There exists a pot plant so profuse in potent buds that they just had to name it Critical Mass strain! What is this marijuana strain? The mass critical we're talking about here is an 80% heavily indica-leaning hybrid that could nuke you into some serious couch-lock while filling your apartment or house with some seriously skunky fallout! Smoking down or vaping this marijuana strain fills your mouth with a somewhat earthy, citrusy taste and treats your nose to a  Blue blast Strain. Your mind is uplifted into full reaction as your body high melts down into deep relaxation. Medical marijuana patients will give a glowing review because of how well it treats their insomnia, nausea and lack of appetite, anxiety and pain issues. In physics, mass critical as this leads to nuclear fission, lots of energy; this strain is powerfully potent pot that delivers a burst of vigor to the brain, but then reverses polarity to become somewhat sedating after an hour or so.

The bells are ringing for you to come sit down and get ready for your lesson in the ultimate in glass water pipes! With a strain like Critical Mass you're going to want a quality bong that sends you off with quality and style. The Bell Base Water Pipe from Grav Labs does just that!

Normally we pull photos from @gravlabs' ig, but this stock photo seems to do the trick this time!

(Nugs or buds, image from Diego Pellicer Co on Instagram)

Critical Mass’ genetics come from a fusion between pure Indica Afghani landrace weed strain and 65% Indica-dominant Skunk #1. The strain's THC level is respectably high at 19% to 23% and its CBD level is 0.07%. Critical Mass strain has itself undergone fusion with the slightly sativa-heavy (55%) hybrid OG Kush to produce 90% indica-leaning Critical Kush strain , with a THC level of 23% and CBD measured at 0.1%. Noted cannabis growers and developers Dinafem Seeds has produced another offspring, CBD Critical Mass, by pairing the original Critical Mass with an unnamed strain from CBD Crew grow house; CBD Critical Mass strain has a 1:1 CBD/THC ratio and, when toked or dabbed, provides to the individual user some very indica-dominant effects! Like Critical Mass, CBD Critical Mass is excellent treatment for varied conditions like loss of appetite, insomnia, muscular and nervous pain, and depression.

Critical Plus marijuana strain (also known as Critical +) is a sort of sibling to Critical Mass strain, born also from Skunk No. One when it was crossbred with Big Bud strain; Critical Plus strain is a 50% sativa/50% indica strain with 15 – 20% THC, and is considered a very good evenly balanced hybrid. Although this isn’t a Big Bud strain review, we can tell you that it has an interesting history because it was originally a homegrown American weed strain, but the 1980’s War on Drugs forced it underground and it resurfaced in the Netherlands, under the care and control of world-famous Dutch breeder Sensi Seeds. Like Critical Mass, Big Bud strain is known for unusual nugs; in the case of Big Bud it really does have really massive buds, or flowers!

There is also a three-way cross between Big Bud, Skunk #1 and White Widow called Super Critical Cannabisstrain – or Super Critical Mass – that is 70% indica-heavy with a THC level around 18%; Super Critical Mass strain would be another sibling to Critical Mass.

Critical Mass strain, along with THC Bomb, Big Bud and Blue Dream is considered among the best if not the best indoor strain for yield and potency - in fact, Critical Mass has been referred to as the ‘Blue Dream of Europe’ for that very reason, and is very popular throughout the continent. The Critical Mass strain terpene profile has a similar cannabinoid makeup as the Blue Dream terpene profile, both strains are known for full-body relaxation, a wonderful body high, effects accompanied by cerebral uplift.

Master glass blowers at Empire Glassworks have really accumulated mass critical with this precious pipe covered in sea creatures. Whether you're an amphibian yourself or you merely want to show your love for these colourful creatures, this Great Barrier Reef glass pipe will have you feeling closer to your reefer than ever before.

We are very thankful for this stock image, which shows just one bit of this pipe's artwork!

Don't let the image scare you off - these bongs are okay like this! The Roll Uh Bowl portable silicone bong can go ANYwhere with you. It's super durable and, clearly, collapsible. Never worry again about the security of an expensive glass piece.

Gracias to the folks at the @rolluhbowl ig for the quality content scroll and this image!

(CBD Critical Mass plants, image from Shala Grow Shop on Instagram)

Effects:

(Critical Mass oil cartridge, image from THCardiff2 on Instagram)

Buying:

At this point in time, you might be curious to try this marijuana strain for yourself and see if it’s worth splitting atoms over; if you want to go out and buy some yourself to smoke or vape to see for yourself how rad it is, then you could pick up an 8^th for $18 - $25 in Portland, Oregon; in Denver, Colorado Critical Mass strain runs about $20 for an eighth. Prices for Critical Mass cannabis are of course dependent upon whether you have a medical or recreational state license, what the quality of the grow or crop is, strain availability, the time of year and your geographic location; some provisioning centers do charge you a local or state tax, usually 2-6%, on weed purchases. Online prices are usually steeper and you will have to add in shipping costs. Purchasing some Critical Mass concentrate for one of your Dragon vape pens, or whatever brand you use, would run you about $30-40 a gram for oil cartridges in Portland; wax, shatter, or resin, costs $19 a ¼ gram in Eugene, Oregon. Pre-rolled joints of Critical Mass, CBD Critical Mass, Blue Dream, Big Bud or even a Bubble Bomb strain – another 50/50 hybrid and an offspring of the THC Bomb that we mentioned above - can be found for as little as $5 a piece to $15 or more depending upon their size, which tends to vary from half a gram to two grams or more. Regarding edible marijuana or ‘medibles’, labels usually don’t specify the type of weed strain used in making or baking the food, usually, they just indicate the level of THC or CBD – but there are exceptions. You can always ask your friendly neighborhood budtender if they know of any edibles made from Critical Mass or any other Critical strain – or you can make your own super potent hash butter with Critical Mass strain to bake your own cannibalized treats!

