The Most Resistant Medical Strains to Grow in New Mexico

Growing cannabis in New Mexico comes with a few challenges. Unfortunately, you can't just put marijuana seeds in the ground and hope for the best. The first challenge is the state's arid climate, which forces you to water your plants constantly. Constant watering can cause nutrient deficiencies in your substrate as water leaches the nutrients from your soil.

The second challenge is the cold nighttime temperatures. While a cannabis plant appreciates growth-inspiring cooler temperatures at night, frigid temperatures in arid climates aren't ideal as they range from 30°F (-1°C) to 20°F (-6°C). To compare, the best nighttime temperature for cannabis is around 65°F (18°C) to 68°F (20°C).

The third issue is the state's monsoon season, which runs from June to September, bringing thunderstorms and strong winds. Knowing what to expect can help you plan the ideal growth strategy in New Mexico. If you’re looking for the best way to navigate these challenges, try growing in a greenhouse.

Greenhouses mitigate many issues associated with New Mexico's climate by providing a controlled environment. They also take full advantage of the state’s plentiful sunshine.

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is a sativa-dominant strain with genetics from Cinderella 99, a strain known for being an excellent choice for desert climates. By inheriting many of Cinderella 99's hardy traits, Grapefruit flourishes in arid growing conditions, making it an excellent strain for New Mexico growers.

Grapefruit feminized seeds

When it comes to citrus-like marijuana, Grapefruit knows how to deliver. Start your mornings with this marijuana strain for a positively productive day.

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Despite Grapefruit's resilience to New Mexico’s hot, dry climate, growing it in a greenhouse is preferable if you want to maximize your yield. Growing in a greenhouse prevents negative impacts from the monsoon season’s high winds. It can also warm your plants during the state's frigid nighttime temperatures.

While investing in a greenhouse isn’t for everyone, it's a better alternative than watering your plants more frequently and manually covering them during the monsoon season. It's also cheaper in the long run, considering the increased bills caused by frequent watering. Greenhouses also protect the nutrients in your soil, as constantly watering your substrate to keep your plants from drying out will cause nutrients to leach, forcing you to fertilize more often.

If you’re looking for a more flexible option, you can always grow Grapefruit Auto. Although autoflowers aren't safe from New Mexico's arid growing conditions, they're much easier to tend to. Growing Grapefruit Auto cannabis seeds in a clear plastic container can prevent moisture loss in your plants, as the container acts like a micro greenhouse.

Green Crack

Green Crack is a sativa-dominant strain that's an excellent choice for New Mexico growers. It inherited traits from Acapulco Gold through Skunk #1, making it more resilient to desert-like growing conditions. While it can thrive in New Mexico's arid climate, growing this strain in a greenhouse is still best if you want an easier time.

Green Crack feminized seeds

Although the name can be deceiving, Green Crack seeds are 100% marijuana. This hybrid was initially called Cush or Green Kush.

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Green Crack is a sativa-hybrid, so its plants are naturally quite tall, reaching heights between 6 and 11 feet. Their height may be challenging if you need more vertical space, but that problem has a solution. You can use ScrOG, a growing technique where you use a screen or net to train cannabis plants to grow horizontally. This technique also helps maximize light exposure and improve air circulation inside your greenhouse, potentially increasing yield.

When growing cannabis in New Mexico, it's crucial to start your marijuana seeds indoors before transitioning the plants to your greenhouse. Cannabis plants need to start indoors in New Mexico because the growing season in the state begins after the last frost, typically around April or May. Starting your weed seeds indoors gives you a head start on the season, maximizes the total growth time, and ensures you get a proper harvest by the end of the season.

Green Crack cultivar profile

Skywalker OG

Skywalker OG is one of the best strains to grow in New Mexico because it flourishes in warm, dry growing conditions. Indica strains like Skywalker OG prefer arid climates because they are susceptible to botrytis (gray mold). This fungus grows on the flowers of your cannabis plants in high humidity. Many also call botrytis bud rot, a fitting name considering the state this destructive fungus leaves your cannabis buds in. Try not to salvage any cannabis flower with bud rot on it, as spores frequently lurk in parts that seem untainted.

