How can seed sellers be trusted?

[tstick]

Hi.

I don't mean to accuse anyone…but How on Earth can people charge $10 for a seed? What's to stop someone from just grabbing random seed from wherever and then telling everyone it's a rare seed from some exotic strain?

I have read many stories online where people have gotten less than stellar results from seed "companies".

For example, I've got giant jars of seeds that I saved for years and years (decades). So, IF I was a bad person (I'm not!), then I could sell 5-packs for $50 and tell everyone it's the dankest shit on Earth….and I'd wager that I'd get a lot of takers….right?

So, how does anyone really know what they are getting when they buy seeds? Again, I'm not trying to step on any toes. I'm actually really anxious to get some great genetics for my next grow, so I'd like to get some savvy advice form the experts here! Where do I turn to for GREAT seeds that I can depend on? Thanks!

 

[cassinfo]

You grow it out and see if it fits the description the seed bank had describe the beans to be. Simple as that. If it does not match... Then the seller is a BStter.

 

[malicifice]

It's bad business to sell bull shit, period. If you ran a business and sold a good or a service would you offer shit or a scam? Not if you don't want to go under. Reputable seed banks and breeders are in the business of marijuana genetics. If they were selling snake oil it would be well known by now. Especially in this circle.

 

[UncleReemis]

Don't go to a seed bank without a good reputation, like said above. I understand your concern though... IMHO, we shouldn't even have to be paying for seeds considering they're produced abundantly and with little effort and cost. New genetics, however, is different. It's respectable to pay for a breeders hard work.

 

[natro.hydro]

Honestly almost all breeders are susceptibld to the occasional disaster whether it be a high herm potential from a new rushed to market strain or mixed reports ofbseed viability, point being if you have been a breeder for long enough you are bound to have the occasional mis step. It is what makes us human, with the availability of great cuts idk why anyone wouldn't just buy a clone if consistency is what you are after. I personally enjoy the pheno hunt!

Sent from my SCH-R930 using Rollitup mobile app

 

[polo the don]

Use a reputable seedbank like attitude, Herbies, or sannies. Ask for your beans to be sent in BREEDER PACKS and you will get what you pay for.

 

[Grow4myfriends]

I have seen prices even higher than 10 dollars per seed. Jack Herer feminized seems to be an expensive strain. And to be honest I don't mind paying a little extra to be sure i'm going to get a good grow.

Let's say i pay 20 dollars for a great seed + 3 months of electricity to grow it out and harvest + the minor stuff like soil, pots, nutes etc. I will still be better off than if I had bought my weed from a street dealer. Plus, I would take clones from that awesome seed and the 2nd grow would be at least 4x the yield so in the long run it will have more than paid for itself. And I will keep on cloning, so-called perpetual harvest. 1 awesome seed could theoretically provide me with weed for many years. Suddenly the 10 or 20 dollars doesn't seem like much at all.

Having said that, even the most expensive, feminized seed can still turn out to be a male or hermie, but that is just really shitty luck and has thankfully seldom happened to me.

Get your seeds from a well-known, established seed shop (see above) and a well-known seed engineer eg. Sensi Seeds, Barney's Farm, Nirvana, Dutch Passion... etc. etc.

I do see your point, 10 dollars is a lot for something so small and insignificant but in most cases it seems justified to me.

Personally I would like to hear about whether you growers out there prefer to buy feminized seeds or regular. Fem. seeds are always more expensive but I read somewhere it's a higher chance of being a hermie and still no guarantee to be female. Regular seeds will tend to be either male or female but seldom hermie. Can anyone confirm?

 

[robnarley1111]

... I read somewhere it's a higher chance of being a hermie and still no guarantee to be female. Regular seeds will tend to be either male or female but seldom hermie. Can anyone confirm?

Depending on how the feminized seed was made, it's possible that the hermaphrodite tendency could be passed on to the offspring (seeds). Regular seeds are "said" to hermie less, on average, than feminized seeds. It's also speculated that feminized seeds are more susceptible to display hermie traits when stressed; which of course, also depends on the strain as well.

Personally, I have grown a Barney Farms LSD plant, going into the third harvest now, and it grows nanners every time! I just pull them off, since it isn't too many. And this plant gets absolutely no stress whatsoever, so I guess its in the genes. And yep, the seed costed $12! Kind of steep price-wise, but not value-wise. Especially since I have yielded 5 ounces from it/clones in the last two harvests.

