20th Century Seeds

[Dude Stoneder]

I feel like old Ben Kanobi. I have grown for a very long time. Then I stopped, raised a family and lived a different lifestyle for a few decades. A time for every season. Now it’s time to turn the page and resurrect some very old friends. Stored correctly in cold storage for all these years. Original seeds from 1989. Purchased from Nevils Seed Bank. I’ll create a grow journal and continue with more details. Here’s an old Polaroid photo from 1989 of one of the top colas. Anyone care to guess what strain this is before I begin my journal?
In the meantime, allow me tell my story.....

 

[Dude Stoneder]

A bit of backstory if I may. Back in 1985....way before home computers, internet and smartphones, I use to enjoy picking up the latest monthly issue of High Times magazine. I recall being fascinated with the ads for the cannabis seed catalogs . Two different catalogs were being offered. The Super Sativa Seed Club and The Seed Bank. I sent off for both catalogs. Once they arrived I was completely blown away with the selections, photos and descriptions. I remained skeptical though. Sending cash to Holland and hoping for the best seemed like a fools task. However, several months later, High Times wrote up an article that highlighted the Seedbank and spoke about the owner/breeder. That’s the first time I read about Nevil Schoenmaker and the Cannabis Castle. That article legitimized the seed catalogs which lead me to take the chance and send off my cash, wrapped in carbon paper, to Holland.... to be continued, standby.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Back in the mid 80’s, the only cannabis I had been exposed to was brown, compressed weed from South of the Border. Being on the East coast of the USA, this was The reality. I had no idea that exotic forms of cannabis even existed. So naturally I was super intrigued by the selections offered in these Dutch seed catalogs. I remember being fascinated with the notion that cannabis could have different aromas. Fruity, pungent, piney and skunky. The skunky description is what appealed to me the greatest at the time. The descriptions of Skunk #1 had me totally hooked.

So the cash was sent off. I actually went with the Skunk #1 from the Super Sativa Seed Club catalog. $60 for ten seeds! Holy Sheep Shap, that was huge money to me back then. A huge gamble..... and I lost. The seeds never arrived. Nothing. I felt so ripped off. Honestly, after losing so much cash like that, I’m not sure why I was brave/stupid enough to try again... but I did. The second attempt was made through The Seed Bank. I had to have that Skunk #1. The Seed Bank catalog recommended a hybrid. Northern Lights#5xSkunk #1. Sounded close enough for me so that’s what I ordered. These seeds cost even more. I believe they were $65 for ten seeds. With much appreciation, I mailed off the cash in a certified letter. Several weeks later I received a letter from BS Lasers from Phoenix Arizona. Since I was expecting a letter from Holland, I just about threw it away thinking it was junk mail. I did open it however and was surprised to see a small bubble wrapped package which contained the seeds.
Here’s a copy of the original page I ordered from. I was amazed to find this nostalgic image online.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

I had experimented with a couple of grow attempts before I ordered the Holland seeds. Bag seed. Unknown breeds from Mexico. Horrible, lanky, unruly and completely unsatisfactory. Tried using a Phototron. Ha! Remember those ads? Great product for producing all the leaves you could ever want to smoke lol. But I did increase my knowledge base by grow with it, and I admit, the Phototron was fun. My next attempt was bagseed using a new lamp, a 250 watt metal halide. This lamp came with a growing kit called “The closet Farmer”..... a heat producing system, hotter than the surface of the planet Mercury. But again, my knowledge base expanded with that system. Producing my first fluffy, sparse bud. 8’ of Mexican Sativa, coiled in a 4’ tall, heat box.... The Closet Farmer! Laughable memory.

I also was collecting MJ growing books. Marijuana growers Bible and such. I actually found the golden book for me though. “Indoor Marijuana Horticulture “ by George Cervantes. That book fit me like a puzzle piece. It connected all the dots. It’s funny how things align at the perfect timing sometimes. Shortly before my Seedbank purchase I just happened to inherit a 1000 watt MH system from a friend. Actually, I traded the Phototron for that 1000 watt.

So all things were aligned perfectly when Nevils Magic beans arrived. I had my new growing education, some past failures under my belt and a new grow light.

