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Seed banks, necessary or not?
Are seed banks really necessary to today's growers?

There are two camps that are decidedly far apart in the matter. Seed banks are not a new thing, they have been around for a long long time, but now as the growers of our favorite herb are expanding at such a rapid pace, the need for the seeds to grow it are becoming a larger issue, and the seed banks that take care of this demand are becoming richer and ever larger companies.

One of the largest seed banks is in Canada; it is part of a family of businesses owned by one, Marc Emery. One of the smallest I am aware of is Cannabis Professionals on the east coast of Canada. I am not aware of every seed bank at the time of this article, but I shall be by the time I am done what I have set out to do.

The camps

The side for seed banks says they like to shop at them for the simple reason you know what you are getting. A breeder pack is a guarantee of sorts. A guarantee that you are getting exactly what you are paying for? or are you? I have about 100 seeds, if I piled them all in the center of a circle, except for one or two notable exceptions, I would be having me a mix. Yep, I can already see a few of you more experienced growers going. That guy don know his butt from George Bush's face!? Well, you have that right my learned friend, and there are an army just like me out there that outnumber the old guard 5 to 1! But don't get offended yet. We know you are a source of knowledge that no forum or book or video can equal, we just tease you cause you get so riled.

The side against seed banks? Well they are saying that the prices are out of line with the product, that high prices of cannabis seeds are hindering the growers of the world from getting the best genetics at what we think they are worth... buck a bean. Yep, I chat with a lot of growers and they all say the same thing. Buck a bean. Beans are seeds for those not into the grower vernacular just yet. How many beans do you get from a seeded female you ask? Well the stories go from a thousand to 10,000 +. $1000 a plant, hmmm good coin maybe, with enough plants. 10,000 per plant? Ummm that?s a lot of money, but the guy who has the gene pool wins right? Well, as with all businesses, this is not true here. A small breeder with the right tools, some space and a little time on their hands could make some real kick-butt copies or crosses.

A quote from our own beloved Phat Pharmer here at YaHooka,

And the rebuttal was,

E.G.

• 10 Gooey Widow at a cost of $30.00
• 10 Ooey Gooey for $30.00
• 10 Shiva Skunk at a cost of $80.00
• 10 Purple Pudgy at a cost of $100.00 for 10 ozs

That's not bad 10 oz at a cost of about $20.00 each including electricity!! Man am I ever a rip off! Give me a break!!!!?"

By Cannabis Pro, owner of Cannabis Professionals seed bank.

I have to say that when I read them I saw a valid point for each side. The breeders need to be able to make a good enough living that they are going to want to stay home and work their craft instead of having to go out and get a job where they have limited time to spend on what is really important, the perfecting of the herb; while the growers should be able to get seeds at reasonable cost, after all, look at how many seeds you get off of a big momma.

Now the thing is the middleman. Oh yes, just like business huh? Yes, you guessed it, the person who provides the buffer between us, the temperamental growers, and them, the Prima Donna big time breeders of the world.

I know whichever side you choose, eventually you are going to want to order from one of the seed banks. I mean let?s be honest, we want a variety, we want primo seeds too, but we want them cheap! Hard order to fill it seems sometimes. There are companies out there that specialize in what some people call "knock-offs" of famous strains. Now I am not sure that the term knock-off is appropriate here. I mean, you know that you are not going to get the original Northern Lights pure for $23 CAD right? Right?

So Nirvana selling me one for that price would mean it's a different version let's say. I want Northern Lights pure, but I can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars for it. Now hold on, don?t get me wrong, if you are planning on breeding or you want the finest of the finest bud, and then by all means pay for it. Then you know you are getting a pure NL, something with one look to it, stability, the ability to say yes, this is THE Northern Lights and I know when I plant it I will get exactly what is advertised.

Myself, I had the visions of breeding my own seeds, but to be honest if I do that it would mean that I would have a lot of one strain to plant. Not my style bro! I want variety! I want fruity tastes and hashy goodness in the same day. I want a strain to keep me up all evening, and one to relax me at night.

I know when I decided to start my first grow, I went to the largest sites I could and read their grow FAQs from start to finish, so I was aware of hermaphrodism and the other perils associated with using bag seed, and decided the money spent to assure decent seeds was well worth it. Huge point here folks, well worth putting this whole thing on hold for.

