Starting seed breeding company?

Hey guys. I have always been curious about how regular people who find a wonderous plant get started in seed sales. I mean is there a widely accepted route? Or does everyone find their own individual path. I am completely clueless about commercial seed sales.

13 Likes

i think thatā€™s whatā€™s wrong with the seed market today. not that thereā€™s anything wrong with it, thatā€™s what i decided to do.

i didnā€™t find a good plant, just got a bunch of seeds and decided to grow my own. since itā€™s illegal in wv right now, i found out about industrial cannabis that i can grow with a license and got one. i plan on breeding out the thca from plants and breeding in thcv and cbd. and making paper from the hemp outside. i canā€™t sell any of my smoke if it tests above 0.3% thca, but i just want the seeds from that. i plan on burning and composting all the plant matter that tests hot. it will be at least a couple of years before i sell any seeds but iā€™ll be giving them away as soon as i have enough.

only part about my plan is that it is a plan in motion and not yet completed. iā€™ll let ya know if it works. i too am completely clueless about commercial seed sales.

4 Likes

You plan on burning all that plant matter ? :wink:

3 Likes

Traditionally it was growers doing their thing, journaling what they are up to, showcasing some crosses etc and when they get asked constantly where ppl can buy their seed/lines some would start selling direct, eventually sub contracting distribution to a seed bank when volume dictated it.

You can email banks anytime to offer some of your work to be sent as freebies see what happens and work from there. Etc

You can choose to be business, marketing gimmicks etc

I like the traditional way, cream rises to the top :wink:

23 Likes

When you send in your samples for testing just dry them. My buddy sent in a sample he dried in an oven, it came in hot. The lab said never heat it, as itā€™ll make it test higher

2 Likes

Coming from someone who has done it. If you plan on taking it all the way to a real business, and LEGAL its going to be painful.

Itā€™s easy to throw a site together and start selling seeds. Whatā€™s difficult is that no bank wants to work with anyone in the cannabis industry and well seeds are a gray area still.

It took me almost a year to find a bank that wouldnā€™t close on me for seed sales.

And at the end of this month I will have cc processing that has taken more than a year.

Itā€™s fun but itā€™s also very regulated. Its easy to do it, hard to do it legal and above the table.

If you want to hit me up im happy to answer any questions you might have.

23 Likes

You also have to ask yourself if youā€™re willing to go on consignment if you fuck with the seed bank. I was burned with over 100 packs of a cross that I made so you have to be willing to lose that. Thereā€™s no regulation on seed banks either.

I work in commercial MJ and to be honest with you they donā€™t want to fuck with popping seeds.

I do it for more of the love of the plant thatā€™s why Iā€™m still in this game after 7+ years of making seeds not including the time spent growing.

You always have to deal with customers. Most are " master growers " :face_with_hand_over_mouth: so dealing with the issues is fun.

Work on becoming a good grower first, then selection, then rethink the thought of starting a seed company.

17 Likes

Love getting the perspective from distributors, this brings its own set of problems, most definitely

9 Likes

There is always risk, from the other side the risk is in paying for something that may or may not sell. If possible do everything with signed agreements. Consignment agreements are at least some bit of protection for each party.

Thatā€™s absolutely true.

Like I said, itā€™s easy to start doing it, but itā€™s hard to do it the proper way.

:100:

This also is absolutely true.

~Ris :call_me_hand:

6 Likes

well, of course i do. itā€™s what is required by law. and all of this is pure speculation. iā€™ll find out this year.

@Emeraldgreen i donā€™'t have any say in it. i notify them 30 days prior to harvest and they come and take samples, one from each lot. i pay $145 per sample. this is just industrial, not medicinal. they track the hell out of that and it cost a lot more for the license, like a mil compared to $100.

3 Likes

I remember D j Short telling how he had sent thousands of seeds to a breeder/ buisnessman and got nothing.
-Disclaimer-
I have no first hand knowledge about that claim.

1 Like

Rip offs I think have been a part of this scene since forever, itā€™s sad and frustrating but not everyone has good ethics unfortunately.

I think the seed market is so saturated now that to be successful would require something that differentiates your products from everyone else. In the meantime you can do the work to come up with your own varieties, give them to friends to test, try them indoors and out, stress them with heat and water etc.

I personally donā€™t appreciate it when I get a pack and everything is a different pheno, I know that some people like the ā€˜huntā€™ but I want what is advertised, so this kind of stabilization takes years of work. In the meantime you can try and jump through the legal/logistical/marketing/branding hoops. I have thought about this myself, but down here in Oz itā€™s pretty much impossible atm.

Best of luck and donā€™t let anyone discourage you :pray:

5 Likes

Hey guys. I have not forgotten this thread. To everyone that offered to answer questions, I am not ignoring your offer. I simply can not think of the correct way to ask the right question.
ā€œRiddle me thisā€. How would you show someone what you have? If you give them a plant to test, dont they already have your genetics at that point? I am asking ā€œhypotheticalsā€. :thinking:

You start a journal and show your grows. Thatā€™s how Iā€™d do it.

Yes, once you give it to someone itā€™s theirs to use how they see fit.

3 Likes

i started making seeds in mid 2003 and i made my first real coin in 2011, 8 years i made jack.

itā€™s tough ā€¦

15 Likes

If you receive a pack for testing purposes itā€™s common courtesy to not breed/seed increase with it unless explicitly given the go

7 Likes

OK, thatā€™s a very fair point and probably one of the only caveats imo. Thanks for pointing that out.

4 Likes

yup testers should never be used to make fresh seeds of that strain or your tester is cutting you off at the knees.

it happens for-sure though ā€¦

10 Likes

Yea thatā€™s pretty shitty. I didnā€™t even think of it as I havenā€™t tested for anyone.

5 Likes

Taking testers only to offer them up in trade should also be frowned uponā€¦

7 Likes