Somewhere between pumpkin spice and Halloween costumes, California cannabis gets its own holiday. Meet Croptober: harvest season, when NorCal growers finally get to show off what they’ve been working on all summer.
And if flower is your thing, you’ll want to keep an eye on this one.
What Is Croptober?
Croptober is the big fall harvest for outdoor cannabis. After months of growing, it’s time to bring in the plants, dry the flower, and let it cure before it hits dispensary shelves.
Think of it as the Super Bowl of farming. Just with more dirt and considerably less football.
And around here, harvest season hits close to home. Vallejo sits just a few hours south of the Emerald Triangle, the stretch encompassing Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity counties that put California cannabis on the map.
When Is Croptober?
Despite the name, Croptober doesn’t stick neatly to October. Outdoor harvests in Northern California typically run from late September into early November, depending on the strain and the weather. Once the plants are harvested, the flower still needs time to dry, cure, and pass state testing before it can make its way to dispensary shelves.
So the fresh outdoor flower you’re looking for might not show up the second the calendar flips to October. Good things take time. Annoying when you’re excited, but that’s farming.
Want to know what’s new from this year’s harvest? Stop by VRC and ask the crew what’s coming through.
In the meantime, let’s talk growers. We’ve got sun-grown flower, greenhouse grows, and indoor favorites worth knowing — plus a few products to put on your radar.
Sun-Grown vs. Greenhouse vs. Indoor Weed: A Quick Primer
You’ll see these words on labels all over the shop. Here’s the cheat sheet.
- Sun-grown: Outdoor-grown weed, raised under natural sunlight, with harvest generally happening in the fall. The star of Croptober.
- Greenhouse / mixed-light: Grown inside a greenhouse, where sunlight and supplemental lighting work together under growers’ supervision. More control means more than one harvest a year.
- Indoor: Never sees the sky. It’s grown entirely under lights in a sealed room, where growers manage every variable by hand.
That’s the whole indoor vs. outdoor weed debate in a nutshell: one isn’t automatically better than the others. Each method shapes how a plant develops, and every shopper seems to have a favorite.
Now, meet a few names worth knowing.
1. Henry’s Original (Our Sun-Grown Pick)
Plenty of brands talk about “farm roots.” Henry’s actually has the dirt under its fingernails to prove it.
Two legacy farmers with more than 20 years each in the Emerald Triangle started the company, and they still grow every bit of their flower on their own farms in Mendocino County. All of it is sun-grown with sustainable, organic methods, and it’s Clean Green Certified.
In other words, California soil, California sun, California farmers. Pretty fitting for Croptober.
Donny Burger
Smalls · 25.10% THC
A cross of GMO and Han Solo Burger from Skunk House Genetics, the breeders behind the whole “burger” line. Expect a savory, garlicky nose with diesel underneath.
It’s sun-grown cannabis with a seriously funky personality.
2. Preferred Gardens
Preferred Gardens is the definition of homegrown hustle. Founder David Polley has been cultivating since 2005, launched the brand in 2015, and still runs it as a family operation with zero outside investors.
The team grows in mixed-light greenhouses in Yolo County and at an indoor facility in Sacramento, so you get a little of both worlds. Their real flex is genetics: Preferred keeps a library of 260+ strains that they bred or pheno-hunted from seed themselves.
Twenty years of seed-popping adds up to a pretty deep bench.
Chanel
Flower · 28.44% THC
A Preferred Gardens creation crossing Blue Zushi and Bacio. Look for creamy berry notes up front, followed by a rich, gassy finish.
A little sweet, a little funky. Not a bad combination.
3. UpNorth Humboldt
The name pretty much tells you where the story begins.
UpNorth Humboldt draws on the region’s multigenerational growing heritage, partnering with vetted cultivators to produce small-batch, top-shelf flower.
Here’s the twist: its flower is grown indoors. You get Humboldt roots with a controlled-environment approach, and the brand has become a recognizable name in California’s cannabis market.
