A generation of change in the cannabis world

Dutch Passion began working with cannabis seeds and cannabis breeding in the 1970's and we were formally established as a business in the 1980's making us one of the earliest original seedbanks and one of the oldest remaining ones. Our initial ambition was simply to create superior quality strains, making use of some of the best genetics from places such as Thailand, Afghanistan, Africa and South America and California. In fact the marijuana produced from our first strains was far better than all of the cannabis that was imported into Amsterdam in the 1970's and 1980's. Many of the early coffee shops wanted our strains as a more potent alternative to the always variable quality marihuana that was imported. Our business was born and I suppose Dutch Passions destiny was too.

Dutch Passion began working with cannabis seeds and cannabis breeding in the 1970's and we were formally established as a business in the 1980's making us one of the earliest original seedbanks and one of the oldest remaining ones. Our initial ambition was simply to create superior quality strains, making use of some of the best genetics from places such as Thailand, Afghanistan, Africa and South America and California. In fact the marijuana produced from our first strains was far better than all of the cannabis that was imported into Amsterdam in the 1970's and 1980's. Many of the early coffee shops wanted our strains as a more potent alternative to the always variable quality marihuana that was imported. Our business was born and I suppose Dutch Passions destiny was too.

We didn't really appreciate it at the time perhaps, but a slow revolution had started. The first Dutch growers realised that with good quality seeds they could grow better weed than they could buy. Then, step by step, so did people in other countries. Today a generation later and more people are growing their own weed than at any other point in human history. It has been a truly astounding transition that few would have foreseen. In Europe and other centres of cannabis consumption much of the weed is now produced domestically rather than imported.
With so many people growing weed the demand for seeds has never been as high. A generation ago relatively few people thought of buying and growing their own seeds, yet today it is seen as quite normal. Growing cannabis indoors does requires some specialist knowledge to get the grow area designed well, but growing in a greenhouse or outdoors is not at all complicated. The internet or cannabis grow-books explain what little information you need and none of it is too complicated. Once you have good growing conditions you just need seeds from a stable, top quality strain and you are well on track to get some top quality stash for your recreational or medical needs. Many of our customers get great results with their first grow and remain self sufficient afterwards.
We shouldn't forget the medical marijuana users, they have fought hard to get mainstream acceptance for medical cannabis and the growth of medical marijuana may well prove to be the big story for the coming years. Behind the scenes there are many pharmaceutical companies funding research into products they can manufacture from cannabis for a surprisingly wide range of conditions, both for physical and psychological. With pro-cannabis science replacing society's traditional anti-cannabis prejudice I expect medical marijuana will be firmly part of mainstream medicine in coming years.
Dutch Passion have had an interesting journey. We have always tried to make important contributions to the cannabis world through the strains we offer and through the technology and investment we apply to our work. Many will remember us for our pioneering work introducing feminised seeds in the 1990's. At the time numerous people from within the cannabis community wished us luck but said that it was a crazy idea and could not be done. Today, for many growers, feminised seeds from a top quality strain is the only way to go and some new seed companies have emerged that only sell feminised seeds. Feminised seeds give a more uniform and consistent crop. For more than 80% of varieties potency is at its best with feminised seeds. Feminised seeds are an important legacy that we have given the cannabis world, though we will always sell "regular' seeds as they are crucial to those customers that like to breed their own seeds.

2011 - A busy year for the seed suppliers

2011 will be another busy year for Dutch Passion. The continued increase of home-grown cannabis means we can apply some economies of scale to our seed production, we will be cutting prices by around 10% this year. The more seed you sell the more you can standardise your production techniques, which in turn gives more consistency. Skunk#11 is a good example, it was our first strain to sell over a million seeds and it remains a personal favourite of one of our top breeders, one of the best in the world. Some regular customers have been growing Skunk#11 for years and refuse to even try other strains that we recommend. Skunk#11 is not our most expensive strain but the volumes we sell allow us to price it at low cost.
We will also start selling feminsed seeds in packs of 3 seeds (along with of 5 and 10 seeds). This has been in response to customer feedback - many of whom said they didn't really need as many as 5 seeds in a pack. The smaller packs will be more affordable yet will still contain the same high quality genetics that have been our trademark and won many awards. For those that haven't grown Dutch Passion strains before, there has never been a better time to try us.
You can learn more about us on our website www.dutch-passion.nl which is available in 11 languages and the downloadable seed catalogue is available in 6 languages. We will be upgrading our website this year with some top quality grow information and FAQ's so please add our website to your "favourites' and visit us regularly. We aim to have one of the most informative and professional websites of any of the seed suppliers. Needless to say we continue to work on some really special new strains for 2011 and will publicise these on our website if they successfully qualify for product release.
More people use marijuana now for personal enjoyment or for medical reasons than at any point in the past. This is despite the increasingly ridiculous legal prohibition of marijuana in many countries which is now completely impossible to enforce. It is probably the fact that it is so easy to grow that has encouraged more people to try growing cannabis for themselves. Despite of the prohibition most cannabis plants being grown right now will reach full maturity. The summer of 2011 will probably see new record numbers of cannabis plants grown in Europe.

