What Is Rainbow Weed?

Beyond being a feast for the eyes, the colors of cannabis can also enhance the effects of your bud.

Among these, the Rainbow cannabis strain offers up some real eye candy as a uniquely colorful strain. It’s a hybrid treat that delights the senses with a nuanced, explorative high. Plus, its lineage is as vibrant and varies as its hues.

Rainbow weed, also referred to as Rainbow Kush or just Rainbow, is a colorful hybrid cannabis strain that produces a balanced, uplifting, and creative high.

As the name suggests, the buds of Rainbow weed have stunning colors during the flowering stage, including shades of orange, green, red, blue, and purple. This array of colors is what gives it its “Rainbow” name.

With dominant terpenes like myrcene and pinene, Rainbow Weed typically hosts THC levels around 20-22% and minimal CBD content, generally below 1%.

Many users report the Rainbow strain gives a gentle mental invigoration without the head rush, along with euphoric creativity and soothing relaxation. Thanks to its pinene terpene profile, it can also help to stimulate focus, and some even report experiencing unique, tingly bodily sensations following a session. For some, this strain also relieves minor aches and pains.

Negative effects of the rainbow strain can include dry mouth and eyes, paranoia, dizziness, anxiety and headaches, especially if consuming too much of it.

Rainbow Kush first emerged thanks to breeders in Spain and the Netherlands, who developed two distinct phenotypes of the strain (see below).

The breeders drew upon diverse cannabis lineages from around the world, including multiple landrace strains from Central Asia (Hindu Kush), Mexico, Afghanistan and Thailand. The Rainbow kush plant truly represents many decades of cannabis breeding and botanical heritage.

The two main varieties of the rainbow kush strain include:

Amsterdam Marijuana Seeds (AMS) Rainbow Kush – Bred by crossing Master Kush x Hindu Kush x Montel’s Pride (a Mexican landrace and Skunk hybrid). Origins trace back to Hindu Kush mountain range.

Lifetime Seeds Rainbow Kush – Bred by crossing Blueberry x Dancehall (Indica-leaning and Sativa-dominant strains). Origins trace back to Mexican, Spanish, Afghani, Thai and skunk genetics

Thanks to pigments like chlorophyll, anthocyanins, and carotenoids, cannabis plants can dazzle with a spectrum from deep purples to vibrant oranges.

Chlorophyll is the dominant pigment, giving cannabis plants their classic green coloring. Once chlorophyll production slows down during the flowering stage of the plant, anthocyanins go to work, allowing cannabis plants to express many different hues like reds, blues and purples, often bringing berry-like flavors and indica-style effects.

Then there are the carotenoids, late bloomers that bring out yellows, oranges, and reds. Strains high in these pigments tend to burst with citrusy, sweet flavors and deliver an energetic, sativa-leaning buzz.

The Rainbow strain in particular has such high genetic diversity that it can achieve its kaleidoscope of colors. It contains a rich content of anthocyanins and carotenoids, which is what gives rise to its rainbow pattern.