seed buying strategy for fem seed popping variety

[Splinter7]

i am basically a fem seed popper. no room for clones/mothers/males/etc. i guess my grows are as good as my seeds.
that said, seeds won't produce much more than 60g each (highest in this setup is 75g/plant). so, spending a lot per seed doesn't make a much sense. seeds are about 20% of my total cost per run. having variety is also important. i can't get high on the same strain forever unless the phenotypes are al over the place. currently running 8 slots with 7 strains (supposed to be 8, but the french macarons didn't germ). 15 to 24 plants per year. occcasionally i have to go through a few seeds to get enough germs to make a full run (ex. thseeds bubblegum too 3 seeds to get a plant).

so far i have only bought breeder packs sticking to cheaper packs. either 3 packs or low priced 5+ packs, keeping seed cost to about $9 to 11 each. the strains and genetics available are limited if you don't want to buy 100 dollar 10 packs or don't to pay 20 bucks a seed for high priced 3 packs. I only really need 3 seeds at most of any strain.

i noticed some buddy's approaching this a bit differently, focusing on freebies from a breeder they like and just finding one strain to buy. it ends up giving them some variety and makes eating that 10 pack for 100 not seem as bad. getting cheap strains (dutch passion, barney's, etc) from say multiverse, i can get 4 to 6 fem strains for about 150 bucks with about 3 seeds each.

is there a better strategy or way to get variety?
am i losing on quality in my current strategy? I guess i wouldn't mind paying an extra 5 to 10 dollars per plant to make it more potent/dank.
Also, should i avoid s1 fem seeds? i haven't grown any that i knew were f1, but perhaps some have been and I didn't know. is this something to even worry about?

 

[conor c]

i am basically a fem seed popper. no room for clones/mothers/males/etc. i guess my grows are as good as my seeds.
that said, seeds won't produce much more than 60g each (highest in this setup is 75g/plant). so, spending a lot per seed doesn't make a much sense. seeds are about 20% of my total cost per run. having variety is also important. i can't get high on the same strain forever unless the phenotypes are al over the place. currently running 8 slots with 7 strains (supposed to be 8, but the french macarons didn't germ). 15 to 24 plants per year. occcasionally i have to go through a few seeds to get enough germs to make a full run (ex. thseeds bubblegum too 3 seeds to get a plant).

so far i have only bought breeder packs sticking to cheaper packs. either 3 packs or low priced 5+ packs, keeping seed cost to about $9 to 11 each. the strains and genetics available are limited if you don't want to buy 100 dollar 10 packs or don't to pay 20 bucks a seed for high priced 3 packs. I only really need 3 seeds at most of any strain.

i noticed some buddy's approaching this a bit differently, focusing on freebies from a breeder they like and just finding one strain to buy. it ends up giving them some variety and makes eating that 10 pack for 100 not seem as bad. getting cheap strains (dutch passion, barney's, etc) from say multiverse, i can get 4 to 6 fem strains for about 150 bucks with about 3 seeds each.

is there a better strategy or way to get variety?
am i losing on quality in my current strategy? I guess i wouldn't mind paying an extra 5 to 10 dollars per plant to make it more potent/dank.
Also, should i avoid s1 fem seeds? i haven't grown any that i knew were f1, but perhaps some have been and I didn't know. is this something to even worry about?

S1 is fem seeds but it just means self pollinated and if there made correctly there fine you could go two routes buy mix packs always but often they arent labelled separately or buy seeds in bulk from say seedstockers or something like that if u want stuff cheap and u sticking to fems only

 

[Modern Selections]

Black Friday is right around the corner. Most seed co are having deals with lots of freebies. Attitude last year sent me 50+ fem freebies for their Black Friday deals. Christmas and New Years as well, lots of deals and good time to stock up.

CSI Humboldt sells packs of 6 fems on their website for 100 bucks. That may make you cringe at first but then you receive the order and there are so many freebies I wound up paying way less than 10 a seed for excellent quality S1's or Fems.

