Unless you smoke weed under a rock, you’ve probably heard of MAC1. Also called Miracle Alien Cookies or just MAC, it’s a strain that has won awards and populated gardens all over the world. This year marks a decade of success for the strain, which helped make a name for longtime breeder and master of disguise Capulator.
Alien Cookies F2 x Miracle 15 — the origins of this one make for a great story. Capulator bred the Starfighter x Colombian around 2018, but accidentally ran the seeds through the washing machine. Afterward, his lady found them and placed them in a wet paper towel to see if, just maybe, they would germinate. Of the plants that somehow survived, within two weeks, all but No. 15 would be dead. This is the magic plant he crossed to Alien Cookies F2 — something he calls some of the best weed he’s ever smoked — to create the legend of the MAC.
He recently spoke with California Leaf about how he got into cultivating, plus the story behind MAC and this first feminized seed drop from a very personal project.
Behind the Beard
Nowadays, you can catch Capulator out at events, with his telltale glasses, fake beard and oversized baseball hat providing a bit of mystique as well as insulation from the crowd. Like MF DOOM, Capulator (or “Cap” for short) said the disguise was born out of a desire to keep the focus on the work instead of himself.
“I wanted a way to be able to do my thing but still walk through the crowd and hang out without anyone knowing who I was,” he said. “Plus, I come from the old days of no face, no case.”
Like many people who grew up in the ’90s, Cap first got into weed in high school. But, while some people were smoking dime bags in the back of their mom’s Honda Civic, he was busy growing his own.
“I was 16, growing Northern Lights, Hog’s Breath, Skunk #1. I had this little pulley system rigged up so I could raise the plants up into the pine trees,” he said.
Around 18, Cap went on a trip with his mother to Jamaica. He said his mom was always relaxed about Cannabis, and when he got back, he started growing the seeds and seeing if he could cross them with what he already had.
His passion for collecting genetics continued as he got older, taking trips to Canada to secure cuts of Blueberry and amassing a constantly growing seed vault to this day. Now, there are so many heaters that carry his signature title “Cap’s Cut.”
Looking back, he said, “I was so fucking fortunate to come up when I did. To be growing as long as I have, I entered the wave at just the right time. Making seeds back in like 2017, everyone was having so much fun.”
Finding Strength for the Future
California Leaf inquired about his next passion project, and like MAC, it’s one with a real personal connection. Known as Lion’s Strength, it’s a cross that’s also a dedication to his late father. Cap said he first released Super Lemon Haze x MAC a while back as a small, unnamed selection, but it wasn’t anything super serious before the passing of his dad.
“My Super Lemon Haze, which was one of mine and my dad’s favorite plants, it finished early, and it didn’t even smell like weed. It smelled like butter lemon candy. I would give him clones, and every year, he would grow them by the little river in his backyard,” he said. “He wasn’t even a weed gardener; he was an engineer, but he loved cultivating those plants. When he passed, I wanted to do a special memorial. So I planted some Super Lemon Haze x MAC seeds with his ashes, got a bunch of nice females, then I picked one especially for him. It’s super greasy, smells like lemon soap and finishes in like 56 days.”
The line also marks the first foray into feminized seeds. “I wanted to do a feminized line because they’re more accessible,” he told the Leaf. “I’ve realized that there are some people who just want to grow fems, and they don’t really mess with anything else.”
In this way, Cap said he’ll be putting his father’s spirit into gardens all over the world.