I had learned what the enemy was. Heat and cramped space. I started the NL5xsk1 in 5 gal buckets. 5x5 air conditioned walk in closet with exhaust ventilation under the 1000 watt lamp. Following Cervantes instructions closely. I even followed his advice to purchase a conversation bulb. So I was starting with a brand new Iwasaki 1000 watt conversion bulb.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

I started 7 of the 10 seeds. Saving 3 back.... “just in case”. All seven sprouted. My growing environment was perfect and I knew it and it felt good. The seedlings loved it and took off. Cervantes is a big organic advocate and of course I followed that advise. My feeding approach involved making tea using bat guano. I used Supertea bat guano for vegetive and Budswel for flowering. Used a bit of kelp meal in the teas as well. Two tablespoons per gallon then added boiling water and let it sit over night. Made for rich broth and the plants loved it. I had a digital PH pen by then, so the water was perfectly balanced at 6.8 for every watering. I fed every time I watered. Being organic, I never had nute burn issues. The soil itself was Junglegrow with a cup of Dolomite added to each 5 gal bucket.

My highest priority was to produce more seeds. I wanted to preserve this strain. Perhaps I even had a premonition. I felt like this breed needed to be protected. So again, making seeds was a huge priority for me.

I knew from the very beginning that this was a special plant. When the first true leaves formed I was amazed. I’d never seen wide fingered leaves. They looked unique and extraordinary beautiful. These seedlings grew with incredible vigor. They formed into squat little plants in short order. They quickly left the seedling stage behind.

Two weeks in, small squat plants. Appearing royal. Completely unique..... and then, to prove their worth and to show their complete uniqueness..... The Smell! An erotic bouquet, never before experienced by my senses. Holy Smokes. Blown away I was. Yes, I had fallen in love.

Scary strong though. I kept wanting to shush them. Shhhh! But listen they did not. A scent that’s still hard to describe. Fruity skunk with a touch of citrus and berry..... then the indescribable part... mixed with that old timey, candy smell. Remember that dish of hard candy on your Grandmas coffee table? Unwrapped, multicolored pieces of hard candy, stuck together, in a dark green glass candy bowl, takes a jack hammer to free up a piece, stacked that way since 1943..... remember how they smelled? A sickly sweet funk from the mothball generation. Nightmare in grandmas candy dish.... but coming from a beautiful, teal blue green colored plant..... pure magic. And they weren’t even close to flowering yet. Again, to sum it up, these plants are special....

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Very Special plants. Ive seen quite a few gardens in the past 35 years. Gardens of friends and such. Never have I encountered the same level of uniqueness that I witnessed with these Seed Bank seeds. I’m humbly trying to avoid the bragging. Just stating a fact as I witnessed it (admittedly, we’re all biased)...

I was following the 4 month plan. Two months of veg and two months of flowering. The first two months went as smoothly as things could go. Not the first issue. Just unyielding, beautiful growing. They were hip high At the end of two months. I wisely decided not to seed these big plants. I decided to take clones and chose my best of plants to breed on the next round. So all seven plants where cloned.

I switched the seed plants over to 12/12 and it wasn’t long before the males showed themselves. Nature’s luck favored me. I ended up with 4 females, which left me 3 stocky males to choose from for breeding. Choosing the birthpappy was a fun chore. Making critical observations about specific characteristics. Smell, branch formation, stickiness of their stems, stockiness, appearance and overall gut feelings. I even dried the tops of each male and gave them the bong test.

In the end, a specific male did end up outshining the others and was chosen as the birthpappy breeder. The selected male clone and the cloned females continued in vegetive, in a separate closet, while the big seed moms moved into flower stage.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

I’m going to tie this all back to modern times and 35 year old seeds. Thank you for listening to my lengthy babble.

And now to sum up the past and bring the 1989 story to a close. Again, sorry about the long story. I get a couple of cups of good coffee and suddenly I think I’m Charles Dickens.

The flower stage went just as smoothly as the veg. The aroma was overwhelming and the buds got huge. Crystal covered glory. Unreal. The entire Seed Bank journey completely exceeded all of my expectations.

