Kush CBD: 5 flowers compared, from 6.9% to 13.5% CBD

The name is taken from the Hindu Kush, a mountain range stretching from Afghanistan into northern Pakistan. A botanical classification published in PhytoKeys in 2020 places the wild plants of Central Asia along an arc of ranges that runs from the Hindu Kush to the Tian Shan. Its authors, John McPartland and Ernest Small, describe a cultivated Central Asian cannabis that long stayed confined to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkestan. Everyday language calls it "Indica".

The same study dates Western breeders' interest in these populations to the early 1970s. Haphazard crosses with South Asian lines followed, and they have largely erased the differences. Today's "Kush" varieties, from Hindu Kush to OG Kush, are therefore mostly hybrids carrying the name of their claimed origin. This drift in vocabulary is the subject of our article on the indica and sativa distinction.

Three studies have set the trade names of cannabis plants against their DNA. A Canadian team genotyped 81 samples of high-THC cannabis and 43 of hemp in 2015, and concluded that strain names often do not reflect a meaningful genetic identity. A 2019 study of 30 strains bought from dispensaries in three US states found at least one genetic outlier in most strains.

The third, in Nature Plants in 2021, covered more than 100 samples and refines the picture. The "sativa" and "indica" labels corresponded to no genome-wide genetic difference, yet they did follow the levels of a few terpenes, the compounds behind the smell. A name therefore hints at the expected aroma and tells you nothing about cannabinoids.

The five catalogue pages bear this out. Guava Kush has a lemon smell carried by limonene, well away from the earthy image the name suggests. Lemon Kush leads with β-caryophyllene, a peppery, woody terpene. Each of these compounds is described in the terpene guide.

Below is what each product page in the CBD flowers category displayed on 23 September 2026: batch number, cannabinoids, dominant terpene and growing method. "Total potential CBD" is CBD plus the share that CBDA, its acid form, would contribute once heated. Since CBDA loses about 12% of its mass as it converts into CBD, the formula is CBD + 0.877 × CBDA; the CBDA page explains the conversion.

Two catalogue titles give a round figure: 8% for Kosher Kush and 10% for Strawberry Kush. The batch on sale shows less, 7.4% and 9.3%, and that is the value to compare. Each new batch comes with its own values, and every page states the batch number.

In this comparison, the two open-field flowers are the most concentrated. Five batches do not make a rule, since CBD content depends first on genetics and then on harvest and drying. What the growing method actually changes is covered in the article on indoor, outdoor or greenhouse.

Price per gram works as a comparison only between flowers of equal potency. To set a 13.5% flower against a 6.9% one, divide the price of a gram by its milligrams of CBD and multiply by 100. For Guava Kush at the 2 g tier, that is €4.95 a gram for 135 mg of CBD, or €3.67 per 100 mg.

Four pages use one price grid: €4.95/g at 2 g, €4.38 at 5 g, €3.49 at 10 g, €2.70 at 20 g and €1.92 at 50 g. Diamond Kush sits on a higher grid, from €7.95 to €2.90/g. Two observations come out of this.

For the same price per gram, Guava Kush delivers nearly twice the CBD of Lemon Kush. And Diamond Kush, the dearest per gram, costs less per milligram than Kosher Kush and Lemon Kush because of its 12.7%. The tier counts as well: between 2 g and 50 g, the price per gram falls 61% on the shared grid and 64% for Diamond Kush.

The name also appears on a sixth page, Strawberry Lemon Kush, whose batch shows 10.7% CBD. Its grid is different and ends at a 100 g tier, so it is left out of this calculation.

Under the French order of 30 December 2021, the only authorised varieties are Cannabis sativa L. varieties listed in the official catalogues with a Δ⁹-THC content of 0.30% or less. The same order banned the sale of raw flowers and leaves, a ban the Conseil d'État annulled on 29 December 2022.

Δ⁹-THC appears on the pages to one decimal place. Three batches show 0.2% and two show 0.3%, Diamond Kush and Lemon Kush. Rounding cannot settle the question for those two, and their page states a Δ⁹-THC strictly below 0.3%. The exact value, with its measurement margin, is read on a certificate of analysis. Our guide to reading a certificate of analysis shows where to find it, and the article on the legal THC level explains the threshold in detail.