Sensi Seeds - still good or are the rumors true??

[LostTribe]

So Its been over a decade since running any material from Sensi Seeds. I have often wondered about reports that some strains have become either watered down or were reworked with different parental stock. I have not run any recently so I grabbed some Sensi Northern Lights to see whats up. I planted a couple to see how they compare to the original offerings.

Around 2001 I grabbed a few packs of the following:
Big Bud
Fruity Juice
Marleys Collie
4-way
Mr. Nice G13x Hashplant

My Mentor had his sister grab a ton on a trip to a'dam around 2000 maybe before as well he had the following which I ran some of:
Big Bud
Maple Leaf Indica
Jack Herer
NL5xHaze
Northern Lights
Black Domina

He had several packs of each variety. Main grows were Big Bud and Maple Leaf. I liked the Northern and Black Domina as well as the Maple it was superb. The NL5xHaze, Jack and Northern were all super crystalized and very strong stones.

I did not really find great plants in the fruity juice, or the Marley's.

Folks have been saying for a long time that they reworked everything when Nevil sold the place. Most current growers of atleast the Maple Leaf believe they are the same as the originals. Someone even posted that they had been in contact with the Sensi Maple Leaf grower and stated he knows how special the plants are and has kept them backed up and the same since the original release.

Has anyone grown out any recently that also grew them around 2000 or before?

 

[LostTribe]

I choose the Northern Lights as I had read at least a number of folks stating it was still the NL of old. Hoping they are correct. Miss my Sensi NL! Had like a strong Honey Hash taste with an exotic smell very nice and strong.

 

[bluntmassa]

I'm sure it's pretty much just as good but selection is a problem with 10 seeds per pack and some of the outrageous prices they have. But I had no complaints about the Skunk#1 I tried but I love Skunks and they just don't seem very popular among the younger generation even though it's probably in OG, GSC, ECSD, etc. Etc.

And I've been told my weed is on par with the West Side so I don't see what all the hype is about.

 

[IM$]

Im growing Sensi Skunk #1 and it is coming along nicely. THis is one has like a sweet and sour smell.

 

[LostTribe]

I'm sure it's pretty much just as good but selection is a problem with 10 seeds per pack and some of the outrageous prices they have. But I had no complaints about the Skunk#1 I tried but I love Skunks and they just don't seem very popular among the younger generation even though it's probably in OG, GSC, ECSD, etc. Etc.

And I've been told my weed is on par with the West Side so I don't see what all the hype is about.

I dont buy into all the new hyped up strains either. Thing is most of what is available today came from Sensi seeds or derivatives of their stock.

Its very true that since they went from 15 to 10 per pack that finding a keeper becomes more expensive and evasive with 33.34% less population.

I my self would rather grab something from a tried and true breeder than some newb that is just trying to make a quick buck and not running large populations just one off grows or simple s1's. In life you usually get what you pay for.

Best,
LT

 

[TerpeneDream]

Bought some packs last year. Only ran a few of each, but the Sensi and Soma gear Hermed...

 

[Genes]

Sorry to hear that TerpeneDream Did you have any light leaks or high temps?

 

[LostTribe]

Bought some packs last year. Only ran a few of each, but the Sensi and Soma gear Hermed...

Hmmm never ever heard reports of Sensi's gear herming it up like pee wee......

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Was the same with Dutch Passion for a while.

No reports of hermies anywhere but they started to go more and more fem in their genetics and after a certain incubation period, everyone knew a lot of their shit hermied and they went from top tier to bottom tier breeder real fast.

I have no personal experience growing Sensi gear.

They were on the same level as Serious for me back in the day and I wanted to give both of them a shot now that I got back into it 20 years later. Did my research and I look at both of them like I look at Dutch Passion.
A tendency to go feminized, reports of major changes in the final product throughout the years and overall high probability of genetics not having been preserved well over the years.
Couple that with prices that require you to be at least a level above everyone else and I don't see why anyone would buy Sensi or Serious or TH Seeds or Dutch Passion etc. etc. these days.

I think their main customers are people who are new, unfamiliar or poorly informed.

If you do intensive research, I doubt you would end up at the conclusion that Sensi or any of those listed are a noteworthy candidate to spend your money, time and effort on.

Others are cheaper and better.

/Edit
I am pretty sure some of their strains have been well preserved and will always be top tier though.
Jack Herrer will probably never disappoint. The price tag is iffy though. Could get Super Silver Haze from Mr. Nice for 1/4 of that price through their auctions and have double the beans too. So 1/8 of the price I suppose.
I doubt it is more likely to find a stellar plant in a 10 pack of Sensi Jack than finding a stellar plant in a 20 pack from Mr. Nice. And that for 1/4 the price, so you could run 4 packs for the same investment, giving you up to 80 beans.

