Ive grown weed for a couple of years now but for all the hype around strains and terpenes and effects I’ve only ever grown 1 plant that had a unique smell and effect. That’s out of 20 or 30 plants. Anyway, I was wondering, what do you all think the odds are of getting something that’s unique. Am I just unlucky, all this hype about magical terpenes profiles and interesting effects and it’s all pretty much been the same to me.
What are y’all’s thoughts?
If you’re willing to wait 16 weeks you can have something very different.
This post is about to take you on your next journey. I like looking for strains with short lineages, Heirlooms, Landrace hybrids, and very soon I’ll start diving into landrace a bit deeper. Your mind is about to explode later this year when you pop your first and patiently wait for harvest.
You’re in the right place my friend ! 
In my opinion, really depends on genes… but overall id say 1 in 100…
My thoughts are that everyone has a different opinion of what’s unique in terms of terps and effects so don’t really buy the talk of having to run hundreds of seeds to find it. Depends upon what you like but of course there are phenos of each cultivar that stand above the rest. I’ve learned to appreciate almost every plant in my garden whether potency terps or yield are average… personally loud tropical citrus lavender interest me and maybe you hate it haha.
I also think that the way you consume cannabis will also affect the results… some stuff burns terribly but vapes rly well n tasty…
That’s the truth right there. My wife strictly uses a dry herb vape. There are some strains that taste so great outta glass, then we put in in the vape and as my wife says it taste like feet weed.
The subtle psychoactive differences become more noticable if you keep your tolerance low. I can notice major differences in the effects of all the plants I smoke.
The next step is to create your own hybrids with the plants that you enjoy smoking. You will definitely find a keeper this way.
I feelclike this is going to depend mostly on the genetics you’re growing, and then personal preferences for what you consider a keeper.
I’d say youve got a good chance of finding a keeper in most Bodhi packs.
CSI puts out some great work, and I’ve had some stellar plants from Trichome Jungle too.
Finding a keeper is just a game of numbers, the more you pop the better your chances. You can skew the odds in your favor with smart genetic choices. Want gassy? Get beans where both parents are gassy. Want something different? Search out small breeders working with really unusual stuff, or get find someone working with landrace strains. One breeder that is reputed to seek out unusual terp profiles is Umami.
Any recs for csi. I grew out a couple to x bubblegum from him but was super unimpressed. Still have a few seeds left. But I’ve been eyeing some of his other stuff for awhile.
Imho its a mixture of Luck and good genetics.! Your luck increases with good genetics giving you a better chance to find a keeper. Also as @SubzeroIceKold mentioned try to find cultivars with short lineages they have more variations then polyhybrids in my experience.
How they finish the last few weeks, the temps, the humidity, the dry, and so on are super important too. Ten different people with the same cut will pull out some different expressions and quality. Get a known cut and see how that turns out for you.
Genetics are the game changer… But your environment will dictate the outcome and your feeding regime will help dial in the results. If you have not tried your skills on known cut/clone I highly recommend that be your next go round as Pat and others suggested. If you grow crappy genetics perfectly the results are still sub par… If you grow great genetics at a sub par level you end up with quality smoke… Cheers !!!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder Brochacho.I have some stuff that looks like a Penthouse Pet that belongs in a Weed boutique magazine that smokes pretty good tastes good has a good stone all by herself Canadian Purple Kush tastes and smelled like a grape tootsie pop .Then i have some stuff that grows airy non visually appealing that smells like a cross of Pissy Hobo and patchouli oil that absolutely blows my mind and my hair back like the Maxell dude.Shitty yeild to boot and on top of it ill never know what it is i found it on my garage floor in a corner as a stray bean and it could be God knows anything.Guess which one i kept lol.Let the plant show you to where it wants you to be found and what you like,Keep for what you like not the hype not all gold and glitters homie.There are some real diamonds in the rough litteraly at your feet sometimes.Just got to do some digging and find that one little shit that scratches that itch Savvy?
If it’s all the same, I kind of question if there’s an extraneous thing going on either between genetic selection or something setup related.
Keeper wise, I’d question what a keeper looks like to you, might narrow down which section of the gene pool to look into.
It all boils down to personal preference, and YOUR IDEAL, of what you are looking for, the source of the seeds, NOT going out and chasing the latest so called newest shit to hit the market.
