Strains in Australia?

[cletusSamboy]

I've got a plug that I buy strains from. However I've got a feeling he's just making it up to charge a premium. Buds aren't sticky but covered in crystals inside and out and smell is pretty dank. Looks top shelf. However strength wise effects I was expecting to be blown away. Mental and body effects usually match descriptions on net but don't smell or look anything like the descriptions. I've called him out on that but he just says growers can make weed look and smell however they want. Is that even true? Are real strains even available in Australia? How does top shelf weed in the US compare to mids? Is it night and day?

 

[wallywogs]

I don't know about the US but here in BC I get awesome strains for 79 bucks an ounce. I just wait for it to go on sale. I'm talking about strains like Durban Poison, Mk Ultra, Bruce Banner and various kushs.

 

[Darksidesam]

some strains are indeed grown to be very photogenic for instagram and selling purposes , but the effects can vary a lot and it also depends on what you are looking for because the Indica/Sativa ratio really influnces the high or stone a lot

 

[losthippy]

^Authentic catalogue strains are still a bit of a novelty item in Oz. Imported seed in labeled blisterpacks is as close to the exotic overseas varieties we read about as most small-plotters can get, though the penalties for importing such are pretty harsh. Australians were growing and consuming low-grade weed in the 60-70's until Thai Buddha Sticks, Durban Poison, and Hash from the subcontinent started turning up. It was infrequent, often 'taxed' and pricey, but folks found out what getting high was really like and got the taste. Diggers brought back high-potency seeds from Asia after Vietnam wrapped and before long growers were producing much stronger pot than we'd ever smoked right across the country. Some got known: Mullumbimby Madness and Queen's Heads from the East Coast, Koondoola Blue in the West and others. Imposters flogging inferior weed but with fancy names also moved in. Prices soared and despite its illegality demand boomed and consumers became more picky with what they spent their money on. Commercial and backyard growers wised-up and started improving plant genetics to meet demand. To avoid attracting unwanted LE attention many growers won't sell their product by strain name but by a number to designate a batch or strength rating. We don't have a Cannabis Cup or Smoke-offs here to compare the picks of the crops, so what's left really amounts to little more than informal dick-sizing. Merch and packaging is also a nonentity and there's not a snowball's hope in hell that we'll be able to browse the A-Z offerings on dispensary shelves here in Oz any time soon. Sorry for the rant-like potted history lesson.

 

[Vagabond696]

Bush or hydro bruuuuuh

 

[VancouverSeedBank]

US /Canada cannabis has a good quality and good germination success rate. It's also cheaper at $65 only.

 

[losthippy]

It would be interesting to see how Aussie pot stacked up against the trademarked varieties people seem to rave about. That's not to dis the breeders and seed hunters who've benchmarked quality and standards with their work over the years to get us here. As VB says, the buyers' choice in Oz is either hydro or bushpig, and who knows what breeding goes into it. For the most part though, beggars can't always be choosers. I'm sure there are still plenty of small-scale growers harvesting superior weed from their own strains for localized consumption, but there is really no way to compare how it would shape up against the big-hitters from OS, at least not in Australia. One day we might get to find out.

 

[Kaden_Nite]

I'd say we get a good selection of varieties and different products..

 

[Vagabond696]

I'd say we get a good selection of varieties and different products..

Yup. I've recently been getting pharma grade strains from hobby growers and the quality is much better.

 

[cletusSamboy]

I'd say we get a good selection of varieties and different products..

Depends who you know. A lot of dealers I've bought from all had the same identical looking and smelling mid quality bud with only a few dealers selling the more top shelf looking stuff.

 

[losthippy]

How are they spruiking these better buds? Are they naming the strains or talking up potency?

 

[cletusSamboy]

How are they spruiking these better buds? Are they naming the strains or talking up potency?

They're calling it by strain names. Quality varies but usually pretty decent but nothing like I was expecting. For example the lemon haze I bought was a lot stronger than the super lemon haze. The gorilla glue was disappointing. Makes me wonder if they are are for real or just shitting me.

 

[Kaden_Nite]

Depends who you know. A lot of dealers I've bought from all had the same identical looking and smelling mid quality bud with only a few dealers selling the more top shelf looking stuff.

This sort of stuff is everywhere:

I've had unbelievably excellent Blue Dream, Purple Kush, Sour Diesel & Northern Lights..

I've also had very mediocre Blue Cheese, White Rhino, Northern Lights & Sour Diesel. All lemon strains have been a bit disappointing in my experience.

I think seed source, technique, growing conditions and grower have just as much, if not more, impact on quality than gimmicky names.

Some of the best quality and highest potency I've had was simply sold as bush or hydro. I've had really messy looking outdoor which actually gave me anxiety for the first 15 minutes after just one cone, it was so overwhelmingly strong (also it hits like a brick to the face if I haven't smoked for a while). I generally favour outdoor for price and the fact that it's sun grown. Indoor usually looks more appealing and can have a nicer taste though.

That's my experience after about 17 years smoking around Southeast Qld and Northern NSW anyway.

 

[losthippy]

Good to see some fine looking wares above keeping folk happy. Or not. I haven't had to buy locally for a while but it sounds like a bit of fuckery happening with some of the disappointments you've had. I've chosen a few of the same varieties off blackboard menus in the Netherlands and never not been blasted by what I got. They simply deliver on the hype they sell themselves on every time, no matter the vendor. So it stands to reason that competent growers here should be able to produce bud of similar quality if the seed is authentic, especially under lights. Outdoors grows are a bit trickier but totally manageable. Full genetic potential might not always be achieved, but its hard to imagine any of these high potency strains being so poorly grown as to make them mediocre at the point of harvest. Poor drying and storage, and rough handling will degrade well-grown pot to some degree but not that much.

 

[Kaden_Nite]

Comparing Amsterdam's controlled conditions and professional growers to Australia's clandestine conditions and possibly rookie growers (amongst other variables) sets a pretty high benchmark, but fair enough. I think we do well considering.

if the seed is authentic

After several generations of inbreeding, authentic: Yes. Seedbank quality: No (depending on the reputability of the seedbank of course).

at the point of harvest

That's another thing. Immature bud from rushed harvesting, or overly ripened bud from potentially greedy growers can make for some less than impressive product.

I grew some really poor stuff from a few stray seeds found in an ounce of excellent Sour Diesel. I've also produced magnificent weed from piss-poor shiva skunk that was full of bag seeds (the original grower obviously hadn't removed the male plants).

I'd say 80% is pretty good weed that I'm extremely grateful for. 10% is like holy fucking fuck amazing. 9% is nothing special and the remainder is stuff that is so special, no combination of technique, seed origin or any other factor could ever replicate it's brilliance.

Remove all these variables and I'll bet the White Rhino and Blue Cheese definitely live up to their cannabis cup winning reputations.


TL;DR: Sometimes being sold proper strains sets expectations a bit higher than I've actually got from smoking them, but they're still far from bad - just no different than the rest of what's available. Weed in Australia is pretty good IMO, and has been getting even better in the past few years.

 

[losthippy]

I used Amsterdam as the exemplar for seed and bud because there's no point trying to dud customers with bogus or substandard products over there. They've spent decades getting things right so anything shonky would stick out like dog's balls. Smaller independents operating off the tourist strips are creating new strains...