Killing Fields is a powerhouse strain with strong roots. Bred by the Netherland-based Sannie Seeds, the creators of strains like Selene and Mad Scientist, this bud is a cross between sativa favorite Jack Herer and landrace-inflected The One. Certainly not a strain for newcomers or for the lighthearted, Killing Fields offers searing cerebral effects and a crowd-pleasing herbal aroma. This variety’s psychoactivity has been measured at between 15% and 22%.

Killing Fields’ flowers are sure to catch the eye. These buds are typically medium in size and have a tapered, spade-like shape with a broad base and a pointed tip. Despite the strain’s mostly sativa genetics, its flowers cling together in the dense, solid bud structure usually associated with indicas. More often than not, Killing Fields’ flowers are a deep, dark shade of purple with small patches of mossy green and are threaded through with hairy orange pistils. Any purple hues come about when pigments called anthocyanins are activated by colder than average weather during the growing process. Finally, these colorful flowers are coated in cloudy white trichomes that give them an icy sheen.

Flowers of Killing Fields hit the smoker right away with a sweet citrus aroma. There are also some distinct notes of grape, while parent strain Jack Herer imparts some herbal hints of sage. Grinding up these tight buds yields a surprisingly spicy, peppery odor. When burnt, Killing Fields burns with a smooth and easily palatable smoke that isn’t likely to trigger a coughing fit. This smoke has a tangy lemon funk on the exhale. Smokers trying to maintain discretion should keep in mind that Killing Fields can be a very pungent strain that may call for a few precautions.

Killings Fields’ effects take hold quickly. The first observable sign of an altered state is typically a pressure in the cheeks and temples. This physical sensation is accompanied by a change in the user’s thinking patterns. Thoughts may jump around in a freely associative manner; alternatively, the smoker’s thoughts may converge on a single topic, leading them to examine it from every possible angle. As such, Killing Fields can be a good strain for powering through analytical, problem-oriented work as well as more freewheeling creative projects. Although some consumers may find this intense, head-centered experienced overwhelming, it can provide lucid concentration for others. In the right set and setting, this bud’s energy and clarity of mind can help to boost smokers out of a funk or to get them up and moving. Killing Fields can also be uniquely social, provoking free-flowing conversation among like-minded friends. With very few physical effects, Killing Fields is unlikely to leave smokers drowsy or couch-locked. As such, this buzzy strain is appropriate for wake-and-bake or afternoon use, but can leave users wired if it’s consumed at bedtime.

Killing Fields’ strong mental effects can also have uses for medical cannabis patients. It can aid focus and persistence for those with attention deficit disorders. It may also temporarily soothe the troubling symptoms of stress and depression. Physiologically speaking, the strain’s anti-inflammatory properties can ease everyday irritations like headaches and nausea. Because its onset often brings about intensely recursive patterns of thinking, Killing Fields is not recommended for those who are prone to panic or who have a low tolerance for THC.

Fortunately for home growers, Sannie’s has made sees of Killing Fields available for sale online. Once obtained, it can be grown indoors or out, although successful outdoor cultivation calls for a semi-humid, Mediterranean-like climate. Because of its sativa properties, this bud’s plants tend to be very tall and may require growers to prune back its branches early in the vegetative stage. Growers looking to bring out the strain’s bold purple shades should expose their crops to cold (but not freezing) nighttime temperatures later on in the vegetative stage. Killing Fields flowers within an exceptionally long 11 to 13 weeks when grown indoors. Just as it can be a pungent smoke, this strain can be a very pungent grow, and indoor growers looking to keep their operations under wraps should invest in odor-control measures like carbon air filters.

Although its name is a reference -- and a frankly tasteless one -- to the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, Killing Fields is likely to bring about a soothing, non-violent state of mind.