Origins and Backstory: Bred by Romulan Genetics, Pure Krush (the reader will have to be careful in this article as to whether I am referencing Pure Krush, or Pure Kush—watch out for the “r” !) is a cross of Topanga Canyon Pure Kush (link needed) and Romulan. @divineareslain germinated and selected this plant from his own package. He gave me a sample of the flower and talked up the strain quite a bit; I was impressed with the weed and he gave me a plant to take home. I ended up growing the plant indoors at over 8300’ in altitude. Romulan has an extensive history of its own, but Tony Bowles from skunkglobalmarijuanaculture.com gives a great overview:
…”believed to have been bred by the legendary Romulan Joe (formerly Mendocino Joe), the strain has roots that intertwine with cannabis lore. Joe was associated with Sacred Seeds, a renowned seed bank in Santa Cruz, alongside pioneers like Sam the Skunkman and Maple Leaf Wilson. After Sacred Seeds was raided in 1982, Joe relocated to British Columbia (BC), where he became known as Romulan Joe. By the 1980s, Federation Seeds (now Next Generation Seeds) secured a cutting from Joe, making them the primary source of Romulan genetics today. An alternate story posits that Romulan originated in the 1950s in Canada, with backyard growers blending Korean, Colombian, Afghan, and Mexican genetics.”
The reader can do their research and make up their own mind on the true history. In any case, it is named after an alien race from Star-Trek with dented heads, because of….well, you get it. It is strong, relatively broad-leaf, and has been around a while. I grew Topanga Canyon Pure Kush side-by-side with these plants, so it was fascinating for me to be able to do a comparison, seeing what each side of the lineage contributed.
I first encountered Romulan when I was a teenager in an illegal state in the form of Romulan x Sour Diesel. We didn’t get things with names very often, and when we did it was usually fake. This weed was unusual because it was from my brother, who had personally driven to Chicago to score some ganja during a dry period (if you can remember those!). The weed was extremely stinky, and it stunned everyone who encountered it. My friends from high school still joke with me to this day, and I have a nickname that is a variant of “Romulan Sour Diesel” with my own name in it. In any case, it was incredibly potent and loud weed, and especially compared to what else was available at the time, and it became sort of legendary in our small circle.
Later when I moved to Colorado, I encountered a different version of Romulan x Sour Diesel that people called “Schrom.” It was sweeter, less devastating, and not as “dank” as what I had seen in an illegal state, and I didn’t encounter pure Romulan for some time. Even some Romulan I have come across seemed fake, and there are various seed companies offering it which may or may not be authentic. I’ve never grown it; I’d like to see pure Romulan one day, as it sure seems like a great breeder, and I’d love to see what the pure thing is like for myself.
I grew this plant indoors at 8300’ under LED lights.
Morphology: The influence from TCPK is clear on this one, yet it is also markedly different and easier to manage. The Romulan brings more broad leaves to the table, tighter internode spacing, and somewhat tames the tendency of TCPK to wildly branch in every direction. This plant is remarkably vigorous, fast-growing, hardy, and tolerant of a variety of environmental stresses. I was incredibly impressed by the vigor, resilience, and yield of this plant. When the plant flowers, the OG Kush influence is much more visible. I actually found the flowers on my indoor Romulan x TCPK to resemble classic OG Kush moreso than even TCPK! The flowers are furry with resin, a characteristic of strains that have trichomes with long stalks. The buds have bulbous calyxes, creating a rounded and stacked look as seen in the photo. Both foliage and flowers are mostly green, with some mild purple accents. Dried flowers appear frosty and furry with resin due to its copious production. The purple tones mostly fade when the flower is dried, but the resin gives the buds the appearance that the are lighter and brighter than they really are. It is worth noting that @divineareslain had plants grown under different LEDs using different soil than me at around 5280’ in altitude. His flowers were more colorful, but also exhibited a fox-tailing quality in the structure that I personally did not experience at all. I am somewhat regretful I did not grow this plant in my greenhouse, just for the sake of seeing it in a different environment.
