High end seeds, worth it?

[Billyjack]

I have been building my seed bank and was looking for more this weekend when I really started to look at the high end seeds. I usually use seeds that cost $2-$4 and wanted to know if the high end seeds are really worth it. I know that some of the cost is R&D and if they are fem or not but you can find regular seeds for $20+ each. Is seed pricing kind of like computers where a $20 seed today will be a $5 seed tomorrow? Or is it like wine where it is expensive and going to stay expensive, I would guess not because you can buy a $20 seed and reproduce the plant but I was just curious. Another question would be, maybe it is not like wine from a price perspective but it is from a taste perspective. As an example, not only could I not tell you the difference between an high end wine and low end, odds are, I would prefer the sweeter low end wine. I have a friend who pays for high end wine because he can tell the difference and really likes the good stuff, for me, its a waste of money.

 

[CascadianDank]

I would say if you want to try the strains that cost more money, go for it. BUT not for a first time grower because you have the chance of killing seedlings. Ive ordered expensive seeds but I only order a few at a time from a single seed source and I clone the shit out of them so I feel I get my moneys worth. The first seed order I made was an exciting one mixed with low and high cost seeds. I killed em all except one, which turned out to be male and got the chop anyway, because I was basically a noob again trying to grow in Organic Soil after 3 years of Hempy Bucket Hydro. Oh and I was growing them in a tent made to sit on an RV dashboard in the winter so climate was far from controlled and they didnt like the cold.

Bottom line is its up to you what you are willing to spend. Good growers can take cheap seeds and make them great but someone who doesnt know how to grow can make good seeds shit.

BTW, Im not suggesting youre a new or inexperienced grower, just talking generally to anyone who might read this.

 

[Billyjack]

I understand but can you really tell a difference smoking the high end stuff vs regular?

 

[Buddy Ebsen]

Genetics play a strong role in it, that's for sure, but "High End" product comes from nurturing the plant in all phases of your grow. You can buy a so-called low end seed and turn it into some wicked bud. You can also get a High End seed and turn it into some MadDog!

What you put into it, that's what you'll get out of it.

 

[CascadianDank]

Thats hard to say honestly. Price, in my opinion, is based on supply and demand.

Im not sure what you mean by difference. You can find THC contents online and read smoke reports and/or breeder descriptions for taste and high but really, and I think this goes for pretty much any and everything, its all a matter of personal opinion.

The first seeds I grew were Purple Kush that I got for free. PK remains pretty much my favorite strain although I now love me some Blue Dream also. I personally would pay $50+ per seed for either of those strains if that was the price and I didnt have any because I really like both strains and to me it would be worth it. Grn Crk is a good strain which I grew last year and have my last clone of it flowering now. I wouldnt pay 5 bucks for a seed of it because it doesnt impress me that much and I dont care to grow it anymore.

 

[Billyjack]

Great answers thanks. It's seems that price has to do with many factors outside of quality.

 

[Buddy Ebsen]

Law of Supply and Demand. Purps are really in right now, that's why they are sold out most of the time and cost more.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I don't think their is much difference in quality of plant/bud due to price in less said seed/strain had unique traits...

For example we could look at Blue Berry the original seed was done by DJ Short & if you want the 100% strain you cough up what ever he wants for the real deal, whilst others offer cross's of the strain for a fraction of the $$$ of the original !


Some $$$ of seeds may come to how long it took to develop the strain.

For example a strain which took 5 years to perfect will be a lot more $$$ than strain we took 2 years, it may well be the amount of work involved in creating such a strain which governs end $$$

It may well reflect genetic linage of parent plants of true seed stock also...

 

[josh223]

To add to Fuzzy Duck's answer, part of that money and time is invested in stabilization. Have a know BX or F2 pheno, that is STABILIZED is worth the extra bucks.

Now, if you flower straight from seed-not establishing mother plants, that extra cost may not be worth it to you personally.

Say you just want to buy 10 seeds of the same strain, germinate them, and flower them out. A higher end breeder or more stabilized strain will give you a better chance of having identical character or phenotype plants.

Most modern strains are hybrids of Sativa and Indica in different percentages. Having a stabilized strain helps to ensure that most of your plants will be just like their sisters. It is very common to use the above scenario and wind up with every plant germinated being independently unique. It's easier for the grower to have identical plants hence the popularity of using clones.

Myself personally, I buy the highest grade feminized seeds that I can find. That doesn't always mean the most expensive. From there I establish mother plants and clone from there.

