Interview with Jouke, Seedstocker
April, 2022.
AWC team:
Today we are talking with the Autoflower World Cup 2022 winner of 4 cups - Seedstocker!
- 1st Prize in BEST INDICA: with Candy Dawg AUTO
- 1st Prize in BEST CBD: with CBD Critical XXL AUTO
- 2nd Prize in BEST SATIVA: with Santa Marta Haze AUTO
- 2nd Prize in BEST NEW STRAIN: with Rucu Cucu OG AUTO
- Tell us a little bit more about the winning strain and tell us why you think it won over others (one answer per one winning strain)
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Thanks a lot for having this conversation! I’m surprised and honored to win so many swords in one Cup! It had never happened before in the 5 years that we exist! To tell you a bit more about genetics… What I saw in the past [more than] 10 years that autoflowering genetics really developed from being fluffy hemp-like strains to now being almost in parallel with regular feminized seeds and especially last 2-3 years we worked a lot on terpenes, also the production was there but the smell and the taste were the main achievement and I have a feeling that we are on the right track!
So I think all the development of the last years is ongoing and never stops improving, and this is what led to this big victory!
And it’s nice indeed to see this development because a lot of us have already seen the potential of autoflowers from the start when it was just a small “Low Ryder” on the market. A lot of people were laughing at it, but I was among the others who were thinking differently. I was thinking that there was something in it, there was some benefit in it. We and other breeders worked hard on that and it's especially exciting to see how potent autoflowers are now!
AWC team:
- Great evolution of autoflowers! I remember your entries and it was fire! NIce smell, nice smoke so you can really feel the difference in that product. So yea this revolution of autoflowers is incredible!
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Yes definitely! I was not studying the samples myself, I was not a judge so I can’t compare them with others. But now it’s possible to have proper cannabis grown from autoflower if it’s a good grower. One part is genetics but another part is growing right. We have a really good dedicated grower working with us for this project!
AWC team:
- Definitely it’s a symbiosis between genetics and proper growing.
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Yes definitely! If you give good seed to a crappy grower you won’t get a good flower, you know! You always need a good grower for that kind of cup!
AWC team:
- What are your plans for the future? What do you expect from the autoflower industry?
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Regarding autoflowers we will definitely introduce new crosses, new strains over the next few years. We have some ideas of new strains in work so stay tuned!
Regarding the industry, we see that at the moment around 70% of our customers are autoflowers. So that's already an established category. But we also see that this segment keeps growing. We believe that in a few years we will end up with a stable line around 80-85% sales of autoflowers. And that’s because we see the small home growers often choose autoflowers. Also more and more large legal growers choose autoflowers for their huge production. The middle sized projects are usually not autoflowers, but when you grow 15000 plants for example it gets so large that it’s hard to do clones, to check each plant for hermaphroditism. And last years we’ve learned that autoflowers rarely turn to hermaphrodite if they are stressed. We don’t really know why and we don’t have an explanation for that.
AWC team:
- So we have two significant aspects here: the small grower that doesn't have a space (and so many of them only have a little balcony) and large growers that are pushing the autoflower industry.
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Another thing is that because of how autoflowering genetics work you can not keep the original plant, we don’t have another way but to improve the new generation.
AWC team:
-So breeding is tough work, right?
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Well, yes it's tough work but it’s also a hobby most of the time. Because the people of our industry love what they do.
AWC team:
- What would you like to say to the people who didn't win this time? What advice can you give to the home growers?
Jouke, Seedstocker:
Practice! Try different things, different genetics, nutrients, soils! Try what works best in your situation. You know that people who grow cannabis for cups and win awards are usually super dedicated in order to win cups. They really put time and effort into this job!
Another important thing is don’t just do what's written in books. Do inform yourself. Read online, watch videos, whatever information, but create your own methods. From my personal perspective I always say: “Grow organic”! That’s the way to go. I’m not really fan of mineral nutrients.
AWC team:
Thank you so much for all the advice and all the information for beginner breeders and growers!
Keep growing!