Croptober Is Here: Your Guide to California's Freshest Harvest

California sungrown flower lovers, rejoice. The annual outdoor harvest season began Oct. 1. Dubbed “Croptober,” it’s the peak production month for the state’s cannabis farms. Upwards of 22 million pounds of freshly harvested plants are set to come down and hit dispensary shelves.

For smokers, it means flavorful, aromatic, potent, diverse herb at great prices from some of the most talented, world-class growers. The early harvest sungrown is already hitting embarc shelves and selling out, with even more to come.

In Humboldt County, “it’s been perfect”

One top sungrown brand to watch on embarc menus is Humboldt Family Farms. Its best strains—like Rainbow Headband (Headband x Z), the White Cherry Runtz cross White Lightning, as well as Rock Star (Pop Rocks x Grapelicious), and classics like Jack Herer and Maui Waui—are allllmost ready.

Humboldt Family Farms founder Scott Vasterling walked the fields on his family farm, describing the agony of wanting to chop the beautiful buds instead of letting them continue to plump up in the warm fall sun.

“The weather has been beautiful. It’s been perfect. It’s so hard because they look so good, and you get antsy,” he said. “There’s a fine line between letting them go as long as possible and taking them during optimal weather for drying and curing. That’s the craft part—really fine-tuning when the harvest comes down.”

Humboldt Family Farms’ cannabis line started with the Vasterlings’ Mad River property of 5,000 square feet of outdoor—all off the grid since the ’90s. The brand now includes Neukom Family Farms and seven others.

“We’re sourcing the best of the best from the Humboldt County region,” he said.

Humboldt Family Farm specializes in 7-gram flower products, as well as a popular 21-gram bag. Pre-rolls are also available for folks who want a quick hit.

“There’s plenty of herb this time of year,” Vasterling said.

Croptober Picks From Garcia Hand Picked

Another not-to-miss brand this Croptober is Garcia Hand Picked, which pays homage to the late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia. The company's recent California revival sees several sungrown crops curated for psychedelic-print jars.

On tap this season: classics like XJ-13 (Jack Herer x G13 Haze) from Whitethorn Valley Farm of southern Humboldt, Bubblegum Gelato (Gelato #45 x Indiana Bubblegum) from Esensia, and Covelo, CA-based Sun Roots Farm’s Velvet Purps (Magic Bus x Magic Bus), with Jah Goo ancestry.

Testing at 23.4% THC, the piney, citrusy, sweet XJ-13 is “perfect for gearing up for a creative project or knocking out a to-do list without losing steam,” the company states.

By contrast, the grapey 18.27% THC Velvet Purps is “ideal for a tranquil sit on the porch, loosening your muscles after a long day, or staying pleasantly alert.”

On the trendy side, Garcia Hand-Picked is prepping Tropicanna Cherry (Tropicanna Cookies x Cherry Cookies) from Terrapin Farms, and Modified Sunset (GMO x Sunset Octane) from Whitethorn Valley Farm. Trop Cookies helped power Leafly's Strain of the Year 2024 Super Boof. Sunset Octane is a Seed Junky Genetics-bred beast.

More is coming from Garcia Hand-Picked, whose partner Greenshock Farms took the Golden Bear in the 2026 California Cannabis Awards.

Preferred’s fall ‘fakers’ pass for indoor

While Croptober typically refers to sungrown harvests, the greenhouses are also ready to pop.

Over in Yolo County, the award-winning, highly hyped brand Preferred has some tasty terps on deck. As the weather cools, it ushers in the fall season of “fakers,” as Preferred founder David Polley calls them. Fakers are greenhouse-grown bud that look, smell, and taste equal to indoor flower—faking people out.

“The terps are just extreme during these times,” said Polley. “My favorite of all our weed is at an all-time high for the rest of the season.”

Coming in at mid-tier price despite their premium bag appeal, Preferred’s mixed-light is “the best bang for your buck on the retail shelf, hands down,” said Polley.

“I don’t think anyone can argue with us. We take it very seriously.”

Don’t take it from him. Preferred’s mixed-light Z bested all comers to win the prestigious High Rollers bracket and a $120,000 purse from the Proper Smoke Network earlier this year.

On tap for fall from Preferred, look out for Twin (Zoap x Georgia Pie x Z) as well as other in-house creations like Versaze. Polley loves the tropical candy taffy terps of Z, and has bred optimal variations on the theme for Preferred’s greenhouses.

“Everything has been smoking super-good. The mixed-light does not miss— we've got that place so dialed,” he said.

There’s even more on embarc menus, said Polley.

“embarc has a great team of really educated people that have been in the game for a long time,” he said.

Even more Croptober picks

To everything there is a season, and the season of big flower joints has begun. There’s too much to capture here in one article, but don’t miss these sun-friendly brands either:

• Farm Cut—Award-winning jars with a loose trim like the farmer keeps it.

• Coastal Sun—Organic-level, OCal-certified, and Ecco-certified greenhouse flower from Watsonville, CA.

Sonoma Hills Farm—Purveyors of the iconic Pink Jesus strain and many other sungrown favorites.

The fruits of the 2026 sungrown season will be hitting embarc shelves soon. Stay tuned for your favorite crops to pop up.