--

As far as trusting seed banks, I have only dealt with one (Single Seed Centre) and so far...no problems at all. MOST seeds I bought grew out as expected, except for two. The Nirvana Master Kush seed died as a seedling for no reason.

The "OG Kush" from Victoria Queen Seeds was a fake, crappy, no-where-near-OG Kush. But I don't blame that on the seed company, I blame the breeder.

The Northern Lights and LSD are going into harvest three, 2nd generation clones.

 

[tstick]

You grow it out and see if it fits the description the seed bank had describe the beans to be. Simple as that. If it does not match... Then the seller is a BStter.

Exactly. But what I'm saying is that it would be easy to be a bullshitter and make money. And in the end, all you'd have to argue is "Well, they are seeds, man! The phenotypes are endless!" or some shit like that and then what? It's true…right? I mean phenotypes will vary in any genetic line….won't they?

For another example:Let's say you grow a strain that was supposed to be almost a pure Sativa….and yet, the leaves are fat and wide and the plant is short and compact? Is that just some undetermined bag seed Indica-hybrid that someone labeled as "Colombian Gold"? Or, is it a "phenotype"?

Maybe there are some already-established seed sellers that can be trusted with such things, but what if they don't have the Colombian Gold (or whatever strain) you're looking for…but this "new" company springs up and says they have all the ld school genetics and…blah-blah-blah….See what I'm saying?

 

[natro.hydro]

Sativa doms looking liking indica doms you say....
How about this "White Widow" from Nirvana, mind you I bought this before I came to know the true original breeder of White Widow but expected something atleast sativaish not this. This pic is 12 days old, can grab a fresh tomorrow to show what she looks like if you think she might have changed a little lol.

 

[tstick]

I have seen prices even higher than 10 dollars per seed. Jack Herer feminized seems to be an expensive strain. And to be honest I don't mind paying a little extra to be sure i'm going to get a good grow.

Let's say i pay 20 dollars for a great seed + 3 months of electricity to grow it out and harvest + the minor stuff like soil, pots, nutes etc. I will still be better off than if I had bought my weed from a street dealer. Plus, I would take clones from that awesome seed and the 2nd grow would be at least 4x the yield so in the long run it will have more than paid for itself. And I will keep on cloning, so-called perpetual harvest. 1 awesome seed could theoretically provide me with weed for many years. Suddenly the 10 or 20 dollars doesn't seem like much at all.

Having said that, even the most expensive, feminized seed can still turn out to be a male or hermie, but that is just really shitty luck and has thankfully seldom happened to me.

Get your seeds from a well-known, established seed shop (see above) and a well-known seed engineer eg. Sensi Seeds, Barney's Farm, Nirvana, Dutch Passion... etc. etc.

I do see your point, 10 dollars is a lot for something so small and insignificant but in most cases it seems justified to me.

Personally I would like to hear about whether you growers out there prefer to buy feminized seeds or regular. Fem. seeds are always more expensive but I read somewhere it's a higher chance of being a hermie and still no guarantee to be female. Regular seeds will tend to be either male or female but seldom hermie. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks! The only "problem" I have with that idea is that I don't think I'd like smoking the same strain for years and years. There's so much variety of 'flavors' out there. One tastes like lemon. One tastes like pine trees. One tastes like blueberries…and so on. If I wanted to vary my flavors, then I'd have to buy more seeds.

I'm growing three plants right now that I got from seeds that I found in medical buds I bought. Yes, they might end up hermies. For now, they are female, though! We'll see. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on seed at first because I wasn't sure how my tent could be "dialed-in". But now that I've got it down, I want to try some great genetics next grow. I really want some super-skunky-cheesy-STINKY-hashy strains. I'm done with lemon haze and all that fruity tasting stuff. But, man, some of the seed strains that sound good to me are really expensive!

And, I know this may be a super-dumb question, but….What are the risks of ordering seeds through the mail or online? Seems like it might be sketchy. Please
'splain how it works. Thanks!

 

[natro.hydro]

Only thing you need to know about buying seeds online is buy the stealth shipping, not guaranteed to make it through but guaranteed to be reshipped to you if it fails or your money bank, that is through attitude though idk other banks policies, have heard herbies is solid and they do not seem to have as many orders get nabbed by ISC as attitude. I just ordered on the 22nd and got my seeds on the 28th, they came through ISC Chicago which seems to get more seeds than average from reports. Have yet to not get an order with the dreaded green tap, one last word of advice, do not get them shipped to your grow.

