when i asked if it could be sativa OR indica all the way was my way of askin " can the difference be so grand that you can see it with the naked eye".
The answer to that is you might in many cases see a physical difference that would lead you to believe one is more sativa or more indica but when it comes to some crosses what you see can be misleading. Unless the leaves are extremely wide paddle-like leaves, almost fan blades from ceiling fan-looking or as thin as the Cryptkeeper's fingers, the thinner or wider blade leaf guesstimate for indica or sativa is only accurate a certain percentage of times.
Different phenotypes in packs of seeds were mentioned so I will use that as an example. I have had strains where, going only by their looks and growth patterns, some appeared to be very sativa and others appeared to be very indica. The high turned out to be the same. The only difference in that case were the genetics for growth patterns, not cannabinoid production. One of those was a run of Lemon Skunk by Green House Seeds. I am not a fan of Green House Seeds but when I see enough people talking about something, even from some of the breeders I would normally not go to for genetics, I will give the strain a try.
One had leaves that were like the blades of a ceiling fan, they were dark green and it had tight nodal spacing and it did not jump up much in flower, not more than doubled in height. It appeared to be very indica dominant. I had two where the leaves were like the bony fingers of a corpse, they were a lighter lime green, nodal spacing was wide and one jumped up slightly over six times in height during flower and the other was not much under that. Just going by looks they looked almost 100% sativa. The others appeared to be the sort of mix of indica and sativa the strain is said to be with slightly thinner than average width leaves for many crosses and the sort of color that would be expected in a cross like that and the nodal spacing was pretty much what was expected and they jumped up slightly more than three times in height in flower. All were harvested when the trichomes were the same colors, all were dried and cured under the same conditions and in the same way. I marked the jars of those I thought were going to be more indica and more sativa ... but it all smoked the same. If there was a difference between them it was not enough for me to be capable of telling just by smoking them.
In other cases, either with different phenotypes or different strains, I have had strains that had wider more indica looking leaves have more of a sativa-like high and less of a body stone than other strains with narrower leaves that looked very sativa-like but when it came to smoking them they were much more indica.
More times than not looks will tell you what something will be more like, but not always and certainly not enough to feel totally confident about being able to make a decision strictly by leaf shape all of the time.
plus, i understand if im not makin myself clear as english isnt my language at all and i never had it in school. that is something i cant change overnight i and i apoligize.
It was less lack of English skills and more that of lack of details, lack of information and not so much as improper English. Anyone here that was an English major would say that I speak two languages .. English and bad English. From the first day of grammar school until I graduated college my biggest downfall or weakest subject was always English. But I somehow do manage to get by.
but heres wheres the problem comes to play. the seedbank i ordered from did not state the breeder, so i guess they are the breeders. i dont know
and look here, im still new to this and all i wanted was a white widow. i choose this random seedbank and ordered something i believed to be white widow cause on they homepaged they said it was. now i hear its not the real thing, i get pissed. thats just how i tick. i see what your stressin , but theres no possible way for me to name the breeder.
My only comment or suggestion to that would be this. In your spare time research strains you have an interest in and find out who the original breeder was. Then in the future use one of the top rated seedbanks who least each breeder's line and then if you see the name of the strain or strains you are interested in under another breeder's name you know they are not the originals and you can then check out the original and see if it is worth it to you to pay the difference for the Real McCoy or instead decide to go with another breeder's version.
And as I did mention, not all knockoffs are bad. Some are pretty decent and very enjoyable and for someone on a tighter budget some can be what I call 'value strains.' They are not as high quality as the real deal but when you look at what they cost and what you get in return, they are a decent value for your dollar. Still though, when talking about them it is a good habit to get into to say they are (insert preferred strain name) from Next Generation Seeds or Paradise Seeds or whatever. That way when talking about a strain name everyone can be on the same page.
so i ask you again. what should i call it? should i name the seedbank and then add white widow?
It was sold under the name White Widow so I would call it that but I would add that the breeder and genetics are unknown. If you want to include saying that they were purchased through 'XYZ' seedbank or from some shop they were brought through, that would never hurt, but that is up to you.
i thought seedbanks worked like this. a breeder creates a strain, sells it to a seedbank who sells it to me. i would very much like to know WHY breeders choose to steal other breeders strain names when it only makes people ( or puppies) such as myself confused.
As I mentioned, there is no international copyright laws or protections for strain names. When a breeder hits a home run with a strain and it become the hot ticket, when the demand for it is high, other breeders, will attempt to capitalize on the market demand and create their own version and market it. Some will use the original breeder's advertising copy word for word and even use the original breeder's plant picture, and some will just pick some random picture of an attractive looking plant and use it. Some will write their own advertising copy and use their own plant picture. Regardless of which they may choose to do, that is the information they give to seedbanks and that seedbanks then put on their websites.
