SHIVASKUNK

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Shiva Skunk

VerifiedIndica-leaning
Most-cited cross
Northern Lights #5 Γ— Skunk #1
Breeders on record
Seed Bank, Sensi Seed Bank, Sensi Seeds
Median THC
17.3% Β· 10 tests
Total terpenes
2.63%

Commonly reported: relaxed, happy, euphoric, uplifted Β· tastes skunk, earthy

🧬 Look for DNA test reports on Kannapedia β†—

Type labels are reported marketing/morphology labels, not chemistry. Basis: breeder ratio.

Genetics

Family tree

Shiva Skunk
  • Verified
  • Well-supported
  • Reported
  • Folklore
  • Disputed

Bred from Shiva Skunk

Jack HererCinderella 99Blue SkunkShiverSkunk XXXCinderella 99 S1Green GiantJack Herer S1Sticky Berry Mints XXL

Genetics

Lineage claims

  1. Northern Lights #5 Γ— Skunk #1

    Verified

    Tier A dossier shiva-skunk

  2. Skunk #1 Γ— NL#5

    Well-supported

    Stated by Sensi Seed Bank, Sensi Seeds

Competing claims are shown side by side, never merged.

1 breeder version (autoflowers, F2/S1/BX, remakes)
  • Sensi Seeds: Northern Lights #5 Γ— Skunk #1 Γ— Ruderalis (autoflower)

Lab data

Cannabinoids

Cannabinoid medians for Shiva Skunk
  • THC17.3%n=10
  • CBG0.50%n=10

Bar = median; line = lowest to highest test. Public lab records; values vary by grower and lab.

Lab data

Terpenes

Terpene medians for Shiva Skunk
  • Myrcene1.5%n=1
  • Ξ²-Caryophyllene0.34%n=1
  • Ξ±-Pinene0.22%n=1
  • Humulene0.11%n=1
  • Ξ²-Pinene0.10%n=1
  • Limonene0.09%n=1
  • Ocimene0.08%n=1
  • Bisabolol0.03%n=1

Good for

Use cases

Use-case percentiles for Shiva Skunk
  • Stress90th
  • Relaxation87th
  • Clear-headed77th
  • Appetite76th
  • Energy69th
  • Sleep63th
  • Social57th
  • Pain35th
  • Focus7th
  • Creativity7th

Percentile vs. other strains, from user-reported effects plus lab terpenes. Terpene links to effects are hypotheses with weak evidence; faded bars are terpene-only.

Dossier

History & sources

1. Summary

Shiva Skunk is Northern Lights #5 Γ— Skunk #1. Sensi Seeds says it was first released in 1987 as "NL#5xSK#1", renamed soon after in honour of Shiva, and won Mostly Indica at the first Cannabis Cup.1 Contemporary print confirms this. High Times' May 1988 report on the first Cup, judged in January 1988, names "Northern Lights #5/Skunk #1" as the mostly-indica winner (verified).2 By mid-1987, readers were already growing the Seed Bank's "Northern Lights x Skunk 1 F1".3 At the 1989 Cup the Seed Bank entered "NL5 x SK1" (MI-2) and "SHIVA" (MI-4) as separate samples, so the two labels coexisted and may not have referred to the same seed line.4

2. Identity

  • Aliases: NL#5 Γ— SK#1, Shiva.
  • Type: 85% indica (Sensi).
  • Breeder: The Seed Bank (Nevil), later Sensi.
  • Era: 1987.

3. Genetics & lineage claims

  • NL #5 Γ— Skunk #1 β€” verified.12
  • Name: honours Shiva, "Lord of Bhang" (one product page instead says "Lord of the Dance"); renamed after 1987 β€” well-supported.154

4. Timeline

  • 1987 β€” Released as NL#5 Γ— SK#1.1 Readers grow NL Γ— Skunk 1 F1.3
  • January 1988 β€” Mostly-indica winner at the first Cup.2
  • 1989 β€” "Shiva" and "NL5 x SK1" entered as separate samples.4
  • 1991 onward β€” Sensi catalogue.

5. Notable cuts / phenotypes / remakes

Sensi sells an automatic version. It is a disputed parent of Jack Herer (see jack-herer).

6. Historical descriptions by era

  • 1987: "Chrome-plated, big-budded" (Texas readers).3
  • 2020s: 45–55 days; "our most potent skunk".1

7. Cannabinoid & terpene profile

LabelMeasurenSource
Smith 2022THC mean 16.9%10 (1 with terpenes; myrcene-led)Smith 2022 data
WA I-502THC mean 18.1%31WA I-502

Samples are too small to generalize from. Strain names are not reliable chemotype identifiers.

8. Community sentiment

There is not enough data to score; no review corpus was accessible. The only theme from period and breeder text is a fast, potent, heavy-yielding indica.13 Score: withheld.

9. Open questions

  • Whether the 1989 "Shiva" and "NL5 x SK1" entries were the same line.
  • Whether Shiva Skunk is a parent of Jack Herer.

10. Sources

Lab: src-chem-smith2022-data, src-chem-wa-i502-jikomes2018.

Footnotes

  1. Sensi Seeds, "Shiva Skunk Regular". https://sensiseeds.com/en/regular-seeds/sensi-seeds/shiva-skunk β€” seed_catalog. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. High Times No. 153, May 1988 (first Cannabis Cup). https://archive.org/download/high-times-magazine-1980s_202401/153%20High%20Times%20May%201988_djvu.txt β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. High Times No. 143, July 1987, reader letter. https://archive.org/download/high-times-magazine-1980s_202401/143%20High%20Times%20July%201987_djvu.txt β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Ed Rosenthal, "The 1989 Cannabis Cup Awards", High Times No. 169. https://archive.org/download/high-times-magazine-1980s_202401/169%20High%20Times%20September%201989_djvu.txt β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. CannabisNI, "Shiva Skunk". https://www.cannabisni.com/?p=2802 β€” secondary_database β€” unverified_url: true. ↩