Good breeders/seed banks that will ship to Canada

[Nate]

Anybody know of any good breeders or seed banks either in Canada, or that will ship to Canada? I’ve heard of Jordan of the isles, but I haven’t tried any of them, and they don’t have a big selection, an then there’s true north seed bank, but I’ve heard some pretty mixed reviews about them. Anybody have any breeders or seed banks that they swear by?

[NeuroticTurtle]

I been growing oldschoolba.com beans for a few years now, mostly black willie and its crosses for the THCV content.  Shit just hits the nail on the head for my anxiety disorder.  I just discovered whitewidow.rocks a couple months back and scooped some dutch passions thc victory without having the hassle of ordering from Spain.  Once that comes down I’m wanting to try their Rose Garden and Black Death strains for various reasons.

[Somatek]

Legal pot seeds are the simplest answer as the markets flooded with the same “elite” clones illegal breeders are using. Not to mention illegal breeders like House of the Great Gardener now being available on the legal market through Great Gardener Farms lol.

I personally have had great results with their seeds, I wish I could buy some of his Barbara Bud seeds locally but the OCS didn’t stock any, so they’re only available in BC which ironically means I’m going to have to order them from overseas (if anyone in Kelowna/BC wants to buy me some I’ll send them money, clones and love them forever lol). I actually just put a pack of their CBD Rene to soak last night, I’ll plant them tonight as I really liked their Rene S1 but it was kind of a pain to grow, low yielding and slight hermy tendencies. Hopefully the cross with their inbred cannatonic line improves the plant without affecting the marvelous flavour. I’ve grown Sunshine (sweet skunk S1), Barb, Rene S1, Jean Guy S1 and Highlo from them (still have moms of the last two, Barb needs to be replaced and hopefully I find a better Rene). I’ve ordered them from Seedsman before with good results and prompt service.

Ace seeds has some interesting stock but if you’re looking for high potency it’s a bit hit or miss. Also marketing heavy so beware.

Katsu Seeds and Dman seeds are two other breeders who I’ve found a keeper in every pack. Katsu you can order direct from with ease of mind as he’s been shipping seeds/clones all around the world for decades. Dman seeds are getting harder to find but are still stocked at Real Canada Seeds.

[NeuroticTurtle]

https://www.leafly.ca/dispensary-info/mjb-cannabis-prince-george-college-heights/p/618316644/barbara-bud?variant=1199853106

 

I’m near enough to this place that I could pick some up next payday, if you still need beans and have a mail drop send a pm.

[Somatek]

I wish I could like this a million more times!  You’re a true scholar and a gentleman, I’ll send you a message to arrange the details as the same Barb Fem seeds cost a fraction in the legal market vs illegal (where they’re like $10/seed or more).

What a wonderful forum filled with such helpful people and what better day then Thanksgiving to share my appreciation for all you lovely souls.

[Cannabliss]

Ahhhhh! I love it!

Nothing like strangers finding that common denominator & making stuff happen for one another. Kudos!!

[Nate]

Yeah, that’s great to see!

[NeuroticTurtle]

@Somatek Where in bc are they available? I might be able to snag a pack and send it.  I’ve got a third party dispensary here in town, but they stock all the usual product from the BC cannabis stores.

[Atom]

https://www.greatlakesgenetics.com/shipping-info/

These guys will but it cost 30$ flat rate but included is a free GLG tee shirt. I can vouch for there legitness and speed of shipping. Plus you get so many freebies it’s ridiculous. I orderd 2 seed packs with total of 7 fems that came with 3 free from MMS and 9 autos from 20twenty came with 2 free..but that’s not all folks, he sent me 7 packs of free seed of random stuff he breeds. 5 packs had 6 seeds and 2 had 7

[Somatek]

Sounds like a really solid company to order from.  Have you tried any of the seed he made himself?

[Atom]

I actually gave the packs away but I did try a few of the people who grew them. Was pretty split but not all of them are good growers so can’t necessarily say any were bad. There all strains he has for sale so you might get something from MMS crossed with bodhi or gage green. Whatever he’s working with at that time

[Somatek]

Pollen chucking is as valid as most “breeding” in the pot world in my opinion as the laws limit people from actual breeding programs.  Any scientific literature is pretty clear about the heterozygous, polyhybrid state of the pot gene pool which is one of the most exciting aspects of legalization in my opinion; what cultivars we’ll see when proper breeding selections are applied and we have actual stable parent stock for breeders to work with.

