Hey everyone
Below is the G13 article that ran in the February 2009 edition of Treating Yourself Magazine, issue #15.
Urban Legend: G13
By JessE
What could Bigfoot and Marijuana possibly have in common? Every year there are hundreds of reports of sightings of the infamous Bigfoot across North America. From Alaska to Florida, Northern California to Ohio. Much is the same with the elusive and equally legendary G13. A variety reputedly liberated from a government research facility at the University of Mississippi by an unknown assistant, news of the clones “liberation” from Uncle Sam’s garden spread quickly on the underground growing scene. As legend has it, so did the clone before ultimately making its way to the Netherlands’, where its fait would ultimately be sealed as one of the most sought after and elusive legendary strains of cannabis of all time. The Seed Bank was the first Dutch marijuana seed company shipping internationally to all corners of the globe, at the helm, by all accounts, a charismatic Australian known as Neville Schoenmaker who would take the liberated female only cutting and turn it into a variety whose story would later go on to become nothing short of mythical.
The subject of great debate for many years, and to this day a subject of contention with the few dedicated growers who are concerned with the true origins and facts of the variety, G13 has become one of the few varieties of cannabis to cross over into mainstream folk lure, most notably being featured in Kevin Spacey’s classic movie ‘American Beauty’ as a variety of cannabis whose going street price was some two thousand dollars. A price which actor Wes Bentley justified by explaining, “This shit is top of the line. It's called G-13. It's genetically engineered by the U.S. Government. It's extremely potent, but a completely mellow high. No paranoia." An absolutely outrageous price for such a small quantity of cannabis, regardless of quality, none the less it exemplifies the kind of reputation this variety has established for itself since its initial marketing by Neville in the mid 1980’s. Indeed, this variety would never have become the success story that it has if it wasn’t for the subsequent hybrids of the female clone known as G13, which was offered in his store front catalogs to growers all a crossed the globe.
It was these hybrids marketed by Neville and acquired by literally thousands of growers who had access to The Seed Banks Catalogs that would cement G13’s legacy and legendary status as being among the strongest varieties of cannabis ever encountered. A tribute itself to the absolute power of the cutting, since there was only a female clone and no male counter parts to breed a pure G13 with, hybridizations from other varieties had to be used in an effort to pass along the G13’s incredible attributes. There no longer exist a G13 in pure form, the mother plant passed away long ago now while in the care of The Seed Banks ultimate benefactors, Sensi Seeds. So as it goes with the search for G13, one will quickly realize with any kind of dedicated research the only varieties left out there related to the honest, to goodness G13 that can be absolutely authenticated are the original hybrids offered by Neville at The Seed Bank in Holland over 20 years ago now. Among those hybrids were G13xSkunk#1, G13xNorthern Lights, G13xHaze, G13xHashplant, G13xOrtega, G13 x White Widow and G13 (skunk) x White Widow as well as a handful of other obscure hybridizations that were never marketed heavily like some of the varieties mentioned above. Those varieties of course are all verified, legitimate hybridizations that can be said without any doubt to be related to the original cutting. This is the point were things may get confusing and somewhat frustrating for the average consumer because knowing where to obtain these legitimate hybridizations can be a head ache all of its own. Most consumers want to get the best buy for their hard earned currency, and generally speaking a replica or poorly bred G13 simply will not do. And when one looks at the absolute mountain of breeders offering something supposedly related to G13, your train can suddenly come to a jolting halt as you ponder over exactly which variety or varieties to purchase. And a wise decision it would be to want the true facts my friends, because not all G13 hybrids are created equal and some of them are outright frauds.
When I initially became interested in the G13 myth, the most natural starting point in my mind upon the discovery of quite a few sources to obtain the genetics from was to research where the original genetics ultimately went and where they can be obtained today. Along the way I discovered quite a few cuttings in private hands which are said to be G13 it’s self, but for which no credible proof exist or has been offered in which to authenticate their claims or the ultimate origins of their “G13”. Most notably among those private cuttings is the Airborne G13 cut which looks very similar to the known G13 x Northern Lights photographs, which of course though, is not nearly enough evidence to say with any kind of certainty that it is indeed one of the hybrids originally released by Neville in the ‘80s.But that is pretty much all we are left with, such as the case with many varieties on the market today in fact. Where the only real proof one has is the word of the breeder or what little photographic evidence exist to support their claims. Other private cuttings said to be G13 include the So Cal G13, the LG13 (Louisiana) and the PG13 (Pacific). Interestingly enough, the person known as Pacific had no less than three versions of G13, none of which were related to the true G13 cutting and some of which were actually obtained from government (DEA) confiscated marijuana stock from private growers and medical users. So the ultimate pedigree of some of the Pacific G13 varieties could be anything from Durban Poison to Hindu Kush, and anything in between. There are dozens more varieties all touted to be G13 or a derivative of G13, but none of which can offer any kind of validation or support to back up their assertions. And ultimately any G13 variety with any kind of authentication has to be traced back to Neville and the hybridizations initially offered twenty years ago at The Seed Bank, because that’s where it all started in the first place my friends.
