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The Magical Rise of the Runtz Strain

Homegrown Cannabis Co. fills you in on what you need to know.

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Homegrown Cannabis Co.

We’d like to introduce you to an amazing, relatively new cannabis strain, Runtz.

Big fans of 420 have already heard of (and probably sampled) Runtz. It was Leafly’s Strain of the Year in 2020 and is super-popular both as a flower and as a seed.

We’re going to look at its taste, aroma and high. 

We’ll explore its lineage and growth. 

We’ll look at why the Runtz cannabis strain is selling out dispensaries and seed banks all across America.

But we’re going a step further, too. We’ll use Runtz to examine something that’s become especially huge over the last few years: homegrowing.

Marijuana may not be addictive, but growing it is.

- Ed Rosenthal

Join us as we explore how a simple cannabis strain can become an overnight sensation, how it can help popularize a hobby, and how more and more people would prefer to grow their own Runtz at home—rather than buy from a commercial farm or dispensary.

If you’re interested in growing your own cannabis, you can download Kyle Kushman’s free Crash Course in Cannabis Cultivation here!

The Rise of Runtz

When you consider that Runtz is a plant, it does seem an odd choice of name!

It’s so-called because it doesn’t deliver the hyper-inflated yields of some modern hybrids, nor does it grow huge, branch-bending colas.


This is a plant with a focus firmly on quality, not quantity.

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It appeals to growers because it’s super-easy to grow, and while 18oz of weed per seed certainly doesn’t match up to a White Rhino or a Skunky Afro (42oz and 35oz respectively), it’s enough to fill a few big jars, especially with an average, six-plant home-grow.

It appeals to tokers because it’s a taste and smell sensation with an unforgettable, extremely enjoyable high. 

Make no mistake, Runtz is a supremely sensual strain. Here's why...

What does the Runtz strain taste like?

Candy. Pure, concentrated, boiled-down candy. Runtz weed is among the sweetest you’ll ever savor, with notes of lemon and a mushroomy earthiness that adds a deep complexity to the palate. 

This is la dolce vita, and then some.

What does the Runtz strain smell like?

There’s plenty of candy in the nose, as you might expect. What may take you by surprise, however, is the hot, belly-of-the-earth gassiness, especially when you open the tent. 

While curing, Runtz compresses the terpenes into squashed, sugared berries. The buds become little neutron stars: dense, concentrated nugs of pure fruit. The smoke is slow-moving and thick with flavor, deeply memorable and utterly pleasurable. 

Does Runtz get you high?

You’re not going to soar. Runtz doesn’t deliver the sharp, cerebral high of a more Sativa-dominant hybrid. Nor will it knock you on your ass like something more Indica-heavy.

The high from Runtz is more old-school, more relaxing, more euphoric. It’s chilling out on a summer’s day. It’s a cleared calendar, a day off, a blank mental canvas waiting to be painted. 

It’s heavenly emptiness, truly, unashamedly, relaxed.

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Of course, being a product of the Cookies brand, with their impressive marketing and track record of excellence, it’s not surprising Runtz has become the phenomenon it has.

The parentage, too, is steeped in quality. The rainbow-tasting Zkittlez and the delicious Gelato are pretty much cannabis royalty.

But there’s much more to this strain than marketing noise. 

For tokers, it delivers exactly where it counts. It tastes and smells amazing and the high is, well, beautiful. 

Almost as beautiful as the bag.

Dried Runtz is any combination of pink, purple, red and green. 

Grown well, it’ll be speckled with billions of shiny resin glands (known in the trade as trichomes), twinkling like glued sugar, as tempting as weed can possibly be.

If you think the final nugs look good, imagine the sight of half a dozen, chest-high plants in full bloom. 

Imagine the smell as you open the tent. The impact.

Imagine your mouth watering as you contemplate your first harvest of Runtz.

This is awesome in its true sense; this is actual awe.

The Rise of Homegrowing

While it may seem like Runtz came out of nowhere, it existed as a cultivar far longer than it’s been available to buy as finished flower.

It takes a long time to stabilize a cannabis strain and bring it to market, and it was often the case that the seeds of a strain weren’t available until after the flower had gained traction.

This isn’t the case anymore.

There’s now a handful of seed brands breeding and growing exclusively to produce super-high quality, premium cannabis seeds. 

These brands aren’t focused on your average dabber, toker, or smoker. 

They’re focused only on growers. Home-growers. Hobbyists. 

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Homegrown Cannabis Co.

Why grow your own?

Growing cannabis at home has many obvious benefits.

The biggest one being the cost. 

Once you’re set up (yes, you’ll need to buy a bit of kit, read a few guides, watch a few videos) you’ll be able to buy seeds at anything from around $10 - $20 each. 

If you catch a good BOGO offer, you can get them even cheaper!

Let’s take Runtz as an example.

Runtz seeds from Homegrown Cannabis Co. cost on average $12.87 per seed.

Each seed can deliver 18oz of weed. 

So a small, six-plant indoor grow can potentially deliver 100 plus ounces of weed.

Sure, there’s power, soil, water, nutes, time, etc etc. 

But while ONE OUNCE of Runtz from a dispensary will cost you anything from $200 - $400, you’re looking at over ONE HUNDRED OUNCES from a little bag of seeds.

Mic: dropped.

Another big attraction of growing at home is staying ahead of the game, especially with new, dedicated seed brands creating exciting new cultivars.

Exclusively for home-growers!

You can buy the seeds of cultivars like Baked Apple, Cold War Kush, Phantom Menace and Caffeine Bomb—years before they’ll be grown and sold commercially as flower.

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Phantom Menace / Homegrown Cannabis Co.

Just as Runtz delivers on taste, smell and high, growing your own delivers on value, quality and pleasure.

The best cannabis is the cannabis you grow yourself.

- Steve DeAngelo

Who would argue with the Father of the cannabis industry?

Grow your own way.

We’ll finish this article with a word on quality.

We don’t want to bad-mouth dispensaries or commercial cannabis farms, far from it.

But we must stress a third and hugely important aspect of homegrowing: knowing what you’re smoking.

According to a recent survey by the Homegrown Cannabis Co, the biggest reason for growing at home wasn’t the cost, choice, quality, or even to be more 420. 

It was so customers get to know what’s in their weed.

Homegrowers can choose organic nutrients and set their own best practices.

They can grow regeneratively and sustainably.

They can grow by their own rules and they know exactly what they’ve put into their plants.

They can grow their own way, so can you! You’ve very little to lose and a lot (of ounces) to gain!

Take a small first step, sign up to Homegrown’s mailing list, see what’s going on, dip in your toe and test the water. 

It could be the start of an amazing new adventure.

Only a grower knows the feeling...

- Kyle Kushman
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