Vandelay Seeds is a pollen chucker but open about the parents he uses and also has some elite cuts like GG#4 or Death Bubba.

Bean Horder is another one that just sells crosses of whatever he’s popped/kept for a low cost.  You can find his gear on hemp depot, which is an old/reliable Canadian seed bank.  Be careful though as some of their stock is definitely older, so know what you’re buying as old/out of production stock won’t have as good of a germination rate as new gear.

[Nate]

When you say pollen chucking, are you talking about just growing the males with the females, and just letting them pollinate themselves rather than intentionally pollenating the females?

[Somatek]

It’s more about the scale of growing and a way of denoting small populations used for selections often of only 50 plants or less, although it’s quite regular for people to just use a single pack of seeds to make their selections.  Traditional breeding uses tens of thousands of plants, grown in acres of field, something pot growers have never been able to do so uses small populations for selections has become normalized but is also partly why there’s no real “true breeding” varieties to speak of.

[Nate]

Oh okay, that makes sense. So it’s more to keep from saying breeding, as that would be inaccurate?

[Somatek]

Exactly, I’m a semantics nerd and cannabis “breeding” isn’t the same as actual breeding where there are laws that define how a cultivar can be registered for breeders rights to be applied.  One of my favourite companies was Spice of Life seeds by Breeder Steve who created Shiskaberry, Sweet Tooth and Blockhead (as well as a bunch of others including Blue Satellite with DJ Short) but got out of the biz after Barney’s Farm ripped off his Sweet Tooth and started selling a knock off after winning a cup.  He was talking about not breeding again until there was the possibility of breeders rights to prevent that kind of theft which was/is all to common.  Which is why he’s down in Columbia working in the medical pot industry now growing hundreds of acres of plants in huge fields.  The future of seeds will be a lot less seedy then the present lol.

[Nate]

That’s a pretty greasy move, that’s for sure. I’ve haven’t heard much about the history of breeding in cannabis, but it’s definitely something I’ve been meaning to look into. Like, I’ve heard of all these different famous strains, but I think it’d be cool to know the lineage of them.

[Somatek]

The Cannabible #1 has a good detailed history of the early companies in Holland, including a table showing which varieties they released and when in the early years.  There are also some excellent episodes of the Adam Dunn show which go over the history of famous varieties, the one about the history of OG Kush/Frank Gregax is well worth listening to and seems like the most plausible origin of the modern Kush genetics.

It was interesting working in the hydro shop in the early 2000’s as there was a shift were North America was becoming known for producing better bud then Amsterdam/Holland as our scene took off with better genetics and growing tech while there’s stagnated and fell behind.  I had a couple customers stop in from overseas asking for advice and comparing what we were doing differently.

[Nate]

Sweet, I’ll have to check that out. It’d be cool if someone made an interactive family tree or something online. I mean obviously you wouldn’t be able to include every single smaller project that individual growers did on their own, but it’d be cool to see the general trends in the industry at least.

[Somatek]

That’s what the Phylos Galaxy was before it went down, a visual representation of how all the varieties they’ve mapped the genome for relate to one another.  It was pretty fun/trippy to play with, although most people seriously misunderstood how it worked.

[Nate]

That’s too bad it’s not around anymore.

[Somatek]

The data is still there and you can still search the database to look at the genotype reports, the visual galaxy is just down and it’s unclear if they’re bringing it back or what.

[Nate]

Okay, definitely going to have to check these all out. As far as the legal market, last I checked the nslc only had one, maybe two brands of seeds, and only a handful of cultivars. I have no qualms with buying from the nslc, but the selection needs to be there for me to go to them

[Somatek]

Write to them and tell them they are not meeting your needs.  Until then if you see anything on OCS that interests you just let me know and I’m happy to grab a pack to send to you, lol if we can get a grower in each province then we can make a seed supply chain across the nation.

[Nate]

Yeah, I’ll let you know if I see anything on the OCS that looks good.

[Atom]

I definitely would write him with any questions. I actually had a seed from mms that was not developed enough and he obviously didn’t pack them. But when I order again he said just remind him and he’ll hook me up extra freebies.

