I definitely believe genetics matters when it comes to seeds. But wow, some to the “top shelf” seeds are pretty expensive! Example: Humboldt Seeds’ top shelf seeds cost upward of USD $100 for 3 seeds!
Is this a case of truly superior genetics and “worth it if you can afford it”, or is this just snob marketing trying to take advantage of people who don’t know any better?
Thanks,
Pat
Interesting. What do they say you get for the premium price?
I’ve grown seeds from a lot of suppliers. Genetics have been good for the most part. I’ve had a few genetic freaks here and there.
It would depend somewhat on what your intentions were for the seed.
If just to grow for smoke then not so much.
But if you’re a true breeder of top shelf strains with AAA+++ quality looking for that one special girl with all of the desired quality’s then yes. Definitely worth the $$$.
Check out afficionado estates. 
. $$$$
Here’s an example of a strain selling for 97 Euros (well over 100 USD): Buy San Bacio Gelato - Humboldt Seeds
They claim to be the cream of the crop California genetics, which sounds good, but still…
On the other hand, the same company has plenty of seeds priced in line with most of what I see online, so it’s not like the whole brand is just overpriced.
While genetics matter to me so does price gouging. I shop for deals but avoid super cheap seeds. Lowest I go is crop king but I am not thrilled about the many genetics issues they have. At 65 for 5 seeds 40 for 5 regular I roll the dice. My last purchase was from True North a brand called Auto. 5 seeds was 115 CDN. About as high as I go. Only thing with Crop King is getting free replacement seeds IF 4 out of 5 don’t germinate. (Every second order I call in and tell them 2 or 3 germinated and they automatically mail you 5 more.) Some brands def use their names to gouge while others just have the best genetics and charge accordingly given the market is flooded with low quality seeds.
Cannabis growth is usually symmetrical. I got a genetic polyploid (4 out of 5 seeds) from Seedsman in orange barb strain last year. It produced some mighty potent weed that was almost unsmokable. The growth of the plant was just out of control. Branches and flowers growing randomly everywhere on the plant. Two of those plants didn’t survive, as growth was so dense that the plant literally choked itself to death.
I’d do a search for reviews on their seeds being grown to gain a general idea of how well they grow. The end product is on the individual growing and the conditions it is cultivated in. One can buy high quality genetics and mess it up. Even seeds from not so great weed can be grown to be amazing. Again comes down to grower, skill, experience. It just helps starting off with quality to avoid as many issues as possible. Who wants to waste 4 months on bad genetics.
It would depend somewhat on what your intentions were for the seed.
It’s for personal consumption (vape not smoke in my case). On one hand, I can easily afford to spend an extra hundred bucks and considering 4 months of my life will go into the grow, it’s really hot a big cost for me.
But the question is whether it really matters? It would really be cool to be able to say the best weed I ever experienced was weed I grew myself. Cool way to make the hobby of growing more fun. But I just can’t help wonder if the high-priced seeds are really superior, or just a case of companies offering something that’s way overpriced to appeal to the snobs who want to own the most expensive thing…
