Colors By Cultivar Breeder Profile
With an approach to breeding that marries art and play, Jason Hutto brought Colors By Cultivar to life. Why be so serious in a world where you can have fun? Colors By Cultivar takes an experimental approach to known and favorite strains by mixing and matching these tried and tested genetics.
Like how a DJ remixes popular songs to create something fresh and new. I mean, who doesn’t love a good house remix of classic 80s music, right?
In the breeding community, a common and sometimes fierce debate pits so-called “real breeders” against the less respectable “pollen chuckers.”
The term “pollen chucker” is usually used as an insult for people who take a less calculated approach to breeding, but Jason finds the whole debate silly and sees the fun in this form of breeding:
"We see our work as a living, collaborative art form. The pollen is our palette, the act of pollination, our brushstroke, and the seed our creation. But true artistry blooms only when that seed grows, flowers, is cured, and finally experienced. We invite fellow enthusiasts to join us in this journey—together, we create something new and celebrate all our favorite colors."
Jason Hutto: The Creative Force Behind Colours by Cultivar
Hailing from the great state of Washington, Jason Hutto is a force of nature in the cannabis industry. He started his journey with the plant during college, and his first attempt at applying his creativity was using a High-Pressure Sodium light from a Holiday Inn parking lot. We all have to start somewhere, right?
The next chapter in his story was moving to Seattle and deciding to take growing seriously once he saw that legalization was inevitable:
"I realized legalization was coming, and I wanted to be part of that transformation. Not just to grow, but to shape this industry in a way that I felt honored the plant." Part of the reason he wanted to be involved in shaping this industry is to bring in some old-world values from his days in the traditional market, where growers had real community and shared work and knowledge about the craft. Jason calls it “maintaining a culture of basement growers.”
As far as Jason sees it, basement and homegrowers are so very important for keeping the genetics of “craft cannabis” alive. Those are the people who dare to experiment for the sake of quality and not quantity or the bottom line.”
If we leave it to big business, we’d all be smoking only GG4 and Amnesia Haze. Those strains are easy to grow, yield a lot, and are resistant to pests.
“Take Zkittlez, for instance. A commercial grow would have killed off that strain because it’s finicky to grow and doesn’t yield as much as other strains. It's thanks to small growers that genetics like that keep circulating. This is why we need to preserve the homegrowers! To preserve the genetics.”
Eventually, he entered the legal market with House of Cultivar, his i502 licensed to grow. Then he went on to create Colors By Cultivar to engineer and remix cultivars that have received global acclaim to see what else these prized genetics have to offer.
Breeding as Collaborative Living Art
The ethos of Colors By Cultivar is breeding as a form of living art. But what does that really mean?
“The seed generated is our work. However, the full maturation of this work into art can only be realized once the seed has been germinated flower, cured, and inhaled.”
To Jason, breeding is a way to work hand in hand with the cannabis plant to bring out the different vibrant and powerful combinations that make cannabis what it is. Taking seed stock of hyped-up, popular, and quality genetics that have proven themselves commercially and giving them a different spin by “remixing” them. Amplifying and giving that “new new” a different twist.
All of the passion and fun that goes into their breeding process caught the eye of Berner and the Cookie Fam, which brought Jason’s cultivar Undertow into the mix.
Undertow was the product of experimenting with great genetics like “Wet Betty” from Exotic Genetix (and Cookies) and Gushers from Cookie Fam and trying to pull different traits forward in their seeds while reducing some of the issues encountered by other growers.
ILGM is proud to collaborate with Colors By Cultivar to bring our family three fantastically delicious and beautiful Undertow crosses that are guaranteed to light up your garden:
Suga' Shine (Undertow x Sugar Berry Scone (Grape Pie x Thin Mint GSC)), Candy Juice (Undertow x Designer Runtz), and Rainbow Showers (Rainbow Runtz x Undertow).
Below, you can find Color by Cultivar's Suga' Shine available from ILGM.com:
Suga' Shine Feminized Seeds
Suga' Shine was bred and selected from Colors by Cultiva’s Undertow breeding project. They wanted to explore what breeding the undertow to one of their all time favorites the Sugar Berry Scone would offer, and in this case were happily presented with a beautiful mix of both parents.
Colors By Cultivar & Cookies Collaboration
Jason’s most notable collaboration has been with Cookies. This partnership started when a regional representative who knew Jason’s reputation for top-tier flowers introduced him to Berner, the myth and legend behind Cookies.
Jason’s cultivars quickly made an impression on Berner, who took all 18 jars (!) of the samples that Jason gave him to Hawaii. Soon after, Berner included Colors By Cultivar's genetics in the Cookies lineup.
This partnership led to the “Undertow” collaboration, which added a complex cultivar to the Cookie's weed cabinet.
The creation of “Undertow” was a testament to Colors By Cultivar’s breeding approach. Jason and his team worked to highlight the dense structure and strong gas aroma of Cali Gushers with new characteristics aimed at improving yield and bag appeal. Throughout a two- to three-year process, they stabilized multiple phenotypes, with one particularly exceptional cut ultimately emerging as the chosen and loved “Undertow” strain.
Candy Juice Feminized Seeds, another strain from Colors by Cultivar, is available from ILGM.com right now. Check it out below:
Candy Juice Feminized Seeds
Candy Juice is an indica-leaning hybrid that combines gassy and candy aromas to provide a potent, relaxing high, ideal for evening use to relieve stress without heavy sedation.
Expert Tips: Plant Care and LEDs Make a Great Grower
From the expert's mind, Jason’s words to growers on plant care are simple: be observant and consistent. These plants benefit greatly from having consistent watering cycles, especially in the initial weeks, to set them up for success.
He mentions “effective dry back,” allowing your plants to be starved for water between waterings, increasing their vitality.
Knowing how to observe and understand your plants is also one of the best qualities a grower can have because the plant speaks to its grower through visual cues.
“If your plant is drooping, it’s screaming for water!”
Regarding lighting, Jason says there’s a night and day difference between LED and HPS lighting, both on a sustainability front and in terms of the quality of flowers it produces.
Interested in growing cannabis plants from Colors by Cultivar? Get your Rainbow Showers Feminized seeds right here:
Rainbow Showers Feminized Seeds
Rainbow Showers is a cultivar from our Undertow breeding project, with a unique profile of citrus candy, creamy gelato, tropical fruit, and petrol. It's parent the Undertow is a cultivar bred in collaboration with Cookies and selected by Berner. Smoking it tastes like a mouthful of candies dipped in ice cream, with a back end hit of metallic and sharp gasoline.
LEDs tend to grow plants with a denser nug structure due to their focus and the lack of heat they give off, unlike HPS. Jason says both lights can produce results; he sees how LEDs can help boost certain genetic traits, making for a more robust and compact plant, and also a great choice for the ever-important homegrowers. Keep growing, and you never know, you might find a winning pheno!
Check out our Undertow collection with Colors By Cultivar and see why Cookies needed it!
