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I’ve been inundated with seed offers via email recently. It certainly seems that all my efforts to “unsubscribe” have been ignored.

But it serves as a good reminder that if you are considering growing from seeds and haven’t purchased any for this year, it’s time.

Of all the questions I’ve been asked over the years, the most common is, “Where do you buy your seeds?”

The simple answer to that question is that I buy seeds from all over the world. I try to buy from the places that actually carry what they’re advertising, and that’s not something guaranteed. Countless are the number of cultivars I thought I was growing, but it turned out to be something else.

For example, in last year’s grow, two cultivars were clearly not the cultivars I intended to grow. The Hindu Kush is not a Hindu Kush, she was an unknown sativa hybrid. This wasn’t some odd phenotype of Hindu Kush, it just flat out wasn’t the strain.

The “Hindu Kush” turned out to be a sativa hybrid of unknown name or origin. 

One of the ACDC seeds we started was also a sativa hybrid, with literally no CBD in it. It is obviously not a CBD plant, but it’s being sold as one.

The only way to know this for sure, btw, is to test the plant. If you don’t test, you’ll think there’s something wrong with you, or how you grew, and that’s not the case.

This is especially true with CBD seeds, which I have documented elsewhere.

So then, where to start?

The first thing to do is to start locally. One of the biggest mistakes that seed growers make is trying to grow cultivars from regions of the world quite different (in terms of weather) from where they live. When I decided to grow entirely from seeds, the first place I looked for sources was from local growers that I know. Perhaps by virtue of a well thought out barter, I could acquire seeds from local growers, including seeds made by the local growers for cultivars not commercially available. Folks, there’s a whole world of unknown cultivars out there and bartering for them was exactly the right approach. Trade something for something. In my case, I volunteered to help him trim in exchange for seeds. 

(As a side note here–I don’t sell anything, so bartering is how I roll. It’s a much friendlier way to conduct commerce and everyone gets something out of the exchange, without any money involved.)

So, I like looking for cultivars locally, cultivars that have a history of growing well in my geographic region. This is an especially important component to effective growing, having confidence that a plant will grow well where you live.

One of our favorite cultivars, one that I refer to often in my blogs is the West Marin Mystery, which is not commercially available. We called it that because the breeder didn’t know half the lineage on this group of seeds. We have since determined that the parents of this strain are Trainwreck and Royal Kush, and if that sounds good to you, it’s even better. These seeds are among the most potent; especially regarding terpenes, that I’ve grown. Until last year, the West Marin Mystery was my terpene champion.

The West Marin Mystery

So I encourage you to find local growers with seeds they’ve created. When you get those seeds, ask for any advice or problems you might encounter. Is the cultivar prone to pathogens, or is she locally resistant? Is she a tight cluster grow, or more spacious? When does she typically harvest? The more questions you ask when you buy, the better prepared you’ll be to grow.

When I decided to expand on my geographic region for finding seeds, I became a true weather nerd. I studied my weather, day to day, week to week, etc. I began to educate myself on my weather and what plants grow best in my conditions. Once I felt comfortable understanding my weather (coastal climate with wildly variable humidity), I began looking for cultivars grown around the world in environments similar to mine. Because I live in coastal Northern California, there is a vast network of growers up and down the west coast, extending all the way into British Columbia, where I have found some great strains. I have had much better success looking for strains grown north of me than for strains grown south of me. I don’t live in prime sativa weather. 

Through my research, I discovered Shiatsu Kush, a 50/50 cultivar that was developed in secrecy by growers and monks on an island off the coast of Japan. Turned out that Shiatsu Kush loved growing in my beds. I’m certain she was developed in a climate similar to mine.

There is something extraordinary about growing a cultivar that no one else in the world is growing. Or growing something that will never be sold. Sometimes, you can grow surprises. A friend had a 70/30 sativa hybrid and he gave me some of those seeds. The third year I grew, one of those seeds turned into something I didn’t recognize. It was obviously a different cultivar, and we had no idea what we were growing. It was a tightly clustered plant with rampant helical growth, where branches and buds turned inwards, toward each other. We had to work our butts off pruning this plant. It was a pain in the rear, but when she flowered, she was stunning. Eventually, we talked with the breeder and we figured this seed was the combination of two strains that became the 30 part of the 70/30 plant. This was the indica bottom of the plant and her parents were Blackberry Kush and Twilight. We called her Blacklight.

You will never find this strain in a store. It will probably never be grown again, but it was one of the sweetest and strongest plants we’ve ever grown.

So, start locally and expand from there. If you insist on growing something exotic, limit it to one plant, your experiment plant. You might get lucky and find something unexpected that you grow well. 

