GG4

About GG4

Vintage: circa 2014

Lineage:  Sour Dubb x Chem Sis x Chocolate Diesel

Breeder: Joesy Whales

Pheno Hunter: Marrdogg

Breeder Joesy Whales is credited for the discovery of GG. Whales had been working with hybrid Chem's Sister x Sour Dubb seeds made by his partner Russ Johnson, a.k.a. Lone Watty, who had just passed away. Whales noticed that a few of the Chem Sis x Sour Dubb plants had hermied, and in doing so inadvertently pollinated his entire grow room. Sick of seeded plants, he thought it’d be best to throw out the seeds altogether. But luckily for the rest of us a friend of his, Mardogg, decided to keep the seeds and try his hand at growing them. The final result yielded four different phenotypes of GG. Marrdog noted that while all the phenotypes yielded superb plants, one was the clear winner: phenotype #4.

The infamous name GG a.k.a. Gorilla Glue came into being after Whales tried to trim the highly resinous plant and noticed his fingers stuck together like—you guessed it—glue! Legend has it there was so much resin that the crew had to ditch their scissors entirely.

Since then the strain has been the stuff of legend, racking up a multitude of 1st place awards in 2014 including the Jamaica World Cup and High Times Medical Cannabis Cup in Michigan and Los Angeles. At the Los Angeles event, 125 clones were distributed to attendees, and from there it continued to win over the hearts of judges and consumers alike, racking up awards in 2015 for Best Hybrid in the Hempcon Cup, the Patient’s Choice Award and the World Cannabis Cup. The legacy extended to 2018 when it took home 1st place in the Spannabis Cannabis Championship Cup. 

This strain’s unique name would later become the focus of a drawn out trademark infringement lawsuit by Gorilla Glue, the makers of the strong adhesive by that name. The company would eventually sue Nevada-based GG Strains, demanding they cease and desist use of the Gorilla Glue name. A settlement was reached in October of 2017. GG strains now refers to the former Gorilla Glue strains as “GG1,” “GG4,” and “GG5.”

GG4 Strain Effects

Reports of the effects from GG4 vary wildly for two reasons. One is that its immense popularity has led to many knockoffs and second-rate cuts that don’t represent the ‘original glue’. The other is that it’s a fairly balanced hybrid of potent strains which bring about many different effects simultaneously, and some people feel certain aspects more prominently than others. The general consensus, though, is that effects typically begin with a strong cerebral rush that quickly spreads throughout the body, leaving you “couch locked”. Others may experience a sense of powerful sedation that may aid in sleep, especially an hour or two after consumption.

GG users report side effects such as dry mouth and red and itchy eyes. Those sensitive to the effects of THC may experience paranoia, anxiety or dizziness. 

Due to its heavy-hitting potency, GG is a favorite among medical patients. Users often report feeling a wave of euphoria that can last for several hours. As such, many claim to use this strain for managing anxiety and depression, chronic pain, nausea and muscle spasms.

GG4 Characteristics and Terpene Profile

In terms of visual appearance, this strain is characterized by higher than average yields of trichomes, bright orange hairs and dark green flowers. The aroma of GG has been described as having notes of pine, slightly sweet coffee and chocolate with light diesel on the finish.

Lab results reveal this strain can produce extremely high THC levels as well as featuring a few primary terpenes that run the show. These include beta-caryophyllene, a terpene known for its peppery scent, and humulene, which adds notes of hops. Limonene contributes bright citrus notes while lending a stimulating, cerebral haze effect. Pinene is typically another predominant terpene found in GG that lends buds a unique forest-like scent. Myrcene, too, lends much of the couch-lock characteristic associated with the legendary strain. 

GG4 Growing Tips

GG requires constant trimming to yield its namesake, potent buds. Beyond that this strain can be easy to grow under the right conditions. GG thrives in warm climates, so be sure to keep it safe from any frost or excessive rain. Clones are advised to be planted outside on June 1st for this reason—and to prevent premature flowering. The plant does require lots of watering, however. In terms of nutrient content GG doesn’t need much beyond some good, high-quality (ideally organic) soil. 

If cared for properly, growers can expect to see flowering plants within 8 to 9 weeks. 

Where to Buy GG4 Seeds

Since this cultivar is so well-known you can find seeds for it available just about everywhere on the web. That also means you may experience some difficulty in tracking down vendors slinging the original GG seeds, but GG Strains breeder packs are called “Original Glue GG4 S1 feminized” and come with six seeds per pack. These can be found currently at Seedsman and the autoflowering version can currently be found at Hembra Genetics. 

That being said, even though GG strains S1 version comes from the original breeders, there are other breeders that have done significantly more work in preserving the qualities of the original GG4 into a seed line, namely Tony Green, who was an apprentice to legendary breeder Tom Hill. Tony Green’s impeccable work is known as GG4 RIL (which stands for recombinant inbred line) and can be found at many popular seed banks including DC Seed Exchange.

By Janelle Lassalle

Artist, Writer, and Content Creator

@jenkhari