 

[cat of curiosity]

you guys obviously weren't around ten years ago. a good breeder sends out test samples to highly known individuals to try and report on. AFTER that, seeds go to market. one fuck up and you're done.

 

[cat of curiosity]

of course, once you have a reputation, people pay for the label. some have bs'd through that, while other got stomped and aren't recommended.

 

[Grow4myfriends]

I don't think I'd like smoking the same strain for years and years.

That's a totally valid point. Not only is it nice to try different flavours, also you develop a tolerance to a particular strain after smoking it for a while. Since there are hundreds of different psychoactive substances that any given plant can contain, it's definitely nice if you have a selection and can experience different types of "high". I was just demonstrating how the high cost of a seed can be justified by the amount of weed you can potentially get from it.

I have 4 different strains going at the moment and I hope to keep it that way!

Definitely use stealth shipping! They will send it with a t-shirt or inside a cd-case or something. And as natro.hydro said, do NOT have seeds sent to the address where you're growing. Have a friend who doesn't grow help you out.

 

[Nutes and Nugs]

It's like buying a car or toaster.
You know or can research popular name brands.
Always new companies but buyer beware!

If you go to sell those old beans as a seed bank (tstick seed emporium),
and they suck,
someone will track you down and break your kneecaps.

 

[Commander Strax]

That is a VERY good point

 

[tstick]

Fair enough…but couldn't "tstick seed emporium" just claim that it was "grower error" or "odd phenotype" that caused the results? I've read MANY stories about people who have bought beans from reputable people and ended up with males or had hermies…so, who's to say that it was "my" fault? That ambiguity is what I'm referring to….Seeds are so variable, that literally anyone could sell any kind of seeds…claim it was "Dank Dankington" and then after that, if someone grew out a random seed that turned out decent, then they could claim that stick seed emporium was great…could they not? And, by the same token, if the seed turns out to be shit, then the reasons why it could have turned out shit might be arguable….certainly nothing tp break kneecaps over! lol!

And also, what about the reputable seed company that sells a legit seed…and then that seed turns out to produce a dog plant that's no good?

I've got two plants in my tent right now that are seed "sisters" ….But one is very different from the other in many ways…Which one is "the" proper one? See what I mean? I might get two entirely different results from the same genetics if I grow from regular seed….and so far, I have!

 

[tip top toker]

Fair enough…but couldn't "tstick seed emporium" just claim that it was "grower error" or "odd phenotype" that caused the results? I've read MANY stories about people who have bought beans from reputable people and ended up with males or had hermies…so, who's to say that it was "my" fault? That ambiguity is what I'm referring to….Seeds are so variable, that literally anyone could sell any kind of seeds…claim it was "Dank Dankington" and then after that, if someone grew out a random seed that turned out decent, then they could claim that stick seed emporium was great…could they not? And, by the same token, if the seed turns out to be shit, then the reasons why it could have turned out shit might be arguable….certainly nothing tp break kneecaps over! lol!

And also, what about the reputable seed company that sells a legit seed…and then that seed turns out to produce a dog plant that's no good?

I've got two plants in my tent right now that are seed "sisters" ….But one is very different from the other in many ways…Which one is "the" proper one? See what I mean? I might get two entirely different results from the same genetics if I grow from regular seed….and so far, I have!

Some people claim GHS is great, because they have the odd great pheno, but most learned growers know that on the whole GHS is a joke and not a go-to for solid genetics.

On the whole, the magic of the internet, large amounts of feedback is readily available which makes it a lot harder for a seedbank or breeder to just run arou/nd ripping people off. The story tends to come out fairly rapidly.

 

[cassinfo]

Exactly. But what I'm saying is that it would be easy to be a bullshitter and make money. And in the end, all you'd have to argue is "Well, they are seeds, man! The phenotypes are endless!" or some shit like that and then what? It's true…right? I mean phenotypes will vary in any genetic line….won't they?

For another example:Let's say you grow a strain that was supposed to be almost a pure Sativa….and yet, the leaves are fat and wide and the plant is short and compact? Is that just some undetermined bag seed Indica-hybrid that someone labeled as "Colombian Gold"? Or, is it a "phenotype"?

Maybe there are some already-established seed sellers that can be trusted with such things, but what if they don't have the Colombian Gold (or whatever strain) you're looking for…but this "new" company springs up and says they have all the ld school genetics and…blah-blah-blah….See what I'm saying?

I agree with you bro. It seems like we will never know unless we breed our own gear.