So, here's my question: what are the collective thoughts here on less-than-100%-verified auto genetics? I know small breeders like Mephisto, Night Owl, Mando, Brother Mendel Selections, etc show or describe their breeding efforts to F4 for fems, but what about the others? Is it time to start calling out breeders (and by extension seed banks) selling fake or subpar autos, or do we continue to let new growers get ripped off and let autoflowers' reputation continue to struggle? To be honest, I'm pretty salty to have bought possibly not-real auto genetics from a very lauded seed bank, who also sells quality auto genetics.
I've had thoughts on both sides of the fence on this (a year or two ago I created a thread on integrity of breeders, those that won't/don't show their work, etc.)
IMO I think it's more in the integrity of the person selling the seeds.
Resellers are just reselling genetics, that's a seed bank. We -NEED- seed banks. That's good for EVERYONE because it creates accessibility for products that might otherwise not exist (look at Brother Mendel's Phenotypes for example, that we're about to start up a test for; he won't ship internationally. But, if he sold seeds to a bank that has no problem doing this, suddenly he's increased HIS reach, and growers have a chance to try out new things.
White label resellers are taking others genetics and putting their OWN name on it. If you're going to batt an eye at anyone, these are the ones to batt an eye at (IMO.) Because literally this is taking bulk stock genetics and just putting a name on them. There is no quality control, they didn't breed them. But half the time they don't want to admit they are just white labeling, so then it turns into "the growers are the problem, clearly." And we've seen this rinsed and repeated many times, with many companies.
The problem with any model is still the person behind them running them. Look at Robin Curtis with Greybeard Seeds; he was busted MULTIPLE TIMES now for taking existing genetics (Dutch Passion in this example, among other breeder packs he was known to tamper with,) and putting them in his own Greybeard Private Label brand (his own sleeves, his name on it, no mention of where the seeds came from.) That makes it look like Greybeard is a breeder, and he said out of his own mouth "I have permission from these companies to do this," and so we asked Dutch Passion at the time and they said "no way would we give permission to do that."
You've got the Puff Puff Pass guys (Southwest Bakery,) he used to do huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge drops of autoflowers at once on Facebook, like 10+ in a go, all with artwork and cool ass sounding tasty names. Never once showed his work. Refuses to show his work. Shit talks anyone (and I mean ANYONE) that has problems with their genetics, orders, customer service, etc. But yet there are members even here that still feed him business.
Another common model is for these breeders to operate on Facebook, where they can control every comment. Maggies Auto Farm is a great example of this; I was actually banned from their group for asking questions about the lineage of their genetics (they ripped off Dutch Passion on ALL of their crosses for the record lol...) When I messaged their moderator "why was I banned," he replied "because we know who the bad riff raff is."
There are also screen shots of Maggie Freier (owner of Maggie's Auto) shipping cannabis flower illegally in the mail to their customers (someone didn't get their package and it turned into a public display. Whooopsie. Hey, not only can you buy seeds from Maggie's Auto Farm, she will flat out send you weed in the mail!)
Look at Kyle Cornelison with Master Sensei Seeds out of Michigan; he came on the forum and literally told us publicly he was just reversing existing genetics and selling the offspring. Should we be okay with that? Do the pro's outweigh the con's for allowing people to operate this way? What if they are public about what they are doing, do we still grab the noose and find the tree?
