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Undoubtedly the most popular weed in the Dutch coffeeshop: White Widow. It is on the menu in almost every coffeeshop. Every superhero has a so-called origin story. But superheroes are also a huge cash cow of the film industry. In this article we explore why White Widow is the superhero of the cannabis world. We also take a closer look at the similarities and differences of all those white strains. Spoiler alert: they are not the same! Check out the differences and compare all the White Widow seeds from our Seed Shop below.
In this article:
- Compare our White Widow
- White Widow Origin
- Looking for the “Real” White Widow
- Chemovar
- White Widow Seeds
- Amnesia Haze
Compare our White Widow
As you will read further on, there is quite some diversity in varieties of White Widow. But we don't want to bore you with a dusty history lesson first. First the sweet stuff: compare all our White Widows with each other in the table below, sorted by flowering time.
Photo period*
| Strain (brand) | Flowering time | Sativa / Indica | THC / CBD content | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Widow (Private Label) | 7-8 weeks | Sativa dominant | 19% / 0,1% | Couch-Lock, Energised, High |
| White Widow (Dutch Passion) | 8 weeks | 50% indica / 50% sativa | 19% / 0,1% | Couch-Lock, Energised, High |
| White Widow (Royal Queen Seeds) | 8-10 weeks | 50% indica / 50% sativa | 19% / laag | Couch-Lock, Meditative, Strongly Stoned |
| White Widow (Positronics) | 9-10 weeks | Indica Dominant | 19% / 0,3% | Medicinal, Relaxing, Numbing |
| Original White Widow IBL (Paradise Seeds) | 8-9 weeks | 50% indica / 50% sativa | 18-22% / 0,1% | Heavy Stoned, Creative and Social |
| White Widow (Greenhouse Seeds) | 9-10 weeks | 60% indica / 40% sativa | 19% / 0,1% | Energised, High, Meditative |
Auto flower*
| Strain (brand) | Growing time (seed to harvest) | Sativa / Indica | THC / CBD content | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Widow Auto CBD (Greenhouse Seeds) | 9 weeks de la semence à la récolte | 40 % indica / 40 % sativa / 20 % ruderalis | 8 % / 8 % | Medicinal, Mellow high and stoned |
| iGrowcan Growing Kit - White Widow Automatic | 9-10 weeks | Indica dominant | 15 % / 1 % | Strong High |
| Auto White Widow (Private Label) | 10-11 weeks de la semence à la récolte | Sativa dominant | 14 % / 1 % | High, Relaxing, Cheerful |
| Auto CBD White Widow (Private Label) | 10-11 weeks de la semence à la récolte | Indica dominant | 10 % / 10 % | Clear-headed, Medicinal, Cheerful |
| White Widow Auto (Greenhouse Seeds) | 9 weeks de la semence à la récolte | 40 % indica / 40 % sativa / 20 % ruderalis | 12-18% / 0,1% | Both long-term Stoned and High |
| Auto White Widow (Dutch Passion) | 10-11 weeks de la semence à la récolte | Indica dominant | 20 % / 1 % | High, Relaxing, Cheerful |
*What photo period and auto flower mean can be read in the blog: Everything about autoflower weed seeds
White Widow Origin
As you can see in the chart above, there are similarities and differences. In the end, every kind of weed comes with a story. Who cultivated White Widow first and what were the original strains used for the cross? This is perhaps the world's most famous weed and often such an origin story has great commercial value. Just imagine being the "inventor" of a product that is used daily all over the world! It is therefore likely that there are more stories circulating about who "invented" White Widow weed than the ones below. Which story appeals most to you?
A professionally grown White Widow from Green House Seed Company
Shantibaba
The most widely shared story on the web about the origins of White Widow can ultimately be traced back to a professional grower at Green House Seed Company. Shantibaba was an influential breeder who went on holiday to southern India in the early 1990s. After a safari in the Kerala Mountains, he met a local grower with whom he exchanged a jonko. At his invitation, Shantibaba went with him to see the cannabis farm. He was given some seeds as a souvenir and crossed the plants from Kerala with a Brazilian sativa.
It is likely that the original White Widow was a cross between an Indian indica and Manga Rosa, a Brazilian sativa land strain. In 1994, this White Widow was released on the market. Shortly thereafter, Shantibaba and Arjan from Green House grew apart. Although Shantibaba was allowed to keep the genetics, he was no longer allowed to use the name White Widow. Later, Shantibaba ended up at Mr. Nice and they released another plant under the name Black Widow. Positronics also has a Black Widow in its assortment. This is a cross between a White Widow and a "Genetic Misty". That misty genetics actually means that they are not very sure what the lineage is. Fact is that Positronics' Black Widow is a fantastic, strong weed.
Ingemar the Shaman
In the 1980s Ingemar, a Dutch medicinal weed grower, bought a bag of charas hash. Because charas is a type of hash that is hand-rubbed from weed buds, it is possible that a seed is hidden in it. Ingemar found two in his hash. These were most probably South Indian seeds from the Kerala mountains. He decided to germinate the seeds and cross them with a Brazilian land strain. In 1989, Ingemar won the High Life Cannabis cup with his creation. "Arnhem's Wonder", he called this powerful sativa/indica hybrid. According to Ingemar, he was approached by Green House in '92 to take over all rights, genetics and plant material. This led to Shantibaba and Green House growing the name recognition of White Widow.
The strain hunters of seed companies travel to the jungle to collect the best cannabis genetics.
