The essential flavors of Puffcon 2025
Plus, Archive Seed Bank re-launches, Terphogz reveals Gas Station Bob, and more
BY DAVID DOWNS | Oct. 8
Good morning,
We harvested some pungent trees yesterday using huge bypass loppers to snip our 6-footers at the base, then hanging the whole plants upside down in the drying room. We had some super-minor mold issues on one plant, but nature always takes its cut. Overall, we’re very pleasantly surprised at the full-sun run. Let’s get to the genetics intelligence.
In this week’s newsletter:
Archive Seedbank floodgates re-open after 10 years
Major flavors of Puffcon 2025
Terphogz unveils Z originator ‘Gas Station Bob’
And much, much more.
As always, the first hit is free, then I’ll see you in the Pro version for $5 on it.
ARCHIVE SEEDBANK BURST: Imagine if Porsche stopped selling Porches for three years because they were tired of douches taking selfies in them.
That’s kind of like the impact of Archive Seedbank of Oregon disabling online sales for the last 3 years. Well, that ended Friday with the suprise return of a ton of classics and hot-hot new-new to the e-commerce site.
We caught up with Archive Adam in downtown LA at Puffcon Sunday. He said they closed the store due to so many people taking Archive regulars, and studding them out to start a new brand. They just got weary of it, stopped online seed sales, and focused inward for the last three years.
Friday’s website re-launch saw sellouts of the Rainbow Belts crosses, Black Belts, Blue Belts, and Black Oishi especially.
Buy Fire Follower Pro for info on where Doc is taking Archive next. ... Archive Adam’s side project is “Commonwealth” with his brother, starting with the hash-focused Grape Sunshine line. The name commonwealth is an ode to his Virginia roots.
LA PUFFCON-FIDENTIAL: A tornado of terps touched down in a blazing hot lot in gritty downtown Los Angeles this weekend with the return of Puffco’s annual fan gathering Puffcon. Over 10,000 people gathered to see an explosion of creative collaborations from over 100 brands, headlined by La Russel and Eric Andre. Action Bronson cooked—literally.
Of the strains that dominated the conversation, you can’t deny that it remains Zkittlez’ time. Witness “Preferred” formerly Preferred Gardens’ debut of their hype mixed light Z live rosin at $300 per gram. An extremely hype drop that sold out.
Fidel’s re-released and sold out of his Transbay award-winning KMZ (Kush Mints x Z), as well as straight Z, OZK, and Triangle Kush x Z. Fidel’s sick hash hole lineup included a Gary Payton x Too Much Zkittlez flower with Blue OGZ hash rosin.
Serge Cannabis had a shmokin’ lineup of flower at Puffcon. Witness his Z41 x Permanent Marker (which came from a gift clone), and his East Coast Sour D x Z (also a clone gift). His new Lucky Strike is Cherry Pie x Z. (Serge is a holder of the Cherry Pie cut.)
More on where to source Preferred’s genetics, and Serge’s next strain project in Fire Follower Pro.
Leading hashmaker Frosty Hash and top San Francisco breeder Powerzzzup debuted a Barry Bondzzzz to sold-out numbers. Barry Bondzzzz is The Weeed x Busdown. Also selling out: Blue Zushi, and Starburst 23.
Astor Club x Archive had Grapefruit Z on tap. African island brand RTZ of Tenerife had 5 Z crosses in flower format, including Ikigai (Perm Z x OZK).
More Z: Wooksauce Winery sold out of their Yellow Zushi first. Wooksauce Winery has a new rec brand “Fully Melted” and he gifted me some Terpy Slerp, that’s GMO x Z and leans all funky Chem and no Z. Bear Labs had Garlic of OZ.
More strain intelligence from Puffcon in Fire Follower Pro.
BOB’Z YOUR UNCLE: Having the hottest strain in the game pretty much guarantees beef and drama over origin and credit. The British say: ‘Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ.’ On Friday, Terphogz team member Tony Mendo unmasked the never-before-seen originator of the Z strain, the legendary ‘Gas Station Bob’, who goes by ‘just Bob.’ Tony Mendo promises more interview material to come.
3 TOP SEED DROPS
This week, we’d recommend:
Masonic Seeds Hash Set timed to Puffcon offers a snapshot of where hash flavors are going. Comes with five packs: Barbra Bud x Starburst Bx; Grape Gas x Starburst Bx; Tallymon x Starburst; Starburst F4; and Ruby Weapon (Honey Banana Tallymon x Starburst). Get on that Starburst train ASAP.
Speaking of top hashers, Bloom Seed Co’s The Hive (Honey Banana x Papaya) is back in stock with 12 fems for $136. Deeply Rooted Seedbank has all the Bloom your bank account can afford.
And Tangled Roots seedbank returns with their next, limited-edition ‘Buried Treasure’ release, this time all Zs: Z-Candy, Zweet Candy, and Zweet OG.
Tons more seed picks of the week in Fire Follower Pro from Umami, Ziplock, Walipini, Freeborn Selections, Top Dawg, Jaws Genetics, CHA Genetics, and Skunktech.
Reminders:
— Grab one of the final early bird free RSVPs to the Terpnami seed show Dec. 6-7 in SF’s SOMA District. Featuring three floors of 2026 genetics.
Give it up for the vendors so far: Bloom Seed Co, Bosky, Casa Flor, CHA Genetics, Compound Genetics, Cora Genetics, DNA Genetics with Errl Hill, Dr. Dabber, First Cut Farms, Freeborn Selections, Greenshock Farms, Grove bags with James Loud, Happy Dreams, Huckleberry Hill Farms, Humboldt CCTV, Humboldt Seed Co., Lempire Farmaseed, Luci / Norcal Genetics, Luscious Genetics, Purple Caper, Purple City Genetics, Rebel Grown Seeds, Ridgeline Farms, Sticky Fields, Xeno Grows, Zeed Vault, and Ziplock x Sense. DM me to tap in.
—The October print version Fire Follower in Leaf Magazine is out now all around the country.
—It’s harvest season, grab my book “Marijuana Harvest – Maximizing Quality & Yield in your Cannabis Garden” and finish like a pro.
TOP BUD SHOT OF THE WEEK:
In this week’s Fire Follower Pro for $5
—What Archive Seeds’ Fletch is working on next
—Where to get Preferred (aka Preferred Gardens) genetics under their label “The Gardens”
—What Serge Cannabis is breeding next
—More top seed drops from Umami, Ziplock, Walipini, Freeborn Selections, Top Dawg, Jaws —Access to back-issues of Fire Follower Pro, featuring dozens more stellar additions for your grow.
—Genetics and awards Event Calendar
Highest Critic says:
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Over the years, few have established the network and on the ground lung time to be able to suss out real fire in an industry where most people are just blowin’ smoke. Follow David Downs’ Fire Follower for a curated snapshot of where top breeders are taking cannabis genetics. Where else are you going to get a peek at an award-winning breeder’s pollen collection or get the lowdown on how many generations it took to make a new Kookie cut? If you’re looking for seeds or cuts that produce fire, the Fire Follower will lead the way.”
Fire Follower saves you over 100 hours per year keeping up with genetics news, and you never miss a big drop. It’s for commercial breeders, growers, store buyers, PR people, executives, and pro-am aficionados. Buy this week’s issue for $5. Subscribe to 52 issues and save 30%. (I email you the full genetics intelligence report when you pay.)
Support independent, 100% AI-free, pure old fashioned homegrown human reporting. I’ll see you in the Pro edition.