When I think of a seed bank, I think of some sterile white walled hallway with many doors. Each of which has a "Do not disturb" sign on the knob. Through looking glass a marijuana male and a harem of juicy females sit and wait under a bright white light. A few weeks later Mr. Mary Jane's got about a thousand kids to feed. Thankfully, you, me and that dude, paid 50+ bucks for those kiddies and in walks the man with white gloves to snatch up 15 of them, slap um into a t-shirt or miniature Big Ben souvenir and off they go on a worldly adventure. However, lately I've been thinking - these seed banks most likely give a handful of various seeds to trusted "contractors" who grow and pollinate the seeds in there basement somewhere, show up a few months later and dish out a couple thousand seeds for 5 bucks a seed. A various % are put through the ringer for autoflowering and femenization, while the rest sit in their shoe box in the corner. Which brings me to my point. How do we know the seeds we buy are actually what they say they are? When someone clicks Skunk #1, how do they know they aren't getting Afghan or OG Kush? Also, the F1 strains - how do we know those are F1 strains? At what point did that WW CCup Winner from 1996, remain alive to continue giving out seeds? Mothers lose potency and vigor over their lives - so even those clones aren't really the same plant from 1996. (1996 is an arbitrary date, just for illustration) Meaning, when will seed banks start giving some insight into how they create their seeds? The process used and the measures taken to ensure quality? The first company that I can find that does that - will have my business, and if they can get the seeds past customs, they'll keep it. As it is now, I'm mostly just settling for the one that doesn't have a website that looks like it was made during Web1.0. Much of what I've said has been facetious and not intended to offend anyone - so if ya'll have some info about the seed bank process let me know, I'm interested to see how this whole thing works.
Im just as interested as you. Its good to question that sort of stuff. What exact genetics does a certain strain entail anyways. What is Maui Wowie? Edited typos
I've heard that too. It's just hard to believe that some guy who bought a White Widow clone back in the mid 90's still has her going strong and producing clones for seeds and bud. Another side gripe I have about most of the seed banks I've seen, is when they have "Feminized" listed as a product selection and yet every "Feminized" seed is also an Autoflower.... If I had wanted autoflower I'd have selected the autoflower seeds option! Though, I've found some pretty cool seed banks that aren't listed on here. www.freedomofseeds.com. Only one I could find that still had Beyond the Brain by Mandala.
Well, you don't usually keep the same mother for decades. You make a mother, clone for a while, flower the mother, mother a clone, clone for a while, etc.
You dont know until you grow it out. If the breeder is foolish enough to try and pull a fast one he won't be in business very long. Word of mouth will always be the number one advertising agent for successful breeders. Sent from my SM-N900V using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You're trying to put an underground industry that's cloaked in secrecy & based on piracy on a gilded pedastal. There is no standardization, no regulation, and no copyright protection. Anyone can steal someone else's genetics outright, try to recreate their mix or use a hyped-up name on some completely different blend without penalty - other than people choose to not buy it. You should go with a brand you trust, after doing an incredible amount of research (logs & diaries created by real people), and then be willing to take the risk because even the best breeders end up with bad batches of seeds now & then. As a trade-off, you could get the next totally unique phenotype that turns into the next Girl Scout Cookies. And, by definition, seed banks are resellers of other breeder's seeds. They don't do the actual breeding. Some do try to give the impression that they do their own breeding while purchasing seeds from other breeders & renaming/relabeling the strains. If you ask around or do a little searching, it's not too hard to find out if they're any good or not - growers are quick to praise, but they're even quicker to say something sucks.
We don't know. There's lots of counterfeit happening in the seed world. It's unfortunate. Just another ridiculous by-product of prohibition. All you can do is go with reputable resellers and reputable breeders.
Thanks for the responses guys. I didn't even realize anyone was posting on the thread recently. I see what y'all are saying. I suppose it's the ol'risk & rewards shtick. I've looked into it a little more and it does seem the way the Gorilla with the bazooka mentioned. Lots of breeders, lots of banks - few constraints or regulations. But, I guess if you get something an it's awesome that's all that matters.
Exactly what I was going to say also. The seed brokers have to keep their credibility in order to have repeat customers. I've only ever used Attitude Seedbank for all my needs..
seeds from 1996 are still around due to open pollination..mr nice has the original renamed black widow...after years of growing you learn who has what
Seed banks only sell seeds. They dont do the bteeding. Sent from my SCH-S720C using Grasscity Forum mobile app