Like most of the more 'generic' (<--for lack of better word) breeders will sell F2 seeds of a good strain, I don't mind that so much because they're at least using the real bloodline of the strain/name they intend to sell it under.
An F2 of a true inbred line should still be excellent.
The problem arises when you're selling F2s from unstabilized hybrids. Then the offspring could have many different phenos and/or be entirely UNlike the parents.
I.e. "White Widow" with the lineage of Haze X Skunk X Northern Lights, I am speaking of Dinafem; their seeds (even the White Widow imposter) are pretty damn good, especially to be feminized... but they should have chosen a completely new name for that cross because most growers know White Widow as Brazilian X South Indian.
Again, there are at least half a dozen entirely different lines that are being sold commercially as "white widow" and who knows what the genetics of half of them are. At least Dinafem is telling you where their version comes from. The name itself has been watered down to the point where it refers to any really frosty strain (and some of the so called "white widows" aren't even that resinous). There are probably fifty other strains that contain genetics from the original Brazillian WW plant in there, under all sorts of names, too.
They [Dinafem] have a strain called "Super Silver" that is of the same exact listed lineage (Haze X Skunk X Northern Lights), but they at least changed the name a little bit by dropping the "Haze"; ironically that really is the lineage of Super Silver Haze though, if I'm not mistaken.
You're correct about the lineage of Super Silver Haze (of which there is also more than one seller on the market using that name). There also happen to be at least several OTHER strains with a similar lineage, include the original Jack Herer, Mr. Nice's Mango Haze, Nivana's "Jock Horror" and a few others with different proportions of the three parents selected in different ways. Supposedly some other "name" strains (eg Cinderella 99) are select phenos of the same too. Its interesting to me that at least one of the so-called "White Widows" is actually just a Super-Silver Haze/Jack Herer type cross that was probably selected on the basis of resin production.
In this case, I'd say its WAY preferable to have different names referring to more or less the same thing, rather than the case with White Widow, where the name has been effectively diluted to the point where its meaningless.
I know that Serious Seeds trademarked the Ak47 name, which is why no "imposter-breeders" sell pure Ak47 seeds, only Ak47 crosses.. it's suppose to be the only strain name that is trademarked; I wonder why more breeders don't do that?? with their strains (or at least their strain names, because I know names/words can easily be trademarked.)
Well, I don't think this is true. For example, Pyramid seeds "Tutankhamon" is supposedly a pure AK-47 pheno. Given the strength of the strain, I'd be fairly surprised if there weren't some other AK-47 knockoffs (acknowledged as such, or not) on the market. The strain itself supposedly contains a good bit of good old-fashioned Northern Lights genetics, and there probably are other "name" strains of similar lineage.
Trademarking a strain name just means that nobody else can legally use the name to refer to seeds; actual genetics CANNOT be trademarked. They can be patented, in certain circumstances, though to the best of my knowledge none of the strains out there that we talk about have patented genetics. In practice, I think it would be hard to do, since breeders are mostly working from the same genetic pool anyway. It would also be difficult to impossible to enforce any such patent, since there are jurisdictional issues, the product is mostly illegal, lots of ceed sellers are effectively fly-by-night operations, etc.
I think one big reason lots of breeders don't bother with trademarks is because very few of them actually come up with strains that have such a brand name recognition factor that trademarking them would even make sense. There happens to be more than one strain out there called "Anesthesia", but can you imagine some OTHER seed seller coming up with a strain called "Sannie's Jack"? No trademark protection is necessary there. Actually enforcing a trademark on a product that is illegal in many jurisdictions presents a whole other set of issues.
With all of this said, I would like to stress the fact that I am making a non-biased observation and that I do not at all believe that price always reflects quality.
Absolutely. There are fantastic inexpensive lines out there, and mediocre ones that cost an arm and a leg. See my earlier thread on "Best sleeper strains" for some examples of low-cost strains that are excellent.
I believe that every strain that is sold through a se ed bank must be at least decent, especially if you find a good phenotype- of course... or else, they probably would not be out there.
Gotta disagree there. Some houses coast on reputation earned a long time ago, and some sell outright poor genetics. We're talking unstabilized, hermie-prone hybrids of dubious yield, potency, and quality. Poorly made/stored seeds that have low germination rates. Auto-flowers that don't. Feminized seeds that aren't, etc. There definitely *IS* crap out there to be had.
I have found some gems inside packs from Nirvana, Greenhouse, Dinafem, G13 Labs and other lower priced seeds.
You can argue about their place withing the breeding "universe", but I think all of those outfits have long track records and at least decent reputations.
I've grown from great breeders and the up-and-comers alike, from Alphakronik to World of Seeds, it don't have to be the "real deal" to be good, but I personally prefer trying to get the genetics that I believe to be "authentic." I've grown a few fakes that weren't too shab but I would have appreciated them more if they had their own name.
There is something to be said about pursuing genetics that have established a positive reputation on their own merits.
That said, having name recognition doesn't necessarily mean that the stuff inside the pack (even if from a legitimate breeder) is the same genetics as the ones that earned the reputation, or that the reputation is even well-deserved. It also doesn't mean that any particular strain can't be good, even if it isn't recognized. I think its more about seeking and recognizing what's good, rather than getting hung up on names.
I think that would be fun too [collecting seeds], but isn't the shelf life only a few years?
I've personally seen seeds germinate after 10+ years in storage.
What happens in practice, is that germination rates go down with time, but if the seeds are stored cool and dry, they can remain viable for quite a long time.
Its not impossible for 20+ year old seeds to germinate, though germination rates will be significantly reduced over fresh seeds.