Here’s an old photo of two of the finished females. That’s my girlfriend hiding behind the plants. Started budding them when they were hip high and they finished right about the level of my eyes. Looking at the photos, I say they could’ve ripened up a bit more. But they were definitely in the harvest zone.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

The smoke report on that NL5XSK1was alarming. Overpowering. Scary if you took one too many tokes. And that was an issue because the taste was so unique and candy flavorful everyone wanted “just one more hit”.... which always lead to the freak out.
“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Uh, I don’t know man, I’m just really scared.”

Truly a real one hit wonder. Two hits always elicited the same response from friends.... “Dude, is that shit laced?!” Followed by the scary freak out. Almost too potent and every warning was always ignored for the tasty “one more hit”.

Hard to describe the taste because it’s one of a kind. Definitely a hint of skunk with that overly sweet old fashioned grandma candy taste, along with a good flavor that I’ve never been able to accurately describe. Lemon diesel syrup? Hard to pin that flavor. Unique and delicious. I know that every modern version of nl5xsk1 that I ever had the chance to sample was nothing like this Nevil 1989 stuff. Not even close.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

The last section of the 1989 story. Making of the seeds. Long story short, all the females were exceptional, so none were eliminated. Several clones of each female were taken to preserve the genetic code. Being F-1 hybrids, they did all stay relatively identical.... except for one female. She was tall and a bit stretchy. She had Sativa like leaves and Sativa characteristics. I was going to eliminate her for those traits but her smoke was so unique, she had to be saved. Hallucinogenic.

The four females were pollinated by the winning male. A squat, pungent and potent daddy. I let them flower together and would give the male plant a good shake every day. Huge clouds of yellow pollen filled the breeding chamber and the females were completely dusted and covered with pollen and dropped yellow flowers of the male.

Needless to say, I ended up with a super bountiful seed crop. Rich, dark and mature seeds. Just beautiful. A perfect seed harvest.

Packs of seeds were carefully labeled and vacuumed sealed. Following George Cervantes advise, I squirreled them away in the refrigerator (freezer was not advised) sealed bags stashed in Tupperware.

And that’s how my 1980’s ended. In came 1990 and shortly thereafter came the arrest of Nevil Schoenmaker and the demise of The Seed Bank.

The years passed and I enjoyed growing the original NL5xSK1 clones for another decade. Perpetuating those same plants via cloning, year after year.

I was always on the lookout for other good seeds and seed sources. Ordered many different varieties as different seed-banks made their offerings. I never obtained anything close to those original Nevil Seedbank seeds. I was always excited to try new seeds and always let down. The original NL5xSk1 had set the bar extremely high. I continued to keep those original seeds stored in the dark corner of the fridge. I grew that original 1989 stock until the end of the 20th century. All things must pass.......

I met my future wife. The Things I was doing could no longer be perpetuated. It was time to shut it down. It was a nice 10 year run. I knew I had the seeds still and it was time for another chapter in my life. Wife and children. I harvested my last original plants of The Seed Bank in early 1999. No regrets. Peace and fond memories.

Ever since then, with every move, every new house or apartment, those original NL5xSK1 seeds were carefully considered. Moved quickly to each new homes refrigerator. Always hoping for a future opportunity to restart an extraordinary event.

The seeds, through all these years have been kept safe and well stored. Nearly perfect condition for 30 years.

My marriage, unfortunately, did not survive. My children have graduated and started adulthood.... see where this is heading?

 

[Dude Stoneder]

If you’re still with me at this point, you have my sincere gratitude. If you’ve stuck through all that history babble I just laid down then I believe you truly get it. You understand. You likely share my deep passion for special breeds. I’d also venture to guess that you’re seasoned and have been around the block a time or two.

So after all that..... here is the beginning of my grow journal. Resurrecting 30 year old seeds and beginning a new grow after a 20 year break.

Let this begin........

 

[Dude Stoneder]

So, a new beginning. I’m in a good place. I’m a healthy and happy rural home owner. In a stable place and position to rekindle old passions.

