you don't have to pay $225 for a decent jack herer. sannie's jack f7 is only $50 and called "legit" as in close to the original and not watered down. it's at the top of my shopping list, but TGA subcool's jack's cleaner 2 kicks so much ass it's not even funny. it's a little stonier than i prefer, but does real visuals with a nice happy warm and fuzzy touchy feely buzz that pushes my only like getting high pot snob buttons big time. jack the ripper is probably trippier and racier, but i have issues with it's name along with equally regarded sannie's killing fields.
i don't like LSD. it's compact and sexy, but just has a generic haze high that's not trippy as described with an annoying creeper stone i didn't like at all. i like john sinclair's sativa trans-love better as it starts out with a similar generic haze high, but doesn't turn stony, and buds really fast compared to other strains that get you high.
i like CH9's jack better than LSD too. it's not as trippy as JC2, but is nice and potent and euphoric in a compact indica looking strain that isn't skunky and whose stone is very mild. i didn't study it well enough as i was liking JC2 better for it's visuals and stretchy, but super fruity and sticky DNA sweet haze too as it has some psychoactivity as well.
dutch passion and greenhouse should be off your list. they aren't too well respected. i tried greenhouse super lemon haze as a freebie just to take a look myself as there's so much hermie hate for their gear and didn't get that, but it did take almost a month and 3-4 nodes to stop mutating and settle where other strains, even pure sativa malawi gold were already budding.
serious AK-47 should be great if you're after that kind of buzz. mr nice is highly respected too as is reserva privada/DNA. i've liked all 3 DNA strains i've tried, especially sweet haze, but their lemon skunk freebie had top to bottom quality and spanks the crap out of stony skunk #1 and even has a golden glow that matches the lemony flavor and their sour cream is as stony as skunk #1 and blueberry, but extra delicious. it's my favorite stoner bud for the flavor. i gave my LaCon freebies away because that strain can get stinky, but it too is top quality based on the reports from those who grew it that tried to talk me into keeping it. the reserva privada line leans more towards indicas.
feminized seeds are generally considered a shortcut. they are much more likely to hermie as they're bred from a forced hermie female, and they lack the vigor of a proper cross or the hybrid vigor you get from crossing two different strains like TGA subcool does. there's two schools of thought there though, some are obsessed with how stabilized and predictable a strain is, and then others like me don't mind pheno variation as it gives you more variety to pick and chose from along with the hybrid vigor that's like a free potency boost. you have to pick your own priorities there. DON'T get nirvana fems though... notoriously bad, but i've tried a bunch of fems, many freebies, and so far only had problems with that mutating greenhouse SLH freebie. DNA sweet haze is my 2nd favorite strain, and it was a fem as were the lemon skunk and sour cream. it's a really cheap way to sample a strain and a given breeder's chops, but if you want to get serious about quality, regs are better, especially for breeding. nature knows WTF it's doing.
jack herer and super silver haze are actually bred from the exact same parents, just in different breeding orders. SSH is more indica dominant and herer is hazier. i like sativas best, so i'm totally a jack herer fan now that i've sampled a few hybrids. i'm going to test critical jack and jack 33 this winter, and want to try "the real deal" jack f7 too along with TGA subcool's third dimension. super silver haze shouldn't be shabby either though. just a little stonier. it's won more cannabis cups than any other strain if memory serves me right. getting it AND jack herer would be a little redundant. if you want variety, get jack and something stony like AK-47 or a kush.
sannies has SSH crosses too. many love herer though. it was given the honorary title of "holy grail" strain for making something that gets you high that's doable indoors with decent yields. i tell you though, i laughed my ass off when JC2 made me get into massaging my chest and arms and i noticed i was imagining invisible ripples of tie color where i touched. i hadn't experienced ANYTHING that visual after real columbian gold vanished in the 80s. as sannie's jack f7 takes a couple weeks longer to finish, it might be even tripper and more energetic. jack herer's the next best thing to a fussy 15 week plus pure sativa. i want to try a bunch of hybrids of that. were it not for the evil name, i wouldn't hesitate to get jack the ripper as that's a nice "9 week haze" that people say is extra trippy.
i see their name pop up all the time in recommended breeder's threads, though they aren't the most popular breeder, but many great breeders have smaller markets. my 3rd favorite strain is high quality seeds' stretchy 12 week haze x skunk. man that shit is POTENT! i call it an AK-47 for getting high. it doesn't turn stony even after a month either and has at least a little bit of psychoactivity for it's modest $28 price. i haven't seen too many people growing their gear at all, but that's my 3rd favorite strain. big buddha has more fans, so if you want a purple strain and P kush is recommended, go for it. that would totally contrast the motivational & trippy stuff i like. big buddha cheese and other breeder's versions have a lot of fans too.
on clones. I have a list but I need to narrow it down, would like to get opinions on these strains and maybe which you would choose if you were in my shoes. 
