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Northern California cultivators have now been rocking Banjo hard for over a decade after breeder Parker Sullivan (widely known by his grow handle, Noble Nightshades) found a large market for it in the medical cannabis scene of the San Francisco Bay Area prior to the region's transition to adult-use. Harborside Health Center played a huge role in the strain originally getting the wind in its sails.
Noble Nightshades could not produce enough Banjo to quench the thirst of the Oakland mega club as it continued to gain popularity. As a result, he distributed the cut among his friends, allowing him to scale up the level of cultivation to provide weekly deliveries to Harborside.
When looking at Banjo's genetic pedigree, it's easy to see why medical cannabis patients quickly took a liking to the strain. The Boost male used to create it was a result of Noble Nightshades pairing a Northern Lights #5 male with a clone of DJ Short's famed Blueberry. From there the pairing was crossed with another local staple, Sweet Tooth, which itself became very elusive after the DEA raided Oaksterdam in April of 2012. The seeds from those pairings, after one further round of stabilization, produced Boost — from which Noble Nightshades was able to find a male with traits he was in search of for further breeding projects.
That winter, Noble Nightshades paired the Boost male with two Tangelo females in Sebastopol, California. The Tangelo he used traced back to the legendary Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz — a pairing of Tangerine Sunrise and Gorkle.
The breeding project did not go as hoped. The two plants he pollinated with Boost produced one lone seed, which he placed in a bottlecap for safe keeping while he continued to work through harvesting his other creations from that breeding run. He sprouted that seed almost immediately, on the winter solstice. It turned out to be female. Noble Nightshades flowered it for the first time in a friend's 4-light grow — all in 2013. By 2014, he was growing the strain himself and loving it.
A big part of Noble Nightshades' affection for the strain is its unique aroma. Most cannabis with notes of citrus tends to lean toward orange or lemon. In the case of Banjo , it's its own unique kind of citrus smell — and it's loud. The aroma punches out of the bag or jar as soon as you open it. Segra's own testing has since confirmed the profile: Banjo runs elevated levels of myrcene, limonene, and farnesene, giving it that unmistakable citrus-forward, incense-like character.
Prior to Banjo, Noble Nightshades had been hoping to create something to serve the wider community. He felt he'd accomplished that goal after seeing the final results — but it got even better.
Up until Banjo, Noble Nightshades had been running Sour genetics that were still in high demand in the mid-2010s. Following the first run, he realized Banjo was yielding even better than the strong Sour genetics he'd been growing. He went all in, and it wasn't long before Banjo landed at Coastal Sun's large cultivation site in Santa Cruz, becoming a menu staple and putting Banjo on the shelf at dozens of dispensaries across Northern California.
Now 12 years since he found that lone seed, Noble Nightshades says the genetics still hold up to the strain that essentially selected itself all those years ago. He notes the tissue-cultured version is identical to the cut he's protected for more than a decade — the result of Segra's DNA fingerprinting and cultivar verification process that confirms every plantlet is true-to-type before it ships.
Banjo is currently available in 15 countries via Segra International. Its strong resistance to mold and pests has played a large factor in its international growth as more foreign markets continue to come online around the globe. Growers interested in adding Banjo to their own program can browse Segra's full Cultivar Catalogue or reach out directly through Segra's services and programs page.
*Article by Jimi Devine*
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