Fire Follower: The Real OG Kush is Back

Josh Del Rosso (or Josh D), one of the godfathers of OG Kush, is spending 2025 bringing the top strain of the ’90s and 2000s — OG Kush — back for the masses.

He’s selling packs of 15 seeds for $100 through California Seed Bank, Neptune Seed Bank, his website and an OG Kush Hotline at 424-666-9698, particularly the strain OG Kiss, which recreates the original OG Kush.

OG Kush took over the Cannabis market in the ’90s with its lemon/pine/fuel stank, head-smashing effects and sticky, greasy and crystallized light green bud. Grams regularly went for $20, and pounds touched $8,000 at their peak on the West Coast. The current project is four years in the making.

It starts with the new OG Kiss strain, which comes from the pollen of a Josh D OG male selected by Firekeeper Farms and Strait A Genetics. Josh D pollinated his OG Kush girls with that pollen and selected a male dubbed “The Smooch.” The Smooch is Josh D’s new stud.

Studding out the OG

Josh pollinated 24 of his handpicked varieties with The Smooch, including OG Kush, ORyan OG, RBK and Spinal Tap. Each resulting strain is coming out every one to two months this year.

There are about 1,000 packs of the OG Kiss (The Smooch x OG Kush), while others run in the 500-pack range, and a few are limited to 100 packs. Bonded by Bud is Ricky’s Brother’s Kush (RBK) x The Smooch. Turtle’s Key Club is ORyan OG x The Smooch.

There are seven other Smooch crosses on tap (see fact box).

“There is something so special in the effect of the high that I’m trying to bring that to everything,” Josh said. “You can expect me to pick something that’s going to you so elevated, like, that you turn out of your driveway and go the wrong way.”

The best way to get authentic Josh D OG Kush genetics is via his website (JoshD-OGKush.com), direct messages on Instagram and the aforementioned OG Kush hotline.

“The OG’s always been so good to me in my life. It’s been the foundation and my focus for all this time, growing OG now for 30 years,” Josh said. “It’s like having a family member that you just love.”

Put these in your vault, and send them to Mars as a backup for Cannabis on planet Earth.

Tangled Roots runs deep

Easily one of the most unmissable new seed banks to emerge in this “Emerald Age” of breeding is Tangled Roots (tangledrootsstore.com) from Northern California. They have this crazy, cool collection of vintage Emerald Triangle genetics from some of the winningest growers to watch.

You can jump onto the Whitethorn Rose craze that’s winning all the awards out West with seeds from Huckleberry Hill Farms, as well as Canna Country’s #36 winner, or Ridgeline Farms’ Lantz.

It’s mind-boggling to me that Ridgeline Farms’ Lantz F2 regular seed packs just sit there available for $140 for 10 on the site as of press time. It’s like someone leaving their keys in a Ferrari with a note: “Have fun!”

Canna Country #26 x Gelato 41 brings together Canna Country’s show–stopping Forbidden Fruit x Cherimoya with the all-star Gelato 41.

Detest Gelato? Each month, Tangled Roots’ “Buried Treasure” debuts a different legacy farm’s line to hunt as 20-packs of regulars. Sometimes, it’s just three or four packs per release. “Once they’re gone, they’re gone.” Scoop up these heirloom beans as they drop, find a stud and reboot a classic.

The drop at press time was “Snow P,” John Casali’s (of Huckleyberry Hill) Lemon OG crossed to Scott’s Legend OG. It has tight, frosty green buds with a loud, fruity gas nose. Bred to finish early, before the eradication helicopters swooped in. …

August 2025 Pot Farmer’s Almanac

Here’s what North America is doing in the garden and the sky this month:

Caterpillars sink their mandibles into your annual full-sun crop yet again this month. Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (B.T. for short) to organically smite the annual pests. It’s a bacteria you spray on flowers and buds. The bugs eat the B.T. and die, and B.T. biodegrades before harvest time. Apply B.T. weekly in August.

Expect hotter-than-normal temps across the U.S., except the Northwest and southern Florida. Use shade cloth to limit the sun’s intensity. Check trellises and drip lines, and remove dead, internal leaves and unproductive inner, lower bud sites. Plan your harvest room, equipment list and calendar.

The full moon (also known as the Sturgeon Moon) is Aug. 8-9.

Josh D’s new-new

Head Rush: The Meltdown x The Smooch (The Meltdown is selected from Josh D OG x Platinum OG)
Kali Sour Kiss: Kali Sour Kush x The Smooch
Skull Crusher: Spinal Tap x The Smooch (Spinal Tap is Sour D x Josh D OG)
Metamorpheus: OG500 x The Smooch
SunKiss: Après x The Smooch
Love Lÿfe: WildLÿfe x The Smooch
Ojos Locos: Ojos Rojos x The Smooch