Aficionado Estates – Long Valley Royal Purple Kush

One of the most legendary and revered strains in modern Emerald Triangle history is undoubtedly the Royal Kush. The recipient of two Top-5 Emerald Cup Flower awards, the Royal was originally created by master-breeder and Emerald Triangle legend Ras Truth (affectionately known to local growers & outlaws as Mandlebrot). She’s a cross of a Sour Diesel and Pre-Soviet Highland Afghani male paired with a Garberville Purple Kush clone-only.

Before the times when gas-laden fuel strains became the rage throughout California and the US, Mandlebrot was infamous in the Emerald Triangle for his deep nose-biting complex fuel strains woven with intense floral essences and sharp notes of citrus and sparkling wine. His hallmark of blending textures of jet-fuel and chardonnay grapes into a hardy disease resistant top-shelf offering would be the platform in which Mandlebrot and Aficionado Estates would build their reputations.

Created circa 2004 she was further bred until 2007-2008 when she was worked into her 7^th generation when Mandlebrot conducted an elite selection choosing only one champion among 3000 plants. This fabled clone only is known as the Royal Kush #7. Shortly after selection, she was slowly leaked into the hands of high-profile master growers in Humboldt and Mendocino in 2007 and when the bottom of the wholesale market fell out shortly after in 2010, The Royal Kush 7 was among the few cuts in the Emerald Triangle kingdom to consistently demand a higher premium; sometimes twice that current offerings on the market at the time.

In the 2013 collaboration between Mandlebrot and Leo Stone the Royal was worked from her 7^th generation into her 10^th and 11^th generations with the goal of expressing her Sour Diesel linage and drawing out sharper brighter fuel profiles and nuances. Another desired outcome of the breeding was to acclimate her to the rigors of the Northern Mendocino’s celebrated Long-Valley region. Aside from holding more Emerald Cup awards than any other region in California, this area is known for many challenging microclimates complete with unrelenting hot and arid summers finished by coastally influenced damp and foggy autumn ending.

In her first weeks expect her to grow short and stalky then midway through veg she begins her stretch. This is a classic characteristic of her Sour Diesel lineage and what she was selected for. The royal Kush 7 structure is a traditional Afghani hybrid with a short and dense morphology suited for windy environments. However The Long-Valley rendition has been selected for a longer and more elegant plant. Similar to Sour Diesel and OG Kush, the long-valley exudes many long-legged tops with more pronounced extended inter-nodal spacing yielding large dense flowers that produce large prominent snow-draped brachs. She’s hungry for calcium and magnesium throughout flower thus her uptake of Phosphorus is accelerated, keep an eye on her in the late stages where her leaves tend to fade quickly if she doesn’t receive adequate nutrition. She fairs best when cultivated under a strict 100% organic regimen since she’s been bred for the last 10 Generations in nearly biodynamic conditions, her genes will express themselves better when they receive the inputs she’s most used to.

She performs exceptionally well indoors and outdoors in especially harsh environments. She withstands heavy wind loads just fine, given her main stalks and branches have been support/trellised appropriately. In her late stages she begins to rock up in flower and become incredibly dense, but she has proven to be resilient against botrytis. If proper care is not taken any neglect in excessively humid growing conditions can promote powdery mildew, however the Royal Kush 7 when compared to most dense afghan-derived varietals is astonishingly powdery mildew resistant.

Perfect for beginners and master cultivators alike, many will appreciate her exceptionally loud tones complimented by fluffy bright green to concord purple nugs emanating complex layers of petroleum, lavender, and chemical disinfectant supported by a core of crushed grapes and orchard blossoms.

• AVG THCa Test Results: 25-28% THC (Depending on grower & inputs)
• Average Yield: Medium-Large depending on cultivation methods and practices.
• Outdoor Yield: 3-6 Pounds in 200gal Smart Pot in partial shade, full sun exposure and expanded soil volume has been seen to lock 6-8+ Pounds under optimal conditions.
• The High: Expect a soaring cerebral jab to the third-eye with pronounced ocular pressure offering slight visual stimulation complimented by a heavy body stone

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Published in issue 126 Weed World magazine