MJBizMag March 2023 - 36

SCIENCE, SEEDS & BREEDS
A Strain is (Re)born
Missouri company partners with Bubba Kush creator
to offer one-of-a-kind genetics
By Omar Sacirbey
A
s former general manager of
three Arena Football League
teams, Reggie Harris knows the
importance of going on offense.
So, in 2021, when Harris and his
team launched House of Kush, a
Kansas City, Missouri-based company
that sells cannabis-plant genetics via
seedlings and licensing deals, he didn't
wait for clients to come find him.
" Primarily, we're going out seeking
them, " Harris said.
Today, House of Kush genetics
are growing in six states-Arizona,
California, Maryland, Michigan,
Missouri and Oklahoma-and will be
in three or four more states within
the next six months, Harris said. The
company also has entered a deal to
sell its genetics to Colombia-based
cannabis firm Clever Leaves.
House of Kush genetics already
have garnered kudos. Californiabased
Statehouse Holdings (formerly
Harborside) won sixth place in
the 2022 Emerald Cup's Sungrown
Greenhouse Flower category using
House of Kush's SFV OG strain.
House of Kush's latest partnership
is with SunMed Growers in Warwick,
Maryland, one of the largest cultivators
in the state. Harris reached out to
SunMed CEO Jake Van Wingerden in
late 2021, and flower grown by SunMed
using House of Kush genetics started
selling in Maryland dispensaries in
January.
" We looked to see who's the biggest
and the best, who's got the best
reputation for growing, who's got the
36 March 2023 | MJBizMagazine
volume capacity that we can grow
with, " Harris said.
SunMed's hybrid greenhouse is
250,000 square feet, and Statehouse
Holdings says it has 230,000 square
feet of greenhouse with the potential to
add another 100,000 square feet.
BRINGING BUBBA TO KC
House of Kush was born out of a
partnership struck between Harris
and co-founders Steve Gardner and
Colorado-based cannabis breeder
Matt Berger, who bred the original
and beloved Bubba Kush strain in
1997.
Berger was seeking a company that
would safeguard and propagate the
Bubba Kush strain. He chose House
of Kush and pointed the company to
trusted breeders whose plants were
truest to the original Bubba Kush
genetics.
House of Kush obtained Bubba Kush
plants from multiple breeders around
the country-in some cases working
with local breeders and, in other cases,
bringing the seedlings back to Kansas
City.
Harris said that under the 2018 Farm
Bill, it is legal to transport cannabis
seedlings across state lines if their
THC content is below 0.3%, the legal
maximum for plants to be considered
hemp. However, it's important to check
individual state rules, as not all states
allow cannabis seedlings with any
measurable THC.
House of Kush didn't simply
propagate the Bubba Kush plants it
had. Instead, the company crossbred
them with other varieties.
" Even though it's a great medicinal
plant, it doesn't have the THC
production, (and) it's a difficult beast
to produce commercially, " Harris said,
adding that the strain is used more for
crossbreeding than for selling directly
to consumers.
In addition to Bubba Kush, House
of Kush is working with eight to 10 socalled
legacy strains, Harris said.
After crossbreeding plants, House
of Kush breeders conduct a phenotype
hunt (pheno hunt), whereby they
grow several versions of each strain,
looking for valuable qualities such as
aroma, trichome production, yield and
resistance to pests and disease.
The phenotype that does the best in
these categories becomes the " mother
plant, " from which House of Kush gets
clippings to propagate and supply to
partner growers, including those in
other states.
IN SUNMED'S GROW
Once House of Kush's genetics were
in SunMed's Maryland greenhouse,
the cultivation team grew plants from
them and started a pheno hunt to
determine which ones would become
mother plants.
Characteristics SunMed looked for
included bud structure, leaf-to-bud
ratio, resin production and aroma.
" We're also doing some preliminary
THC testing. It's got to be in the midto
high 20s from a THC standpoint
for it to be commercially viable,

MJBizMag March 2023

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