A little background here, before this potentially controversial post. I was born in the late 60s, meaning I was introduced to cannabis in the 70s, and by the early 80s as a teenager I was imbibing. Back then, seed was super viable. You could roll a joint, throw your seeds and stems from the tray out the window, or into a pot of garbage soil, and almost all would germinate right on top of the soil with a little water. In the late 80 the worked genetics I purchased from The Seed Bank was still hardy and vigorous like that.
Fast forward to 2013, after 21 years of not using primarily due to job requirements, I become a patient under CA 215 MMJ laws. First of all, I found out Skunk wasnāt skunky anymore what a bummer! Anyone who ever smoked the heavily resinous, extremely pungent and potent Humboldt Skunk, in both the lime green and dark but frosty purple varietals, knows what Iām talking about. Yes, it was āRKSā as it gets, if thatās the moniker you want to use.
The next thing I discovered is the $100 10 packs of seed I tried were almost all invariably poor in germination rates. I mean only 4 or 6 $10 seeds per pack of regulars would germinate, and then when culling for males, you might end up with 2 or 4 females for $100. I wasnāt digging it, and started buying clones for a bit.
Furthermore, the limited growing I did in the late 80s, as well as what people I knew grew, was done almost effortlessly. Pop a seed, put it in the ground with no amendments, and water with a garden hose until the thing was taller than your fence or house eaves, honest 6 to 10 footers. No real problems with pests, nute deficiencies, nutrient lockout, PH problems or anything of the such. Hell I knew of one guy in the mild So Cal climate that revegged, and grew the same plant out for 3 different seasons!
Yeah, I learned to adapt and grow under the ānew normalā for a bit so to speak, but it nagged at me. We like to bandy around the phrase that ācannabis is adaptableā, but honestly in my experience and opinion, it had lost its adaptability. I have my own philosophy as to why, and thatās a thread of own.
Suffice it to say, everytime I would see an online post with a nutrient deficiency, I would see it as a genetic deficiency of non adaptable cannabis. This kicked in my breeder instincts before long. I have bred everything from rats, dogs, horses, cattle, and poultry, to fix various traits over the last 35 years. So, about 6 years ago, I began a breeding project with cannabis, having two main goals. Primarily, I wanted to get back to the vigor, and hardiness we once saw. Secondarily I wanted to see if we could shake loose the old pure Skunk types of yesteryearās majesty. The best OG or Chem has a part of it, but itās mixed a bit, and kind of mellowed down to like a 6 or 7 out of 10.
About this time I was gifted a mixed 25 to 40 year old seed collection. Because of the work I had going on there, good fortune fell my way again, and was gifted a few more collections.
Iām happy to report, I was able produce some absolute rockstar seed stock in terms of hardiness, and ease of growing traits by using mostly the heirloom seed stock to breed with. These have been grown out the last few years by folks in different climates, with minimal care, giving a great yield, and a very good finished product. In at least a half dozen cases,this was accomplished pretty much with water only in soil.
While I did get in the realms of burnt rubber, and other nasty chemical type of scents, the old Skunk type alone is elusive. Unfortunately, other pursuits have taken me overseas the last couple years where growing and smoking are highly illegal. This has brought my breeding work on this front to a halt.
Is there anyone else out there trying to restore or breed more adaptable, hardy, easy growing cannabis? Does anyone else see the current gene pool as the deficiency, and not the nutrients, or am I the lone crazy guy?
I look forward to any replies.
It was like taking a fān bath in skunk-weed.
āNah mom, itās this WEED!ā 
And you betcha, thereās people trying to everything and anything with weed, even a few doing the sensible work youāre talking about. 
and the changes in the gene pool are wild, considering the relative short period of time.
Weāre still barely into quasi-decriminilization as it is. Given that, itās amazing to see it all & experience this special place in time. 