[Somatek]

Most breeders are pretty responsive as seeds are cheap and plentiful with a stupidly high return compared to growing flower.  Sadly the provincial legal pot suppliers like OCS and such are not nearly as responsive, let alone acknowledge growers as a viable market to cater to.  Which is why I try to shame them as often as possible by mentioning on social media it’s absurd Ontario growers have to order Barbara bud seeds illegally from overseas instead of through them because they don’t stock them.

[Nate]

Okay, definitely going to have to check these all out. As far as the legal market, last I checked the nslc only had one, maybe two brands of seeds, and only a handful of cultivars. I have no qualms with buying from the nslc, but the selection needs to be there for me to go to them.

[Somatek]

I realized I forgot a couple local vendors that deserve a shout out;

7EastGenetics has some nice gear, I’ve never grown it myself but friends have and produced some lovely bud with interesting terps.  He’s also offered tissue cultures in the past.

Vandelay Industries is a local dude that’s crossing some interesting genetics, is very transparent and has great prices for beginners looking to get into the game ($40 for 15 seeds and was offering even better deals when contacted in person).  I need to get around to popping a pack in my hunt for a solid variety to wash for bubble or squish for rosin.
https://www.vandelayindustries.art/shop

[Atom]

I’m looking at this cake fighter strain. Looks completely loaded with huge heads

[Somatek]

That’s a whole other conversation I don’t thinks been started yet in the million out there about seeds/varieties; good varieties for extraction…

[Cannabliss]

MizterGreenthumb on IG is a pretty solid dude. He is in Canada. I have a shipment on it’s way to me now. I also have a few of his strains already. Haven’t grown them, but I’ve followed his testers & they are no disappointment.

 

https://www.instagram.com/thumbprint_genetics/

https://www.instagram.com/miztergreeenthumb/

https://www.instagram.com/miztergreenthumbb_backup2/

If anyone is on Instagram, follow  the 2nd & 3rd accounts. He goes live just about every

Saturday night with massive giveaways, and seed auctions . One of the coolest dudes I know to be doing this. 

I grew a Fluffy Waffles.. but turned out to be male.

 

[Nate]

I’m always hesitant to try anything through instagram, as there’s so many scammers out there. I’d be more willing to consider it having heard you had already ordered from them though.

[Somatek]

I’m pretty hesitant of any social media as it’s more smoke and mirrors with little substance a lot of the time.  Although direct access to breeders is a big improvement from the old days and it definitely gives the little guys a better chance to get their name out there.

If you try some of their gear @Cannablis be sure to let us know how it goes.

[Cannabliss]

Solid dude 100%. Those 2 packs are freebies. I got comfortable after an order, and a couple of giveaway wins to send him cash in the mail. He hooks it up when you use cash or crypto I believe. He has a website that I’ve noticed has been lacking a bit, bit on IG he’s super active & doesn’t leave you hanging in the dm’s.

Hit him up for a menu to see how quick he gets back as a test lol

He only has a couple packs from his old old lineup left, and he’s got a new drop coming up. He’s probably waiting on a few more testers.

I’m going to be running some of his gear when it get’s here.

[Somatek]

I’ve got seeds lined up for years to grow lol, especially now that I’ve down sized my grow.  Once the odd seedlings I have growing now are cleared out (Guatemalan x Honduras, Pupil Magoo, Katsu Pupil and Stellar Collision seeds from last years outdoor) I’ve got some Stellar Collision F2’s to grow for some pollen chucking. There’s also a pack of Kerela Chellakutti dying to be popped for an open pollination, they’ve got an 18-25+ week flowering time and I can’t wait for the challenge.  Depending how the Guat x Hon turn out though I may do a proper pheno hunt through 20 or so seeds looking for a good mom first so I can try crossing the Chellakutti males to it as well.

Which is why I buy/trade for some specific clones at this point instead of seeds as it’s a quicker root to filling the gaps I need to.  Like finding a good variety to squish for example, which also nicely filled the gap for straight up berry flavours.  Stellar Collision has some nice grape/fruity undertones but I missed the straight up blueberry flavours that use to be prominent.  Twinkle Tarts fills both gaps with good rosin yields and a nice blueberry taste that’s more hashy then sweet, reminds me of the Blue Moonshine knock off I grew way back when in the early 2000’s.

