What changed in the last 20ish years?

[Rivendell]

Was talking to a buddy recently. We both started growing around the same time, in the mid 2000's. He remarked that its seemed like the majority of strains on the market now are much lower yielding in general than what was on the market when we started growing. This lead to a discussion about if this could be attributed to the prevalence of cookie genetics in so many modern strains or if was due to the chase of the Instagram pretty flowers to sell seeds and if that type of photogenic expression was more common in smaller yielding plants. We also discussed the importance of yield from a commercial aspect being more important back then due to black market/legality. During the conversation we also realized that most, if not all, of what we grew back then was from Euro breeders versus pretty much all American now.

Thought it would be interesting to see what everyone's thoughts are on the subject. Are we seeing the mid 2000s with nostalgia yield wise? Are we just not growing the right modern strains? Was yield more important to breeders back then for commercial reasons vs being photogenic on social media today? Did cookies have a far reaching effect on the gene pool? Are Euro genetics still throwing down or have they seen the same shift in focus?

Chime in about any aspect you feel like talking about, this seemed like a good topic for some stoned ramblings and personal anecdotes!

 

[Creature1969]

My though process says legalization, pollen chuckers for profit and fast turnaround in a blooming billion dollar industry.
This is why there are thousands of breeders out there but only a handfull that are exceptional and stand above the rest.
More people used to breed for the love and passion of it, now it's comsumerism and profits.
Folks used to works strains for years. Now it's make a cross, pick a silly doper name, post some pretty insta pics, say how fast they are, hype THC and sell, sell, sell. Get 'em while they last!
I've seen people claim breeders don't get rich selling seeds. It only takes very simple math to prove that's a flat out lie.

 

[MtRainDog]

I think you're pretty dead-on correct with what you're saying. The mindset was definitely different back then. Breeders made seed lines, and bred for things like vigor, yield, uniformity, and effect. That was the dominant mindset of that era and prior.

A lot of breeders still do it that way, but in the cookies era we started seeing the prevalence of F1 breeders come into fashion. Many breeders started chasing the frost, instead of those other traits.

I think both types of breeding are fine, but IMO most of these F1's like you're talking about are waaaaay overpriced. But thing is, the average consumer buying a bag of weed is going to buy based on the bag appeal. So if I was selling weed, I'd be growing a lot more cookies-like strains.

 

[Creature1969]

But thing is, the average consumer buying a bag of weed is going to buy based on the bag appeal. So if I was selling weed, I'd be growing a lot more cookies-like strains.

True. Though the average consumer is usually ignorant to the facts due to marketing and hype. Add the influx of new users due to legalization and it the problem grows exponentially. Marketers know this, hence all the pretty buds, fancy packaging and the highest THC they can get away with printing.
I fell for for it for a short time when legal rec hit my state and I started growing. Didn't take long to realize what was going on and why I wasn't satisfied.

 

[natureboygrower]

Was talking to a buddy recently. We both started growing around the same time, in the mid 2000's. He remarked that its seemed like the majority of strains on the market now are much lower yielding in general than what was on the market when we started growing. This lead to a discussion about if this could be attributed to the prevalence of cookie genetics in so many modern strains or if was due to the chase of the Instagram pretty flowers to sell seeds and if that type of photogenic expression was more common in smaller yielding plants. We also discussed the importance of yield from a commercial aspect being more important back then due to black market/legality. During the conversation we also realized that most, if not all, of what we grew back then was from Euro breeders versus pretty much all American now.

Thought it would be interesting to see what everyone's thoughts are on the subject. Are we seeing the mid 2000s with nostalgia yield wise? Are we just not growing the right modern strains? Was yield more important to breeders back then for commercial reasons vs being photogenic on social media today? Did cookies have a far reaching effect on the gene pool? Are Euro genetics still throwing down or have they seen the same shift in focus?

Chime in about any aspect you feel like talking about, this seemed like a good topic for some stoned ramblings and personal anecdotes!

Imo, today's buds look a lot different from mid/late 90's to 2010 roughly. Today's buds are way chunkier due to massive amounts of calyx clusters. I've always wondered if it's due to genetics or LED's/lighting systems?

 

[Rivendell]

I guess this wasn't as much of a start to a good discussion as I thought, thanks for the reply's fellas!