I’ve often wondered and hoped that those old seeds were doing ok. I’ve continued to hold out hope that they have remained viable.
The time to start was unplanned. It just hit me out of the blue. The passion to start. I hadn’t even bothered to add up the passed years until recently. 30 years. And by some strange coincidence I found out I had started my new voyage the same week Nevil Schoenmaker had died. Life moves in circles.

I dug the Tupperware container out of the back of the refrigerator. I had a choice of 4 different females. I chose 15 seeds from a single female. Good ole #7. She was the shortest and stoutest of the 4 Northern lights 5/sk1 girls and the most potent. I let the seeds warm up to room temperature for an entire day. I decided to use the presoaked method. I figured they needed a good rehydration. In the past I always used the wet paper towel method. I read many forum posts about old seed sprouting attempts. Nervously reading a majority of failure stories, I became more concerned about my success rate. I knew I had stored them correctly but did they still have the strength to pop and sprout. I picked up some valuable tips from those forum posts. Mainly about adding kelp to the soak water. Part of my soil mix includes kelp, alfalfa meal and worm castings. I used that to make my presoak tea. I used 2 tbsp in one cup of water and let that stew all day while the seeds warmed up to room temps. 77 degrees. Before I went to bed that evening I added the seeds to the organic tea mix. They all floated. Fuck! I had read that floating seeds equals dead seeds. Went to bed down and pessimism ruled the evening.

Morning comes and right to the seed jar I go. I was thrilled to see that most of the seeds had sunk and were sitting on the bottom. A few seeds were still floating but were half submerged and upon tapping them lightly, they sunk to the bottom. I was encouraged. I let them soak til mid day then I moved them to a triple rinsed, wet paper towel. Placed inside a ziplock bag and then put inside a cardboard box with a 25 watt compact fluorescent bulb for warmth. I covered the bag with a ceramic cereal bowl to block the light. I also had a thermometer next to the bowl and maintained 78-79 degree heat.

Five days passed. Nothing. No split seed husks. Nothing. Lifeless dark seeds staring back at me. I was preparing to start a new batch and use sandpaper and scaring approach. But I decided to give this first batch a few more days. I tried an experiment at this point as well. I got some of my organic potting mix and sprinkled just a pinch amongst the seeds. Less than a 1/8 teaspoon. Just enough to “flavor” the paper towel and stain it dirty. The next day met me with surprise and sweet success. Half the seeds had split and I could see the familiar little white tongues! The 30 year old seeds were alive! Like Lazarus coming forth. This kid was trippin. Doing the happy dance. I can’t claim that my experiment with the pinch of soil was a contributing factor or not. I can only report what I did and the resulting consequence. I achieved a 70 percent germination rate. I did notice that they behaved like 30 year old seeds. They seemed to have to fight a bit more than new seeds. I should’ve used a very light seedling mix. I lost a few seedlings due to my heavy mix. My rust certainly didn’t help in this instance. I ended up with 8 fine seedlings in the end. I’m still amazed they popped and can say my storage method proved to be adequate.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Full disclosure. I suffered from a lack of faith. I was so skeptical about my 30 year seeds being viable that I started a side batch of Bogglegum seeds at the same time. I had acquired these from a seeded bud ten years ago. Decent quality. These were my backup plans if the NL5XSK1 didn’t sprout. I ended up keeping 4 Bogglegum seedlings. I marked the Bogglegum plants with red dots so you could identify the original NL5xSK1 more easily. This photo from 2 weeks ago. The day they were planted into 3 gallon pots. They look a little weak in this shot. Again, the Bogglegum is marked with red marker.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Here’s the original NL5xSK1..... 2 weeks later.....they are established and have taken off. This photo brings us up to my current timeline. I’ll post more progress photos next weekend. Bogglegum is marked with red.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Growing details.....
5x5 tent
1000 watt MH for veg stage
6” inline fan/carbon filter
Room temp 78 degrees
Humidity averaging 47%
Fox farm ocean pro mix 30%
Whitney Farm organic mix 20%
Coco coir 30%
Perlite 20%
Feeding Alaska brand fish emulsion once a week. 2 tbsp per gallon.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Flipped to 12/12 this week. They are approx 5 weeks old. Since I’m just after an updated and refreshed seed stock, I’ve started flowering them small. This is the earliest I’ve I’ve ever flowered.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

I put a trellis in above them. Not to scrog obviously, but just for the added support. I know how heavy the buds get and I know they’re going to need support. They’ll stretch up into it as the 2-week mega stretch period commences.