Anyway, that's roughly the calculations I did when I decided that Sensi is absurd and from yesteryear. I will never consider running them unless I get gifted something.

 

[bluntmassa]

Hmmm never ever heard reports of Sensi's gear herming it up like pee wee......

Yeah, I learned to take Hermie reports with a bucket of salt personally. I hear about hermies all the time with Mr. Nice yet I've mostly grown there seeds and none has gone full hermie and very few have thrown nanners out of hundreds of seeds.

 

[Mustafunk]

Actually it was the same with ALL dutch seed banks, because around 2000 the dutch laws changed and banned outdoor big scale growing. There were police raids everywhere and everyone lost most parent plants. This is not a rumour, its an historical fact. Similar thing happend later in Switzerland around 2003. When people start getting greedy and draw too much attention, sometimes shit happens.

Anyway this forced companies to move into closet-breeding and outsourcing seed production (from Spain for example), as opposed to the huge scale outdoor breeding operations that were dominating the dutch scene in the 80s and early 90s. That's the reason why the pre-2000 thing appeared among growers, as probably that issue changed the strains for ever. Also that's why Mr Nice moved their operations to Switzerland until Shanti was raided.

In 1999, Dutch law changed and no longer permitted the production of seeds. Due to the Dutch gedogen law, however, selling seed imported from another country remained legal. We wanted to fulfil our project without breaking any country's laws. Accordingly, MNS moved its growing operations to Switzerland, where the law permits growing cannabis for seed production.

On the other hand, I doubt Ben Dronkers ever had the best parent plants from Nevil as A5 Haze, C5 Haze, Haze BC, G13Haze, NL#5, Haze C, Haze A and so on... at least Nevil himself said a few times that when he sold the Castle, there were only leftovers there. But I guess we won't ever know the truth or which parents are companies using. What's obvious is that plants have changed.

Same with Mr Nice though... after Shanti's raid, for years their seeds were produced in Spain by a grow-shop pioneer called Karulo, who used to host Shantibaba and his family during his trips to Spain. He was even telling his friends how he produced them, pollinating all the females with the same male. Wonder about many grower's dissapointments after growing modern stocks from Sensi and Mr Nice...

For those looking for the legendary dutch genetics from the 90s, buying modern seeds from classic seedbanks will be a waste of time and money in my opinion. Better try to find a nice old clone or underground breeders working with those. You don't really know what to expect with big seed companies nowadays, they will tell you what you want to hear in order to sell seeds.

Peace.

 

[Sideshow-Bob]

Mr Nice still has the haze, if you want dutch incense-haze you will find it in their beans! Here is what you can get of the Nevils Haze seeds sold today:

This female was chosen from half a pack of Mr. Nice seeds, she is difficult to get right but when you do the reward is high




Sensi seeds might not be the company i enjoy supporting the most, but i do love a lot of their strains!

And what i have seen so far from the maple leaf indica (seeds bought 2013ish) looks like it still is the same line. Here is a Honululu Haze x Maple leaf indica cross, this particular female is strongly MLI leaning:

Also check: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=2849329&postcount=102

 

[Happy Times]

So Its been over a decade since running any material from Sensi Seeds. I have often wondered about reports that some strains have become either watered down or were reworked with different parental stock. I have not run any recently so I grabbed some Sensi Northern Lights to see whats up. I planted a couple to see how they compare to the original offerings.

Around 2001 I grabbed a few packs of the following:
Big Bud
Fruity Juice
Marleys Collie
4-way
Mr. Nice G13x Hashplant

My Mentor had his sister grab a ton on a trip to a'dam around 2000 maybe before as well he had the following which I ran some of:
Big Bud
Maple Leaf Indica
Jack Herer
NL5xHaze
Northern Lights
Black Domina

He had several packs of each variety. Main grows were Big Bud and Maple Leaf. I liked the Northern and Black Domina as well as the Maple it was superb. The NL5xHaze, Jack and Northern were all super crystalized and very strong stones.

I did not really find great plants in the fruity juice, or the Marley's.

Folks have been saying for a long time that they reworked everything when Nevil sold the place. Most current growers of atleast the Maple Leaf believe they are the same as the originals. Someone even posted that they had been in contact with the Sensi Maple Leaf grower and stated he knows how special the plants are and has kept them backed up and the same since the original release.

Has anyone grown out any recently that also grew them around 2000 or before?

