How Jason Holck's small Strawberry Diesel and OG Kush breeding project became one of Colorado's most recognizable cannabis strains.
Before Dark Horse Genetics
Before founding Dark Horse Genetics, Jason Holck was a Denver native quietly growing cannabis while attending the University of Montana.
His early breeding work happened during the mid-2000s, before large legal cultivation facilities and modern seed-brand marketing became part of the industry.
Among those small projects was a cross that would eventually produce Bruce Banner.
The original phenotype hunt involved fewer than a dozen seeds.
The Strawberry Diesel Connection
During the popularity of Strawberry Diesel, Holck obtained a pack of Reservoir Seeds genetics through Seedbay.
The Strawberry Diesel female was associated with a cross of Sour Diesel × Kyle Kushman's Strawberry Cough.
That combination offered the diesel and strawberry-related characteristics Holck wanted to explore.
The other half of the project came from an influential Colorado Kush selection.
Coal Creek Kush Enters the Cross
The second parent was Coal Creek Kush, also known in different accounts as Cold Creek Kush, Original OG, 10K OG and LA Kush.
The selection was connected to an older Los Angeles OG Kush phenotype that had circulated in Colorado.
The multiple names already illustrated a problem common in underground cannabis history.
Important clones could acquire different identities as they moved between growers.
Holck combined Reservoir Strawberry Diesel and Coal Creek Kush, creating the original Strawberry Kush selections that would later become associated with Bruce Banner.
Three Phenotypes Stand Out
From fewer than a dozen seeds, Holck identified three notable selections:
- #1 combined characteristics from both parents.
- #3 leaned heavily toward OG fuel, resin and potency.
- #5 expressed more of the sweet Strawberry Diesel side.
The selections demonstrated the variation that could emerge from one small cross.
But #3 would become the defining plant.
Its combination of potency, resin production and market appeal separated it from the others.
Why Was It Called Bruce Banner?
The name reportedly emerged during a String Cheese Incident concert.
A friend from Texas kept calling Holck "Bruce Banner" while asking about his Strawberry Kush.
The nickname became a convenient way to refer to the strain.
According to Holck, it was a joke involving his last name and a discreet identifier during a period when cannabis remained legally risky.
The name was not originally intended as a marketing appeal to children.
It developed within the personal culture surrounding the growers.
2008: Delta 9 Opens in Denver
In 2008, Holck opened Delta 9 Alternative Medicine in Denver.
The dispensary was among Colorado's earliest medical cannabis storefronts.
Bruce Banner became one of its 12 original house strains.
The dispensary gave Holck a place to introduce his selections directly to medical cannabis patients.
Word about Banner's quality spread rapidly.
How #3 Became the Legend
Of the original selections, Bruce Banner #3 developed the strongest reputation.
It combined heavy OG gas, potency, resin production and desirable yields.
By 2009, reviews of Bruce Banner #3 were circulating from the Delta 9 caregiver scene.
By 2010, patients were reportedly lining up on release days.
What began as a small breeding project had become a sought-after Denver cultivar.
The Competition Breakthrough
In 2013, Bruce Banner #3 reportedly tested at 28.35% THC during the Denver Cannabis Cup.
The result helped strengthen its reputation during an era when unusually high potency numbers attracted considerable attention.
In 2014, High Times ranked Bruce Banner #3 ninth on its list of the 25 Greatest Strains of All Time.
The recognition helped move the cultivar from regional popularity into broader cannabis history.
The Difference Between Banner Seeds and Banner #3
Bruce Banner #3 is a specific selected clone, not simply any plant grown from Bruce Banner seeds.
That distinction matters because separate seeds can produce different phenotypes.
The recognized #3 cutting emerged from Holck's original hunt and became associated with a particular combination of aroma, effects, resin and structure.
The broader seed line and the celebrated clone are connected, but they should not automatically be treated as identical.
Legacy
Bruce Banner #3 became one of the defining cultivars of Colorado's early medical cannabis era.
Its history begins with Jason Holck's small cross of Reservoir Strawberry Diesel and Coal Creek Kush.
Delta 9 gave the selection its early public audience, while subsequent demand and recognition helped establish its national reputation.
The story also demonstrates how much influence can come from a modest phenotype hunt.
Fewer than a dozen seeds produced a clone that became part of modern cannabis history.
YouTube Video
Sources
1. Cannabis Now. "Banned Buds Week: Bruce Banner." Cannabis Now, 7 Oct. 2016. https://cannabisnow.com/banned-buds-week-bruce-banner/
Supports: Jason Holck as Dark Horse Genetics founder who grew discreetly in college; his winning a Reservoir Seeds Strawberry Diesel pack at auction during the mid-2000s hype; the old LA OG pheno known in Colorado as Cold Creek Kush; phenotypes #1 (blend of both parents), #3 (most OG-dominant) and #5 (most Strawberry-dominant); the Bruce Banner name arising at a String Cheese Incident show when a friend from Texas kept calling him "Bruce Banner" — a joke on his last name, not aimed at children; Holck opening Delta 9 Alternative Medicine in Denver in 2008 as one of Colorado's first 20 dispensaries, with Banner among its original 12 strains and "drop day" lines of customers.
2. Dark Horse Genetics. "Bruce Banner 1.0 Seeds by Dark Horse Genetics." Grow with Jane. https://growithjane.com/strain/bruce-banner-10
Supports: The breeder's own account of beginning at the University of Montana; winning the original Reservoir Strawberry Diesel in the 2006 Seedbay auction; the mother cut ("Original OG Kush") having circulated as LA Kush, Coal Creek Kush and the 10K cut; returning to Denver in 2008 and founding Delta 9, where Banner was released as a house strain to long lines and wait-list pre-orders; Bruce Banner ranking number 9 on High Times' 25 Greatest Strains of All Time; and the seed releases being bred to stabilize the specific Bruce Banner #3 phenotype, backing the draft's seeds-versus-clone distinction.
3. High Times. "The Strongest Weed Strains on Earth." High Times. https://hightimes.com/strains/the-strongest-strains-on-earth-2016/
Supports: High Times' own statement that the previous Cannabis Cup potency high mark was 28.35% THC for Bruce Banner #3, set in 2013 at the Denver Cannabis Cup — the draft's competition-breakthrough figure.
4. The Clone Foundry. "The Clone Foundry: Bruce Banner." Leafly. https://www.leafly.com/brands/the-clone-foundry/products/the-clone-foundry-bruce-banner-clones
Supports: Bruce Banner's genetics as OG Kush × Strawberry Diesel and Dark Horse Genetics as breeder; phenotype #3 being especially celebrated for its traits and extract-ready resin production.
5. SeedFinder. "Sour Diesel IBL (Reservoir Seeds) :: Lineage & Hybrids." SeedFinder.eu. https://seedfinder.eu/en/strain-info/sour-diesel-ibl/reservoir-seeds/genealogy
Supports: Reservoir Seeds' Strawberry Diesel being recorded as Strawberry Cough (clone-only) × Sour Diesel (Reservoir Seeds), backing the draft's claim that the Strawberry Diesel parent traces to a Sour Diesel × Kyle Kushman's Strawberry Cough cross.
6. Zamnesia. "Dark Horse Genetics." Zamnesia. https://www.zamnesia.com/35-cannabis-seeds/428-dark-horse-genetics?p=2
Supports: The original cross producing five privately selected phenotypes; Bruce Banner #3's balance of potency, resin production and yields, with THC sometimes testing near 30%; customers queuing outside Dark Horse's Colorado retail store for the strain; and High Times listing Bruce Banner #3 at number nine among the 25 greatest strains of all time in 2014.
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