 

[Kami Samurai]

My though process says legalization, pollen chuckers for profit and fast turnaround in a blooming billion dollar industry.
This is why there are thousands of breeders out there but only a handfull that are exceptional and stand above the rest.
More people used to breed for the love and passion of it, now it's comsumerism and profits.
Folks used to works strains for years. Now it's make a cross, pick a silly doper name, post some pretty insta pics, say how fast they are, hype THC and sell, sell, sell. Get 'em while they last!
I've seen people claim breeders don't get rich selling seeds. It only takes very simple math to prove that's a flat out lie.

After my own heart. Everyone’s chasing a check. It’s getting ridiculous, I seen a pack of jealousy selling for 2k. Fuck a squirrel with a spoon. I could build a room for that... I could go to Cali and buy a fuckin unit of jealousy from Berners mom for half that. Clones of clones of clones 500$ when they’re just reselling and mislabeling 20$ genetics. The dispos are flooded with so much mids it’s hard to sort out the knockouts and the bud tenders are all fuckin 14 year old hipsters so none of em can point you to a decent bowl if you put a gun to their chi latte induced heads.

Once you can sort it though it’s pretty cool and so far the more genetics you add the easier it is to trade for what you want. Discord is the shit, strainly gave me plant crabs a while back (spider mites). US seedbank are awesome and it’s a pain to get Sensi landed in Breeder these days. Most LEDs can’t compete with a simple 1000 watt HPS still. And the ones that can are all 1000$ min. The owner of growers house told me this not long ago.

what else...?

 

[conor c]

My though process says legalization, pollen chuckers for profit and fast turnaround in a blooming billion dollar industry.
This is why there are thousands of breeders out there but only a handfull that are exceptional and stand above the rest.
More people used to breed for the love and passion of it, now it's comsumerism and profits.
Folks used to works strains for years. Now it's make a cross, pick a silly doper name, post some pretty insta pics, say how fast they are, hype THC and sell, sell, sell. Get 'em while they last!
I've seen people claim breeders don't get rich selling seeds. It only takes very simple math to prove that's a flat out lie.

Its down to them 100% look at the likes of mr kc brains he charges so little most folks are scared to even try it thats down to him being an anti capitalist most would charge alot more idc about thc content and numbers cos smoking its the only real test imo also idc what the latest hype is where im from it aint even legal but its way more culturally acceptable than long ago obviously its also so widespread through society these days also i wouldnt say weeds any more potent than decades ago cos thats alot of pish its just that more potent weed is more common than decades ago thats all down to more people having access to the right info really id say more than anything else i guess in legal countries like usa canada or parts of europe the scene will have changed more there of course

Imo, today's buds look a lot different from mid/late 90's to 2010 roughly. Today's buds are way chunkier due to massive amounts of calyx clusters. I've always wondered if it's due to genetics or LED's/lighting systems?

Genetics and selective pressure more than lighting i would say cos i still rock hps and get stuff that would smash windows alot of the time il agree not with every line but in general todays weed is a bit more dense more/better lighting will help of course but i feel selection and genetics have more influence

 

[conor c]

After my own heart. Everyone’s chasing a check. It’s getting ridiculous, I seen a pack of jealousy selling for 2k. Fuck a squirrel with a spoon. I could build a room for that... I could go to Cali and buy a fuckin unit of jealousy from Berners mom for half that. Clones of clones of clones 500$ when they’re just reselling and mislabeling 20$ genetics. The dispos are flooded with so much mids it’s hard to sort out the knockouts and the bud tenders are all fuckin 14 year old hipsters so none of em can point you to a decent bowl if you put a gun to their chi latte induced heads.

Once you can sort it though it’s pretty cool and so far the more genetics you add the easier it is to trade for what you want. Discord is the shit, strainly gave me plant crabs a while back (spider mites). US seedbank are awesome and it’s a pain to get Sensi landed in Breeder these days. Most LEDs can’t compete with a simple 1000 watt HPS still. And the ones that can are all 1000$ min. The owner of growers house told me this not long ago.

what else...?

Agreed you pay 2k for seeds your off your head i know many will argue otherwise but all i know is it wouldnt be me and if legislation is just gonna rip the heart outta the scene like it sorta has over there i dont want it and that is something i thought id never say lol