Cali Gas OG
Flower · 31.04% THC
The name doesn’t oversell it. This one’s all fuel up front, with pine, spice, and a deep earthy finish rounding it out. It’s also UpNorth’s top-selling flower, so plenty of people agree.
4. Connected Cannabis Co.
Connected is Sacramento royalty.
The brand has Sacramento roots dating back to 2009, when co-founder Caleb Counts started with Fruitridge Health & Wellness. The Connected brand itself launched in 2018, building on his experience and growing collection of cannabis genetics.
Today, it’s one of the most talked-about names in California.
Their California flower is grown indoors using in-house genetics. And the trophy shelf backs up the hype. Their Gelonade took first place in indoor flower at the 2021 Emerald Cup, a major Northern California cannabis competition.
Not a bad addition to the résumé.
Gelato 41
Flower · 28.24% THC
The cult-favorite phenotype of Gelato, built from Sunset Sherbet and Thin Mint GSC. It’s dessert in a jar, with a sweet, creamy nose and hints of candied fruit and waffle cone.
No need to check the freezer for ice cream afterward.
5. Alien Labs
Alien Labs is Connected’s out-of-this-world sibling. Same Sacramento roots, way louder packaging.
Founded in 2014 and brought into the Connected family in 2017, it’s built a cult following around designer strains. It’s an indoor grower too, with hardware of its own. Their Biskante placed third in indoor flower at that same 2021 Emerald Cup.
Two brands, one podium. Not bad.
Planetary OG
Flower · 28.63% THC
A tribute to classic OG genetics, with inspiration from cuts like Mars OG and Jupiter OG. Expect that familiar OG profile: gas up front, with pine and earthy notes underneath, the kind of nose that put California OGs on the map.
6. CAM (California Artisanal Medicine)
CAM didn’t come to play small. Founder Anna Willey started her cannabis career in Colorado, where she reportedly became the first woman to open a dispensary in the state. She later brought that experience to California, founding California Artisanal Medicine in 2018.
Today CAM is a woman-owned, indoor grower running more than 5,500 lights in Sacramento alone, with a team of over 200. It’s also one of the top-selling flower brands in California, which tells you people keep coming back for it.
Sacramento keeps showing up on this list for a reason.
Super Boof
Flower · 29.59% THC
Leafly’s 2024 Strain of the Year, crossing Black Cherry Punch with Tropicana Cookies. The flavor notes? Bright orange citrus with sweet cherry underneath. Fruity, punchy, and hard to miss on a menu.
A Few More NorCal Names Worth Knowing
These growers deserve a shoutout, too. No lengthy introductions needed.
Lumpy’s
You might not know the name, but you probably know their work.
A Sacramento craft grower behind popular strains like Apple Fritter and Reckless Rainbow.
Lumpy’s calls itself NorCal’s true craft legacy brand, with more than 15 years of cultivation under its belt, and the breeding team is still out there pheno-hunting new flavors.
Casa Flor
Casa Flor brings serious heart to the harvest. It’s family-owned and run by brothers out of Willits, right in the heart of Mendocino County, with a century of California roots and traditions passed down from Mexico.
It’s a harvest-season story worth knowing.
Give its Guava a look if fruity, tropical flavor notes sound like your thing. It crosses Stardawg and Afghani, and sits at a friendlier price point on the flower shelf.
Papa’s Herb
Straight out of Arcata, deep in Humboldt County. Papa’s Herb sources from generational family farms and keeps the price friendly, which is a pretty great combo when you want NorCal flower without the top-shelf price tag.
So, What’s Worth Trying This Croptober?
Croptober might be the main event, but NorCal growers give us plenty to appreciate beyond harvest season.
From Henry’s sun-grown Mendocino flower to the carefully dialed-in indoor grows coming out of Sacramento, every brand on this list has its own take on California cannabis.
Want the bigger picture? Check out our best weed brands in California roundup.
Ready to taste harvest season for yourself? Head over to our flower selection and find the one that earns a spot in your rotation. Curious what’s fresh from this year’s outdoor harvest? Just ask at the counter.
Worth checking our specials page too, since a few of these brands show up there from time to time.
Happy Croptober, Vallejo!
