I can only speculate and speaking with the owner sometimes feels like summoning a spirit… some questions are answered, some aren’t.
My experience the one time I purchased clones from him was that he “goes to pick them up and mail them out”. So the experience and timing involved was less efficient than me ordering packs from his website with a credit card and the click of a button. It seemed like he puts an order in somewhere and then picks them up later and ships them. Mine were shipped in the standard rockwool cubes rooted and encased in a rectangle of clear plastic.
When I let him know they’d landed safely, he said he was happy to hear that. When I asked about how he sourced them, he didn’t offer a response.
I assume the same as you do though, based on my experience.
Both clones were healthy. If you’re really curious, they are mentioned in my outdoor grow journal and the first post they show up on is linked below.
I will also add,…
… the Permanent Marker smelled exactly like what you would expect. There was a bit of powerdery mildew on a single lower branch/bud. It was in a tent with another plant that was ravaged by thrips but the Permanent Marker didn’t show excessive traces of thrips. A single bud at the top of the plant (I super cropped it) did end up getting bud rot.
The Tropicanna Cookies clone was gorgeouse and had some purple that showed on the leaves towards the end. It smelled mostly of gas/diesel/petrol when leaning in on it… which is not a smell I’m aware that strain is supposed to have predominantly so …don’t know what’s up with that. Seemed resistant to PM, didn’t see any bud rot. It did have short node distance and compact structure leading to what I anticipate being a not fun time trimming. The branches aren’t thick and there was major droopage by the time the plant was ready to harvest (one branch was leaning on the ground/cement).
Both are done drying and we’ll see what the effect is like. They are both loaded with seeds from a Blue Dream male.