Canadian Romulan vs American Romulan

Smug_Pepe said:

I'd say the real thing to consider with romulan is federation, and next generations seed version.

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Chappi said:

Post is over a month old but I just got some Romulan x NL1 from Coastal seeds, I wonder what “Romulan” this is? I’m not all that exited about it now. Will probably just throw them outside on some dirt.

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Blind Joe Death said:

Chappi, this is the Romulan Joe cut...and their NL1 is amazing in outcrosses...should be a nice pair up

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CanadaDank said:

After much research and talking to the right people, it would seem the commonly agreed story of the history of Romulan is incorrect for two main reasons.
First Reason:
The story goes that Mendo Joe bred Romulan and eventually moved to Vancouver Island where he switched names where he went by the name Romulan Joe. This can not be correct. The biggest reason for this is Mendo Joe was an older dude who was part of Sacred Seeds and was breeding Skunk and Rom in the late 70’s. Let’s pretend he was 20 when he was doing this breeding (he was probably older as he was a gifted breeder who prob had a fair bit of experience at that point with the plant). If he was 20 in 1979 when Romulan was bred (I’ve also read 1971 but I tend to agree with 79) then he would be 58 years old. This is a lowball.
The real Romulan Joe is a young guy, prob in his late 30’s to early 40’s. My friend met Rom Joe through Mark Emery in the 2000’s I believe and he said him and Rom Joe were around the same age. My friend is in his late 30’s to early 40’s although I forget the exact year. The ages of those two Joes are at least 20 years apart, but prob closer to 30. I know Vancouver Island is a nice place but you don’t lose 20-30 years when you move there! I have also heard rumour that Mendo Joe is dead although I haven’t been able to confirm that. Rom Joe is definitely alive and well though. The age gap between these two guys is the first reason.
Second Reason:
I have a group of buddies throughout Canada and we all chat together quite frequently. We are the only group I know of that has both the original Canadian Romulan cut (the one Reeferman, TGA Subcool and Mark Emery hold) as well as the original American cut. From seeing them both and hearing about their terp profiles, it would appear almost for sure that they are different plants. The Canadian Romulan has very skinny leaves and grows little tiny buds while the American does have somewhat skinny leaves it grows more like an Afghani with fatter buds. I think the biggest differentiation is in the terp profile.
Folks say the Mendo Joe Romulan smells like blueberries and pineapple amongst other things; the Romulan Joe Romulan is said to be more spicy and peppery without those fruity notes the American is known for. This is the second reason.
Friends of mine will be doing a side by side grow of both plants to see once and for all whether they are the same or different. Based on the above info I fully expect them to be different but the proof is in the pudding. When that has happened I will report back with side by side grow shots to show the necessary proof as well as reviews of each one.
If anyone has an opinion on this matter I would be very interested in hearing it, especially any current information about Mendo Joe’s whereabouts.
If you agree or disagree, that’s cool. Let’s just try to keep things civil because I’ve seen people get pretty pissed off when their version of events comes into question regarding big name cuts like these.

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RomulanJake said:

So this is fortuitous that I found this! I can help clear a lot of this up, but you are one of the 1st people Ive heard of that was pretty close to the real story.

First and foremost, most people seem to confuse Federation Seeds or NGS version of Romulan for being Romulan. Not to mention how many people seemed to be misled in the past, getting sold or given cuts that were not Romulan to begin with. Federation Seeds, and later Next Generation Seeds, did not ever have a pure Romulan other than in a cut that was sold to them from Romulan Joe. They crossed that cut with a male White Russian, or similar "white" strain.. and then backed it to the cut numerous, numerous times. They are responsible for the fruity, grape flavored, Romulan.. and its not pure, but it is actually a cross. This is also the true genetics of the '79 Romulan, or Romulan 79.. which is actually Federations name for the cross, Romulan 7 of 9, since it was crossed with #7 of 9 males that had to choose from.

So with that said genuine Romulan, aka Port Alberni Pinebud, has a strong Pine taste and smell.. this is the BC or Canadian Romulan version. The "american" version, for lack of a better name, is more complex in taste.. skunk, pine, peppery, spicy, eucalyptus, sandlewood, hash, earthy.. its extremely hard to nail down her exact taste/smell. So many people grew the Federation version, which is far more like an inidica than the original Romulan, and it caused a lot of confusion over the years of what Romulan is and what it looks like. Basically, if it was the best high you've ever had or close to it.. it was probably the real deal. If it was just really good herb, it was probably something else.

