Humboldt Seed Company is one of the few reliable international cannabis seeds companies producing unicorn strains with proprietary genetics and their seeds usually grow out to match the company’s strain description, germinate easily, and are not constantly plagued by divergent phenotypes or hermie flowers.

We’ve repeatedly reported on their exclusive genetic library and their terpenoid wizardry.

Our multi-member cultivation testing team has grown almost all Humboldt Seed Company feminized photoperiod strains multiple times. We’ve also tested strains made by the other most popular commercial seed companies.

The harsh fact is that all but a couple of international seed companies are selling at best mediocre strains and seeds with perhaps one or two banger strains out of dozens on their menus. The marijuana seeds world is dominated by ripoffs and amateurs whose breeding practices are unscientific and unreliable, and who totally lack ethics or customer-centeredness.

A few months ago they released the oddly-named “Chicken N’ Wafflez.” Apparently, some believe it tastes and smells like those two food items. In our one test season so far with the strain, early-to-mid bloom phase terpenoids provide the beautiful sweet dessert smell of one of the strain’s precursors, Jelly Donutz.

In late bloom phase and after drying and curing, the taste and scent shift away from pure sweetness to include mint, pepper, grapefruit, grape, pepper, cayenne, and caramel.

Regardless of the fact that it doesn’t smell like what would be a very weird food combination (chicken and waffles, WTF?), the terps are loud, delicious, gooey, and proud, characteristic of many HSC strains.

The strain’s genetics combine some of the best HSC strains, including Jelly Donutz and Hella Jelly, along with non-HSC powerhouse strains White Runtz and Purple Cartel.

HSC describes the strain as Indica dominant, but our test plants were more like moderate Sativa in height, stretch, bud development, internode length.

The plants were placed into flowering phase after five weeks in grow phase, and stretched to double their height before stretching stopped at three weeks. They averaged about five feet tall, which is not too tall for most grow tents. Branches were sturdy enough for the type of buds this strain creates.

A terp scent almost exactly like Jelly Donutz terps started in week two of flowering and was very intense until about week five, when the scent changed to be more minty, syrupy, gassy, peppery.

The one bud photo of the strain on HSC’s website makes it look like the strain’s golf ball-type buds should fill in solidly along internodes, but they didn’t on our plants—we wept about internodes with no buds filling them, lol.

This is typical of the some of the most potent and tasty HSC strains—they don’t produce huge thick pyramid-shaped buds loaded with weight, but rather produce clusters of tightly-wound, highly resinous, terp forward buds.

At week five in bloom phase, the plants developed a minor spider mite infestation that didn’t attack any other strain in the same grow op. One spray of Azamax took care of that.

The strain handled PPFD without added C02 up to 900 PPFD in bloom phase, and also handled a high-dose feed program from TPS Nutrients.

We’ve only tested ten seeds from the same seed run. All but one germinated. The nine plants had traits within + or – 10% phenotype consistency: nearly-identical height, structure, floral maturation rates, scent, high. HSC is known for pheno consistency; for their few strains that have more divergent phenos possible, they’re candid about it in the strain description.

Resin glands clouded up during week four and stayed cloudy. In most cases, cloudy resin glands are an indicator buds are ready for harvest, but not this time. We let the plants go the full 60 days bloom phase recommended by HSC.

During the last two weeks of bloom phase, buds got a little bigger and tighter, resin glands maintained their sturdiness, leaves turned more purple and less lime green.

Note: there are few leaves in the buds, which makes for easier trimming sessions. Buds are very sticky, and dry to an attractive deep purple/ light green with intense terp scent and taste including licorice, fuel, and grape candy.

In fact, after about six weeks of curing, the jar smells like a delicious grape strain, and also like HSC’s Blueberry Muffin strain. Bag appeal, and the taste/scent of live rosin and other terp-preserving extracts, are stellar.

HSC has been pushing strains to produce very high THC; this strain is likely coming in at 30-32% THC, which is phenomenal.

Inhaling it through a precision vaporizer at 390°F, the taste is smooth and pleasant, the high hits hard and immediately, lasts for hours without burnout.

We did an incremental harvest, starting at 47 days in bloom phase and ending with final cut at 60 days. The 47-day high feels like a perfect 50-50 balance of Indica and Sativa. It has significant body effects that are energizing and pain-relieving rather than sedating and heavy. Sativa effects produce euphoria, creativity, fractals, distortion of coordination, time, space, and depth perception, without paranoia or heart-racing stress.

The 60-day harvest was more potent and way more narcotic/hypnotic, approximately 65-35 Indica dominant, but the high is functional and won’t grossly interfere with physical or cognitive performance.

I predict most consumers will prefer the high from the earlier-harvest buds rather than letting the strain go all the way to 60 days in bloom. The taste and scent of final-harvest buds were way more Purple Cartel than I desired–the Purple’s genetic influence contributes to an Indica-heavy high I dislike, compared to the more energizing, psychedelic high of the earlier incremental harvests from the same plants.

Average yield per plant was between 2-3 ounces, a bit on the light side. I urge HSC to breed its high-potency but low-yielding connoisseur strains like Chicken N’ Wafflez with their heavier-yielding Octane, Farmer’s Daughter, or Gazzurple to increase harvest weight and frostiness.

However, the extreme potency and tastiness of Chicken, along with the stunningly strong, very enjoyable high, partially makes up for low yield. Just know that this is likely NOT a cash-crop strain that’ll produce a couple of pounds of dried premium buds in a small grow tent like some strains do.

Chicken N’ Wafflez is another fire cannabis creation no other seed company offers and would be pretty much impossible for other companies to pirate. We tested the very first seed run, and in our experience, HSC improves their strains in the second and third runs. You won’t find this genetic mix in any other strain anywhere, so these seeds are worth investing in now.