Indica-based THC-rich strains is California. The Cookies family comes from OG Kush, with which it shares a lot of similarities while retaining also a few peculiarities. If grown correctly, with organic fertilisers enhancing its flavour, it becomes an outstanding plant. The sweet and savoury Cookie taste results from an optimum balance between an earthy OG Kush backdrop and new organoleptic qualities added over the years, which ultimately gave the plants of this family a more fruity taste. The aspect is quite peculiar, with large calices wrapping up an elongated bud at the end of its growth.

Parent selection: verification and tests

GSC or Girl Scout Cookies has now become an icon. It is a very popular family, with various élite cuttings, such as e.g. Phantom Cookies, Forum Cookies, Thin Mint Cookies, Animal Cookies, Monster Cookies and Peppermint Cookies. The Dinafem team worked on a number of versions. Many of the most famous élite clones of the GSC family are hermaphrodite, which would normally disqualify them for feminised strain breeding. In the first part of the process, however, they found out that the genetics of these plants was the original one and made the grown specimens perfect parents for breeding. The use of a wrong strain can be explained by a variety of reasons ranging from an exchange of cuttings to a messed-up source. What Dinafem did was to grow up a genotype. Then they verified that the genetics was the original one and yielded the expected results. They monitored plants to exclude traits of hermaphroditism and also to make sure that these traits would not be passed on to the offspring. These processes were carried out in various rooms, to avoid contamination and, consequently, the dissemination of plagues and diseases. They selected élite clones with outstanding potency and an impressive aspect. Both of the parents used showed evident signs of the Kush lineage - the rest came from the qualities that only a Durban can pass on to a Cookies strain, as evidenced by the fruity taste and Purple colour of the final product. After selecting these clones, Dinafem made various crossings to investigate which results best suited the objectives they had set out for themselves. On the one hand, they wanted to achieve a backcross to the Kush ‘essence’; on the other, they attempted to obtain a fruity hybrid with typically European qualities. Through their collaboration with the Humboldt Seed Organization, Dinafem now has a comprehensive library of Kush élite clones in very high demand, such as OG Kush, Bubba Kush, Gorilla Glue, Chemdog, Chemdawg and Guava Chem. They also made hybridisation tests with other Kush élite clones which now, for one reason or another, are all the rage, such as Zkittlez, Wedding Cake, Purple Kush, Tangie or Gorilla Glue. Wedding Cake retains a Kush taste; plants are large and resinous, highly potent and with an amazing aspect. Zkittlez is a Kush version with an intense fruity backdrop which is also unique and personal. Tangie has dominating orangish notes. Gorilla Glue has already become a legend for its huge resin quantities (with buds flooded by a seamless sticky layer) and also offering skyrocketing potency. The demand for Gorilla is so high that they decided to release two additional versions, i.e. Gorilla Quick, with a shorter flowering time, and Gorilla CBD, a CBD-rich variety designed for medical use and consumers seeking a Gorilla with a more balanced effect. The first two hybrids that came out of these tests were Ocean Grow Cookies and Blueberry Cookies, although research pathways are still unfolding and other novelties are in store.

Ocean Grow Cookies and Blueberry Cookies

The case of Ocean Grow Cookies epitomises a return to the Kush origin achieved by crossing a Cookies phenotype with an OG Kush selection. This helped revert to the classical essence of the strain. Among the most outstanding features is its ‘demolishing’ effect with a marked Kush taste. Consumers were longing for a Cookies strain leaning towards Kush dominance. In this sense, Ocean Grow Cookies meets their expectations and lives up to the name of the Kush family. Blueberry Cookies is a hybrid between a Blueberry selection bred by Dinafem and a Cookies élite clone. The merit here was to enhance the fruity taste and smell and the dark hues of the original plant. Growing it organically is definitively worthwhile. With a good degree of care, growers will be able to exploit its full potential and achieve a premium-quality smoke that smells like pastry – which is why this family was named Cookies. Regarding its aspect, most hybrids have purple hues. The European traits transferred through cross-breeding made Blueberry Cookies a strain full of vigour, which also simplifies its growing. As it stretches a lot during flowering, its growth cycle is shorter. It is five days quicker than Ocean Grow Cookies. In short, yields are boosted, flowering is shortened and growing becomes easier, while retaining the Cookies essence. During the golden age of Dutch breeding, American strains reached Amsterdam and, from there, the rest of the world. Now, the breeders of Hispania Cannabicum already have direct access to American varieties to produce their own strains. Dinafem started to collaborate with Humboldt Seed in 2009. Over the last 10 years, they learned a lot about Kush genetics. For 2019, the time had come to release a catalogue that reflected this development. Ocean Grow Cookies and Blueberry Cookies are the first Kush novelties of the year, but others will follow.