How to Choose Bag Seed

[jawnroot]

I should preface this by stating there is no right or wrong bag seed to grow, objectively speaking. If it has the capability to germinate, then it has a right to life. However, after growing out bag seed on a number of occasions, I noticed a few trends. They're not be all, end all rules, but if you're mindful of the seeds you use, you can avoid the hermi/ditch weed pitfalls that some bag seed growers encounter.

We all know bag seed has the potential for greatness. Seeds from total sponge-weed schwag can be good, but odds are you'll end up with something mediocre, or worse, a complete herm nightmare. Overtime, I've developed a little system I use in selecting bagseed. Nine times out of ten it nets me quality shit.

First thing's first, how does the bud smell? Like laundry detergent and hay, or like weed? Second, how does it look? Most bud with seeds in it isn't the best, aesthetically, but you should be able to discern some crystal structure and decent coloration, especially after you break it apart and get to the inside of the buds.

Perhaps the ultimate test is the quality of the high. Don't so much judge it on taste, but on the stone itself. Will a few hits get you nice and baked, or do you have to smoke a gram or two to really feel anything? Does it keep you going for hours, or do you find yourself sober 45 minutes later?

One final, important consideration: How many seeds were in it? Was the stuff completely seeded, or did you find one or two seeds in an entire bag/QP/LB, etc? This is important, because if you're finding very few seeds in what is otherwise killer bud, you can probably bet they came from an errant hermie flower. Which means, by extension, that the bud you grow from those seeds will have hermie genes lurking right under the surface, waiting to assert themselves.

I learned this the hard way, as there were two occasions people gifted me bag seeds, and said "This was one seed I found in a QP," or "These are the only three seeds I found in a pound," or some crap like that. Both times I ended up with hermies. (And yes, I'm on top of my stuff grow-wise, so it wasn't due to light leaks, temps, etc.) They weren't crazy, beyond-hope herms -- with daily ball-picking I was able to keep them in check, but it was still an unnecessary PITA.

So with all that said, I just recently found some excellent candidates for growing. These seeds came from a bag of completely seeded bud. The nugs didn't look super great, but it was definitely a leg up from schwag and other garbage, appearance wise. Breaking apart the bud revealed some nice crystallization, etc.

What really set this shit apart was the high. A few hits gave me a solid buzz that lasted for hours. In fact, I was really quite surprised by how good the stuff was, given the mediocre appearance (which I attribute to poor handling/storage). The high was great, just as good as the $60 a bag stuff I've been smokin' on lately. Indeed, the bud got me higher than all but the absolute best shit I've been getting, and this stuff was clearly not harvested, dried, cured, or stored properly. And it was at least a year old by the time I got it.

Here they are, compared to some breeder seeds. Notice how big, plump, and ready to grow these guys are! (They're the ones on the bottom, FYI)

 

[cygnus]

Good info. From my experience bigger seeds aren't always better. Some of the best bag seed I ever grew out was from some tiny beans.

 

[jawnroot]

From what I know, seed size is a genetic trait. Larger seeds tend to be from indica stock, whereas smaller seeds tend to be sativa. So no, bigger isn't better, just different.

 

[Agent SmokeAlot]

Bag seed seems so hard to come by for me nowadays.

 

[dan_kass]

Here are some pics of a bag seed plant that was found in some purple bud...probably west coast outdoor but who knows for sure. My friend said it was Purple Urkle but I doubt it.

Pics were taken @ day 16 of 12/12

 

[jawnroot]

dan_kass: Lookin' good, lookin' good. The structure on that plant is great; you should have something nice there.

Agent Smokealot: I agree 100%. These days, bag seed is such a rarity, whereas even ten years ago it was fairly common for me to stumble upon it. That's why I was so pumped when I discovered this latest seeded bag, because not only did it have seeds, but it met pretty much all of my criteria for quality bag seed.

Anymore, when I see seeded bud that meets my liking (which is about once every few years these days), I'll buy it just for the seeds alone. Unfortunately, 90% of the seeded bud I see, when I see it, is mexi-dirt schwag, and generally never worth my time to grow out.

I think the "problem" is that more and more growers are learning how to produce proper sensi, and as such the amount of seeded bags we see are becoming fewer and fewer. Probably the only people who still produce genetically sound seeded weed are old school farmers who open pollinate their crop, and sow seed the following year. There could be a number of unique, IBL strains that were produced this way, floating around various nooks and crannies.

