Summary
- Haze was created in Santa Cruz, California in the early 1970s by crossing Colombian, Mexican, Thai, and South Indian landraces.
- It was brought to Europe in the 1980s by Sam the Skunkman, where it became the foundation of Amsterdam’s golden-era seed industry.
- Virtually every famous sativa hybrid (Amnesia Haze, Super Silver Haze, Neville’s Haze) descends from Original Haze.
- Original Haze takes 14–18 weeks to flower indoors, making it one of the most challenging but rewarding grows in cannabis.The experience Haze delivers complex, cerebral, psychedelic, is rarely matched by modern high-yield hybrids.
There Is Before Haze, and After Haze
If you follow cannabis genetics seriously, you quickly realize that almost everything routes back to a handful of key ancestors. But above them all, there is Haze.
Haze did not just influence cannabis culture. It redefined what cannabis could be. Understanding its history is understanding how we got here.
Santa Cruz, 1970s: Where It Started
The story of Haze begins in Santa Cruz, California, in the early 1970s. Two brothers (known in cannabis folklore as ‘the Haze Brothers’) began crossing several imported sativa landraces: Colombian Gold, Mexican, Thai, and South Indian varieties.
Original Haze was unlike anything the American cannabis scene had seen. A towering sativa with a 16-18 week flowering time and an effect users described as psychedelic, cerebral, and energetic. It was not a commercial strain. It was an experience.
Sam the Skunkman and the Journey to Europe
In the early 1980s, David Watson (known as Sam the Skunkman) brought Haze genetics to the Netherlands. Working with Neville Schoenmakers at the Seed Bank of Holland, Haze genetics began spreading through European breeding programs. This gave rise to many strains we now consider classics: Amnesia Haze, Super Silver Haze, Lemon Haze, and dozens of others.
Haze Genetics: The Four-Way Cross
- Colombian Gold: the base sativa, responsible for the euphoric, energetic effect
- Mexican: adds citrus and earthy terpenes
- Thai: contributes the cerebral, sometimes psychedelic intensity
- South Indian: adds depth and complexity to the profile
Key Haze Descendants
- Amnesia Haze (Soma’s Sacred Seeds): Haze-dominant hybrid, Amsterdam’s most iconic strain. Huge cerebral effect.
- Super Silver Haze (Green House Seeds): Three-time Cannabis Cup winner. A landmark in European cannabis.
- Neville’s Haze: Perhaps the purest Haze expression commercially available.
- NYC Diesel (Soma’s Sacred Seeds): Haze-influenced, fuel and citrus terps. A New York classic.
Why Growing Original Haze Is Challenging — and Worth It
Flowering times of 14-18 weeks, significant stretch, modest yields compared to modern hybrids. In exchange: complexity, depth, and an effect that commercial strains rarely deliver.
Many experienced growers describe Haze as the variety you return to after years of chasing yield. It reminds you why you started growing in the first place.
At Jonny Seeds’, we carry key Haze-descended cultivars from Soma’s Sacred Seeds, widely considered the gold standard for Haze genetics in Europe.