I grow a lot of seeds and do a lot of pheno hunting, 1k+ seeds at least per year and the one thing that is for certain, price doesn't mean anything when it comes to cannabis seeds. A 200 pack of fancy pollen chucker Instagram seeds, cough..er Inhouse, is not always or even often going to be better that a 60 dollar pack of Useful seeds. At around 10 bucks and change a seed for Ace seeds fems you are getting highly worked strains you can count on, especially when you are just growing for personal smoke.

It all boils down to scouting the seed banks for deals, freebies, and researching which strain you want and then searching for the best deals. Just my 2 cents, have fun strain hunting!

 

[Splinter7]

S1 is fem seeds but it just means self pollinated and if there made correctly there fine you could go two routes buy mix packs always but often they arent labelled separately or buy seeds in bulk from say seedstockers or something like that if u want stuff cheap and u sticking to fems only

but how much am i losing in quality buying higher volume breeders vs. taking the bullet and popping the artisan strains? i had not even onsidered getting bulk/white label....that is an option i guess. i have appreciated being able to look up other people's grows (a lot of people have grown dutch passion blueberry for example) and match mine by breeder and strain. that should be indicative of what you will end up with.

for the s1 seeds, i am worried if variability is an issue (too much/too little)? i do like to know what i am buying beforehand. long ago when doing bagseeds (mostly likely s1) i never cared, but now they cost money.

so far, i have only finished 1 or 2 fems that i would say was good enough to gloat about. even then, i just havent' seen the super caked trichs. if i did, i couldn't expect consistency. i find terps and pretty frosty buds. yield is there too. just not getting that 24%+ high. i have another batch of sampled strains going into flower this week. if i don't hit a magical plant this round maybe i go cheaper or more expensive to see the outcome.

 

[mudballs]

Overgrow has trade threads...you may find something sweet going that route.

 

[Modern Selections]

Check out these folks, you will definitely get seriously good smoke.

Lucky Dog Seeds
Karma Genetics
AK Bean Brains
Archive
Relentless genetics
Top Dawg
I am just listing a few that are all solid and produce top shelf modern strains in seed form.

More untested or lightly tested, expect variation and varied results..Inhouse, Exotic Genetix, Bodhi, Cannarado, that jack wagon Ethos and many more like these are hit and miss on the phenotypes.

 

[xtsho]

but how much am i losing in quality buying higher volume breeders vs. taking the bullet and popping the artisan strains? i had not even onsidered getting bulk/white label....that is an option i guess. i have appreciated being able to look up other people's grows (a lot of people have grown dutch passion blueberry for example) and match mine by breeder and strain. that should be indicative of what you will end up with.

for the s1 seeds, i am worried if variability is an issue (too much/too little)? i do like to know what i am buying beforehand. long ago when doing bagseeds (mostly likely s1) i never cared, but now they cost money.

so far, i have only finished 1 or 2 fems that i would say was good enough to gloat about. even then, i just havent' seen the super caked trichs. if i did, i couldn't expect consistency. i find terps and pretty frosty buds. yield is there too. just not getting that 24%+ high. i have another batch of sampled strains going into flower this week. if i don't hit a magical plant this round maybe i go cheaper or more expensive to see the outcome.

The only thing artisan about much of the stuff out there is the artwork on the package. Stick with some of the outfits that have been around awhile. Don't pay attention to silly names and social media hype or waste your money on those overpriced drops of Apricot Jelly Bean Cookie Crumble Pie or whatever ridiculous name that sounds like a children's breakfast cereal. You can get very good genetics that are proven and much cheaper than those made yesterday pollen chucks so many seem to be chasing these days.

 

[Splinter7]

Black Friday is right around the corner. Most seed co are having deals with lots of freebies. Attitude last year sent me 50+ fem freebies for their Black Friday deals. Christmas and New Years as well, lots of deals and good time to stock up.

CSI Humboldt sells packs of 6 fems on their website for 100 bucks. That may make you cringe at first but then you receive the order and there are so many freebies I wound up paying way less than 10 a seed for excellent quality S1's or Fems.

I grow a lot of seeds and do a lot of pheno hunting, 1k+ seeds at least per year and the one thing that is for certain, price doesn't mean anything when it comes to cannabis seeds. A 200 pack of fancy pollen chucker Instagram seeds, cough..er Inhouse, is not always or even often going to be better that a 60 dollar pack of Useful seeds. At around 10 bucks and change a seed for Ace seeds fems you are getting highly worked strains you can count on, especially when you are just growing for personal smoke.

