Double OG Chem: The Beginning

There are certain cultivars that transcend personal taste because they’re
just that good. These lightning bolt varieties blow everyone away equally,
going viral in the IRL networks of the weed world. Countless clones,
copycats and knockoff names all come with the territory of this kind of
success. Often, so do a ton of awards. The Double OG Chem by Rebel Grown,
an off-grid farm in the Palo Verde appellation of Southern Humboldt, is one
such flower. The mix of OG, Chem Dog and Sour Diesel is frosty, gassy and
at 34 percent THC, very, *very* potent.

“I became passionate and interested in cannabis when I was very young,”
says Dan Pomerantz, founder of Rebel Grown and creator of the Double OG
Chem. Pomerantz got his start in cannabis cultivation by moving between his
grows in Boston and Vermont, experimenting with genetics, organics and
indoor and outdoor living soil. “The goal was always to try to reach and
find something that’s more exciting and more special,” he says.

After heading out to California for the first time to work on a weed farm,
Pomerantz fell in love with the hidden, magical world of the Emerald
Triangle. By 2011, he found himself perfectly positioned to start his own
brand, Ganja Rebel Seeds. He says it would become the first seed company to
sell seeds in Humboldt County’s medical dispensaries.
Rebel Grown’s Farm in Humboldt, California.

“By the time I started a seed company, I had a lot of experience in the
industry,” he says. “I was able to realize the challenges that these small
growers have. They had all these amazing seed varieties, but the market
changed, and they couldn’t sell them anymore. The purple trends had ended
and for most people at that time, if you didn’t have OG Kush, you couldn’t
sell your weed.”

Then, Pomerantz says he “showed up with a big collection of genetics from
seeds that I got online, traded and had collected. I started breeding and
everyone kind of laughed at me saying, ‘You realize you’re bringing sand to
the beach here?’ But then what happened is they started growing them.”

Pomerantz turned marketable, hard-to-grow clones into seeds that loved to
grow in the rich soil and Mediterranean microclimate of the Emerald
Triangle.

During his first full season in Humboldt, Pomerantz worked for a farmer who
recognized his passion for genetics and gave him access to a small
greenhouse. “At the end of the year, there was this OG Chem. I had a few
different females, and I took clones of the four best ones,” he says. “I
gave them to every grower I knew. We all agreed that the #2 Double OG Chem
was just the frostiest, most beautiful plant. And I knew it was special.”

He says he then distributed them to Kevin Jodrey at Wonderland Nursery,
which was the only licensed cannabis nursery in the country at the time.
Jodrey began selling tens of thousands of clones of that plant, creating
its own submarket as an incredibly high-testing OG variety at a time when
the market was saturated with mid-range OGs.

“It was right around when people started caring about THC,” Pomerantz says.
“All the OG clones that were in California back then maxed out at 24, 25,
maybe 26 percent if you grew it like crazy. And that was most of the OG in
the commercial market, which was 90 percent of the market at the time.
Every dispensary in LA had their entire menu filled with OGs.” And then
suddenly Pomerantz says he had something different to offer: a gassy,
frosty, white OG plant with 30 percent THC. Once Jodrey began selling the
clones, thousands of people started growing it.

“It kind of created its own market,” Pomerantz says. “It’s been called Kush
Dog, Twist OG; it’s got a bunch of names because, unfortunately, people
change the name and don’t give credit where it’s due.”

Thankfully, competitions such as The Emerald Cup do give credit. “The
Double OG Chem was a hybrid first made in 2011 by crossing the OG Chem into
an OG Sour,” Pomerantz says. “There have been many years of selections to
get it to where it is now. There’s no other genetics that have won three
breeders’ cups. No other plant has won that many top first or second
placings in the Emerald Cup. It’s also won fourth place multiple times and
a lot of other top ten spots. Basically, it’s the most awarded cannabis
flower in the Emerald Cup since 2016 or 2017, which is amazing.”

While Pomerantz is focusing on Rebel Grown’s expansion to Vermont, the
farm’s day-to-day is run by his partners, Cully and Rachel.

“The awards that we win are really for our growers,” Pomerantz says. “It’s
important to me to give a lot of props to them. I started a brand a long
time ago and I’ve done some great genetics work that I’m proud of, but
Cully and Rachel are carrying on not only the tradition of that
neighborhood, but also the tradition of my approach of growing weeded with
diversified organics. Cully and Rachel should get credit for being the best
outdoor farmers in Humboldt County, not me.”

When it comes to what makes Rebel Grown and their award-winning cultivars
so supremely special, Pomerantz chalks it up to their meticulous and
locally centered growing practices. Almost 20 different organic soil
amendments and the use of local microbes allow their plants infinite
options to choose what they need to thrive. And of course, a positive
attitude doesn’t hurt either.

“We constantly strive to keep improving because we know other people are
improving, too,” he says. “And we want them to get better—we don’t see
other farmers as competitors; we see them as allies. We want small farmers
to win, succeed and grow the best weed they can. And we know that as
they’re improving, we need to keep improving ourselves.”
Strain: Double OG Chem

*Name:* Double OG Chem

*Breeder/Seed Bank:* Rebel Grown

*Genetics:* OG Chem x (OG Sour) f3 (2/3rds OG Kush 1/3 Chemdog and some
Sour Diesel influence)

*Percent Indica/Sativa:* Indica dominant hybrid

*Type(S/H/I):* Indica dominant hybrid

*Smell/Flavors:* Loud/GasFuel. Skunky and funky

*Appearance:* Light green, frosted out

*Effects:* Extremely potent yet balanced

*Harvest Planning/Flower Time:* 9-9.5 weeks, October 7-15, depending on
cultivation variables

*Growth:* Vigorous

*Average Cannabinoids:* Has tested over 40 percent cannabinoids and over 34
percent THC.

*Performance:* Crushes in dep, fire indoor, but best is full-term outdoor
from the Palo Verde Appellation Southern Humboldt

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