I was wondering the same thing, pics and descriptions haven't changed since back in the late 90's but seems to be a good amount of sentiment that the strains aren't what they used to be, which would be a bummer. So many good experiences with their stuff, my first real indoor grow in a closet with a 250W (1995ish?) was of Cali Indica that a roomie brought back from a trip to Amsterdam. All the plants looked pretty different but all were tasty and a quality stone. Did some fruity juice with another roomie that was so old-school tasty, we still talk about that one. And a friend brought back some NL5/Haze and she popped em for her first grow, was a rookie trying a hydro grow so I think it could have been grown much better, this herb was still some major sickness- that NL5/Haze flavor is soooo classic. I hit the Cali indica with a male from these and the phenos had a long running "budlet" structure that sorta looks like the pics of the grinspoon. Ended up giving these away to my neighbor when I moved a while ago, wish I woulda kept them though!!

I have read a thread here on IC that the Maple Leaf is still quality, haven't seen much positive feedback on others though. I was curious about the Ed Rosenthal super bud for a while but read some less than stellar reviews that dissuaded me from it.

I did pick up some Jack Flash bud from the clinic in Denver spring of 2016 that was pretty darn nice, a spicy musk overtone that I really dug.

Interested to find out how your NLs come out.

 

[LostTribe]

Mr Nice still has the haze, if you want dutch incense-haze you will find it in their beans! Here is what you can get of the Nevils Haze seeds sold today:

View Image

View Image

View Image

This female was chosen from half a pack of Mr. Nice seeds, she is difficult to get right but when you do the reward is high




Sensi seeds might not be the company i enjoy supporting the most, but i do love a lot of their strains!

And what i have seen so far from the maple leaf indica (seeds bought 2013ish) looks like it still is the same line. Here is a Honululu Haze x Maple leaf indica cross, this particular female is strongly MLI leaning:

View Image

Also check: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=2849329&postcount=102

I was wondering the same thing, pics and descriptions haven't changed since back in the late 90's but seems to be a good amount of sentiment that the strains aren't what they used to be, which would be a bummer. So many good experiences with their stuff, my first real indoor grow in a closet with a 250W (1995ish?) was of Cali Indica that a roomie brought back from a trip to Amsterdam. All the plants looked pretty different but all were tasty and a quality stone. Did some fruity juice with another roomie that was so old-school tasty, we still talk about that one. And a friend brought back some NL5/Haze and she popped em for her first grow, was a rookie trying a hydro grow so I think it could have been grown much better, this herb was still some major sickness- that NL5/Haze flavor is soooo classic. I hit the Cali indica with a male from these and the phenos had a long running "budlet" structure that sorta looks like the pics of the grinspoon. Ended up giving these away to my neighbor when I moved a while ago, wish I woulda kept them though!!

I have read a thread here on IC that the Maple Leaf is still quality, haven't seen much positive feedback on others though. I was curious about the Ed Rosenthal super bud for a while but read some less than stellar reviews that dissuaded me from it.

I did pick up some Jack Flash bud from the clinic in Denver spring of 2016 that was pretty darn nice, a spicy musk overtone that I really dug.

Interested to find out how your NLs come out.

I would like to thank you very much for sharing your experiences! I am awaiting a pack of MNS Neville's Haze currently and your pictures resemble exactly the plant I am looking to find. I have always been a lurker in the pure haze category. Sure, Neville's has a bit of NL in her but that is a very fine looking specimen I must say!

I don't think the Oldtimer's Purple Haze I am running will yield bud density anywhere near that of the Neville but only time will tell....

Best,
LT

 

[bluntmassa]

Actually it was the same with ALL dutch seed banks, because around 2000 the dutch laws changed and banned outdoor big scale growing. There were police raids everywhere and everyone lost most parent plants. This is not a rumour, its an historical fact. Similar thing happend later in Switzerland around 2003. When people start getting greedy and draw too much attention, sometimes shit happens.

Anyway this forced companies to move into closet-breeding and outsourcing seed production (from Spain for example), as opposed to the huge scale outdoor breeding operations that were dominating the dutch scene in the 80s and early 90s. That's the reason why the pre-2000 thing appeared among growers, as probably that issue changed the strains for ever. Also that's why Mr Nice moved their operations to Switzerland until Shanti was raided.



On the other hand, I doubt Ben Dronkers ever had the best parent plants from Nevil as A5 Haze, C5 Haze, Haze BC, G13Haze, NL#5, Haze C, Haze A and so on... at least Nevil himself said a few times that when he sold the Castle, there were only leftovers there. But I guess we won't ever know the truth or which parents are companies using. What's obvious is that plants have changed.

Same with Mr Nice though... after Shanti's raid, for years their seeds were produced in Spain by a grow-shop pioneer called Karulo, who used to host Shantibaba and his family during his trips to Spain. He was even telling his friends how he produced them, pollinating all the females with the same male. Wonder about many grower's dissapointments after growing modern stocks from Sensi and Mr Nice...