Indian Weed Farmers
Who’s telling the truth? Ingemar or Shantibaba? Or was it just the weed farmers of the Kerala mountains themselves who grew and distributed White Widow? The story goes that a random backpacker traded a bag of weed seeds with the locals. After germinating, the plants turned out to have all sorts of peculiarities. The most famous of these is the white resin that grows everywhere during flowering. This is where White Widow's name comes from. White Widow is still used to breed new varieties. Strains with an obvious lineage that can be traced back to White Widow have been given a simple group name, just like Haze, Kush or Skunk: White.
Looking for the “Real” White Widow
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who you believe. The fact is that there is not just one White Widow on the market, but countless. If you search for White Widow seeds on the Seedfinder website, you will get 162 search results! And certainly not all seeds are on this website.
The question is: does it matter? Well, on the one hand it does, of course. Suppose you are at the coffeeshop and see White Widow on the menu. You are no weed expert, but you know that the previous White Widow you had was absolutely top-notch. How can you be sure that you have the same weed as last time?
Apart from the trust you give the coffeeshop, the plant may contain different genetics (ancestors) than weed with the same name from another coffeeshop. This is the danger of giving weed names. As soon as a strain of weed travels the world on its name, it is inevitable that new strains will emerge. On the one hand, there are honest people who don't know any better and keep the name alive. But on the other hand, there are those who deliberately cheat to keep their wallets full.
Chemovar
So how do you know that two White Widows are the same? Unless you put them under an analyzer and look at what substances are in your weed, you will never know the answer. Cannabinoids such as THC and CBD, but also definitely terpenes such as myrcene, linalool and pineene together determine the effect and taste experience of your weed. Although the growing environment strongly influences the amount of these substances, the genetics largely determine which of these substances are present. That is why we are seeing more and more a scientific view on types of weed.
The word "chemovar" is a contraction of chemical (chemistry) and cultivar ( type of weed or strain). Is analyzing your weed a bull's-eye? Or is it a waste of time? Just think about it. Mapping out thousands and thousands of different types of weed takes years. That is a time frame in which enough new types of weed can appear on the market, making it almost impossible to catch up.
Most people did not expect to see the smartphone and all the technology it contains. Barometers, GPS, compasses, gyroscopes and NFC - who knows, maybe in ten years' time your mobile phone will have a function that allows you to easily read the composition of your weed yourself. That is not impossible. Or maybe your vaporizer will have this function. The utopia is that in this way you know exactly what you buy. For now, however, we have to settle for the coffeeshop menu and buds that look the same at first sight.
White Widow Seeds
Want to grow White Widow yourself? Then you can be sure that you really have got the genetics you are looking for. Let us highlight a few special ones.
White Rhino, White Russian & Blue Widow - The daughters
White Rhino is a cross with a North American indica. A typical example of the Americanisation of "Dutch" weed. She is richer in THC, but shorter and bushier than her famous mother. White Russian is a cross with AK-47 and was once known as the strongest weed on the market. She is fragrant, sweet tasting and kicks in like a monkey with a kalashnikov. Prepare yourself!
White Russian, in turn, has produced a whole range of strains of weed. White Choco from Amsterdam Genetics, for example, is a modern gourmet weed. If you get the chance, you must try this one. The last of the most famous daughters is Blue Widow. She is a cross with Blueberry, one of our best rated weed seeds.
Then we would also like to mention White Berry. A cross with Blueberry that only needs 7 weeks to flower. Delicious White Widow weed with the sweet and fruity taste of blueberries. And bursting with THC!
White Widow (Private Label)- The cheapest.
Do you not really care about the fuss over original genetics? You just want great weed at a fair price? Then we must shamelessly recommend our own White Widow. Our white lady turns very white in the flowering stage under the right conditions; a sign that she is going to treat you to White Widow (House Brand). She gets up to 2 meters tall and has a respectable THC percentage of 19%. Enough to couch it for hours and get a decent price for it.
Sensi Star (Paradise Seeds) 3 seeds- The snowy winner with its own name.
Paradise Seeds does not participate in all the naming and shaming for the sake of fame. That is why you will often find their own names and their own genetics in Paradise Seeds' assortment. But Sensi Star, like White Widow, is a variety that turns completely white with resin during flowering. The amount of usable weed is therefore huge. And with up to 24% THC, this is a white weed variety that deserves respect.
White Widow (Greenhouse Seeds) 5 seeds- The original?
Greenhouse stands their ground. They offer the original White Widow. Indoors she finishes in 8 weeks and offers a yield of up to 800 grams per square meter. Outdoors, she does really well. 900 grams per plant, already by the end of September. With this beautiful plant you will make absolutely no wrong choice and you can be sure that this is at least the same weed as in the coffeeshop.
Auto CBD White Widow (Private Label)- The most special one.
Finally, we would like to introduce you to the most special White Widow in our range. First of all, this is an auto flowering White Widow. This means she will flower automatically, which makes her very suitable for a first indoor grow. Outdoors she will yield 150 grams of weed per plant, but in half the time you would need for any other White Widow. She can be ready for harvest in 10 weeks. From germination to sticky white resin. She has been crossed with a CBD-rich strain, which means she has as much CBD as THC. A total of about 20%! The mellow high is nice if you don't want to feel so intoxicated. That's why medicinal users choose Auto CBD White Widow, but also stoners who still have something to do during the day.
Amnesia Haze
Does this blog leave you wanting more? We have another one for you. Amnesia Haze is just as common on the menu of the average coffee shop as White Widow. And the history of Amnesia is at least as interesting!