Skywalker OG Feminized Seeds

Are you looking for a calming smoke that carries a mellow high and is a crowd-pleaser for beginners and veteran smokers alike? You are going to love Skywalker OG seeds!

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The risk of bud rot highlights the value of investing in a greenhouse, as its controlled environment significantly reduces the chance of finding fungus and mold on your cannabis plants. While bud rot should be the least of your concerns when sprouting Skywalker OG seeds in New Mexico, growing it in a greenhouse does have additional advantages, such as keeping pests away from your plants and minimizing the risk of disease.

Growing cannabis plants in a greenhouse is a labor of love with many rewards. Skywalker OG yields 21 to 24 ounces of flowers per plant in the right environment. These flowers have a THC level of up to 20% and deliver an intense high that leaves you euphoric and relaxed. 

Skywalker OG cultivar profile

Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake is an excellent indica-dominant strain to grow in New Mexico. It finishes flowering and is ready for harvest by late September or early October, when the first frost typically rolls in.

Wedding Cake Feminized Seeds

Wedding Cake is known for its sweet taste and the harmony between the indica and sativa traits. If you want to chill but still remain sharp, Wedding Cake is a great choice.

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While Wedding Cake didn't inherit Triangle Kush's preference for warm and dry climates, you can still grow it in New Mexico in a greenhouse. The greenhouse provides the right environment for this indica-hybrid to thrive. It protects the plant from the state's frigid nighttime temperatures, which can be as low as 20°F (-6°C).

Wedding Cake, also available in smaller autoflower variant, grows tall plants, typically reaching heights of 5 to 6 feet, so if you don't have the vertical space to accommodate it, you may need to use the ScrOG technique.

Wedding Cake cultivar profile

Tangie

Tangie is one of the best sativa-hybrids to grow in New Mexico. This strain typically finishes flowering by the time the first frost rolls in. Its plant and bud structure also gives it an advantage in the state's hot and dry climate.

Tangie Feminized Seeds

Tangie is an award-winning sativa-dominant hybrid strain with coveted genetics. Tangie's high THC content ranges from 15 to 20%, making it ideal for both experienced and beginner Cannabis lovers.

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This sativa-hybrid is a reliable greenhouse plant because, unlike most excessively tall sativa-hybrids, Tangie plants maintain a more manageable height. However, they still grow to between 5 and 7 feet.

If you don't have a greenhouse, you can always grow Tangie Auto. Like Grapefruit, the best way to tend to these plants and keep them from losing moisture is to put a plastic container over them. The plastic container retains the humidity around your autos and protects them against pests. For intense winds, you might need to find ways to tie down the container to the pot without obstructing your plants.

Tangie cultivar profile

Tropicana Cookies

Following Tangie, we have its offspring strain, Tropicana Cookies. This sativa-dominant strain is similar to its citrus-flavored parent. It typically finishes flowering and is ready for harvest by late September or early October, the start of the first frost.

Tropicana Cookies Feminized Seeds

Call it paradise, with tasty flavors, high THC content, and impressive terpene; we're excited to have Tropicana Cookies seeds for sale in our seed bank!

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This strain has the plant and bud structure of a sativa. Its more open bud structure and narrow fan leaves allow Tropicana Cookies to thrive in New Mexico’s hot, dry climate. Like most sativa-hybrids, the plants grow between 5 and 8 feet tall outdoors. You can expect to yield 15 to 19 ounces of smokable flowers.

Tropicana Cookies provides a cerebral buzz that leaves you feeling uplifted and energized. It's a good strain for a wake-and-bake. The strain can also help treat depression and anxiety because of limonene’s calming presence in its flowers.

Tropicana Cookies cultivar profile

Runtz

Runtz is an indica-dominant strain named after a brand of candy. Like candy, this strain puts a whole rainbow of flavors in the palm of your hand. With each toke, you can taste the sweetness of sugary candy mixed with fruits and berries.

Runtz feminized seeds

The Runtz strain of marijuana has THC levels averaging between 19% and 29% and is a powerful blend of potency and flavor. Runtz made its debut at the Santa Rosa Emerald Cup in 2017. It's been racking up awards ever since.