Almost every cannabis forum has a FAQ that is helpful to varying degrees. Use it first. USE IT FIRST! That is why you see so many posts where the old timers get mad at newbies. The basics are in the FAQs Jacques. Once you get past the basics and you are a professional grower? riight, when you screw up, and you will, you can talk to the old guys and get help.

Others on the various Cannabis forums spread throughout the world via the internet have stated the smart way is to grow using bag seed first because it is free and it will get you some valuable experience before you spend a lot of money on seeds. Whichever way you decide to start you need seeds. And if you live where you can buy the kind bud easily, the chances of finding a seed can be slim to none as good growers do grow sensimilla? and that is a whole other question, sensi vs. seeded potency.

So, where to find seeds? Well a search of "cannabis seeds" on one of the larger search engines of the Internet returned me 147,000 hits. When I decided to be a bit more precise, searching the term "cannabis seed banks" I got returned 5540 hits. The term Canadian seed banks got me only 87 of the hits. I went to one of the sites and counted 29 advertised Canadian seed banks. The ones below actually led to seed banks. I have not bought from these, so do some research before sending out money, k?

Before you go to the links go here first. Greenmans Seedbank Update

Oh yes, the above link takes you to Green man?s Seed Bank Update Site.

His is the definitive site for seed bank ratings, if you get on his bad seed bank list you are going to have some problems with sales.

• Nirvana (Netherlands)
• Nirvana (Canada)
• Premiere Seeds
• Richies Seeds
• Smokin Seeds
• Worldwide Seeds
• Treating Yourself
• Reeferman Seeds
• THC seeds

Now here is my own personal list that I would order from. A couple I would order from but use a P.O. Box under someone else's name, those have asterisks beside them.

• The Amsterdam - If they would lower their prices a bit.
  
• Dr Chronic.com - Because a couple of U.K. growers I know well use them and I trust their judgment.
  
• Hempqc.com Cannabis Seedbank - These guys I will order from without reservation.
  
• Peak Seeds British Columbia Marijuana Seeds - Another company I would order from without reservation.
  
• afropips - I would order from this guy without worry.

Now the seed bank you choose should be researched carefully. Don?t assume a few nay Sayers mean the seed bank is not a good one, or that a seed bank that you find nothing bad about is a good one for you. The problem with providing this service in North America is the herb and it?s seeds are illegal. Well if the issue of seeds being legal or not to own is in doubt, plant one and call the cops and you?ll soon know the truth of the matter. Putting seed to soil is a federal offense. Damn those politicians, how can you make something from Mother Nature illegal? And when is her appeal?

Now that is a subject you don?t want to try to discuss in an open forum too much as the paranoia that is evident and aggressive in nature.People that are normally some of the most level-headed you will meet are fanatical that you do NOT mention arrest, charges, or anything to do with being caught growing. So screw it, maybe another time.

First, let's touch up on mailing safety.

I can only comment on Canadian as that's what I am.

Canadians, anything you receive in the mail is not your fault. Simple hey? Nothing you receive in the mail is chargeable to you. Just don?t go arguing if they seize your seeds dummy! If they do find your seeds, you will get a notice in the mail telling you so explaining that if you would like to argue about it, contact them. OK , this is important?. DO NOT CONTACT THEM! Let me reiterate, do NOT contact them. Contact the seed bank you bought them from, email them a copy of what you got from the damn government and a decent seed bank will send you replacements. Now did you notice I did not mention repaying? Oh, well isn't that kind of like having a free delivery insurance you might ask? Why yes, I would reply, that is exactly like having delivery insurance.When you get the second package of seeds in the mail, the money you spent may seem well worth it.

Now as far as P.O. (post office) boxes, they ask you for I.D. upon rental don?t they? So if you give them I.D., wouldn't that automatically void the protection involved in using a P.O. box? I mean gee, they can get your address at any time, and few people can afford to grow 6-12 plants in a space rented for that purpose. Guess having it mailed to your house is every bit as risky, hmmm? Yeah, I know ?what if I use fake I.D.?? If you know a guy that can get you fake I.D. you are probably smart enough to know this already relax and skip that part. its?s not the government people are trying to protect themselves from, its allowing the seedbanks to have your home address that people should fear. Living in some database? Who exactly is at risk of being busted? The small independent grower who grows for his own use? Or is it the billion dollar industry who supplies said grower?

