if weed seeds were treated like tomatoes

[OntologicalTurn]

Well, let's imagine a world where marijuana is not only legal, but is treated like basically tomatoes.

How many breeders would be left when the ridiculous price of the seeds cannot be justified? I guess only those who really feel love for the plant

Let's take the example of vegetable seed companies specializing in heirloom-type cultivars, such as Baker Creek Seeds, which until recently sold their varities for 3 dollars in bags of 25 seeds, still expensive compared to normal seeds, but accessible to farmers all over the world (at least until recently when they started charging 10 dollars for shipping to Mexico and only allowed shipments of 10 seedpacks.

I imagine that they still have a profit margin without charging 50 euros for 10 seeds...

 

[midwestkid]

i like to give them away. or sell super cheap. but i can understand charging hi prices as well. just not my thing.

 

[goingrey]

The price range is quite wide as it is.

Right now Sensi is selling White Skunk for 9 euros a pack on their 420 sale.

Yet still people are paying more for other packs. Probably it would be the same also in your hypothetical world.

 

[OntologicalTurn]

The price range is quite wide as it is.

Right now Sensi is selling White Skunk for 9 euros a pack on their 420 sale.

Yet still people are paying more for other packs. Probably it would be the same also in your hypothetical world.

I know that the price varies, and there are quite a few Spanish banks selling "pirate" seeds, as some say, from 3 euros per seed, growbarato type, even so, it is still more expensive than most seeds of any other vegetable.

My question is: whether demand or illegality generates those prices, in a utopian scenario, where marijuana is really legal, and no more regulated than any other plant in our garden, how many breeders do you think are still at it?

I am thinking of the legendary breeder from the Canary Islands, Alex La Mano Negra, a friend of Dubi and Kaiki, who from what I have read always opposed his varieties being marketed by banks, and simply shared them with the community, and even Thus, after his death, several crosses have been released to the Spanish market.

I also think of the debate on the intellectual rights of seeds and how here in Mexico there has been a whole movement to maintain landrace corn varieties as collective property, in the face of the attempts of large transnational companies to literally disappear it...

 

[midwestkid]

be the change you want to see?

time for you to produce great seeds and sell them for pennies?

 

[mean mr.mustard]

If you devoted your life to making the seeds and plan on living your years in retirement upon the investment of your life, well, what would you expect people to charge?

Just don't buy them if you want to whine about it...

 

[Dime]

People who want penny seeds smoke penny pot

 

[Nannymouse]

If it were not for the illegality, the plant might not now be nearly as popular as it is. Well, the weed haters in our govt sort of shot themselves in the foot thinking they could eradicate it. Closet growers bloomed with the internet. There are many folks who wouldn't have learned how to grow 'anything', had it not been for starting out with Cannabis.

However, i look at the tobacco world. Most anyone can purchase tobacco seed for little, but how many actually go to all that trouble, when the local gas stations are so convenient to get that end product?

It will be interesting to see if Cannabis goes the way of tobacco...now that it's legal in so many places, and convenient to purchase, for some. Even tobacco seed is not all that expensive.

Penny seed for penny pot? I call bullshit! Holy crap, i know of sellers that started out with 'free seed'. Bagseed that's become famous, is not all that unusual. There are people here that have a treasure trove of free seed in their vaults.

But yes, it takes some capital to do a good seed business, that varies. Was real estate purchased? Lights? Postage...it all adds up.

I maintain that there are closets that make as good seed as some of the most expensive seed packs. There are folks here that do just that.

Getting darn tired of the snobbiness. A three hundred dollar pack of seeds...do you really think that those are 'better' than most any of the old cup winners that are now FAR less costly? Now, it may take that much to cover the expenses and other hooplah, and i don't deny that people have themselves and others to support.

And...you do know that there are plenty of businesses that people have devoted their lives to that just went away...with no bail outs. It happens and sometimes it happens fast. It hurts (from experience), but screaming and whining about that is of little help.

The industry will sort itself out. Of course, we do not know the future. Could be that weed goes completely illegal (again) and the 'established' industry just has to go away.

The only constant is change.

 

[Nannymouse]

@OntologicalTurn , i think that there are several reasons that Cannabis seed is so much more expensive than veggie seed. I don't know how much of it(cannabis) is field grown, probably little seed grows are out in the open winds. At least i hope not.

Electricity and lights are pretty costly. So, i dunno if it can ever be like the veggie industry.

Must be hard to keep pollen off the veggie stuff, too, tho. I've lived in corn country, and dunno how they deal with this.

 

[Jellyfish]

Nice analogy, except for one thing- tomatoes don't get you high.

 

[chusss]

The difference is that all around the world are grown millions of tomato plants, so you can sell million of seeds at low price, but there are waaay less cannabis plants, so for you to have profit and keep going with your cannabis bussines you need to sell each seed at higher cost,

It is impossible to maintain your cannabis seed company if you sell lets say 10000 seeds at 1euro per seed, offering quality selected genetic choosen among hundred plants, and new crosses every year

But i also agree that some prices out there are ridiculously high

 

[Nannymouse]

If it wouldn't have been illegal, i think that we'd find small packs of seed right there with the veggies for the garden, maybe the same price as other veggies or herbs.

Let's take poppy seed as an example. Not that far off from tomato seed prices, comparatively.

 

[Jellyfish]

The difference is that all around the world are grown millions of tomato plants, so you can sell million of seeds at low price, but there are waaay less cannabis plants, so for you to have profit and keep going with your cannabis bussines you need to sell each seed at higher cost,

It is impossible to maintain your cannabis seed company if you sell lets say 10000 seeds at 1euro per seed, offering quality selected genetic choosen among hundred plants, and new crosses every year

But i also agree that some prices out there are ridiculously high

Have you ever heard of cloning?

 

[chusss]

@Jellyfish

ok, but how many growers want to share their top elite clones to someone else, yes there are certain cases, but not all seed banks catalogues are based on top clones previously selected by someone else, in addition to this if you wanna offer some new crosses of your own work you gotta have a good amount of plants to choose the better ones to make the seeds, isn't?