(Btw, this idea of an experimental plant is something I do every year. If it’s not a plant I’ve never tried, then I might designate a plant or two for another experiment. This is how I learned to use the minimal amount of water in my grow, by experimenting on a couple of plants first. Last year, I experimented by growing plants outside of my garden, protected only by lavender. I wanted to see if the smell of lavender would protect the plants from deer, and it did.)

Seeds are not without problems or risks. In fact, when it comes to CBD seeds, unless the store you’re buying from has recent test results they can show you, I will no longer buy CBD seeds. Most of them do not have any CBD in them. I have no idea what kind of crappy or great seeds are being sold as “CBD” seeds, but it is largely crap.

I have some legitimate CBD seeds from Humboldt Seeds. It’s their CBD trifecta of Love, Lucy, Honey Tsu, and Harley Spice. These plants are legitimate and very effective.

Love, Lucy, a high CBD, low THC pain reliever. This plant is proving remarkably versatile, even being very effective in coping with vaccinations.

Many places saying they have ACDC, Ringo’s Gift, Harle-Tsu, Harlequin, and many more, are bogus seeds. Not all of them are bogus, but enough are to where I won’t take the risk, unless someone has proven test results to show me. Do not take their word for it. And if they show you a test result, make sure it’s recent.

And if you are growing for someone sick, someone who really needs the medicine, you cannot be content with their “word” that something is legitimate. You have to be certain.

I find out about these fraudulent plants when I test them. The industry is counting on people not being able or willing to pay for tests.  And I know all about how phenotypes can be dramatically different. But a 100% indica plant should never become a sativa hybrid. So I obviously did not grow Hindu Kush last year.

On the other hand, I grew Purple Hindu Kush, and that is absolutely 100% indica. 

So the quality control varies. In fact, the quality control is not the responsibility of the shop where the purchase is made. The responsibility is with the breeder, who should provide vital information about the seeds they are selling. 

This all makes for a very strong argument for clones and given what I’ve discovered, I cannot effectively argue against them. I’m not a fan of clones, because they have no tap root and are much more prone to diseases. They also will not grow as large outdoors as plants with tap roots. But if you need a particular strain, and you need to be sure of what you’re growing, clones might be a better way to start, at least until you can get some verified seed sources.

I buy from shops all over the world, but I prefer buying from shops where I can speak with the owner. Owners know what they have. The good owners are happy to share their knowledge with you and their knowledge can be invaluable. Asking a few questions and finding out who actually has answers is an excellent way to screen whomever you’re buying from. 

Last year, I was looking for Royal Kush seeds. I spoke with many shops that said they had Royal Kush, and were selling Royal Kush, but no one could tell me anything about the strain. I finally found North Coast Novelties, and there I spoke with someone who knew Royal Kush and knew that they had pure lineage seeds. He described in exact detail where these seeds came from and what Royal Kush was all about. This is the kind of verifying information that makes a customer come back. I will order from North Coast Novelties again.

In New York, I have great respect for the owners of Her Seed Bank, where they have expertise and offer consultation services on growing. 

But too many times, I have taken someone’s word for it, that what I was buying was what I was getting. Increasingly, this is not turning out to be true.

So, if I were starting out now, I would do what I did the first year I grew: I grew only clones. That way, I was certain of what I was getting and we could begin the process of finding out what cultivars could be the most effective against chronic pain.

But I encourage you to do the research and try to find solid seed sources, to build a seed library, or dispensary. In my opinion, there’s nothing like growing a cannabis plant with a tap root, and clones don’t have those. My tap root plants go down far enough into the loam to connect with the mycelium network beneath my beds. It’s why I don’t water as much as anyone else. The clone roots won’t go that far down. I have noticed that clones need more water than plants with tap roots that find moisture sources on their own. 

Plus, every seed represents something fresh and new to your cannabinoid system. An effective clone is great, but eventually, you’re going to build a tolerance to the same plant and you’ll need new plants to be effective. I have taught people how to keep that effective clone alive, while still finding new and fresh sources of medicine. You can detox from that clone and come back to it again, later.

But seeds will always provide medicine that is entirely new to your cannabinoid system. I am a huge fan of fresh medicine. You will always get the strongest medicine from a plant you’ve never ingested before. These days, due to a serious lack of quality control in the seed portion of the industry, the smart grower knows how to create a grow around both clones and seeds.

I’m a big fan of seeds that are legitimate. Getting to know if they are legitimate is becoming increasingly difficult, but definitely worth the effort.

Looking forward to my 2025 grow.

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