I want to tell you the story of the strain Dannyboy and how it got its unusual strain name. But, before I tell you about the strain, let me tell you about the man.
Growers, by the very nature of the game, are a secluded lot, but the Internet is a great way to still have some form of contact with other humans while not exposing yourself to the security risk of having people know where you live or even what you do. Running a grow is somewhat of a ‘ball and chain’ as you have chores to be done at least every 3 days and leaving a large indoor grow can always be a security risk, so a grower can become secluded without this outlet.
I met a guy in 1993 that worked in the nighttime and seemed to always be online in the early mornings as he ran a catering company that supplied coffee and donuts to job sites. Yes, Blunt ran ‘roach coaches’ and they made great chili dogs! Over the years we became great friends – meeting for the first time at the Jungle Juice Café in Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. I found out his name was Danny and from that day on we became brothers. I talked, he listened and we saw the sites together, always returning to the net and telling all our friends about the cool shit we saw.
Danny always had my back and, without getting too detailed, he helped me get out of jail many times on his own dime. In 2001, I was working in Amsterdam for a seed distributor and Danny came to the cup for his second time in 2001. On the second day, he passed away in his sleep at 38.
Seems he had some health and job-related stress issues he kept to himself. He was acting strange the night before he passed, seemed sort of winded, and I asked if he was ok. He replied he just needed to lie down and that’s the last time I spoke to him. Over 200 stoners from the Internet attended his funeral. His parents didn’t know a man could have so many friends. It seems everyone liked the guy.
The only true way I could think of to honor this man was to name my first strain after him. He was a big fan of fruity tasty strains and loved the Killer Queen harvested at day 55. Once I found the line I wanted to work with we selected a few males of Ortega X C99 and did some out-crossing. The best female was named Taco by stoner friends who made a joke about Ortega being a food company. The male was selected from only 2 boys but heritage is everything in breeding and either would have been a great father. The final product is a hybrid Danny would have loved.
Tasting like cherry Jolly Rancher candy and just covered in thick large trichomes, this plant is equally good as a head stash or a Bubble plant. It is so frosty I am sure the ratio when making bubble is very high. The dry kief from it is fruity and smooth and just lovely sprinkled on any bud. This weed smells and taste so much like cherries I was surprised at its finished color. It might have just been destiny and I am sure Blunt was helping from above…
From seed the plant stays very short with wide sharp leaf edges and a dark green color. It was only topped once the females were just a short fat bush and as they matured very little stretch was present. Resin showed as early as 21 days and by 30 days they reeked like cherry gum drops. Later, as the plant reached maturity, it took on a solid white frost with a sour cherry smell. The first hit blew me away – it was so tasty I was shocked. Once the buds dried and cured for 30 days I would just sit and smell the buds (I almost got a Brandy snifter just to do so). From clone the only difference in the growth was a faster finish
At first she was just a favorite of Jill and I and then Sunycheba got a cut and then Badboy was given the duplication project and while at it grew out several females – all cherry and fruity and potent. The strain finishes very fast, which is nice if you run a bit short close to harvest. Our phenotype was at least 10 days faster than any other strain in the garden.
Her down side is she needs extra vegetative time to compete and yield heavy, in soil she starts off slow and doesn’t hit her stride in the vegetative room till she’s over 30” tall. This strain has been around so much it has gained quite a following and recently a good friend, Irishfatboy, smoked some with Wille Nelson. My favorite story from his travels with Dannyboy in his stash is that a buddy was riding with him and when they stopped to break they had some DB bubble hash – his friend says, “The colors are getting to me I need to lie down.” Irishfatboy sent me a great picture of his buddy passed out on a beach with a huge smile on his face.
Another grower, Ganjaden, grew out Danny in large tubs full of soil and his results were amazing – with his first harvest from a single pack of seeds coming in at over 26 ounces from 6 females. The more people grew her out the more everyone liked her.
I once did a thread on Overgrow detailing the 2001 Cannabis Cup and I mentioned Danny and his story and basically we sold out of the strain overnight. We also have a Dannyboy BX or backcross that is a bit larger and more Killer Queen Dominant and that sold out as well. There are a few packs around but it’s not an easy strain to acquire in seed form anymore. The good news is a great cutting is pretty easy to find as more DB has been grown out than any TGA gear!
We have just released, in limited numbers, a Dannyboy X Spacequeen hybrid I named Danielle, which will be a limited offering and is available now at Cannaseur.com. We are making Dannyboy 2, but the Taco male was lost and the new cross will not be released until I am satisfied it’s better than the original. Dannyboy was also used in Sunycheba’s cross Black Cherry, the Black Russian father gave this hybrid a vivid magenta coloring in some phenotypes but there aren’t many left in stock.
Even though not many in the community knew of him or about his death, Danny was truly an American Stoner working his ass off running a business and relaxing with a nice bowl after work. Unfortunately, due to the drug war it was usually brick weed, he never complained but he sure smiled when I sent him a care pack. He was the coolest dude I ever met and losing him was like losing my brother. He is truly the founding member of TGA and I miss him every day.
Respect and Honor
Subcool
Written and Published by Subcool in Weed World Magazine Issue 136