Autoflowering seeds - a revolution for outdoor growers.

There has been a recent innovation in cannabis seeds that make it even faster and easier to grow great quality weed - the arrival of autoflowering seed technology.
Autoflowering seeds were created by blending the genetics from the normally non-psychoactive Ruderalis cannabis. This is a type of cannabis that has adapted to survival in climates such as northern Russia and Canada by evolving a short life cycle that is compatible with the short 2-3 month extreme northern summers. By progressively blending selected Ruderalis genetics with regular cannabis strains we create autoflowering strains which are potent yet will grow from seed to finished bud in around 10 weeks. Dutch Passion sell only feminised autoflowering strains which we call "autofem" strains. Even growers in Siberia and northern Scandinavian regions can now grow their own weed outdoors or in greenhouses in their short summer season. Cannabis has finally made it from the tropical regions to over the edge of the Arctic circle!
Indoor growers can also grow the autofem seeds under a light regime of 20 hours "on', 4 hours "off". Plants grown from autofem seeds are generally short plants and yield typically in the region of 25-50 grams when grown in a sunny spot with good soil. Dutch Passion are the leader in autofem seeds and our AutoMazar has been a bestselling highest yielding autofem variety, one customer from southern Europe reported a staggering 200 gram yield from a single plant that grew into a dense squat bush.
Our original PolarLight and SnowStorm autofem varieties have been significantly improved. PolarLight#2 is an automatic version of our acclaimed Dutch Haze variety. SnowStorm#2 uses our best selling Orange Bud skunk genetics. We will also sell a coloured seed pack featuring 3 varieties of autofem seeds (2 colour coded seeds per variety) so our customers can try a range of strains. AutoBlueberry remains a favourite with our customers - which true user can really resist those wonderful flavours and rich aromas?
Many people that grow traditional strains are now also looking to buy a few autofem seeds to grow in the summer. For outdoor growers it is no longer necessary to look for a plot that will be safe for a 6 month grow, simply find an area where the short autofem plants can live for 10 weeks and you will be rewarded with some quality stash.

The Dutch Passion Ethos

Dutch Passion have always tried to be ethical in all that we do, perhaps that has helped us stay around for so long. Yes, we have some great strains and have great contacts all over the world in our quest to innovate, improve quality and deliver new strains. Some of our worldwide rewarded strain developed in the past are: Power Plant, Mazar, Orange Bud, Skunk #11, Passion #1, Euforia and certainly our extraordinary versions of Blueberry and White Widow.
In the 1990's we teamed up with the top Canadian breeder DJ Short and introduced our versions of his "Blue" family genetics to Europe. The combination of fresh genetics, great taste and amazingly coloured potent buds were a great hit and spawned all kinds of spin-off breeding projects from various seed companies and private breeders. Apart from our mutual project "Jorge's Diamond's" that we did with Jorge Cervantes, the famous cannabis cultivation author/expert, we also have contacts in the medical marijuana world and cannabis growers around the world.
We have been busy with other work too. The release of The Ultimate last year has been warmly received by the demanding Dutch growers, who have always wanted true connoisseur quality along with outrageous yields. We have numerous examples of growers increasing both yield and quality from the same grow-space simply by switching from their favourite strain to "The Ultimate".
Like anything else cannabis can be abused and we don't like to see that, but we have challenged the prejudice and bias that has been deliberately and unfairly used against cannabis for so long. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, cannabis never killed anyone. Unlike both of these "legal" drugs, cannabis has numerous medical uses. When medical cannabis finally achieves widespread medical approval, people will look back and question how a moral minority tried to outlaw a plant that had been used for thousands of years. In the meantime Dutch Passion will do our part and provide as much top quality seed as we can. Happy growing!