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This flavorful strain loves Mediterranean climates or anything resembling a dry growing condition, making New Mexico the perfect place to grow Runtz. The only challenge is the cold nighttime temperature, which may negatively impact the plants.

Investing in a greenhouse is the best way for New Mexico growers to overcome the frigid nights and growing problems. However, there are other options if you want to grow Runtz.

Runtz Autoflower is an excellent alternative to the standard strain and is more adaptable to New Mexico’s climate. It is much more straightforward to tend to and costs less. The strain is perfect for cannabis growers who are not ready to grow photoperiod strains.

Runtz cultivar profile

White Rhino

White Rhino is another cultivar that thrives in Mediterranean-like climates. It is an indica-dominant strain with genetics from the hardy White Widow. These genetics shorten the flowering time of White Rhino’s offspring. It typically finishes flowering and is ready for harvest by late September or early October. Comparatively, White Widow marijuana seeds produce plants that are usually ready for harvest by late October, which is too late for New Mexico growers.

White Rhino Feminized Seeds

White Rhino is a well-respected strain boasting of parentage from the regions of India, Afghanistan, and Brazil. Weed grown from White Rhino seeds delivers a relaxing high, perfect for those feeling stressed out.

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This indica-hybrid thrives in the state's hot and dry growing conditions. It fares even better in a greenhouse, where the shelter protects plants from the cold, arid nights and strong winds of the monsoon season.

White Rhino provides a relaxing high that soothes aches and sores and enhances your mood and appetite. It can also help other ailments like pain and inflammation because its dominant terpene, myrcene, has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. The name White Rhino alludes to the rhino horns used in ancient traditional Chinese medicine. The connection to ancient medicine is why Scott Blakey (Shantibaba) renamed this strain Medicine Man when he left Green House Seed Co.

White Rhino cultivar profile

Harlequin

If you want to grow a strain that only has therapeutic effects, Harlequin will be your new go-to. The strain is a high-CBD sativa hybrid that offers CBD and THC levels ranging between 7% and 12%. An equal THC to CBD ratio means that Harlequin doesn't provide as strong a high, but a sesh from it will still leave you feeling relaxed and uplifted. It may also give you a boost of energy and sharpen your focus.

Harlequin Feminized Seeds

Harlequin is a sativa-dominant hybrid offering the best sativa and indica qualities. This strain delivers very effective medicinal uses with its reasonably high CBD levels.

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Harlequin flourishes in the hot, dry climate of New Mexico because of its sativa bud and plant structure. Growers developed the strain by crossing various sativa landraces, like Colombian Gold, known for its vigorous growth, and Nepali, which has solid and hardy plants resistant to pests.

Harlequin cultivar profile

Peanut Butter Breath

Last on this list is Peanut Butter Breath, a balanced hybrid strain that thrives in most climates, including New Mexico’s arid growing conditions. While this is one of many cannabis strains that loves the state’s plentiful sunshine, it doesn't do well under cold, arid nights or the strong winds of the monsoon season. We highly recommend that you grow this balanced hybrid in a greenhouse.

Peanut Butter Breath Feminized Seeds

Great flavor and potent effects are on most Cannabis lovers' lists, and Peanut Butter Breath checks off high. This cannabis hybrid features high THC levels, diverse terpenes and is simple to grow.

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If you don't want to invest in a greenhouse, you can still grow Peanut Butter Breath’s autoflowering variant. Although you would sacrifice yield, the plants don't require a greenhouse. Instead, try a clear plastic container; it acts like a micro greenhouse, keeping moisture and heat in. It even has an autoflower version available in our store!

Peanut Butter Breath cultivar profile

Sources used in this article

• McDougall, J. J., & McKenna, M. K. (2022). Anti-Inflammatory and analgesic properties of the cannabis terpene myrcene in rat adjuvant monoarthritis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(14), 7891. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23147891
• Song, Y., Seo, S., Lamichhane, S., Seo, J., Hong, J. T., Cha, H. J., & Yun, J. (2021). Limonene has anti-anxiety activity via adenosine A2A receptor-mediated regulation of dopaminergic and GABAergic neuronal function in the striatum. Phytomedicine, 83, 153474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153474