[Cannabliss]

I have grown God Bud 2.0 & Sensi Star from JOTI.
Sensi star is one of my favs. I wish I was keeping as many clones then as I am now. I’d love to give her another go.
the single nug is the sensi star. The tote with all the tops laid out is just the top half of the god bud 2.0. Those buds were massive.

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[Nate]

That sensi star definitely looks good man, maybe I’ll give it a shot one of these days

[Somatek]

One of my moms in Sensi Star, the cut came from THCbiomed when they still sold cuttings to patients before legalization from original Paradise Seeds stock (to original breeders of it).  Always happy to share cuttings when I have extra’s, the smell/taste along is worth growing it for as there’s a distinct metallic/oily note that stands out if you’re ever worked in a metal shop.

[Nate]

That’s pretty sick, I wish LP’s still sold cuttings (I didn’t know that they did that back then actually). I did a quick goole search for legal clones in Canada and I found this website. Looks like they’re trying to work towards selling to medical patients.

From their FAQ:

“Do you sell to people registered or designated to produce cannabis for medical purposes?
Very Soon! Mother has just recently received its Federal Sales License to sell to registered patients. We are excited to be able to provide some of the cleanest plants available for patients to grow their own medicine. Tissue culture for all!”

 

I also was wondering if you can fly with clones (I’m kinda high and going down a rabbit hole lol), and I found a Reddit thread where someone asked CATSA on Facebook if they could fly with cannabis plants:

‘CATSA responded on FB and sounds like I should be good.

“If you are bringing life plants through the checkpoint, make sure the soil is under 350ml and, if in water, the water is to be kept at under 100ml (you can replenish after the checkpoint)”

“You can bring 350ml total through the checkpoint. However, please note that there are no soil/water restrictions if you are placing the plants in your checked bag”‘

[Somatek]

So Mother Labs is selling clones to patients through Mendo Cannabis now, all for the low price of $400 for the first one, $40 for each additional one of the same variety…  Although their Black Cherry Punch clone is already available on the BM for 1/4 of the cost, which is why LP’s aren’t really motivated to sell clones at this point as people will just share the cuts freely.  Which is why I assume they offered Black Cherry Punch up first considering how many LP’s already grow it as the markets saturated with different offerings.

[Nate]

Thats absolutely insane. I mean I get why they would want to gatekeep their genetics, but damn haha. I’ve never really shopped around on the BM for clones, is $100 an average price for quality genetics?

[Somatek]

People don’t realise how valuable plants can be, unique orchids for breeding can easily for into the thousands of dollars and bonsai are even more insane.

The irony being that pot plants have little inherent value as they aren’t homozygous or true breeding which is what usually dictates a plants value.  Clone shops are purely exploiting the lack of supply and competition which drives prices up.  In the BM $100-250 is pretty normal for “elite” clones, 25-50 for cuts of varieties grown from reputable seed.

[Nate]

I think I was just assuming the majority of the clone market being around the $20-$50, as that’s around the price I’ve seen. I’ve heard of some cuts going for hundreds of dollars, but I assumed that wasn’t the norm.

[Somatek]

Some people are still charging in the thousands for clones but that seems to be more a relic of the past then anything.  You should always be careful buying clones as they can bring in pathogens.  Everyone is scared of bugs but PM or viruses scare me a lot more then anything as there’s no way to know they’re there until it’s too late if you don’t have good isolation/quarantine practices.  I was just reading a post by a clone seller about how his elites have all tested positive for Hops Latent Viroid which is basically impossible to get rid of short of meristematic tissue cultures (since the meristem cells aren’t connected to the vascular bundle yet, they don’t carry systemic viruses/pathogens and can be used to culture new, disease free plants but you need to isolate the individual meristem cells which is far beyond most home growers).  At least he did the right thing though and post about it publicly, ask his customers who bought them to reach out to him to make things right.  The moral of the story is as the gardener the health of the garden is your responsibility and you should always mitigate the risks as best you can, which means you need to understand the risks in order to minimize them.

[Nate]

Yeah, I was given some clones from a friend knowing full well that they had PM. I just wanted to see how the different methods of dealing with PM stacked up. I only had the one crop going, so there wasn’t any chance of contamination, and I took several months off, and did a thorough deep clean after, so hopefully there isn’t anything lingering around. I would definitely not ever do that again lol. PM is a massive pain to deal with.