The seeds pictured above were found in a bag at a fourth of July party, in West Virginia of all places. The guy I got it from said his uncle "has been growing it in the hills for years," which more or less reinforces my assertion that most bag seed worth caring about is grown by open-pollinating old-schoolers.

It seems like we're fast reaching a time when most all commercial bud will be sensi. Hell, I saw a bag of mexi-dirt a few months back that was sensi, which suggests to me that even those guys are getting their techniques down. Soon, the only place to get seeds will be retailers like Gypsy. This is far from a bad thing, as with a seed place you know exactly what you're getting, and you know it's quality.

But with bag seed there's always that mystique and allure; the chance of finding something truly special of your own accord. Probably the best stuff I got via bag seed was a skunk dominate plant, that came from some very average looking bud. This was about 10-12 years ago, if memory serves. It may have been a skunk afghan based upon its traits, but either way it was A++ quality bud when properly grown. I'm still kicking myself for not saving that mother.

I do have hope for this new batch of seeds. At times, I think it very well might be the last satchel of quality bag seed I'll ever come across. I couldn't even tell you how many years it's been since I've seen a bag that met all my qualifiers for growing, probably pushing a decade at this point.

So the lesson for today is, if you see a bag of decent quality seeded bud, save those seeds and grow 'em! They're fast becoming a rare commodity.

 

[Shady Smoka]

I'm a firm believer of bagseed. There are some good seeds to be found.

 

[supermanlives]

bagseed is great if you dont mind high numbers to find that special one. but a few breeders arent any better. bagseed is cheaper

 

[jawnroot]

bagseed is great if you dont mind high numbers to find that special one. but a few breeders arent any better. bagseed is cheaper

Absolutly. And if you're fairly selective in what bagseed you grow, you can really cut down on the number needed to find keepers.

 

[HansHanf]

intresting info

intresting info

hi jawnroot,

informative thread helpfull info , thx..
second you about the bean sizes, the bigger ones turned out as indicas tiny ones are more sativa like...
greeetz
hans

 

[Matanuskan Flo]

for some reason, any bagseed i have used has been 100% feminized. i never had a male or hermy come from bag seed. i used to understand why or how, but i have forgotten the mechanics as to why that happens or is expected. if someone could refresh my memory, that'd be great. seems to me, those are the bagseed types you want to look out for. if not, growing from seed's a waste of time if you have to sex & weed out males. just clone, air layer etc instead in that case....

 

[cobcoop]

for some reason, any bagseed i have used has been 100% feminized. i never had a male or hermy come from bag seed. i used to understand why or how, but i have forgotten the mechanics as to why that happens or is expected. if someone could refresh my memory, that'd be great. seems to me, those are the bagseed types you want to look out for. if not, growing from seed's a waste of time if you have to sex & weed out males. just clone, air layer etc instead in that case....

It would most likely be because the seeds you are gathering came from plants that hermed, producing mostly female seeds. The lights/temps/nutes you use during veg can also have an effect on the sex.

 

[jawnroot]

for some reason, any bagseed i have used has been 100% feminized. i never had a male or hermy come from bag seed. i used to understand why or how, but i have forgotten the mechanics as to why that happens or is expected. if someone could refresh my memory, that'd be great.

Like cobcoop said, 100% female seed comes from self-pollinated herms. The resulting females are much more likely to go herm, when compared to genetically "standard" plants.

seems to me, those are the bagseed types you want to look out for. if not, growing from seed's a waste of time if you have to sex & weed out males. just clone, air layer etc instead in that case....

It's a matter of opinion, I suppose, but I wouldn't want plants with herm genes that close to the surface, and I would never keep a mother of a fem/herm. I totally disagree about standard M & F seeds being a waste of time. Sorting through seed is how you find those awesome keepers.

It's also a great way to find breeding stock (which consists of both males and females). Indeed, if the latest bag seed I got is a nice full-blooded indica (as I suspect it may be), then I'm far more interested in finding a nice breeding male, as opposed to looking for bud plants.

 

[indifferent]

I love bagseed, little genetic mystery packages. I have 5 lovely little seedlings from some seeds picked from some lovely Durban Poison import (supposedly, it did have the right liqourice taste and uppy high) and a couple of bigger seedlings from some West African import.

Lots of famous cuts were bagseed - OG Kush, Diesel, Chemdawg, bagseeds played a part in all of them at some point.