It all boils down to scouting the seed banks for deals, freebies, and researching which strain you want and then searching for the best deals. Just my 2 cents, have fun strain hunting!

lol struggling with some Ace right now...tikal is treating my pretty badly. i think it doesn't like my setup much. fast grower though. going into flower this week.

i get what you are saying. well worked seeds should be decent. I guess i'm looking for a consistently potent outcome from seed since not pheno hunting. i am already buying seeds with pretty good reputations, but they are more entry level in pricing. is buying more expensive brands or locking yourself into a 6 to 10 pack and unknown/unwanted freebies worth it?

 

[Rurumo]

You should check out CSI Humboldt, they have nice fems and s1s AND they give out a ton of freebies, I think it's a good fit for you. And if you branch out from Fems you can find some really good deals. Like FDM sells 50 mixed seeds for $50, and you can choose from different combinations.

 

[Nope_49595933949]

Check out exotic genetix back stock box, I found it hard to pass up.

Fall Backstock Build A Box

www.exoticgenetix.com

 

[conor c]

The only thing artisan about much of the stuff out there is the artwork on the package. Stick with some of the outfits that have been around awhile. Don't pay attention to silly names and social media hype or waste your money on those overpriced drops of Apricot Jelly Bean Cookie Crumble Pie or whatever ridiculous name that sounds like a children's breakfast cereal. You can get very good genetics that are proven and much cheaper than those made yesterday pollen chucks so many seem to be chasing these days.

Ime cheap seeds dont mean bad weed like he said price means fuckall in the canna world these days u could spend 500 on a pack and it turn out to be crap and u could spend 30 on a pack and get some good plants obviously it really comes down to the breeder in the end as he said dont be swayed by hype

 

[conor c]

but how much am i losing in quality buying higher volume breeders vs. taking the bullet and popping the artisan strains? i had not even onsidered getting bulk/white label....that is an option i guess. i have appreciated being able to look up other people's grows (a lot of people have grown dutch passion blueberry for example) and match mine by breeder and strain. that should be indicative of what you will end up with.

for the s1 seeds, i am worried if variability is an issue (too much/too little)? i do like to know what i am buying beforehand. long ago when doing bagseeds (mostly likely s1) i never cared, but now they cost money.

so far, i have only finished 1 or 2 fems that i would say was good enough to gloat about. even then, i just havent' seen the super caked trichs. if i did, i couldn't expect consistency. i find terps and pretty frosty buds. yield is there too. just not getting that 24%+ high. i have another batch of sampled strains going into flower this week. if i don't hit a magical plant this round maybe i go cheaper or more expensive to see the outcome.

Honestly ime cheap seeds are fine mate

 

[keifcake]

I was coming to recommend some Ace, like Honduras x Panama.

But I have to agree with @Rurumo especially if you're wanting to stretch your money out as far as possible with the amazing value of ordering direct is, just go ahead and pick your favorite sounding pack or two of CSI, send cash in the mail.

This is my order from a week or two ago, I ordered 2 packs on sale, $150 or so, the Chem D S1 and Headband x Chem D , he threw in more Chem to round it out and something different for variety.

 

[keifcake]

Ace is in my opinion the best choice for your best chance of consistent top quality buds. I grew one fem Tikal and didn't have the best results with it either. The biggest benefit of going with Ace is how open and honest they are, Dubi is one of the most accessible breeders you can find, being able to get direct feedback is pretty awesome.

Don't sleep on the Ace hybrids, I'm pretty impressed by how Panama x PCK is growing. I've always been a fan of Ace, but since adjusting my environment and learning more on organics, what I'm seeing this current grow has me just wanting to run almost everything they have.

I'm currently running Malawi, Panama x PCK, Panama Haze, Honduras, Honduras x Panama, New Caledonia, and then in seedlings Hashplant Haze x Kali China and Golden Tiger x Panama.

Out of all the seeds I have, I'm having a hard time fitting things that aren't Ace into the cycle, and then having somewhat difficult decisions of which Ace to run since I can't just run them all.

