At that time, rumours about this strain were afloat that some Illinois state troopers had measured confiscated Warlock plants at 29% THC. But Gerrit, the Warlock breeder, distanced himself from that story, calling it a more than dubious creation of legends by somebody. Right he was, because to date no cannabis strain has ever achieved such a THC content, at least not under objectively verifiable laboratory test conditions. And while Warlock certainly is a very potent strain, it doesn’t get near the limits of what’s biologically possible.

About Warlock’s origin – In the early 1990s, Gerrit found some seeds in Skunk and Afghani buds he had bought in a coffeeshop. He planted them into soil and later on crossed the resulting plants with one another. The outcome of that he liked a lot, in the next step crossing his best Skunk with one of his male Skunk/Afghani crosses. Thus the foundation for the Warlock strain was laid, as Gerrits Skunk x Skunk/Afghani plant turned out to be a stunning lucky punch that he kept on selecting and stabilizing in the following breeding generations. Gerrit also got prominent support for Warlock – In the mid nineties, the popular Amsterdam Coffeeshop Bluebird exclusively sold his Warlock weed, bringing this strain a permanently growing following. The next step on the ladder of success was taken when Gerrit gained third place with Warlock in the Bio category of the High Times Cannabis Cup 1997, it was his first participation. In the following year, Warlock seeds became commercially available, quickly establishing themselves on the seed market.

Although genetically she’s an indica-dominant plant, Warlock’s appearance and effect are more leaning towards the sativa side: Strong branching, long-lasting elongation during flowering, a very high calyx-to-leaf ratio and a high that is more located in the head than in the body, having a stimulating, sativa-driven effect.

Warlock is well-known for its trademark “popcorn bud” look, consisting of plenty of unusually evenly rounded calyx clusters. With 55-60 days, her flowering time is fairly moderate – Not just suitable for hectic people, but certainly also not over-taxing people’s patience. The more so as they get rewarded with excellent yields of 400-500g/m2. Already at an early stage of flowering, that typically intense sweet odour of this variety is noticeable, out smelling anything else in the grow room. Quite often, Warlock also has a sourly fruity note, and with a little bit of luck, you may encounter the rare raspberry Warlock phenotype, as experienced by Mr. Power-Planter some years ago. Warlock is also popular as a medical plant (for example in British Columbia, Canada), causing a positive prevailing mood and focusing of thoughts which is good for patients suffering from ADHD or slight depressions.

So thirteen years have passed since my first encounter with Warlock, the conjuring master. The world of cannabis strains has undergone a drastic change since that time, the global supply of strains almost cannot be counted any longer and a huge number of new players has entered the seed market while only a few have left it. Like for example breeder Gerrit from Magus Genetics did, who said good-bye to the scene in 2011, passing his strains on to Serious Seeds, of course also including Warlock, the mighty flagship of his small but superior strain assortment. It was a nice coincidence that 2011 also was the year in which Warlock scored another coup at the High Times Cup, taking second place in the “Best Concentrate” category. And thus proving that it could easily keep pace with those many new school strains and even leave them behind. Warlock proved this again in 2015 by winning the third place at the Dab-A-Doo in Barcelona with the most wonderful fruity  Warlock water-hash.

The Doc almost felt a kind of reverence when he put the legendary Warlock to a cultivation test last year, almost twenty years after its creation. As usual, a package of five feminised  seeds was sown into jiffy pots, yielding a germination rate of 100%. Soon repotted to 11 litre containers, the five Warlock plants exhibited strong early growth, with dense internodes. Four weeks after having put the seeds to germination, The Doc induced flowering by reducing the daily light cycle from 18/6 to 12/12. At that stage, the plants were pretty homogeneous, about 35-40 cm tall, but already having seven or eight internodes, resulting in a very bushy appearance that matched the regular growth pattern of a mostly indica strain. “They’re cutting a fine figure”, The Doc praised.

After two weeks of flowering, he reported: “Switching to flowering happened in no time, one can already see the first little flower roses on top of the branches, that’s pretty damn soon!” Two weeks later, he continued: “Awesome! These are five super fat globose bushes, looking as if I had pinched them back, but that’s not the case. In the first four weeks of flowering, there was a noticeable stretching effect, but not as strong as expected. The flower tops are about to join the “thick & dense” category, already now, there are tons of nicely shaped buds protruding from the plants, with many resin glands on them. And that intense sweet smell in the air unmistakably comes from those five Warlocks.“

Six weeks into flowering, they had kept on gaining a lot of weight, as reported by The Doc: “Magnificient fatties these are, like straight out of a picture book – chunky, corpulent and heavily sweating, in the form of countless resin drips. Meanwhile the first flower hairs have turned brown. I guess that the official flowering time of 55-60 days will come true here. In the last two weeks I won’t give the plants any fertilizer, but only flush them with Clean Fruits from Green Buzz Liquids.” Three of the five Warlock plants The Doc then could harvest after 59 days of flowering, the other two remained two more days in the grow room. “I am stunned by the homogeneity of this strain, as all these five plants are incredibly fat and compact, each of them crowned with 10-12 top colas that look like beams, and they are hard as beams, too! Not to speak of the fact that the final heights were 75-82 cm, only a scope of 7cm difference in height for five plants from seed – most amazing. And the buds look like densely sprayed with resin. Warlock has very finely proportioned resin glands that spread out over the entirety of flower leaves, too.”

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