Aroma: Definitely falling in the category of obnoxiously-dank weed, Pure Krush’s aroma is skunky and funky, pulling no punches. These flowers come off at first like a lemon/lime-heavy and perfumey OG, but with an added and weird funk that is not OG. On more intense scrutiny, the funk is akin to stinky feet just coming out of shoes, along with dryer sheets and laundry detergent. There is just a hint of dental office aromas on the back-end. One can detect some more standard weed aromas like skunk and pine as well. From far away or when your friend is holding, one can smell intensely skunky, funky, and very dank weed. The smell shouts “potency” before one even lays eyes on it. Overall, I’d describe it as a very lemon-limey, perfumey OG with dirty feet, laundromat, and halitosis funk.
Flavor: First and most intense impressions are stinky feet/old socks and lemon/limeade. Dryer sheets and detergent-like flavors come through later, while a character of lemon/limeade persists. The aftertaste has notes of halitosis and bad breath of an elderly person. Overall it is a very lemony and perfumey OG with odd funk and laundromat-related flavors, a very full-bodied and rich experience. It’s unique, powerful, and thoroughly enjoyable. Somewhat new and different from most OGs, and it indeed is a funk that is reminiscent of the Romulan x Sour Diesel I had the pleasure of smoking as a teenager. It’s hard to get enough of weird-tasting weed like this, for whatever reason, and the flavor of smoking Pure Krush is dangerously and inherently pleasurable.
Effects: Immediate and powerful, one feels the coming impact of the smoke before an exhale is complete. There is a euphoric rush, and a throbbing feeling emanating outward from one’s forehead and temples, and the “headband” area of one’s head. It’s the kind of feeling that lets you know you’re really in for it. The feeling of euphoria intensifies, as does a happy, numbing, dumbing, feel-good and warm sensation that blankets one’s body and being. This is pretty classic, eye-reddening, dreamy, and stoney weed that pushes all the right buttons, and is quite strong. This weed will make you giggle, may temporarily reduce your IQ, will make you feel happy and pleasant, induces munchies and sleep (REALLY induces sleep), and is deeply relaxing. If one overindulges, paranoia and panicky feelings are possible, but the feeling of Pure Krush is significantly less psychedelic and soaring that Pure Kush (link needed). It is more grounded, more in one’s body, and much more lazy-feeling. In short, more of a classic indica or broad-leaf effect. Pure Krush is deeply potent and has tremendous value for any significant medical issues. Really, the only downside of weed like this, is that it lacks functionality, and will ruin your day if you start early. It’s hard to imagine doing any meaningful socializing or being much of a conversationalist after smoking Pure Krush; it is more the kind of weed you smoke and sit with a dumb smile on while you watch a movie or listen to birds on your front porch. This is the weed I use to go to sleep, unwind for a movie in the evenings, or for some other internal or low-demand activity. The feeling is a good one but burnout comes on pretty quickly if it’s used early in the day.
Overall: This plant was awesome for me to grow personally, for all kinds of reasons. It’s super cool for me to revisit a Romulan F1, especially after the legendary Romulan x Sour Diesel experience from my youth. It’s even cooler that a friend who shared that high-school weed experience, @divineareslain, was the one who gave me the plant. The final layer on this cake of personal intrigue is that I happened upon the Pure Kush (Topanga Canyon cut) just prior to acquiring this plant. So, I got to grow the plants literally right next to each other, and have had the pleasure of myriad side-by-side smoking tests. So I have felt that I have seen what the Romulan contributes to the cross as well as TCPK. I am not sure why pure Romulan is not more popular or more passed around. If it truly was available as early as some people report, it must have been incredibly-strong weed for the time, as its hybrids are still quite potent even today. In any case, it does seem like a tremenous breeder, contributing potency, classic dank smells, as well as a unique and signature funk that brings stinky feet, laundry, skunk, and pine into the mix. In this case, it also contributed a lot of vigor, and these Pure Krush plants are incredibly vigorous as well as resilient to varying forms of stress—indicating that Romulan’s ancestry is markedly different from Pure Kush or OG Kush. Pure Krush is a very easy-to-grow plant, while yielding flowers that are medicinal quality and rival OG Kush. The smell and flavor are really wonderful, especially to a seasoned toker. While it sounds bizarre, the flavors of lemon/limeade mingling with with notes that bring both dirty and clean laundry to mind, is just great. The stone is super potent and has a place in my life in the evenings, weekends, etc., and it is one of those euphoric and warm-feeling weeds that is perfect to have on hand for a long winter (or if you are suffering from a medical condition). This weed is in-your-face in every aspect, and is a loveable plant for all kinds of reasons. The only disadvantage to Pure Krush is that….it has the power to “krush” you and your day!