I was planning to keep them under MH for the first two weeks, to reduce stretch. My MH bulb failed on the day I Switched to 12/12. Luck was with me though as my new Hortilux Super HPS arrived that same day. The bulb that failed came with the ballast kit. The Brand was SPL. Seemed like the plants like that bulb..... cheap Chinese product though, it let me down.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

I often wonder why so many grow journals end up being abandoned. Surely one reason is from crop failure. Perhaps some other reasons include paranoia, but I hate to think it’s because of loss of excitement. Makes me wonder. Furthermore, I pledge to try my best not to fall into the abandoned journal category.

As far as my journal goes..... I started out with 12 plants. The final count, after removing the males is 7. Seven beautiful females. My Bogglegum plants, as it turned out, ended up being 75% male, so I got one lovely Bogglegum girl in the batch. I’m going to chuck the Nevil pollen at her and make yet another wacky mutt hybrid for the world. The 1989 NL5XSK1 plants produced one male, which is the pollen pappy, the other plant was a pure, all out hermy. The most Hermèd plant I’ve ever seen, with equal amounts of male to female flowers. I had good fortune with my breeder male since that particular plant was always my favorite of all the plants. He was a power plant, he looked the best and smelled twice as loud as the other plants. During the Stem rubbed aroma testing, he always produced that nostalgic scent that I remember so well from 1989. So I wasn’t disappointed at all that this plant would be the pollen pappy.

I was planning on doing a limited and controlled pollination. You know the plan.... remove the male from the room, collect pollen from a distant and isolated area, bring pollen back and paint a few bottom buds. But after applying lazy Vulcan logic to the situation, I proceeded to remind myself that my entire reason for this particular batch was for a seed crop. Needless to say, I allowed the dust storm to rage. A pollen orgy. One days worth. And a good final whack of his main stem before I removed him. Clouds. So much for controlled pollination, but again, this is a seed crop. There’s something about pollination that exudes happiness from your plants. I’m strangely happy for them.

This latest photo, 25 days after 12/12, shows the extent of the stretch. Not too bad really. They didn’t double their length. I’d say they stretched an additional 1/3 in total height. Strong flowering characteristics and developing nice sugary crystals. They’re on a diet of Budswel, 3 tablespoons per gallon, FF Big Bloom, 3 TSP/Gal. Boiling water added and allowed to steep for until cool. Makes for a rich tea. They get this feeding once per week end with a straight watering in between feedings at midweek. Day Temps at 80-82F with 40%+- RH. Night runs 73-74F with elevated RH levels of 60%-ish.

Steady as she goes.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Everything has been proceeding as expected. The girls are coming along nicely. They are more frosty than I recall from my past grows. I attribute this to the perfect growing environment that I currently have set up. This is my first grow where I’ve perfected the temperatures.

I’ll get to some photos now. We are currently in week 5. 3 gallon pots were used the entire time. 100% organic.
When I received these seeds, back in 1989, the additional information in the envelope stated that a normal trait with this hybrid was natural yellowing. Banana yellow. These plants are holding true to Nevil’s description. Even though they’ve received increased levels of phosphorus, in the form of bat guano, I have also maintained a steady supply of nitrogen, (although in lower levels than their vegetive stage. ) Additionally, the last two feedings they received a tablespoon of Epsom salts and 2 tablespoons of brownsugar..... (until I get my non-sulfurous molasses). They really seemed to like the added ingredients as the intensity of their aroma increased substantially. They get fed once per week with regular waterings at mid-week.
Again, this is the middle of week five, from the day the lights were switched to 12/12.

 

[Dude Stoneder]

NL5xsk1

 

[Dude Stoneder]

Tallest girl. Showing more Sativa like leaves.