Certainly seeds from good bags of weed are just as worthwhile growing out as most of these new cheap femmed lines coming out of Spain. Probably similar chance of hermies with both. lol

 

[alpinestar]

if youre looking for good genetics in commercial bagseed, look between november and january. This is when the freshest and better stuff is around, because it will have just been harvested. If you are lucky you may run into very high grade bricked stuff. Not all of it is good genetically. You have to take into account look vs actual quality. Use the look to sort through for interesting specimens and then test them all individually, then keep the seeds from the most desirable buds. Going through a 1/2 to whole lb will raise your chances of finding a few buds with great genetics. Remember to write down the traits of the parent, and the date, in order to maintain some idea of what you've got.

 

[250wscrogger]

bagseeds started it all

bagseeds started it all

I have gotten some amazing plants/ smoke out of mexi brick weed bagseeds...I still regret not keeping that mystery 75 day HAZE tasting/smelling pheno that I flowered in a 1 gallon 2 years ago.

The best bagseeds I ever got were from an oz of pre 98 bubba kush grown outdoors, got like 32 seeds in the oz and thats one of the best things that has ever happened to me...still have over 20 seeds, none have hermied yet.

I'm going to set up a 12/12 from seed bagseed selection dedicated 400w in my next room because I love the mystery of unknown strains.

 

[Euphrates]

A while back I bought two 8ths of herb, first appearance I wasn't really to impress, it didn't look bad, just kind of plain, though it did have a more than fair amount of trichromes inside the bud when broken up, outside didn't appear so much; didn't really have much of a smell either.

The dude I got it from seemed to be pretty legit and seemed like, all in all, a good guy. He was an amputee, an liked to medicate him self and was known for getting legitimately decent dank.

He told me after I bought it that it was Northern Lights, I don't really know for sure, but he also mentioned he grew some stuff he found in his bags from time to time, usually having a name.

Out of those two eights I've found 15 healthy mature tiger striped seeds; To me, the smoke was pretty good, not overly powerful, but I did get a good and decent indica effect from it; I was excited that I got a bit extra than I anticipated.

Any thoughts ? Does this sound like a hermi effect ? Although excited from receiving these "freebies", I had to wonder, why so many in just seven grams ? Is it a blessing or a hermie mishap ?

I think it would be worth it, growing out some of those seeds. Recently I placed an order through the boo, its been more than eight business days since conformation of order, and I have a gut feeling that I’ll never even receive those beans, which really sucks because they where suburb genetics. The closest I’ll probably get to them is in my dreams, I’ve already dreamt about receiving them twice already.



I also got a 8th of some really smelly, smelly dank, had one seed in it, which was healthy and mature, but the smoke really wasn’t that potent. The above two eights where more potent than this stuff, and would defiantly likely smell less in flower ( A trait of Northern Lights? ). Non the less I saved that one as well, even though I doubt I'll ever grow it out, it was really stinky, and there just wasn't much to the high at all.


Any thoughts or comments, would be nice ? I can't help but feel a bit depressed about my order.

 

[Matanuskan Flo]

if you get a female seed from bagseed.....must it always mean that it has hermy traits within it?? there is no other way to get a female seed from a female plant?? i am not good at all with the whole allele thing. thx everyone.

 

[jawnroot]

Euphrates: I'd say your Northern Lights seeds are definite contenders. They meet pretty much all requirements I go by for selecting good bag seed. Grow 'em out.

I'd toss that single seed you found in the 1/8. That one, to me, sounds like the herm, not the 15 you found in the quattro. And plus, you said it wasn't that potent, so you're probably not going to get anything much better than what you smoked, if you were to grow it out.

Regarding Seed Bou, you need to wait at least a month before you give them up for lost. Eight days is nothing. My average is about two weeks from confirmation to delivery. Sometimes a week, sometimes a month.

Either way, I would hold onto and grow those northern lights seeds. They sound like definite contenders.

 

[jawnroot]

if you get a female seed from bagseed.....must it always mean that it has hermy traits within it?? there is no other way to get a female seed from a female plant?? i am not good at all with the whole allele thing. thx everyone.

No. But if you're getting ALL females, then they were most likely the result of a herm/self-cross. In other words, the average split for male female seeds is generally 50/50. So for ten seeds, you would expect between 3-5 females, and the rest male. Granted, there are exceptions, but if you're growing bag seed and getting females all day and all night, then you can be 99% sure that's a herm cross.

Think of it this way: a herm is a female that grows male sex organs. When it pollinates itself, there were no males involved. So the seeds you get from it will be either female (with resessive herm genes), or outright herm. There will be no pure males, for all intents and purposes. But with a standard male/female cross, you'll be getting both pure males and pure females (with some exceptions that I won't go into, for the sake of keeping it simple).