I grew up around this plant, as my Father was part of a group of growers that grew her, and in part helped breed her (according to pops). When my pops passed away, I became the caretaker and since then I have slowly started this campaign to re-release her all over, breed regular seed stock to keep her around for a long time, and to finally clear up the stories surrounding her origins, etc.. so here it goes, I've copy and pasted this from my website. The history was put together from my own memories, my father and his friends stories, and has been confirmed by several people who would truly know whether this is factual or not:

...it starts with a unique connection to this particular strain. [Jake] grew up in California in the late 70's and early 80's. His father was a US Navy Veteran, and also a well connected drug dealer during the 1960-70's. He was, more importantly, also a grower of cannabis. And starting in the late 1960's, his father began a business relationship with a certain motorcycle club. Which soon flourished into him being a main supplier of cannabis, cocaine, and LSD to some of the larger chapters of this club in California. This was the beginning of a loose collection of growers and cannabis breeders, who were all also military veterans and connected to motorcycle clubs from California to British Columbia. They met during camping trips up and down the PNW, and traded seeds, stories, and did their business with their families in tow all while camping out in the woods.

This was eventually how Romulan came to be, but it was first known by a very different name: Port Alberni Pinebud. In California, it was called Pine Mtn. bud among a few other names. But it was all coming from the same source, that group of veterans who grew and met during camping trips together. They started meeting up, and eventually working together on the cannabis they were breeding. It started well before Jake's father got involved, with veterans returning home from the Korean war. They brought back seeds from an amazing strain they had sampled, called Thai. The Korean Thai seeds were grown back home in the BC area, and Norcal area but these veterans found it very difficult to grow in those regions. Eventually when Jake's father and other veterans got involved, they introduced a Mexican sativa into the mix. And later a Colombian landrace was added, most likely Colombian Red, in the late 1970's. Eventually an Afghani Indica was bred in, but they did not like the results entirely, so they back crossed it with the Colombian Red again before they found what they were looking for. This original set of F1 seed stock are what brought P. Alberni Pinebud, P.A. Purple, and other notable strains to come from that region at that time. It was also at around this time, that Federal Agencies began to crack down on this groups members and their activities. This forced them to no longer meet together, and pushed the resulting strains and growers into more remote areas.

But that still doesn't cover how it became Romulan, and the last interesting connection to our founder Jake. "Romulan Joe" is who brought the strain to the masses initially. Most everyone knows this part of the story, but many also get things mixed up. Joe was not a Vietnam veteran, he was too young for that. His family owned a Nursery in Southern California, the same Nursery that Jake's father frequented to get his supplies. Joe worked at his families nursery when he was young, and a teen. He often helped load trucks, and generally help customers out once they had paid. This over time developed a friendship and connection, and eventually led to Joe getting a hold of a cutting of what he later named Romulan. Joe cloned his cut for years, and that is where the Romulan part of the story began. But he acquired that cut from either our founders father or someone close to him. Unlike what most rumors spread over the years have said, the true source of Romulan was never from a Vietnam Veteran, Oakland Biker, turned Emerald Triangle OG... it was from a group of growers, that were all veterans first and foremost, and also bikers, that spread from Vancouver, B.C. to California.

Anyhow, I hope that helps.. and I hope as I spread this girl around that anyone who loves a truly remarkable plant, and are tired of smoking strains that are supposed to be fire but feel like you just took a deep breath of air.. well, this is your girl here, and I hope you get your hands on her soon. Just know Im doing my best, have some help, and before too long this amazing plant will be all over again.

This is her:
View Image

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Prodigygrower said:

She looks fire broski!!!!!

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Anyhow, I hope that helps.. and I hope as I spread this girl around that anyone who loves a truly remarkable plant, and are tired of smoking strains that are supposed to be fire but feel like you just took a deep breath of air.. well, this is your girl here, and I hope you get your hands on her soon. Just know Im doing my best, have some help, and before too long this amazing plant will be all over again.

This is her:

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therevverend said:

Man it's funny I've been hearing bits and pieces of this story for so many years. I don't know shit, nothing to really comment on except about the rumored Korean element in Romulan. That story has been around for a long time and we always wondered if it was true.

The Romulan popped up in the late 90s along with a bunch of other great stuff out of Arcata. My friends there were growing Superskunk, Romulan, Trainwreck, Widow, and a few other popular cuts, probably Urkle too. White Russian turned up around that time. Before that it was mostly G13 and before that Hashplant. Before that was Blueberry and Northern Lights and a whole bunch of stuff that was just as good if not better, just not around any more. Polio in Spokane for instance. I liked that name because it described the effects.