[Somatek]

Yes it is, it’s very persistent as the spores tend to keep re-infecting crops so making sure you take everything apart, wipe it down and thoroughly sterilize everything (especially fans) is key.  Also controlling your enviro, making sure there’s no big temp swings between night and day is crucial as going past the dew point means there’s moisture for the PM to grow.  Proper light instensity, proper watering and fertilizing (excess N makes plants more susceptible, making sure there’s adequate K and Si increase the resistance to pathogens) all play an important role.

Sulfur burners are a great option as the atomized sulfur gets into all the nooks and crannies, just don’t use close to spraying with oils as sulfur and oil often become phytotoxic.  I personally like using KHCO3 (potassium bicarbonate) as research shows it not only changes the surface pH to inhibit growth of the fungi, it also destroys the hyphea (roots growing into the plant tissue) as it decomposes.  If I specifically have an outbreak of PM I’ll increase the amount of KHCO3 and use less neem oil in my weekly spray and also increase the frequency.  Obviously only in veg though, never spray neem oil on flowering plants as it ruins the taste (especially for extracts).

In flower I’ve had good results with Dr Zymes or simply using high pH water every other day.  I’d love to try serenade as a bacterial innoculant for PM suppression but haven’t found a non-commercial supplier.  My personal experience with home brewed LAB’s for PM control showed mixed to minimal results, I’ve also used a UV-C light (DiY wand made out of a furnace UVC filter and some 6″ ducting) which worked well but you need to treat the garden every 12 hours and I always worried about potentially stressing/damaging the plants with excess radiation.  UVC light is very carcinogenic, is used make sure you understand the risks and proper personal protection equipment needed to be safe.  I have toyed with the idea of having a UVC light on during the dark period to sterilize the room passively every night, my thinking is that having it on for 15-30 mins before/after lights on/off wouldn’t affect the development of phytochrome red/far red as it’s the opposite end of the spectrum, so it shouldn’t affect flower formation while reducing the pathogen load in the room/air.

[Nate]

Yeah I took all my fans apart and cleaned them out. I looked it up, and it said that the spores only live for 1-16 days. Not sure how accurate that is, but I finished my last run at the beginning of the summer, and only just started up again a few weeks ago, so hopefully there isn’t anything lingering. I was able to grow my seedlings in 70%-80% humidity without an outbreaks, so it seems I’m in the clear so far at least.

I’ve also been meaning to pick up some potassium bicarbonate as well, but haven’t as of yet. I don’t think a sulphur burner is something I want to deal with as I’d have to do my entire basement, which includes my studio and the laundry room and storage, and that seems like a huge pain.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by Nate.

[Somatek]

PM can take up to 30 days before it sporulates, so you never know and should always isolate new introductions into the garden for a good month or two to be safe.  Which I rarely do but I have a high threshold for taking stupid risks…

Chances are you’re safe but always be paranoid, keep those temps/humidity in a good range with little fluctuations and preventative sprays with potassium bicarbonate never hurt, worse case it’s a foliar feeding with some K but it may just kill any fungi growing on the leaf before it sporulates and causes a bigger issue.

[Nate]

Yeah I think I’ll have to pick up some potassium bicarbonate just in case. It definitely wouldn’t hurt to be using it as a preventative. I’m pretty careful with my humidity as well, although I don’t have a way to regulate temps that finely. But so far this run the drops haven’t been too drastic between lights on/off.

[Somatek]

I really appreciate data loggers for tracking the grow rooms, I have one in each room as being able to see the daily/weekly/monthly conditions makes smoothing them out a lot easier.

I bought my potassium bicarbonate online a couple years ago, a lbs or two still hasn’t run out with pretty much constant use and only cost $10-20.  Combined with neem oil bought from a wholesale supplier it makes IPM a lot more affordable.

[Nate]

I have a govee bluetooth thermometer/hygrometer and their app tracks everything for me, and even calculates ambient VPD and dew point. The only problem I have with it is that it is only bluetooth, not wifi so I can only check on my plants if I’m at home. I’m planning on getting their wifi one as well, and using that as well.

[Author]

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