Panama Red (F3)

Panama Red (F3, bred by Norstar Genetics) is the original old-school classic (so popular in the 1960’s-70’s that it also became the title & subject of the 1st song-named-after-a-strain-of-weed to become a radio hit (by Peter Rowan/New Riders Of The Purple Sage). Flavour & aroma includes loads of fresh clean earth and rye, oat cereal, hardwood, and an herbal musky hashy spice with eucalyptus notes…  Buds are an earthy rusty colour.  The buzz is clear and very cerebral to the point of approaching a strong speedy intense psychedelic high, with no burn-out. A weed to bring out your innermost thoughts, to philosophize, about the finer points of life and existence, with those of like mind. The more you smoke the higher you get!

Panama Red – due to its landrace origins growing in moist but nutrient-poor tropical rainforest soil – doesn’t like high nutrient strength, prefers higher humidity & higher temps to bring out Red’s best.

Until the 1970s Panama produced large quantities of high-grade cannabis (much of it exported to the US) which unfortunately diminished as much cultivation land was converted to the cocaine industry. The only area where the cannabis production continued basically unchanged was on a group of islands off the south coast, the Pearl islands (Islas de las Perlas). These islands have a perfect climate to grow sativas: mild temperatures, constant breeze, acceptable humidity, fertile soil, thick forest to hide & protect on the ground as well as from the air. Since a long, long time ago people have grown on these islands, and seeds have been passed on from generation to generation, since at least hundreds of years ago. and they are still busy.

Panama Red grows tall, skinny, with long internodes, thick stems and a woody fiber. They branch almost horizontally, parallel to the ground, and stretch quite a bit. The growers usually choose locations under tall trees, so the plants stretch even more to look for the sunshine. The small patches of plants are hidden deep into the tropical forest, and very hard to access. The proximity to the equator makes the variation in the length of the day almost unnoticeable. In summer days are 13 hours long, in winter 11. This means plants grow to sexual maturity, then start flowering. The stretch in vertical growth happens almost entirely during flowering, and does not want to stop. Growers bend the tallest plants down and tie them to the ground with ropes, or use stones to hold down the lowest branches against the ground, where sometimes roots form from the branch into the soil, propagating the plant horizontally.

The buds are long, thin, almost fluffy, covered in long thin hairs that turn very red. The leaves and stems also turn reddish & brownish towards the middle of flowering. The flowering time is usually 3-4 months 90-120 days.  (In Panama native origin habitat, crops grown November to March which are the driest months, produce the best results, but if growers want to increase production they also plant in January and in May.)