I found this website last week and joined because I’ve been looking at weed stuff online lately. I’m 54, haven’t smoked pot in years, and I’m about to move to a place where it’s legal to smoke and grow so I’ve been looking around at stuff all over. Does real Columbian gold exist anymore? I’m talking the kind with lots of seeds, that’s all yellow gold, & tastes really really good. I’ve seen seed sites that claim they have it but the pics of the bud they produce never look like the real thing.
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Unfortunately anything you find is a reproduction, I don’t think it exists as the past strain it once was.
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Hello covertgrower, thanks for the response even though it wasn’t the one I was looking for.
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If you search specifically for cannabis landraces, you’ll find some seedbanks that sell things closer to what you’re looking for. I’d throw some caution out there though. Landraces are domesticated cultivars, but they can be much harder to grow than a modern hybrid.
My advice is get a beginner-friendly cultivar, learn the ropes, get a few successful harvests under your belt, and meanwhile collect seeds from all over.
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Hi Keystone,
I’ve read that they are much harder, that they take longer to flower and I’ve seen other reasons. I just wanted to see if it was possible to get it anymore & try and grow it once I get out of SC and get to Maine. I remember when I was young and would try to grow Columbian gold plants. They would sometimes get 4 feet tall but I never got any flowers??? Maybe because MA had too short a growing season? That was back when you could buy it for $20 a half. They also had the tendency to get eaten by bugs. I was young and would try anything but didn’t have much success when it came to flowering plants that would actually get you high. I see some of the grows on here and my wife are I sitting here going OMG!
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It does exist, it’s just unlikely that you’ll find it through any of the seed banks. There was a Canadian guy living in Bogota who posted in some other forums about finding and preserving the Colombian strains . . . haven’t seen anything from him in a long time but I’m sure there are others doing the same. Probably have to find someone like that to have any hope of getting the real thing.
From what I’ve read, the yellow gold color was a result of how it was dried/cured more than the strain itself. And of course the seeds were simply a result of not separating the males in flower.
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Welcome @frogyrogy!
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Welcome to ILGM forum. I remember back in the mid 70’s a guy I knew would get Columbian Gold. It had that gold color and you could smell it a mile away. 
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@frogyrogy Hi frogy, I think it may still exist too. I saw an episode of strain hunters in Columbia & it showed a bunch of Santa Maria plants up on a mountainside in Columbia. I’m pretty sure I’d have to know someone to get the real seeds or go there lol. I’ve also have read that the color had to do with the way it’s dried and have also read that it was that color because the strain it is. I don’t know the answer for sure but I remember the taste was like blonde hash and I really really enjoyed it and it also got you ripped. I’m about to be a new grower so I probably wouldn’t do such a great job growing it as it’s supposed to be a tough grow but I’d love to try. The only thing wrong with the strain was all the seeds.
@Bulldognuts Thanks for the welcome bulldog and yup it was very strong smelling.
That’s a funny irony, back then I would buy a half ounce and complain about all the seeds. If I could only get a few now lol.
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I remember it well . . . you could fill a film canister with seeds by the time you went through a sack or two of it. I threw thousands of them out the window in the 70’s . . . who’d have ever thought we’d be paying $5-10 per seed these days?
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The problem (from your perspective) is that the genetic exchange works both ways, and the peasant farmers that affluent western breeders interact with are aware of and want modern hybrid cultivars.
It’s really hard to find true landrace cultivars via seedbanks because those products aren’t very appealing to most customers. You’ll see hybrids that cross landraces to something else. Ace Seeds, World of Seeds, and Greenhouse all seem to follow that model. And that’s fine.
The preservationists are the ones you want though. And buying from them now supports their ability to continue that work, which gets harder and harder to do each year.
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@frogyrogy I know it right. It doesn’t seem possible but it doesn’t seem possible that we’re allowed to grow now either.
@KeystoneCops Hi Keystone, I’ll probably just follow your advice about growing an easier strain for the first few grows. I was thinking funk #1 because I read somewhere that was an easy strain. I may have even seen it on this website somewhere.
Wow this sounds so familiar and I have disappointing news . I started growing about 5 years ago and was dead set on 2 of the 70s strains Columbian Gold and the original Panama red bud . Long story short the original strain seems to be a urban legend as it has been used to make.hybrid plants no one thought to save the original strain . Big bummer for me but whote widow is a very easy frow
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@Oldstoner Thanks for the info Oldstoner. When I get where I’m going maybe I’ll try out the white widow strain. 
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I can think of a seed bank that specializes in Landrace/Heirloom strains. They have a great seed vault where they have a bunch of old strains stored and will periodically grow them out to produce fresh seed stock.
They go to locations around the world to collect seed from the actual regions they come from. Lotta interesting stuff they have but in large part it’s sativas so not really a great choice for beginners unless you actually live in the country the seeds come from
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@Deez well at least someone is saving the old timers favorite strains . Yep I would pay a premium plus for the original gold bud strain to grow as a female and see what it came out as . Dont remember ever having any that wasnt seed heavy
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I saw an. Episode of Jim belushi who went to Columbia to find thre. Old landrace stains and I think one was columbian gold I can’t remember the name of the show but he found them if you google jim belushi canabuis farm you can find it they are out there you might have to go there ,in my neighborhood it was Acapulco gold and I did find a good representation by a brreder with the initial. B.F. whose seeds are everywhere It was pure fire but for first grow I. Would suggest white widow photopetiod then try something new I want to try ilgm Maui wowwie a lot of people love it. Wonder if it’s the same Stuff I smoked 30 years ago?
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