Panama Red x ChemDog D crosses Panama Red to Chem D, the tropical Panamanian sativa that made its name in the late sixties against the workhorse of the Chem family and the cut breeders reach for most. Neither is a filler parent, which is why this pairing is worth a pack rather than a look. CSI breed off held clones rather than off seed stock, which is why the parents named on the pack are the actual plants and not their descendants.

Panama Red sits on the seed side here, Chem D on the pollen side. If you have seen these two names paired the other way round, that is a different pack and not this one.

Genetic Lineage

• Mother: Panama Red. The tropical Panamanian sativa that made its name in the late sixties. It traces back to a Panamanian landrace. For a stretch of the late sixties and seventies it was simply what the best weed meant, and that reputation is the only reason it survived to be preserved at all. It is worth being honest about what growing it involves: this is an equatorial plant that has never been bred for a tent. It wants the long finish, it stretches, and it will not behave like a modern hybrid. What it gives back is an effect the modern catalogue does not really make any more.
• Father: Chem D. The most-used of the 1991 Chem phenotypes, and the one sitting behind Giesel. That one comes from another phenotype from the same 1991 seed lot. It is the Chem half of Giesel, and one of the most widely used Chem cuts in American breeding.
• How to read it. Everything below splits into what one parent gives and what the other does. Plants that take from both are the ones to keep.

Flavor and Aroma Profile

Expect the profile to move plant to plant rather than settle.

• The Aroma. Earth and citrus, with alpha-humulene and limonene leading from the Panama Red side, against chemical fuel over dark turned earth from the Chem D side.
• The Taste. Citrus over an earthy base up front, turning to fuel and earth, greasy and coating, finishing sour through the exhale.

The two halves, side by side

• Timing. Panama Red runs long, as equatorial sativas are - eleven weeks at the very least, and ten to sixteen is the usual range given, and that is the half of this cross you can actually plan around.
• Where the nose comes from. One side gives earth and citrus, with alpha-humulene and limonene leading; the other gives chemical fuel over dark turned earth. Plants landing in the middle are the keepers.
• Build. On the Panama Red side: a pure or near-pure landrace sativa off the Pearl Islands and the Darien Gap, carrying the reddish colouring it is named for over vivid green flower. On the Chem D side: open and loose rather than compact, wants support once the colas load. Select early rather than trying to train your way out of it.
• Opposite ends. Panama Red is reported as cerebral, euphoric and energising, quick enough to border on psychedelic. A daytime plant; Chem D as alert and head-forward rather than heavy. The cross sits somewhere between and moves plant to plant.

Cultivation and Growth Traits

• Plant Structure. The two parents disagree here, so plan for range. Panama Red is a pure or near-pure landrace sativa off the Pearl Islands and the Darien Gap, carrying the reddish colouring it is named for over vivid green flower. Chem D is open and loose rather than compact, wants support once the colas load.
• Vegetative Phase and Stretch. Shape the plant before the flip. Correcting a frame in week six is harder work than setting it in week two.
• Flowering Time. Panama Red runs long, as equatorial sativas are - eleven weeks at the very least, and ten to sixteen is the usual range given. Start checking trichomes a week before you expect to be ready.

Effects and Experience

• The Mind. Growers describe Panama Red as cerebral, euphoric and energising, quick enough to border on psychedelic. A daytime plant.
• The Body. Chem D is reported as alert and head-forward rather than heavy, and that is the side supplying the weight here.

In the pack

7 feminized seeds per pack. Feminized seeds from Humboldt CSI. Nearly everything CSI put out is built from cuts they hold themselves rather than from other people's seed lines, which is why their catalogue reads like a list of clones instead of a list of brands. Sold as authentic Humboldt CSI.