The Trainwreck wasn't impressive, more of a commercial strain easy to clone and grow with minimum care. The Superskunk was awesome, kicked ass in every way no idea why it still isn't around and popular like the others. Wasn't 'skunky' or fruity, it was complex like Romulan. I've heard people call those smells 'fruity' but I don't because I can't nail it down to one fruit. It's not plum or pear or apple or pineapple, it's musky and hashy and good.



That's the spittin' image of her, why I commented, looks almost the same as the late 90s version. Glad it's still out there. Yours almost looks a bit more white, could be an influence from the White family.

That reminds me that around that time there was another strain that blew everything else away, I called it the 'Frostillicus' because it was maximum frost, more resin caked then anything else and the best. I suppose I could date it by when the Simpson's episode was released if I cared enough. Ah what the hell I'm not busy, 1998. Can't believe we lost that one, it was better then The White and all the white stuff because it had the flavor I love, hashy and sweet like candy.

I've got some Grape Ape x Romulan seeds, my buddy grew it last summer and it was amazing. The Grape Ape only added goodness to the Romulan, big healthy plant. Unfortunately he planted it in a wet spot and the October storms destroyed it. He had a temper tantrum and let most of it rot where it stood. Sad stuff but I may try it next year if I feel I can brave the boytritis problems. Romulan is susceptible, although not as bad as that plant was. At least it was early, first week of October, which is a nice Romulan trait.

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mr underhill said:

Ha!
I was part of one of those families and remember the camp outs and parties of my earlier days.
when you get to 50 posts send me a message

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CaptainDankness said:

So you going to be making seeds or passing out cuts? I can definitely go for some pine tree bud been a while since I have gotten shit that smelled strongly of pine.

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RomulanJake said:

So this is fortuitous that I found this! I can help clear a lot of this up, but you are one of the 1st people Ive heard of that was pretty close to the real story.

First and foremost, most people seem to confuse Federation Seeds or NGS version of Romulan for being Romulan. Not to mention how many people seemed to be misled in the past, getting sold or given cuts that were not Romulan to begin with. Federation Seeds, and later Next Generation Seeds, did not ever have a pure Romulan other than in a cut that was sold to them from Romulan Joe. They crossed that cut with a male White Russian, or similar "white" strain.. and then backed it to the cut numerous, numerous times. They are responsible for the fruity, grape flavored, Romulan.. and its not pure, but it is actually a cross. This is also the true genetics of the '79 Romulan, or Romulan 79.. which is actually Federations name for the cross, Romulan 7 of 9, since it was crossed with #7 of 9 males that had to choose from.

So with that said genuine Romulan, aka Port Alberni Pinebud, has a strong Pine taste and smell.. this is the BC or Canadian Romulan version. The "american" version, for lack of a better name, is more complex in taste.. skunk, pine, peppery, spicy, eucalyptus, sandlewood, hash, earthy.. its extremely hard to nail down her exact taste/smell. So many people grew the Federation version, which is far more like an inidica than the original Romulan, and it caused a lot of confusion over the years of what Romulan is and what it looks like. Basically, if it was the best high you've ever had or close to it.. it was probably the real deal. If it was just really good herb, it was probably something else.

I grew up around this plant, as my Father was part of a group of growers that grew her, and in part helped breed her (according to pops). When my pops passed away, I became the caretaker and since then I have slowly started this campaign to re-release her all over, breed regular seed stock to keep her around for a long time, and to finally clear up the stories surrounding her origins, etc.. so here it goes, I've copy and pasted this from my website. The history was put together from my own memories, my father and his friends stories, and has been confirmed by several people who would truly know whether this is factual or not:

...it starts with a unique connection to this particular strain. [Jake] grew up in California in the late 70's and early 80's. His father was a US Navy Veteran, and also a well connected drug dealer during the 1960-70's. He was, more importantly, also a grower of cannabis. And starting in the late 1960's, his father began a business relationship with a certain motorcycle club. Which soon flourished into him being a main supplier of cannabis, cocaine, and LSD to some of the larger chapters of this club in California. This was the beginning of a loose collection of growers and cannabis breeders, who were all also military veterans and connected to motorcycle clubs from California to British Columbia. They met during camping trips up and down the PNW, and traded seeds, stories, and did their business with their families in tow all while camping out in the woods.

