IRAN: Strain hunting October/November 2018.
Answering some questions by people interested in the Iranian genetics:
Question: What part of Iran are they from?
Answer: They come from several places we have covered over a period of thirty-three days
Clarification: We are not going to release genetics from every place we visited.
Question: When and how long they take to flower?
Answer: These seeds come straight from Iran. Iranian seeds, Iranian soil, Iranian plants. Harvest happens between as early as late August and as late as end of October/November depending on latitude and elevation. The seeds are all coming from outdoor crops. The photo shows one of the many expressions to be found around this huge country.
A person enquiring about Iranian genetics kindly provided a summary from a genetic study on Iranian cannabis:
1. Iranian cannabis is closer to drug cannabis than hemp.
2. Iranian cannabis is genetically unique.
3. Hemp cultivars were probably derived from marijuana cultivars.
4. Iranian strains are probably accessions that represent remnants of cultivated varieties from other regions. (Probably Afghanistan, Pakistan. That’s not to say they are Affie or Paki strains. They’d have reached Iran so long ago they are unique, and there is the possibility that the ancestral populations in the region they came from have disappeared).
5. Iranian cannabis diversity is threatened by prohibition.
6. Iranian cannabis varies on an East/West gradient.
7. Looks like preserving Iranian genepool is very important. Especially from a drug/medical perspective.
Here you can read about the exhaustive study on the Iranian genetics:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15816-5#Sec7
Stay tuned for more updates on our travels in Iran and other countries!
The Landrace Team