So where can we as the consumer go to purchase legitimate G13 hybridizations today? There are a handful of legitimate breeders all offering something that can be legitimately traced back to the original cutting known as G13. Most notably is Mr. Nice Seed bank, which is fronted by infamous international Hash smuggler Howard Marks and operated by legendary breeders Shantibaba and the man himself, Neville Schoenmaker (the former owner of The Seed Bank). So it’s pretty much a no brainer that if you would like to obtain some authentic lines related to the original cutting of G13, that you start with the very place the legend started, Neville himself at Mr. Nice Seed Bank (
www.mrnice.nl). Mr. Nice Seeds (MNS) currently offers a three generation interbred variety of G13 x Skunk where the criteria for each subsequent backcross was for G13 dominant varieties. From there the original skunk male was used to create a G13 (skunk#1) x skunk #1 variety easily available to the public as well as the G13 (skunk) x Black Widow (White Widow) which looks to be an incredibly encouraging variety in its own right. Other companies which offer a variety legitimately related to the authentic cutting include Sensi Seeds, which offers a G13xHashplant hybrid strangely enough named after the aforementioned Howard Marks. Known as Mr. Nice, the G13xHashplant offered by Sensi Seeds is a legitimate G13 hybrid that can be traced back to the original cutting because Ben Dronkers, the owner of Sensi Seeds, ultimately acquired his stock from Neville. Along with Sensi Seeds, Soma Seeds offers a G13xHaze lineup from which one haze dominant male G13 x Haze hybrid was found in a very small handful of seeds said to have been given to Soma by well known author Ed Rosenthal, who acquired the seeds originally from Neville. Soma has subsequently used that haze dominant male, although technically related too the original G13, to hybridize several other varieties in his library and thus establishing the authenticity of his G13 stock, however remote it may be.
Like with any good marijuana story of this nature, there exist quite a few versions of the original story. Some of which make for great camp fire stories, but none of which seem to have any kind of real sustenance behind them other than popular lure. Such is the case with one Sandy Wienstien, who is said to be a founding member of Sacred Seeds (a point of contention by Sam the Skunk Man). Sandy is credited for the breeding of Early Girl and is also said to be the one who discovered G13 along with the Bay Area Durban Poison clone. As the story goes, the group responsible for the breeding of Skunk#1 lost some of their Afghan varieties due to grey mold issues and at this point in time during the ‘70s Afghanica cannabis genetics were not as widely prevalent as they are today. As luck would have it, Mr. Wienstien is said to have had a friend in the Alabama/Mississippi region who was a first year botany student. This friend is said to have lucked into a job with Dr. Carlton Turner at the University of Mississippi and sent a handful of Afghan varieties that showed promise from the University of Mississippi, back to Mr.Wienstien. Among those Afghanica varieties was the famed G13.
In another twist of the story, perhaps even related in some strange way is the story of Michael Hallman, who is a character said to have collected a wide variety of quality cannabis strains in the 1960’s and ‘70s. As the story goes, the CIA and FBI did hybridization experiments with Mr. Hallman’s collection of marijuana genetics and they are said to have developed one of the most powerful marijuana strains of all time. With an alleged THC percentage of over 28%, this variety would be more than double the potency of most conventional marijuana strains of the era. It is this clone, said to have been developed by the government that was liberated from Green House 13 all those years ago now, that is today responsible for the urban legend as it stands that became known as G13. This particular part of the story is one of the newer elements of the story to emerge and in my opinion is an example of an urban legend continuing to evolve and expand as the years go by. What we do know, is that in fact the government was growing marijuana at research facilities no later than the 1970’s. According to Zimmer and Morgan, The Potency Monitoring Project (PMP) conducted at the University of Mississippi in 1973 found the average sample of cannabis tested to have a potency of 1.62% THC with many varieties being over 4% THC. With the highest sample of cannabis tested at the time coming in at 9.5% THC. Two years later, a study done by PharmChem is said to have tested a variety which registered at 14% THC. So the possibility of strains of cannabis existing at the University of Mississippi seems to certainly be plausible, although whether or not G13 was among them remains unclear. At the time of the Potency Monitoring project, Dr. Carlton Turner was in charge of the program and today the University of Mississippi still does research in regards to cannabis under the guidance and tutelage of Dr. Mahmoud El Sohly.
Ultimately what should matter to you as the grower and consumer is where to obtain the most legitimate G13 hybrids if you’re interested in growing this variety. There is no shortage of companies peddling something called G13, but your best bet is to stick with the companies who have a legitimate claim to the varieties name sake. Of those companies, Mr. Nice Seeds may very well be your best option for obtaining an authentic hybrid related to the original cut. With the original cutting being marketed by Neville at The Seed Bank and of course the fact Neville can be found today working along side Shantibaba at Mr. Nice Seeds, it’s a sure bet that what you’re receiving is a legitimate hybrid of this mythical and legendary variety. The G13 (skunk) x Skunk #1 and the G13 x Widow at Mr. Nice Seeds have both earned the respect of many growers around the globe, and who knows? Maybe you’re next?
,patty(we call em Yowies in oz,think we found a huge stonker of a yowie shit in the bush once as well!),and i also beleive there are 'killer' plants to be had from those G13 crosses mentioned there from the MNS Bank.
...after all, like you said, it doesn't look like cannabis...jay