I think where you go off track with your post is the "most patients" part. I don't know if I'd stereotype patients that grow like that. In my experience, most
New Growers (less than 2 years growing +/- can be mmj patient or not) want a product that you are talking about.
Patient Growers I would categorize differently. I think patient growers generally already have growing experience of 1+ years and have spent time researching their ailment, and the cannabis that could help that ailment. They aren't happy with dispensary pricing, quality, service or all of the above. They have usually all grown out some feminized blueberry, bubblegum and ak-47 and are ready to move on to something more specific to their particular ailment. This is just a generalization on my part, and only an opinion.
I'm pretty sure that most patients would consider themselves "cannaseurs" as most of us consume much larger amounts of cannabis than your average recreational user and are much more sensitive to taste, smell, trichome coverage, etc (pot snobs
). I don't think we are trying to compete with the Greenhouse Seed Co type of patient. The patient that wants a chemdog, trainwreck, cheese, etc. in feminized form. That market is sown up by the Dutch and Spanish breeders.
But you are dead on with the plant number issue, and with the new grower patients who need something a little simpler to start with, and feminized to allow for reduced selection time. Dead on. Right now we are working with a natural collodial silver solution and testing several mothers for feminized seeds. This process will take a while, as we really want to test the crap out of everything to make sure there are NO HERMS.
The strains worked in the Ski Train Collection were chosen because test grows showed 2 primary F1 phenotypes, with the exception of the Ski Train. The current Ski Train release is an F2, and was released in very limited quantities...30 packs I think. The male was paired to a multitude of cuts that didn't result in consistent pheno's and weren't released. I'd feel comfortable recommending everything except the ski patrol and ski train to new growers, as they are all very easy to grow and produce reliable results. Ski Patrol is the sativa end, and heavy on the haze, so it can be difficult for those with limited space for stretch.
Great discussion bro...keep it going.
BP
Feminized seed is a result of stressing a selected female to the point that she turns hermaphrodite and pollinates either herself (s1) or other selected females. They are cool, very cool and I've grown tons of them with great success. I've also had many herm on me at some point as well, for what its worth. I still grow feminized seed, and have no plans to stop as I really love testing everything and letting my results make the keep or kill decision.
BP