Some breeders charge an arm and more than some but produce poor results. If you're looking to save money, buy single seeds from our sponsor Herbies. I've found Delicious brand of seeds to be very consistent and of uniform quality.

 

[Billyjack]

Really awesome info. Thanks everyone.

Josh, I like Herbies and will try the Delicious seeds on my next order. Pricing looks very modest on those seeds.

 

[josh223]

I'm familiar with Delicious Seed's Northern Light Blue (Northern Lights X Blue Berry). Every seed was identical. My personal belief is that they do a great job with stabilization. They offer some great genetics, both Sativa and Indica dominant strains. Coupled with a low price, it is pretty difficult to argue.

 

[ecdriver]

To add to Fuzzy Duck's answer, part of that money and time is invested in stabilization. Have a know BX or F2 pheno, that is STABILIZED is worth the extra bucks.

Now, if you flower straight from seed-not establishing mother plants, that extra cost may not be worth it to you personally.

Say you just want to buy 10 seeds of the same strain, germinate them, and flower them out. A higher end breeder or more stabilized strain will give you a better chance of having identical character or phenotype plants.

Most modern strains are hybrids of Sativa and Indica in different percentages. Having a stabilized strain helps to ensure that most of your plants will be just like their sisters. It is very common to use the above scenario and wind up with every plant germinated being independently unique. It's easier for the grower to have identical plants hence the popularity of using clones.

Myself personally, I buy the highest grade feminized seeds that I can find. That doesn't always mean the most expensive. From there I establish mother plants and clone from there.

Some breeders charge an arm and more than some but produce poor results. If you're looking to save money, buy single seeds from our sponsor Herbies. I've found Delicious brand of seeds to be very consistent and of uniform quality.

exactly, and delicious is a very underrated strain breeder like Samsara seeds, can't go wrong with them; to just pop and flow or take clones from a selected mother.

 

[ecdriver]

many breeder sell their very good work on genetics for cheap these days, Dinafem, DNA, Big Heads seeds, Medical seeds, and a dozen others.
we are lucky to be able to find them all at Herbies !!! and with free seeds to every orders!!!

 

[ecdriver]

if ya want to stock collectors, buy a box of humbolt seeds organization, they just have been bought by Dinafem, then maybe we will not find these small woody boxes anymore, i bought some trainwreck yesterday...

 

[josh223]

Good info ecdriver!

 

[labexperiment]

Cost doesn't matter to me, it's all about the reputation of the breeder and whether or not their strains are consistent/stable.

 

[theengineer]

I've seen some sour diesel, Cali Connection I think they were, and they are £20 per seed, and then there are others like Royal Queen Seeds who do them for £9, and wondered if the extra was worth it given the 100% success I've enjoyed with RQS

 

[PlanetJ]

subbed, learning along

 

[Billyjack]

The more I research this the more I realize that some seeds have an "art" price built in. I will just stick with value and leave unique expensive seeds to others.

 

[josh223]

Cali Connection uses plants that were the original "clone only" strains of mostly U.S. origins. Other companies in Europe try to use the same lineage to "re-create" what others have already done. The problem is that many of those clone only strains were mutations.

Case in point, theengineer mentioned Sour D. There's a million stories about how Chem Dawg Strain is the main parent, just a mutation. So, Chem. birthed Sour D and O.G. Kush was another phenotype. I personally find that story hard to believe. I do not doubt that it's in the lineage but still. Using this same example, there are Sativa and Indica dominant varieties and lineages. I understand all that, just not sure what I believe and what I do not. Now Dinafem makes a great O.G. Kush--from what I've read. They mention "O.G." as "Original GAngster". In my mind, that's a red flag. O.G. stands for Ocean Grown--period.

The genetics of O.G. Kush are shrouded in mystery. I've read a lot about Dinafem's O.G. Kush. A forum member, one that I consider a personal friend, highly praises that strain. Take a look at the company's strain description, they invented it in house. Whether it is the same, worse, or better...I can not personally speculate. But, I know it's not from the original line as CAli Connection's SFV OG is.

Usually our sponsor Herbie's most sold strain is Lemon Kush from an unknown breeder for $4/U.S. per bean. I have not personally grown it so I will not speculate. It seems very popular, may just be the price.

I guess, for me, I want to have genetics as close to the original breeder as possible unless someone else came along and vastly improved that strain.

Not too far off topic, if anyone knows of a trustworthy source, I'm in the market for Indica dominant femmed G13 seeds. They are few and far between. I found a non sponsor seed bank in Canada that has them in stock for $200 U.S. for two beans. Anyone know of a better source? That's G13, not G13/Haze, just pure G13.