For those looking for the legendary dutch genetics from the 90s, buying modern seeds from classic seedbanks will be a waste of time and money in my opinion. Better try to find a nice old clone or underground breeders working with those. You don't really know what to expect with big seed companies nowadays, they will tell you what you want to hear in order to sell seeds.

Peace.

I'm not sure about all the companies but Shantibaba claims to have backups in several different countries of his parent stock. Seems about right to me after seeing what happened in the Netherlands I'd have done the same thing not to mention the Nevil bust alone would be reason enough to backup your genetics in safe locations. Maybe they ain't the same but they are still pretty good I just haven't tried them in the early years he did produce seeds in Spain because of Swiss laws though.

Also I've grown enough from MNS to know he doesn't use the same male on everything a few lines for sure especially the Rock n Roll series I believe are all the same males. I kind of think he uses the same male for all the Widow lines but I could be wrong. But I doubt he has gone Subcool on us. Lol

 

[LostTribe]

I totally should have admitted it from the start but as I was so skeptical about the recent reviews I didnt want to throw away money on a 10 pack of standards so I grabbed 2 Sensi Female NL's.

First NL turned into 2 totally separate plants??!!!?!?!?!?!! I know I took them out of the soil to check if they were coming from the same root mass and couldn't believe it at all! 2 plants from 1 seed! seed looked totally normal. the other seed popped 1 plant FWIW. 3 for the price of 2 so far! Hope the 2fer dont turn out herm central.....nothing worse!

 

[IM$]

I am currently running two Sensi Skunk #1 regs...... I wanted something old school when I went to DAM, so I got these. So far so good. Pheno 1 is a burly girl

With a lemon sweet and sour smell.....

Pheno 2

She´s a little more pungent, still sweet as well. I have about another month and a half on them. They are taking their time in flower. We shall see how they turn out.

 

[maryjaneismyfre]

I grew sensi's WW back in the day in late 90's early 2000's, seeds from mates visiting amsterdam twice, both times the plants from seeds were all like clones of each other. I still kick myself for loosing that mother. I grew Doublegum too and had two pheno's as described, bushier indica leaning that was pure pink bubblegum and a very quick flower and a sweet sativa hydrid pheno that was a week longer to flower and not as high yielding or vigorous or tasty.

Since 2012 I grew a few packs of their seed out, WW, Doublegum and superskunk. The superskunk were uniform and very true to skunk in form and leaf etc. They had a very pleasant orange cognac scent but the high was strong but anxious and not a warm high and I dropped them for that. The Doublegums were not like the ones of old, I got a beautiful sativa that I kept that is nothing like a bubblegum but a keeper nonetheless and another decent female that was quite bubblegummy in taste and scent but quite sativa and susceptible to mold and nothing like my old ones. The WW's are completely different to the ones of old. Different genetics, looks, scents, etc..The plants I got were quite fluffy but made decent buds, smaller calyx size, good and nice high and very high yielders, nice lemon and cream scent , excellent botritus resistance and they excelled one year I had them in a greenhouse. But they were completely nothing like the WW's I got twice from them many moons ago. Those old plants were so uniform from seed and monsters, the old gals had huge calyxs, resin through the roof, high was stupendous and narcotic and pinned you to the couch for the afternoon if you indulged too early, tasted like fruity menthol cough syrup..Anything you crossed it with became insta-dank..Oh the old white widow..Much danker stuff around these days but I'd love to get an old clone of an elite WW back. You won't find her in sensi's seeds. Nice to hear the have the maple leaf still though..

 

[zachrockbadenof]

we grew out some of their black dom. about 7-8+ years ago... looking for the 'ortega' pheno.. which is supposedly the bomb.. I think we found the tall/lanky pheno , but it was weak... still have 1/2 or more of the orig pack of seeds..

a note... we grew 'jock horror' a knockoff of jack herer from nirvana years ago... best weed we ever grew, but failed to take cuttings, and after growing out 2+packs of jock, never found that special lady again... also bought a pack of jherer.. same results ..weed was good, not special...

 

[maryjaneismyfre]

Thanks for that post!!! You sparked a braincell into action and made me remember some old seed that I had stashed, stashed and stashed and forgotten about.. Some old WW and "Jock Horror", nicely sealed and stored in an small light and air tight jar..And I looked and they were there still! I had completely forgotten about them..Must be some nirvana gear then, makes sense as the mate who gave them to me used to run Blue Mystic.

I still have some 2011/12 sensi WW seed, tried the last doublegums recently and they were too old..Think I'll try germ them now!