California preps for its best clone release weekend ever
Cuttings are selling for up to $1,566 each. A genetics race is on for global profits.
BY DAVID DOWNS | May 6 | SAN FRANCISCO
Good afternoon, Fire Followers,
This is David Downs in San Francisco where we are organizing the first Clonetopia, which is really catching fire. It calls for another break in the weekly formatting.
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California preps for its best clone release weekend ever
The full story is in the Pro version for $5.
BEST CLONE RELEASE WEEKEND EVER?
The cannabis genetics arms race has gotten spring fever this May.
At least three events in California are drawing international growers big and small for the top-tier strains they need to stay competitive in the legal cannabis era.
Hendrx Nursery releases 100 clones of Tire Fire OG for $1,566 each at the first Clonetopia, a CANNA nutrients-powered clone release festival May 16-17 at 7 Stars dispensary in Richmond, California, and Solful on Irving Street in San Francisco.
Joining Hendrx—Purple City Genetics will release their closely held Habibi (Z x Moroccan Peaches) for $500. Plus, a fast-flowering sativa called Lemon Cherry Gongo (Red Congo x Lemon Cherry Gelato x Z).
Also, Haze Valley Nursery releases a $1,000 Tom Hill Haze 3-pack for vintage sativa breeders and lovers. Plus, $32 cuts of Grape Lobster, Hash Burger, Modified Mule, and Bodhi’s Strawberry Headband. Talking Trees / Rootimentrees brings GDP x Urkle, and Strawberry Pop.
Down in Southern California on May 17, Green Dragon releases the most hype strain of 2026, Toad Venom for $1,000 for three cuttings.
And Green Dragon’s former collaborator turned rival Ronin Seeds preempts Green Dragon with a May 9 drop of (alleged) Toad Venom cuts at GOAT Global for $500 each.
The events evoke memories of Seed Junky’s $1,000 Cap Junky clone drop at the 2021 Emerald Cup. Why the hype?
Because elite clones are blueprints for money trees in the $60 billion U.S. cannabis market, as well as globally. New international markets like Germany and Czechia are forecast to add $9 billion in revenue in the coming years.
It’s like buying Prada patterns in Milan, Italy, to go make your own new bag.
Buying a ‘golden ticket’
New genetics are a capital expense for a large cannabis business. Businesses are spending $1,500 on one plant to make their money back many times over. They turn the clone into a mother plant, then make more clones, grow those out, and sell the bud. And they use them in new breeding projects.
“I spent $10,000 on a tray of OG back in the day,” said Green Dragon’s co-owner and operator Glen. “They put me on something that gave people something different than what was out there. I didn’t know how else to get it, and that’s what you did. I never regretted it because I made more than my money back. That’s for sure,” said Glen.
Grabbing an elite clone is way cheaper than a licensing deal from a nursery, or popping packs, and finding and testing a pheno.
Daniel Hendricks for Hendrx Nursery said he is fueling the next big OG Kush wave. Tire Fire OG is (OG Kush x Triangle Kush) x SFV OG. It combines selections from CSI Humboldt, CHA Genetics, Kevn Jodrey, and Hendrx Nursery.
“It’s got all the legends of the game,” said Hendricks. “This thing stood up against all the other OGs I could find.”
“OG is a fucking huge market. Everybody needs an OG that can commercially produce and then is going to keep its nose.”
The 100 buyers of the Tire Fire OG get exclusive access to further work on the line, he said.
“It’s an invitation to sit down at the big table,” he said. “Everybody at the table is a professional commercial farmer who buys clones and understands commodities and is jumping at the opportunity.”
“This is like a business-to-business golden ticket.”
Dropping in on the Peach and Lemon Cherry Gelato waves
PCG’s Habibi release (Z x Moroccan Peaches) puts buyers in the middle of the 2026 peach strain wave. Moroccan Peaches is a flower and hash all-star right now, and the current center of a lineup of new seed crosses from PCG for 2026.
Still, PCG has held back Habibi for their own use, and the strain predates the rest of the Moroccan Peaches work. “It’s a really beautiful one. We run it for in-house consumption,” said Auryn McCafferty.
“Hashmakers are going to win with this,” said McCafferty. “It’s mixing two kings of the hash market. This is the all-star of our El Krem work, one of our favorites personally, and the community is going to be like, ‘Wow.’”
PCG’s other release Lemon Cherry Congo takes the current top flavor in weed, LCG, into sativa country, with a super-fast 8-week finish. It’s candy for the young adults who’ve never had a sativa, let alone one that finishes in eight weeks.
“The Congolese is an amazing Mount Rushmore strain for effect. This is landrace work but more palatable for the consumer and grower,” said McCafferty.
In this week’s Fire Follower Pro for $5
More on the Tom Hill Hazes, Clonetopia’s best buys, and getting valid genetics in the era of ‘cutfishing.’
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