I think the Bou/Bay should set a standard in the cannabis seed industry - start requiring all breeders to list the harvesting date on their seeds. It's a transparency that's a given in every other seed business in agriculture. If everyday seed catalogs can do it when we're paying $3.50 for a pack of 100 vegetable seeds, I don't see why cannabis breeders shouldn't do the same when customers are often paying between $5-15 a seed. ACE manages to do it and guarantee their seeds for a two year period. It should be the norm and not the exception.

I don't mean this as a jab at any specific breeder or at the bou/bay, but at breeders/vendors in general. Y'all on the backend here are awesome and know I love ya. But I know there are breeders out there making seed stock once every half decade or every few years. If a breeder can't survive in a date-listed market where consumers are given the information they deserve, they shouldn't survive. There's no argument for not listing the date except to masquerade old stock as new or out of laziness, and neither of those things have a place in a seed business.

I'm very happy with the informal environment we have here at the IC; I love that I've had the ability to speak with so many breeders, but it's also time we start holding these people to the most basic agricultural business standards if they're operating as seedsmen. I don't think the consumer can do anything about this though, I think the vendor has to be the one to set this standard.

KINDA Connected to that because I think it also needs to be said - there is a bad loop by some breeders of pricing seeds too high. The high prices slash demand, the stock sits and gets old, the small number willing to pay the high price who have bad results with old stock end up reporting back to us which compounds the cycle and further slows the movement of the old stock. There are several formerly well-respected breeders whose reputations are sliding because of this cycle. If they dropped their prices their overall sales would increase and as a result their stock would be fresher. It's basic agronomics but these growers are missing it.


A small story to end things because I really don't mean to rant; back around the turn of the century my region was well known for a single vegetable crop. We were the *go to* for every city on the East Coast because farmers got together and started a co-op to manage the sales. Our area became well-known for quality and reliability only because the middlemen at the co-op set high standards for all the farmers. Sales increased and profits rose because of it and it was the most successful our little hill country has ever been. When those standards stopped being upheld by the middlemen the product fell in quality and now today only a few historically minded people even know our area grew this crop.

Which is to say holding all the breeders who want to sell on the Bou/Bay to a higher standard will not only increase *their* sales, it'll increase your reputation as a vendor and thus the sales of all the other breeders you carry. Your real power as a business isn't that you carry many breeders in one place, it's in the ability to set standards and raise the quality of all the breeders you carry. A rising tide lifts all.

All the best and one love,
Mr.S

[circadian clock]

the only ones i see without a date are the untested ones, could u be more specific as to who u are talking about. as far as pricing u get what u pay for.the problem is people who cant grow buy a 150 dollar pack of seeds and expect gold. then complain its the breeder.

Shit, ACE is the only one I've seen dates on. MAYBE CBG but I can't remember. I can't remember seeing packaging dates on any of the couple dozen company packagings I've seen.

As far as pricing you don't get what you paid for. This is a product with an expiration and when seeds are priced too high, such as Soma's gear, it sits until the few willing to pay that high price get packs with germination issues. Go look up some reviews of rock bud on the ic for example. Long gaps between seed production and high prices leads to old stock.

Also, we call it weed for a reason. It grows anywhere and the only thing that stands between most people and the ability to grow good weed are the myths that get perpetuated on how complicated it is to grow weed. There are an awful lot of people complicating a simple process and using their grows to boost their own egos like growing dope makes them special. There might be more quality in a $150 pack of seeds, maybe, but they're certainly no more difficult to grow than any other flower or vegetable. If you believe cannabis cultivation involves lots of meters and equipment and balancing chemical nutrients you should come join us lazy lazy people in organics where we're trying to dispel these myths and realign cultivation to the rest of gardening.

[Tonygreen]

I dropped 100+ on a pack of KQR, i was pleased they showed the date right on the bag. (09) Not sure about others as I haven't made too many orders. Beans arrived in good shape, no germ problems.

[bad gas]

I see Blimburn sold another 3-pack of seeds. LOL

[circadian clock]

so u want the flowering times on the label itself? all u have to do is log in 2 your account and look it up , as i do. as far as high pricing, good , keeps them there for more serious minded folks. if theres a issue with old stock im sure gypsy would like to know as i dont think he wants to be selling seeds that dont germinate.
until one of us is a breeder or at least a seed vendor i dont think we have any room to complain about what others in this industry are doing. again ur comparing vegtables to marijuana im glad u think like that but thats really a wrong analogy.i guess u want them to list what zone these can grow in etc.
as far as grow skill i know people who grow professionally for a living but somehow couldn't grow a weed plant to save their life.education on this subject is very important. too much misinformation out there for sure.peoples egos are very much in the way when it comes to this plant. great thread but this aint goin change much.

[circadian clock]

double post

[Tonygreen]

Circadian, he meant the date the seeds were harvested, not the flower time. He means if the seeds were made in 09 they should say so on the bag, thus if you get an old pack from say 93 you would know.

[circadian clock]

appaparntly my mind reading skills fall short of the internet, haha . any more good ideas anybody can think of?

Thanks Tony, you're dead on . Yeah circadian, I meant the age of the seeds themselves. Flowering time is another issue entirely, some breeders are very accurate but many low ball it I believe. I think we're gonna have to agree to disagree on the distance between regular horticulture and cannabis , both in customer expectations and growing.