On a now defunct seedbank site I once saw three different strains from three different breeders that all used the exact same picture of the exact same plant to advertise their strain.
There are no truth in advertising laws in regards to cannabis strains and things about them like potency and yield etc. and sadly some breeders are less than scrupulous and will claim almost anything in hopes of catching your eye and then receiving your dollars or pesos or euros or whatever. Some breeders, one in particular, would, and still might be doing it, would photoshop their plant pictures to enhance the colors to make them look extremely unique and something someone would see and say, damn ... I want to grow that strain ... but when they did their plants did not come out looking anything like the photoshopped pictures that they swallowed hook, line and sinker and caused them to hand over their money.
Not every business person is honest, and that of course also applies to breeders. There is a handful of very highly skilled top notch breeders out there who are as honest as the day is long, but sadly there are also some who are anything but honest and who only care about getting your money.
What you need to do is research, and I do not mean on sites like this because there is more misinformation spread on sites like this than accurate information, and you need to educate yourself about breeders and strains and genetics and learn which seedbanks are reputable and which are not.
Many growers never do that and they rely on what some totally unknown stranger on a site like this will tell them to be accurate and factual. Someone new to growing who has only smoked commercial grade in the past can purchase an average grade strain, in relation to all professional made genetics, that will still be good enough when compared to the commercial they are used to and they will get on sites like this and tell the world that strain 'ABC' is the greatest strain ever. To them it very well might seem that way, but if someone else does not know better and only takes their word for it they will end up spending their money on mid-grade genetics and might end up very disappointed.
The lack of experience with and lack of exposure most growers have with the vast number of strains that are available make them susceptible to making poor strain choices by playing follow the leader, by taking the advice of someone with little to no experience or exposure to large numbers of strains and many end up joining what I call 'the flavor of the month club' and purchase just about every new strain that comes along that a handful of inexperienced growers/tokers rave about and claim to be the very best.
When people on RIU, and on many other similar sites, mention breeders it is rare for the very best breeders to be mentioned often at all. Sometimes that is due to ignorance and sometimes it is due to the higher cost of their genetics being out of the price range of most members and at times it is because a number of the best breeders do not make feminized seeds or auto-flowering strains and since so many people think they want them they will purchase Wal-Mart grade genetics from breeders who offer those things rather than purchase regular seeds from the very best of the very best.
But the breeders that are more times than not the ones who are mentioned most often are really mid to low grade breeders who are either incorrectly perceived as being high quality breeders or who offer things a number of the top breeders do not offer, like feminized seeds or auto-flowering strains, or whose prices are just so dirt cheap that either someone cannot pass up what they wrongly perceive to be a deal or that fit into the buyers lower budget.
its like im buildin a car and calling it a Ford. very confusing to me
You should have been around in the days when International Harvester built vehicles, like the Scout. They manufactured the body but one might have a Chevrolet manufactured engine with a For manufactured master cylinder, or the other way around, and have some parts from Chrysler products in them. They were mutts, they were Frankenstein monster vehicles. You could not walk into a part store and say you needed an alternator for a 1968 International Scout and expect one to be handed to you, or at least not expect the right one to be handed to you. You needed to bring in the old one or have a list of various vehicle numbers, including the VIN, or else the parts guy didn't have a clue what to give you.
You could see two of them sitting on a dealer's lot that by looking at them were exact twins but many of the parts would not be exchangeable between the two. It was a pain in the butt.
bottomline. i did NOT get what i thought i bought and theres no refunds. so yeah, im pissed like a lil child who dont get it his way. see?
As the old saying goes, you live and you learn. I pissed you off but I helped you to learn while doing it.
Bookmark this link ....
http://en.seedfinder.eu/ .. use it to reference and research strains. You can check out the list of Cup winners and find out who the original breeders were, or also in many cases do the same for other strains and breeders. You can also look at the strain lineage of different strains and see what they were made from. It does not have every single strain that exists listed on the site, but it is now up to 2,506 different strains, 2,247 of them from 152 established breeders ... and more.
Here is a link to smoke reports. ....
http://smokereports.com/ ... I have not used it much so I cannot swear how useful it is but it might come in handy in the future .. but remember, a smoke report written by someone new or fairly new to growing might claim some mid-grade genetics to be FANTASTIC, but if there are say a half dozen or so different reports on the same strain you should be able to figure out if it is decent or not. The odds are slim that every report would have been written by someone new to growing so you might read one that says it's the best ever and then three or five that say it's average at best ... and those would be the ones to believe.
Another smart thing to do if you have a strain in mind is to use Google and use the name and then add medicinal marijuana. You can find all sorts of good information out on sites for medicinal use of marijuana. It will be more accurate than much of what you will find on sites like this.
Good luck!
i got a White Widow for my first grow so lets compare the difference between strains when its done. DOH K?
