Old School Purple Nuggets

Once again, we’re cracking open the Mephisto seed vault and bringing you a staff pick of a strain. Coming from a bit of a What If? moment from Terrance, he donned his lab coat, twirled his moustache and channeled his inner Dr Mephesto, like father like son.

During his original Purple Nuggets reproduction run, he pollinated a pair of outstanding Mitch’s Pick Old School Mango Haze females, two strains that sit on complete opposite ends of the genetic spectrum, but both bringing a sticky, sweet fruit bowl flavour and knockout potential. In his lab, Terrance had started his own little version of Titanomachy: Thor vs. Jörmungandr, Cú Chulainn vs. Ferdiad, Odysseus’ threading the needle between Scylla and Charybdis. And yes, I’ve been binge watching far too many mythology videos on YouTube this year. 

But when the cackling subsided, Terrance emerged with what quickly became one of his favourite ever Mephisto creations; across all of his test plants a consistent terpene profile has emerged, blending sweet yet gassy strawberry notes with the classic tropical mango haze profile. And after almost a year of team meetings where the answer to the question “Terrance, what are you smoking?” was “Old School Purple Nuggets” along with many other variations of both subtle and not-so-subtle lobbying techniques, Terrance can finally drop the placard he’s been marching around the front of City Hall with.

The moustache twirling, lab coat and Norse gods may or may not have been added for dramatic effect.

Old School Purple Nuggets displays two main phenotypes, with most of the variation coming down to her structure. Some plants will stack up compact and stout, leaning more towards the indica-dominant Purple Nuggets parent, while others will stretch and branch more like the taller, more sativa-leaning Old School Mango Haze, but still retaining the denser nug structure.

You can often spot which way she’s leaning reasonably early on. Big, broad leaves followed by tight node spacing indicates a Nuggets-leaner, meaning maximising airflow and staying on top of defoliation will be imperative to making sure you maximise yields. On the other hand, if she begins to stretch early, with longer internodes and more pronounced lateral branching, you’re likely in OSMH territory and can plan accordingly with early LST to open her up and manage height.

Purpling of her flowers isn’t a guarantee, but it has been a more-often-than-not during our test grows; with the holy grail pheno for Terrance being taller and branchier, with dense, purple nugs carpeting the canopy.

The high starts off heady, cerebral and uplifting, but gives that warm blanket on the porch on a cool summer evening vibe. She’s balanced: euphoric but calm, a do-er but not necessarily a go-getter.