thanks for sharing this and looking out for the community doug. You should post this here as well-
seed banks who can we trust
this happens more than people realize, and more than people would like to admit. I have seen a lot of people refuse to acknowledge warning signs like this.
It won’t stop until we make it stop. My advice is to always get in touch with the breeders before making a purchase. Ask who their official retailer is, and where you can get their seeds. Include a link to the seed bank you are thinking of buying from and ask directly if they have worked with this seedbank, and can verify whether the seeds are genuine.
I have been truly surprised by the number of times breeders have told me they do not work with a seed bank, and that their product must be fake.
here are just a few of the culprits.
Seed supreme- If you buy full packs with breeders packaging intact, they are likely genuine, but I have caught them selling fake single seeds of lines that have been long since discontinued.
Bonza-
a scam seed bank, which will not die because it is one of the few seed banks that ships to australia. australian members beware. they are selling unknown generic weed seed. they are misrepresenting strains and selling fake seeds. they refuse to send breeder packaging to legal countries, pretty much confirming they are sending generic seed.
AMS amsterdam marijuana seeds-
They are misrepresenting genetics, and possibly selling herm brickweed seed. I went to a legal recreational licensed farm that was growing seeds from this bank, and it was a really bad situation. They bought “og” “haze” and “northern lights” from AMS, none of them were genuine. The plants were all identical, and they all hermed. They lost thousands of dollars from the seed purchase, and lost 1/3 of their entire outdoor crop.
The farm was a new commercial operation and they knew nothing about cannabis genetics or culture, perfect target for scammers.
hanfsamen-
all I can say about this bank is that they claim to have genetics that haven’t been available since around 2002. Safe to assume they are not genuine.
HSO humboldt seed organization-
this “breeder” is misrepresenting their genetics using the names of popular bay area strains to capitalize on name recognition. Even their name is a lie, they are based in spain. They have never had any presence in the bay area or in humboldt, and locals involved in the cannabis community know to steer clear of these scammers.
Their branding and logo was copied from a well regarded proposition 215 medical cannabis collective located in humboldt.
so to conclude, always ask yourself these questions before making a purchase-
- is this too good to be true?
- who is this breeder?
- where is this breeder located? could they actually have access to the genetics they claim to possess? it is always safest to buy genetics from a breeder who actually lives in the area where the genetics originate.
- who is this seedbank?
- has the breeder worked directly with this seed bank? if not, it is likely the genetics are fake.
- is this bank an official retailer for that breeder?
- did this bank get their genetics from the breeder or from a reseller / wholesaler? if they are not working directly with breeders the genetics are likely fake.
- Can I buy these seeds directly from the breeder and bypass the middleman?
this should really help to spot the fakes.
edit- the only legitimate reseller wholesaler I know of is seedsman. So if a seed bank says they are supplied by seedsman, get in touch with seedsman and make sure they have actually done business with that bank. If they are really working with seedsman and no one else, it is probably legitimate.