Jordan Of The Islands Isn't What It Used To Be
I had heard nothing but great things about JOTI so I went with them a few years ago. I bought 3 strains and they came in individual bags with Jordan Of The Islands labels and the name of the strain printed on the labels. They used to have a great Instagram account. They used to respond to email inquiries about which strain they'd recommend if you're looking for specific traits. JOTI used to be awesome. That has all changed under this new management. No labels anymore. Just poorly handwritten names on seed containers in an unmarked baggie. All containers in one bag. No labels of any kind except the handwritten name. This isn't a huge deal but it's a step backwards for a (once) thriving business. They're cutting corners to save on expenses.
This year it was time to order some more seeds but the website was down back in January so I came to Reddit to see what others were saying. It turns out others have been having troubles with the actual seeds when they do finally arrive (much longer wait times than ever before). I LOVE Jordan's seeds so I ignored the reports from others because I just assumed they were one-off issues. Nope. Dead wrong. The issues others were facing with seeds that germinated but then immediately stopped growing and slowly died off weren't just one-off issues because it happened to me as soon as my seeds finally arrived, 2 months after ordering. I've never seen seeds act this way. One seed here or there, sure, but not ALL of the seeds.
To give backstory, I'm 45 (next week!) and I've been growing since I was 19. I've germinated hundreds of seeds. I was also a clone guy for a decade and I always had 6-8 strains to choose from, all of which were started from seed. People can make mistakes, for sure. Experience doesn't negate error. But something is most definitely up when an experienced grower can't get seeds to stay alive after they germinate. The guy who started the thread about JOTI that I found is a far more experienced and knowledgable grower than me and he threw everything at the seeds with no results.
I have lost complete faith in the seeds from JOTI but I still emailed them anyway for replacements just to see what they'd say. I told them about the God's Bubba seeds that germinated but then slowly died and asked if this is happening to the rest of the God's Bubba seeds but when they responded to the email they only said, "I do apologize, I'll resend them asap." Didn't ask for my address. Didn't respond to my questions. Didn't even attempt to explain why these seeds can't stay alive past germination. I gave my address anyway, not that I'd even grow the seeds if they did send them but wouldn't you know it, they never did send any seeds. My friend went thru the same thing so he switched to another company that actually values their customers AND sells great seeds.
In a thread I found about JOTI one guy said he emailed them about the same problem my seeds had and they never responded. He was polite. He waited a little while and sent another polite email. No response. Then he used his wife's email and asked about what seeds to purchase and he received an immediate response. Talk about transparency. JOTI has a sketchy, greedy vibe now.
As another guy said, "it's like we're at a referee convention because we're seeing so many red flags." This guy I'm referring to wasted $200 on seeds as opposed to me who only threw away $50. This guy started all of the seeds (that's 4x 10 packs plus all of the extra seeds they gave) and none of them stayed alive. Jesus. Talk about alarming.
I have created this post in hopes to save my fellow weed growers from a lot of stress and save them from wasting their money on untrustworthy seeds. Some people who've had their seeds grow out have only been burned in the end by hermaphrodites! Goddamn. JOTI truly isn't what it used to be!
I just dealt with 7 East Genetics here in Havelock, Ontario. I haven't grown the seeds yet, it's only May 17th right now. But my friend has been growing their amazing weed for a few years so I went with them. I ordered 4 strains x 5 seeds each. What I got instead was 7,8,10 and 13 seeds plus a FREE pack of Skunk #1 with 18 - yes- EIGHTEEN seeds in it. I got 51 seeds for $151.80 ($2.98 per seed). I'm not saying you have to go with them but I hope you will heed this warning and steer clear of JOTI; they simply can't be trusted anymore.