9 Best Hemp Flower Strains for Sleep

We’ve all been there at one time or another. Toss and turning. Counting the hours before it’s time to get up and start the day. It’s miserable.

According to the American Sleep Association, between 50-70 million adults in the United States struggle with some type of sleep disorder. Not getting enough shut-eye can have a profoundly negative impact on your overall well-being and productivity.

Holistic practices like meditation, exercise, and dietary changes can help, but that isn’t always enough, especially during stressful times. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical sleep aids aren’t a practical long-term solution. They can be addictive or come with potentially dangerous side effects.

The dilemma can be overwhelmingly frustrating. But, luckily, CBD may be able to help.

How CBD Can Help with Sleep Problems

CBD can help with many of the conditions that keep people from getting a restful night’s sleep, such as physical pain, stress, and racing thoughts. Unlike benzodiazepines and prescription sleep aids, CBD is not addictive. According to a report published by the World Health Organization, “CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential.”

How CBD Works

CBD works by stimulating receptors in our body’s endocannabinoid system. The network of receptors evolved over 600 million years ago and serves to keep many of our vital functions in balance. When CBD interacts with our endocannabinoid systems, it can produce several therapeutic benefits, including:

Easing anxiety: CBD helps calm the amygdala, the primary part of the brain responsible for producing the stress hormone cortisol.
Uplifting the mood: CBD boosts both neurotransmitters like serotonin and the “feel-good” endocannabinoid anandamide.
Reducing inflammation: CBD’s ability to help reduce the inflammation associated with pain has been well-documented.

One of the quickest ways to feel CBD’s relaxing effects is to smoke or vape hemp flowers. So without further ado, let’s check out some of the best hemp flower strains for sleep.

Indica-Dominant Hemp Flower Strains for Better Sleep

When you ask a budtender for a hemp flower strain to help with insomnia, they’ll probably direct you toward indica-dominant hybrids. Indicas typically contain high levels of myrcene, a relaxing terpene that has been shown to help with both anxiety and physical pain.

Bubba Kush CBD

Nicknamed the Indica Queen, Bubba Kush is as famous for its outstanding taste as it is for promoting mental calm and physical relaxation. Sweet chocolate and mint flavors combine with citrus and pine aromas to make a tasty after-dinner treat that will lull you into blissful slumber. Bubba Kush is also high in beta-caryophyllene, a terpene that bonds directly with CB2 receptors to calm inflammation.

Bubba Kush Highlights:

Genetics: pre-98 Bubba Kush x unknown CBD strain
CBD content: averages around 20%
Terpenes: myrcene, pinene, beta-caryophyllene, alpha-bisabolol
Flavor and aroma: chocolate, coffee, citrus, pine

Remedy

Balanced genetics and a moderate CBD content make Remedy an excellent choice for beginners. Remedy produces a mellow sense of relaxation that can take the edge off of anxiety and body aches without leaving you feeling overly sedated or couch-locked.

Remedy Highlights:

Genetics: Cannatonic x Afghan Skunk
CBD content: around 13%
Terpenes: myrcene, pinene, limonene
Flavor and aroma: earthy, woody, lemon, pine

Special Sauce

Special Sauce boasts a blend of at least 20 different terpenes, giving the strain a complex and unique flavor and aroma. The hybrid’s balanced genetics and ability to soothe minor body aches and promote mental calm make Special Sauce perfect before an important meeting or an afternoon nap.

Special Sauce Highlights:

Genetics: Original Special Sauce x Early Resin Berry (ERB)
CBD content: can reach up to 30%
Terpenes: myrcene, farnesene, humulene, phytol
Flavor and aroma: herbal, berry, vanilla, spicy

Delta-8 Hemp Flower for Sweet Dreams

While CBD can help improve REM sleep quality, THC works to shorten the REM cycle. This action can be particularly beneficial if nightmares are part of the reason for disturbed sleep patterns, as happens with people struggling with conditions like PTSD. Delta-8 THC produces similar effects as regular THC but without causing overwhelming feelings like paranoia. Here are some tasty delta-8 hemp strains for combating bad dreams.

Purple Punch Delta-8

A combination of two iconic West Coast strains, Purple Punch dazzles the senses while calming the body and mind. Delta-8’s mellow effects intermingle with an 80:20 indica-to-sativa ratio to create the ideal combination for easing you into a restful night’s slumber.