Canada Post - Rent a Postal Box for those interested.

I have since starting this gone down to CanadaPost and rented a P.O. box, and yes, they check I.D. and they want the written names of all people receiving mail in it.

Now I have ordered from 1 Amsterdam seed bank 6 times, and I have received seeds in the mail from small private breeders. The difference being, I KNOW that the larger companies keep my personal info, but a smaller breeder would be less likely to for fear of being found with a list. Think about it, you have plants; they find a list of names and addresses? Suddenly you went from cultivation to trafficking, and you do NOT want that charge. How do I know the big ones keep the info? I went online to order seeds at a very well known seed bank, and when I entered my email address up popped my full mailing address for me to O.K. Well, I can tell you I was quite shocked. DUH!

Remember years ago when one of the larger Holland based seed banks had partner problems, and a ?list? of names of people who had purchased seeds was taken by the partner leaving the business? If they didn?t keep a list, the names would not be out there in someone?s drawer waiting to be found in a police search.

My opinion? I like Seed Banks. I want them out there for when I can afford to buy some Willie Nelson or some NYCD or some other wildly expensive strain. For the foreseeable future I?ll be buying and logging some of the finest hybrid strains on the world?s market today, all bought from small private breeders not many people have heard of?. I like the small seed bank. It gives me that up close and personal service. Of course, if anyone wants to send me a few genuine 'Legends Ultimate Indica' to log? I won?t refuse, but I will not go out of my way to buy them?. Yet.

What I am trying to accomplish with this introduction is to bring to the forefront the smaller seed banks. Is the small seed bank a viable option for the grower to send his hard earned dollars to in return for 10 or 12 little tiny bundles of Nirvana?.

I plan on offering a series of articles on small breeders and seed banks. I hope, of course, will be hoping that each breeder and seed bank I contact will eagerly answer my questions with great speed and reliability, or I?ll roast em!

No, not really, the breeders that don?t answer the questions can go on their merry way, us being all the poorer for their secretive nature. Given their livelihood, do you blame them? But I do expect them to participate to a certain degree as this IS good advertising.

The seed banks, on the other hand, we must know about them mustn't we? The seed banks I expect to be quite forthright as I am not setting out to damn them, but merely to get information on ordering, seed availability, strains available. Maybe we?ll order some together and go on a journey, along with my hard earned dollars to a seed bank in our frozen arctic wastes.

Oh yes, I have a first seed bank victim all picked out. He has gladly accepted the challenge and I am in the process of getting the questions I want to ask out there.

So sit back, light a Phat one and lets get this party started.



Can I grow seeds from my bought weed?

Contributed By kosh

If the seeds are yellow/green they probably won't germinate since they obviously haven't ripened enough. But you could try,some of them may sprout.

If the herb you got the seeds from is very good, the seeds from that could also be very good, about 50% of them any way, cause the female which you now smoke was good, so her genes will be good....what the male(stud) was like is any ones guess.

Contributed By SmokeSomeDoja

i got a seed from a bag of either train wreck or northern lights and thats been working fine.

Contributed By Sureshot

As far as seeds from bags go I'd actually probably RATHER grow something out of Mexican brick than from a bag of locally indoor grown AAA.

Simple enough reasoning, Mexibrick is outdoors Sativa grown in large outdoor plots, not separated from males and is hence pollinated. It is then roughly cut and dried and not cured before being pressed and shipped. It is the process of growing, harvesting and shipping that makes this weed bad... NOT the FINE Mexican genetics.

Whereas...

Local indoor grown AAA SHOULDN'T have ANY seeds, if it does it's not likely to be through accidentally pollination from another male (commercial croppers don't grow from seed, clones all the way), so rather it is likely to be a strain that hermied out slightly at some point. Now this COULD be down to some stress but is liable to be purely genetic, easy herm strains are not something I truly want in my grow room.

Obviously this doesn't always hold true as there are so many variables, in the first mexibrick scenario for example the male could have been a low potency ditch weed runt.

Ah well. Keep on keeping on.

My buddy gave me some seeds but I can't grow right now, how long will they last and how is best to store them?

Storing Seeds - OT1 from OG/UK420 does his thing