Copy paste from: GYO seed bank blog… as with most cannabis myths take it with a grain of salt…
SEEDS.
The swirling shades of mystery that shroud G13 cannabis have projected the strain onto the imagination of every serious cannabis aficionado in the 420 community. There is so little concrete evidence surrounded the G13’s reality, however, that it could be that every myth is true, one is true, or the G13 cannabis strain has never actually existed – all are equally plausible.
The most reliable of anecdotal evidence begins, as is so often the case, in 1970’s America, where the G13 cannabis strain was allegedly stolen from a US government research facility connected to Mississippi University. A clone found its way into the hands of Neville Schoenmaker, founder of The Seed Bank, purportedly via Sandy Weinstein, having been found in a batch of Afghan indicas labelled, simply, G1 to G23. The G13 was the cream of the crop; it was quick-flowering, extremely resinous, potent and vigorous.
There is a glamorous, if dubious, prequel to the story, involving the seizure of a number of plants from a man called Michael Hallman. According to legend, the CIA and FBI used his catalogue of strains to covertly engineer the G13 in secret government labs – the same G13 cannabis seeds that subsequently ended up in the hands of Neville Schoenmaker. This engineered strain had an alleged THC level of 28%, which would have ranked it higher than most commercial strains available today, and is one of the least believable ‘facts’ surrounded the G13 strain. There is no evidence to support claims of such a potent strain existing at that time, besides contemporary, anecdotal reports of the G13’s strength.
The G13 plant’s true origin has little bearing on the current availability of the strain in seed form, however, as Neville only acquired a female plant and it was never self-pollinated into feminised seeds. The only places one could possibly obtain genuine G13 hybrids these days are Sensi Seeds, Mr Nice and Soma Seeds.
Upon acquiring the G13 clone, the Seed Bank (later, Sensi Seeds) created a number of successful hybrids, among them were G13 x Ortega, G13 x Hashplant, G13 x Northern Lights #2, G13 x Haze and G13 x Skunk #1. The G13 x Hashplant is the only remaining strain available in seed form and is considered to be the closest descendant of the original G13.
The G13 x Skunk #1 was easily the best hybrid and Neville shared it with Shantibaba, who shelved it for a number of years before using a Skunk #1 and his Black Widow to reignite the old genes. The G13 mother acquired by Sensi had, by this time, declined beyond rejuvenation, but their G13 x Haze was still going strong and has been used to create some fine hybrids.
One cannot visit a cannabis expo or competition without there being some talk of the G13 cannabis strain, but there is little or no chance of ever acquiring pure G13 genetics these days, if, indeed, there ever was. The genes survive only in the select hybrids created from the original stock, and only from Sensi, Mr Nice and Soma. The merit of G13, as a strain, is open to debate, especially considering the number of superior hybrids available today. The real attraction lies in the romance of the plant, in the mysterious and enigmatic history that has fired the imagination of every fan since it first appeared all those years ago.
.