And the Billy Award goes to — Frog Poison 🐸
Sorry, it’s the year of the amphibian strain. We don’t make the rules.
BY DAVID DOWNS | May 14 | SAN FRANCISCO
Good afternoon, Fire Followers,
This is David Downs in San Francisco, back at the desk after a trip to Sacramento to record the Good Pizzza podcast with JP. Afterward, we jetted over to Alien Labs’ offices, where Ted had a 250-strain pheno hunt going. He blessed me with some of his persy “Ted Venom,” aka Toad Venom. (I did my best to not bring the cursed cultivar up.)
Welcome to Fire Follower: Your weekly must-read for the best genetics in the game. Publishing every Wednesday-ish, we scan over 250 genetics news vectors—so you don’t have to. Please email me your upcoming genetics news.
In this week’s newsletter free excerpt:
Frog Poison takes first at the Billy Awards
Mendocino picks its winning strains
Huge California clone weekend
As always, the first hit is free, then I’ll see you in the full, PRO version for $5.
BILLY AWARDS RESULTS: It’s not hype, folks, Frog Poison (also known as Toad Venom) took first place in Astor Club’s top East Coast contest, the Billy Awards on April 19 in New York. Maine Trees’ BBL2 (Blueberry Banana Lobster) took home 2nd place in the fruit category. Serge’s London Haze also took a 2nd. Full details on the four, terpene-driven categories—Candy, Fruit, Gas, and Haze—as soon as we find them.
MENDO CUP WINNERS: Mendocino County’s influential, world-class outdoor grower scene met for its annual awards. Check out the superbly designed winners page. 1st place River Taxi Farms / Arcanna — Fire Horse OG. 2nd Emerald Spirit Botanicals — Royal Blueberry. 3rd Soulsol — Rainbow Belts x Runtz. 4th Sweet Sisters Family Farm — Biscotti. 5th Sticky Fields — King’s Poison.
Related: Oregon Leaf winners pointed the way to what’s next, including work from Purple City Genetics (Toronja), as well as CHA Genetics (Frenchie’s Grapes work). Best Dessert in mixed-light went to Muffin Pounder from Bald Peak Farms. 👀.
And the Vermont Cannabis Convention had a best in show competition. Here are the winners.
THE CLONE WARES ARRIVE: Major genetics releases from Green Dragon and Clonetopia rock Southern and Northern California this weekend. Three cuts of Toad Venom for $1,000 lead off over 60 strains at Green Dragon in Los Angees. In the Bay Area, Tire Fire OG tops out at $1,566 at Clonetopia.
THE ’26 OLYMPIX: Succesor to The Emerald Cup, the Zalympix competition is back on in Cali with a 36-entry judges box out now. The awards event with E-40 is May 30.
BLUEBERRY NEWS: Cookies and Berner launched their blueberry campaign, built around Ridgeline Jason’s Blueberry Caviar work. Blackberry Caviar sighted in New Mexico. Top-shelf indoor leaders Maine Trees rebooted and ran some Blue Dream, as is Umma Sonoma. Leaf Mag has the Blueberry trend piece.
MARY JANE BERLIN WATCH: The world’s biggest confab of the herb tribe hits 60,000 people in Berlin this June. Seed Junky Genetics is bringing (Lemon Cherry x Sherb bx1) x (Pluto x Malibu). There’s a hashmaker bowling tourney. The breeder FastBuds flies me over. Humboldt Seed Co. puts me up. Look out for Karma Genetics’ booth:
3 TOP SEED DROPS
This week, we’d recommend:
Bodhi’s Inflatable Joy Helmet: We count about 28 newly listed Bodhi packs on Great Lakes Genetics—a lot are 1988 G-13 Hash Plant crosses that read “Not Fully Tested.”
Check the Face Off x 88g13/hp for $50. Bodhi Purple Soul (Pinesoul x Purple Unicorn F3) is an “inflatable joy helmet.” Strawberry Temple (Temple x Strawberry Milk) offers “big, sticky, wizard wands of orange bubblegum inspiration.”
Getting pitted in the Peach Wave: Picks from the Bloom Seed Co.s torrent of newly listed include Simply Grape (Grape Pie x World War Z) $86 for 12 regs. Guavarita (Strawberry Push Pop x Pure Guava), Rainbow Vapor (Candy Fumez 6 x Rainbow Guava 5), Peach Guava (Peach OZ x Pure Guava), and Peach Pineapple (Peach OZ x Pomelo Punch 5) $172 for 12 fems.
Compound Genetics’ Black Amber crosses have arrived on seedbanks after their Spannabis drop.
Get many more new and essential drops in Fire Follower PRO for $5 a week, or $20 a month. Save 30% on a year and get a gift worth $100.
Reminders:
Clonetopia 2026 is this weekend in Richmond, CA with a satellite drop in San Francisco. Unreserved clones go first come first served starting at 12 p.m. Saturday. Giveaways to the first shoppers include: CANNA Start clone nutrients, King Solomon dry fertilizer, and Last Gasp coloring books. Vital Garden Supply, Ring Organic, and Magic Flower will be there. Read the High Times and GreenState pieces.
TOP BUD SHOT OF THE WEEK
In this week’s Fire Follower PRO for $5
More top seed drops from Sin City, Raw Genetics, 3rd Coast Genetics, and seven more.
Where to get the latest hot or classic clones
Essential buys from Alien Genetics, Archive, and Greenshock.
Access to back-issues of Fire Follower PRO, featuring dozens more stellar additions for your grow.
Genetics and awards event calendar
See you in the PRO edition.
Fire Follower is reader-funded and brought to you in part by Neptune Seed Bank. The best cannabis seed bank in the U.S. Best selection of breeders and strains. Start your next grow with some seeds from Neptune Seed Bank.
Send feedback, tips, news, corrections, and clarifications to daviddownspresents@pm.me
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