 

[Horselover fat]

i am basically a fem seed popper. no room for clones/mothers/males/etc.

Take small clones in flower. Give them very little light and only water. Rooting and reverting to veg will take a while and the clones will not really grow untill you feed them. You'll only need a tiny space to do it.

 

[Rurumo]

S1 Chems and OGs are consistently good in general, some have probably been selfed multiple times and are surprisingly consistent. Actually, if you check out my FC3000 journal in my sig, I popped 4 OG S1s for that, and each one was good. I got those from Cannaventure-they might also have some S1s that peak your fancy, although CSI are the kings of freebies-as you can see from Keafcakes pics above.

 

[xtsho]

Ace is in my opinion the best choice for your best chance of consistent top quality buds. I grew one fem Tikal and didn't have the best results with it either. The biggest benefit of going with Ace is how open and honest they are, Dubi is one of the most accessible breeders you can find, being able to get direct feedback is pretty awesome.

Don't sleep on the Ace hybrids, I'm pretty impressed by how Panama x PCK is growing. I've always been a fan of Ace, but since adjusting my environment and learning more on organics, what I'm seeing this current grow has me just wanting to run almost everything they have.

I'm currently running Malawi, Panama x PCK, Panama Haze, Honduras, Honduras x Panama, New Caledonia, and then in seedlings Hashplant Haze x Kali China and Golden Tiger x Panama.

Out of all the seeds I have, I'm having a hard time fitting things that aren't Ace into the cycle, and then having somewhat difficult decisions of which Ace to run since I can't just run them all.

ACE is the place. I agree with your assessment. Their stuff is good and Dubi is an actual breeder that's been around for a long time and is very customer service oriented. He treats the people growing his strains with respect. It's a great outfit.

I've grown a cross I made of their Panama and PCK. It turned out really well. This was before they were offering it. They used to have mostly long flowering sativas but seem to have adapted to market conditions and have been breeding quality hybrids with shorter flowering times which people want. The long flowering sativas are great but most don't want to wait 16+ months flowering time. It's also much harder to keep those plants healthy all the way to harvest.

It's too too bad you didn't have good results with Tikal. I've grown it and it was really good. I made a couple crosses with it. I'm growing the discontinued Guatemala they used for the Tikal cross right now. I had a pack dated 2017 thats been in my vault for years and had 100% germination.

I hear you about fitting things in. I've been growing something from ACE I haven't grown before every grow for years. I have a pack of Honduras on deck along with a half dozen other of their strains I haven't grown.

I just wish they shipped directly to the US. There's some stuff that is only available direct from them. It's probably a good thing though as I don't need to be buying seeds. I have too much stuff I haven't gotten too already.

 

[Thundercat]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet. If you are looking for stabile genetics with repeatable results you should be looking at breeders that actually work the lines to f5,f6,f7.....

 

[keifcake]

Some of the long flowering sativas really aren't meant for indoor, and you're never going to get much yield inside with them, Purple Haze x Malawi and Old Timers Haze are two examples, and it was certainly difficult trying to keep PH x Malawi healthy for 16 weeks. The hybrids seem to be much easier to grow, but not all their sativas are difficult to grow, and a majority of their lines now finish about 12 weeks, which isnt much longer than most of your chems / OG's which take a minimum of 10 weeks.

The Tikal I ran didn't grow real big, and I had gotten budrot. I like the smell, but I grew Panama Haze at the same time and I would much prefer and recommend it over Tikal, they smell very similar, although the Tikal has a little peachy-Ness added to the incense it's much more muted, the PanHaze has a sweet incense that is pretty fragrant. It hasn't been a difficult plant to grow, great resin production, good yield, extreme vigor, but it does take a couple extra weeks flower, although you save on veg time.

I have found one gem of a Honduras in the Columbian line from the breeders pack.

This is the Panama leaning Panama x PCK I'm really liking, wonderful sweet smells I can't quite place yet.

 

[Rob Roy]

I just wish they shipped directly to the US.

If you don't already know...North Atlantic Seeds out of Maine has recently been offering Ace seeds.

The PCK went really fast, but I think (hope) they plan to restock it. Haven't grown that one since prohibition days.