Curious to try your hand in the kitchen and make some scrumptious edibles yourself? It's not difficult, and this Edibles: Small Bites for the Modern Cannabis Kitchen cookbook just made it a whole lot easier! From Green Eggs & Ham to PB&J Chocolate Cups (um, yum...), the only thing you have to worry about is not eating all of your home-made edibles in one go!

Just looking at this book cover from the Amazon page is making us hungry!

(Critical Mass seedling, image from CannaFox Grows Cannabis on Instagram. Rights reserved)

Growing:

If you want to know how to grow large buds on your own homegrown pot plants, you can do so through carefully pruning off dead branches and undersized flowers - tying down higher top branches, you can ‘train’ the lower branches to develop with more direct sunlight, thus creating a more evenly lush canopy of cannabis nugs. You can also grow large nugs if you feed your plants a nitrogen-based fertilizer to boost yields and bud size, and by providing the right amount of light and keeping the lights the right distance away from your plants, so as to not overheat them, giving your ganja grow what it needs to burst forth with bigger buds! Or you can grow plants that already tend to have larger buds, like Big Bud strain, or grow pot with profuse flowering like Critical Mass. This marijuana strain, in fact, produces such a dense cluster of nugs that sometimes the branches tend to snap off from the weight! You won't be disappointed by the mass of green buds, full of frosty cannabinoid-rich trichomes with orange pistils or strands that it produces. Its buds have a skunky, lemony odor when pinched in your fingers that manifests strongly when you smoke, vape or dab some; and Critical Mass tastes rather earthy, with a hint or aftertaste of pine and wood.

Critical Mass has a flowering time of 6-8 weeks, grows to 65 inches in height (5 ½ feet, 1.65 meters - or thereabouts), and produces a whopping yield of 27 ounces per square yard or meter indoors, with a critical mass of 21 ounces per plant outdoors! It is thus pretty easy to see how this super-producer of potent pot got its name!

In comparison, a Blue Dream plant can grow up to 6 feet/2 meters, a Blue Dream grow flowers in 9-10 weeks, and a Blue Dream harvest yields 21 ounces of marijuana per square meter grown indoors and an impressive 21 ounces per plant outdoors.

High plant yields are precisely why Critical Mass and Blue Dream are so often compared. Because both pot plants have a large production of flowering, these strains are susceptible to mold, which can be reduced by growing indoors to reduce humidity or by growing them outdoors in a drier climate.

Whether you're growing a strain for the first time, or you are confident in your green thumb skills, we love the idea of having a grow logbook! The Cannabis Review Logbook is the perfect partner for all of your growing adventures. Keep track of the progress you and your little pot babies have made over the week, months and years, and reminisce on your favourite grow campaigns.

Our thanks to the pro photog who captured this image for the book's Amazon page!

(CBD Critical Mass plants, image from Shala Grow Shop on Instagram. Rights reserved)

Summary:

If you have read through all of this, then perhaps by now your knowledge of this strain has reached its own critical mass! You no longer have to have to wonder ‘What is Critical Mass?’ because you have learned that it's a popular 80% indica-heavy hybrid with a respectable THC content of 19% to 23% and a decent CBD level of 0.07%; and it has been dubbed Critical Mass because of the dense mass of flowers, buds or nugs, that each plant produces! Critical Mass has been called the ‘Blue Dream of Europe’ because the Blue Dream grow or Blue Dream harvest produces a similarly profuse haul in ounces per pot plant; other large bud or dense nug cluster cannabis strains include THC Bomb, Big Bud, Bay Dream strain (a 80% sativa hybrid cross between Blue Dream and Granddaddy Purple) and, of course, Blue Dream itself. Critical Mass genetics are handed down from its parent strains, pure indica Afghani landrace weed strain and indica-dominant Skunk #1; Critical Mass shares those genetics with its sister-strain Critical Plus strain (or Critical +) and hands them down to its own offspring with OG Kush, Critical Kush. Critical Mass is known for its profusion of buds clustered so densely that the branches of the plants break from the strain; but that same profusion can lead to moldiness if you don’t keep the plants warm and fairly dry. Why do people smoke Critical Mass strain? Anyone after a relaxing end-of-day high, starting with a little mental boost but then settling into a state of deep relaxation, will be happy with their choice – perfect for just before bed; and prescription pot patients use it to treat varied conditions like arthritis, depression, pain, inflammation, insomnia, loss of appetite, or stress. If you wanna give Critical Mass strain your own personal review – Critical Mass photos optional – then get yourself some Critical Mass, light up some of this nuclear weed, and let it melt you down into a relaxing couch-locked chill!

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Written by Megan Medeiros (BA)

Megan Medeiros has a bachelor’s degree in English and is currently working on a master’s in English at James Madison University. She's the owner and operator of Medeiros Writing, and has been working as a cannabis writer for the past three years, mostly following the legal climate of marijuana, especially in areas like California, Colorado, Oregon, Canada, and other legal areas.

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