Just reading through and a few statements that seemd to jump right out.
Dispensaries have there place in the industry but just because it is top shelf in the dispensaries does'nt mean much in regards to actual medicine, I know of five legit canadian MMJ patients (when I say legit, I am talking 3 x Cancer, MS, and Graves', and yes I believe recreational use is just as deserving as medical use) who have had top shelf from many places (US, Canada, and abroad) and actually have better management with some lesser known (not considered top shelf) strains.
Yes the growers of these strains may have a tougher time distrubing to dispensaries, but for them it's usually about getting the right EFFECTIVE medicine to the patient and not having thier bud sold for excessive amounts or sitting in a pretty jar atop a shelf.
Who you know does not determine how you can grow, last time I looked clone only strange was akin to the good ol' boys club and if you have an in you can get some clones, again not a true mesaure of horticulture (pertaining to MMJ) accumen!
Not to cause comotion but the strains found on your grow journals can all be purchased online, if they can be bought online a seed broker has the ability to resell these (ala Attitude). Now I don't know if they are the same genetics as your plants but a quck search was able to net me suppliers of your elite strains.
To finish, I grow NON-ELITE strains from attitude and other seed brokers, and have always purchased seeds online (not for souveneir purposes), mind you I would like to try the WhiteFire OG it sounds YUMMY!!
regards,
I appreciate the comments. And as I respect your opinion I feel there is some truth to what you say but you are wrong in understanding what I mean when I say top shelf. Top shelf, to me, is the best grown, dried and best medicinal quality plant possible. I grow vegan organic and make sure that my plants are free of any carcinogens and now free of any allergens, making it some of the safest medicine around. I have three veterans that I deal with on a one on one basis. One has cancer, one has ms and one has serious PTSD and is also a parapalegic. IMO its all about the patients.
Dispensaries either are all about the patients or are there to make a quick buck. The ones based around their patients usually have the best medicine around, but those dispensaries are usually the highest priced. One patient might need an old school strain like white rhino, while another needs a strain like harlequin (highest CBD strain to date). Either of them will be grown to their full potential because they have to be. Causing them to be "top shelf" strains. I never meant top shelf as in names like kosher Kush or OG Kush, I meant by the way it's grown, taken care of and ultimately time spent. But the flaw in all of this are the dispensaries that are about the patients, do not buy their seeds online. They have grand master growers that have been doing it along time and have created most of these strains, resulting in them having the highest quality genetics around. Causing them to always have top shelf strains no matter if it's 20% THC or 4% THC. These strains are special and that is why they are so hard to come by. You have to be skilled to grow and create most of these strains. Seed companies that you buy from online are all about marketing and faking some of the best genetics around. Don't get me wrong, those genetics can be great but they aren't the original. Everyone has their opinion but from what I have seen, if it's "clone only" that usually means its the "original" and nothing beats the original. They can be mimicked and sometimes replicated very well but in the end, it all comes to genetics.
That being said, anything you buy online can be fantastic, but if you are going to a medicinal dispensary, they will laugh at those genetics you buy online. But if you go to a dispensary about profit, they will say its some bomb and probably make a deal. All in all, it's all situational circumstance. Everyone has their different opinion but that is mine about top shelf.
Now back to the strains I was growing. Those strains were requested by my patients. As most, they bought into the hype of these strains and being their caregiver I filled their wants by growing them out. Some of them were good and I grew a few more times but every time my patients still resulted back to the "original" genetics. To strains like las Vegas lemon skunk, fire OG, WMS wonder, and calio. what I do is not all on the Internet as I like some privacy but those are my answers to your comments.
P.s. please give me the brokers that sell my elite strains...as I'd love to buy more so i could cross some strains. Also if you are prop 203 compliant, I have no problem donating some goods
) but once you are done I'd love to see what you have. I've even grown with iguana juice so if you ever have any questions I'm always here to help. 