Purple Punch Highlights:

Genetics: Larry OG x Granddaddy Purple
CBD content: around 18%
Terpenes: myrcene, beta-caryophyllene, limonene, pinene
Flavor and aroma: grape, cinnamon, blueberry, vanilla

Wedding Cake Delta-8

Sometimes the obstacle to falling asleep isn’t worrisome thoughts but excitement. Wedding Cake, aka Pink Cookies, is a sought-after hemp flower strain for its celestially sweet taste and its ability to transport you from gentle euphoria to profound relaxation.

The strain makes the ideal companion for a music festival, long weekend, or vacation when you need to pace yourself during all the festivities. Wedding Cake’s initial effects swiftly cut through social anxiety while the afterburn gently drifts you into dreamland.

Wedding Cake Highlights:

Genetics: Cherry Pie x Girl Scout Cookies
CBD content: averages around 18%
Terpenes: myrcene, limonene, beta-caryophyllene
Flavor and aroma: vanilla, lemon, spice

High-CBG Hemp Flower Strains for Better Sleep

CBD isn’t the only cannabinoid that can help with sleep. CBD’s mother, cannabigerol (CBG), has many of the same properties as CBD, including:

Reducing inflammation

Soothing aches and pains

Easing anxiety

Additionally, CBG can help reduce intraocular pressure and may offer an alternative to more psychoactive cannabis treatments for people with glaucoma. Here’s a glance at our favorite high-CBG hemp strains:

Jack Frost CBG

Jack Frost descends from a long line of cannabis royalty with genetics from legendary strains like White Widow, Northern Lights, and Jack Herer. The hybrid weaves the characteristics of its ancestors into a fluffy blanket of calm and comfort.

Like its namesake, Jack Frost features forest-green buds coated with a blizzard of glittering trichomes. Even sun-grown varieties shimmer with a thick carpet of CBG-rich crystals.

Jack Frost Highlights:

Genetics: Jack Herer x White Widow x Northern Lights #5
CBG content: around 15%
Terpenes: limonene, pinene
Flavor and aroma: herbal, pine, lemon

John Snow

While Jack Frost gets its name from a fictional character, John Snow was christened after an English physician who contributed to the discovery of anesthesia. Refreshing pine and lemon zest flavors and aromas remind us that the good doctor was also one of the primary figures to practice the modern concept of hygiene.

Since CBG increases dopamine in the brain, you could think of John Snow as a bonafide “feel-good” hemp flower strain that’s sure to calm the bedtime blues.

John Snow Highlights:

Genetics: Jack the Ripper x Philly Sour Diesel
CBG content: around 20%
Terpenes: limonene, myrcene, beta-caryophyllene
Flavor and aroma: citrus, gas

Best Hemp Flower Strains to Combat Grogginess

Research conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that most Americans felt sleepy on an average of three days per week. If that describes you, you know how low daytime energy can impact your mood, mental focus, and overall productivity.

Sativa-dominant hemp strains can help shake off that groggy feeling and get you back in action. Here are some of our favorites:

Lifter

True to its name, Lifter has become famous for its ability to energize the body and promote a positive mental outlook. Legend has it, the strain got its name from the Heirloom tomato strain “Mortgage Lifter.” If you can imagine what it feels like to pay your final house payment, you’ll have a clear idea of Lifter’s effects.

Lifter’s taste and aroma are equally refreshing with lemon, blueberry, and aged cheese notes reminiscent of a picnic on a sunny afternoon.

Lifter Highlights:

Genetics: Suver Haze X Early Resin Berry
CBD content: can reach up to 30%
Terpenes: limonene, humulene, myrcene,
Flavor and aroma: citrus, berry, skunk, cheese

Sour Space Candy

Sour Space Candy blasts through groggy feelings like a rainbow after a stormy night. Sweet and tangy flavors join an ultrahigh CBD content to elevate your mood to the upper stratosphere.

Even Sour Space Candy’s appearance, featuring shimmering lime-green buds with bold red pistils, creates a contrast that looks somewhat otherworldly. If you’ve been searching for a hemp flower strain to rocket you through that afternoon slump, give Sour Space Candy a try.

Sour Space Candy Highlights:

Genetics: Sour Tsunami x Early Resin Berry
CBD content: around 24%
Terpenes: limonene, myrcene, beta-caryophyllene, humulene
Flavor and aroma: earthy, sweet, citrus, spicy