This was eventually how Romulan came to be, but it was first known by a very different name: Port Alberni Pinebud. In California, it was called Pine Mtn. bud among a few other names. But it was all coming from the same source, that group of veterans who grew and met during camping trips together. They started meeting up, and eventually working together on the cannabis they were breeding. It started well before Jake's father got involved, with veterans returning home from the Korean war. They brought back seeds from an amazing strain they had sampled, called Thai. The Korean Thai seeds were grown back home in the BC area, and Norcal area but these veterans found it very difficult to grow in those regions. Eventually when Jake's father and other veterans got involved, they introduced a Mexican sativa into the mix. And later a Colombian landrace was added, most likely Colombian Red, in the late 1970's. Eventually an Afghani Indica was bred in, but they did not like the results entirely, so they back crossed it with the Colombian Red again before they found what they were looking for. This original set of F1 seed stock are what brought P. Alberni Pinebud, P.A. Purple, and other notable strains to come from that region at that time. It was also at around this time, that Federal Agencies began to crack down on this groups members and their activities. This forced them to no longer meet together, and pushed the resulting strains and growers into more remote areas.

But that still doesn't cover how it became Romulan, and the last interesting connection to our founder Jake. "Romulan Joe" is who brought the strain to the masses initially. Most everyone knows this part of the story, but many also get things mixed up. Joe was not a Vietnam veteran, he was too young for that. His family owned a Nursery in Southern California, the same Nursery that Jake's father frequented to get his supplies. Joe worked at his families nursery when he was young, and a teen. He often helped load trucks, and generally help customers out once they had paid. This over time developed a friendship and connection, and eventually led to Joe getting a hold of a cutting of what he later named Romulan. Joe cloned his cut for years, and that is where the Romulan part of the story began. But he acquired that cut from either our founders father or someone close to him. Unlike what most rumors spread over the years have said, the true source of Romulan was never from a Vietnam Veteran, Oakland Biker, turned Emerald Triangle OG... it was from a group of growers, that were all veterans first and foremost, and also bikers, that spread from Vancouver, B.C. to California.

Anyhow, I hope that helps.. and I hope as I spread this girl around that anyone who loves a truly remarkable plant, and are tired of smoking strains that are supposed to be fire but feel like you just took a deep breath of air.. well, this is your girl here, and I hope you get your hands on her soon. Just know Im doing my best, have some help, and before too long this amazing plant will be all over again.

This is her:
View Image

Click to expand...

The old mother plant I have (pictured on previous post), that has also been run through tissue culture, was certainly not crossed with anything... but it is extremely frosty and often looks like just a giant trichome when grown indoors under intense lighting. I could see the instant comparison to 'white' family strains.

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RomulanJake said:

That's really cool brother.. good stuff!

The old mother plant I have (pictured on previous post), that has also been run through tissue culture, was certainly not crossed with anything... but it is extremely frosty and often looks like just a giant trichome when grown indoors under intense lighting. I could see the instant comparison to 'white' family strains.

Here are some shots of our clone only Romulan cut at 4 weeks bloom:
View Image

View Image


I'm working on a side project with her right now, where I have crossed her with an old Thai, selected that down.. and just crossed her with an old Kandahar landrace that was worked by locals for generations (so sub-landrace I guess?). Pretty excited to see what adding in more old genetics does. Should be interesting at least.

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therevverend said:

Thanks, good to know. Romulan is as frosty as anything, the difference with the whites is the complex flavors the Rom develops. Anyone who thinks outdoor is inferior to indoor needs to grow Romulan outdoors during a dry summer. The flowers my buddy grew from clones outdoors in Mendo in the late 90s were just as frosty as the stuff in your pictures. Considering that Romulan tends to finish in early October as opposed to late like a lot of the popular strains I'm surprised there isn't more of it around.

Wish I had a picture of my buddy's Grape Ape x Romulan from last summer. Big and bushy. The grape version of Romulan was more of a white grape if I remember right. I've only seen it a couple times just in dried flower form. The GA X R was more purple grape, very reddish purple stalks. Flowers had red and purple highlights on green and white. Added nothing but goodness, a layer of sweet intense grapeyness to the Romulan flavor. Now I'm wondering if he saved any flowers, I don't think I ever got to smell or smoke the dried finished stuff.

The one weakness of the Romulan is the tendency to grey mold, the Grape Ape only added to the problem. I know he did some breeding with it, crossed it with a Strawberry Cough type he'd been working but I can't remember if he kept the seeds. I'll have to ask next time I see him. I don't think I'd risk any offspring from that plant up north outdoors. It'd be fine indoors or in California. I can picture many years ago growing Romulan outdoors in Washington during a wet September, tearing open a perfect beautiful bud and seeing the inside entirely turned to grey goo.

Awesome you're working the strain, making crosses. Both sound great, the Thai and the Kandahar. This thread is convincing me to give those Grape Ape x Romulan seeds another try. It's also got me thinking about getting and breeding straight Romulan with mold resistant or earlier stuff. Maybe Royal Kush, try to create a hybrid that is more reliable for the PNW. Washington and BC.

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