Do research on different forums, on smoke, and grow reports. And decide what effects, you are searching for.
I myself, if I didnt have any seeds, and knwing what I know, I myself would look into… And $$$$ Will Have No Bearing on Recommendations. Theres good expensive seeds, and there are good, less expensive seeds.
If I was seeking an energetic up high, of the highest quality, that also has a great yield, and is easy to grow, and doesnt take 16 weeks to finish, though, Im also not against that, as my budy has a 2006 Willie Nelson cut, that will go 105-120 days, and will stretch, for 80 days.
If I was looking for a pure sativa, that is known for the quality of the high, is long lasting, yields good, and takes 68-84 days to flower, Id look into
Cabinet of Curiosities Seeds
2005-2010 Destroyer Open Pollenation.
Also, though advertised as F2, they are actually more like F10+, as it was stabilizedd long ago, though I think around 2015, dont really know exact year, Cannabiogen got busted, or some mishap, and lost 1 part of the original genetics, though, it was still top shelf.
But the original Destroyer, was stabilized over at least 8 Years, so for however many F generations they could do each year, for 8 years, is what they are, and now Cabinet of Curiosities had seeds from both 2005, and 2010, and did an Open Pollination, of these genetics, and to him, they are F1, but in reality, they are probably at least F10-maybe as high as F16, if one considers how many breeding they could do, in 8 years.
So Id start with cabinet of curiosities Destroyer, you are highly likely to find some keepers in every pack. Easily.
Next up, there are a couple, and for more knockout stone, and one known for extremely rich varied Termine profile, and are all but IMPOSSIBLE to find, as these are F2 repros, and havent been rereleased since first release, almost 4 yers ago.
Silk Road Repros by NWSun. These originally came from Crickets and Cicada Seeds. They are Red Lebanese Hashplant x Pacific Northwest Hashplant x NL1. These dont grow extremely fast, but you are most certainly likely to find unique specimens in these genetics. PNWHP cut has been around at least since the early 80s, and was used in Nevils Original Hashplant in 1984, and is the Mother of Puck/Skelly Hashplant. These are 2 of the most sought after of Hashplant cuts.
Red Lebanese Hashplant was Howard Marks-aka Mr Nice favorite weed. While I cant verify, Id not doubt this is the original 80s cut, that was Howards favorite.
Another from NWSun is his F2 Repro of Crickets and Cicada Pacific Northwest Hashplant x Puck BC1 F2.
Puck, is a Pheno, that was found in 1988, from a pack of Nevils Hashplant seeds that a guy-Nicknamed Skelly, who kept his weed, in what looked like a Hockey PUCK, found the plant, in a pack of seeds he had bought in Holland, and had sewn into a sweater, to get them back to the USA.
Puck, is aka Skelly. Same Plant.
Bob Hemphill spent 4 years before he released these 2 strains
For just some good weed, I also look into
Ace Killer A5 Haze
Golden Tiger
Malawi
Though these are getting into longer flowering times, and the stretch on some of these is HUGE
Cabinet of Curiosities
Athens Silver Haze-S1. A killer strain/pheno, of a strain, that should have been preserved, but the original genetics are lost, a many from Sensi Seeds were lost in busts.
If the dry and cure are not on point it will drastically affect the turpins and flavor of the cured material
I love your question OP. As a new grower you should get an established clone, like @PatHealy and @BTYGMO said. Farmer Joe 420 on IG or @hoss8455 have affordable quality cuts. Lotsa mids possible when popping beans. Get a cut.
Peace
I pop several thousand seeds a year, and I expect 1 in 150 to 200 packs to have something truly special and worth keeping. One in 1000 or 2000 seeds. But if you find it and line work, you can get that % up to 75%+ of a poopulation. I used to have a collection of 35+ popular old cropper cuts that are now called “elites” and finding truly elite plants is tough. Ive not seen any truly elite clones in years now, but theres magic if youre popping the right genetics. The issue were running into these days is many people collecting and distributing clones have never actually had elites, so if youve never grown one, how would you even know what elite is?
And like folks mentioned, the breeder is everything. Bodhi, CSI, 707 Seedbank are usually the ones I find magic in. Crickets and Cicadas has a lotta cool stuff too.
TK91, anything Notso Headband or Chem D.
