Toad Venom clones hit $5,000; Purple City Genetics debuts spring/summer ‘26 lineup
Plus: Winners and wisdom from the American Autoflower Cup
BY DAVID DOWNS | Feb. 4 | SAN FRANCISCO
Good afternoon, Fire Followers,
We’ve finally come down from judging 90 autoflower buds and hashes in Hollywood over the weekend. San Francisco is filling up for the Super Bowl Sunday. And my Toyota Highlander hybrid is back on the road with a new battery that cost $6,000 in parts and labor. Cazart!
Welcome to David Downs Presents Fire Follower: Your weekly must-read for the best seeds and clones in the game. Publishing every Wednesday with market-moving, brand-making, actionable genetics intelligence from me, d2, based on 17 years on the weed beat, including seven at Leafly.
We trawl hundreds of important socials, seedbanks, web pages, and Discords—so you don’t have to.
In this week’s newsletter free excerpt:
Winners of the American Autoflower Cup, San Diego Farmer’s Cup, and Maine’s High95 Cup
Archive Seed Bank’s big upcoming release
3 top seed drops from Ridgeline, Bodhi, and Lovin’ in Her Eyes
As always, the first hit is free, then I’ll see you in the Pro version. Assuming you got $5 on it.
THE STATE OF AUTOFLOWERS:
We smoked 75 autoflowers and dabbed 15 auto-hashes over three days in Hollywood last week—so you don’t have to. Judging the American Autoflower Cup in Los Angeles with luminaries Danny Danko, Kyle Kushman, and Jenn Doe has given us expert insight into the state of autos in the US in 2026.
First things first: Strains from Night Owl Seeds, Atlas Seeds, and Fast Buds took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in Best Overall Auto 2026.
Fast Buds, Humboldt Seed Co, and Mephisto Genetics took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in Best Rosin. Here’s a photo of the flower that went into Fast Buds’ Apricot Auto hash.
The highest THC autoflower hit almost 34%, a 505 Headbanger by Mephisto Genetics.
Those are the winners—we get into the wisdom gleaned from the American Autoflower Cup in Fire Follower PRO below.
THAT’S A BINGO: We got a big Archive Seed Bank drop this week at Feb. 7 4:20 pm PST with Bingo!, Ichiban, and Lemonheads V2 for $200. From the art, to the descriptions, to the site, to actual pre-release marketing—Archive Fletcher (aka Doc) sets the curve for seed launches.
COOKED ‘EM: Hash Burger and Lemon Fruz dominated The San Diego Farmers Cup Harvest edition over the weekend. Winners also included THC Design Blue Viper for Best Flavor (Indoor Flower) and Most Unique (Indoor Flower).
MAINE’S TREES: Maine’s High95 Cup winners Jan. 31 included 1st place in indoor Wedding Sunset (Sunset Sherbet x Wedding Cake) bred by Seed Junky. Second place went to Best Friend Farms’ G. Band. Third place went to Best Friend Farms’ 207 Headband. More info as we get it.
GROW NEWS
Will Washington allow its citizens to grow some weed at home? Legislators will again decide.
Missouri growers got fined for importing genetics. The only rule is don’t get caught.
ALL ABOUT THE PENJAMINS: Proper Smoke League will run a vapes bracket starting Feb. 15. They’ll be handing out DQs like Dairy Queen.
Reminder: We have a Neon Panther 6-Star Full-Melt Drop Party to pre-game before the NFL Finals here in San Francisco. RSVP now.
3 TOP SEED DROPS
This week, we’d recommend
Ridgeline Farms debuted Z x Lantz at $150 for 10 regs. Definitely worth a hunt.
Highly regarded Lovin in Her Eyes dropped his second of 2026—The Purple Collection Vol 2 (F) with three seeds each of for $150: Boardwalk Bubba (Amethyst x Bubba Rose), Moonage Daydream (Indigo x Mercury Blues), and Cherry Chalet (Mystic Martian x Strawberry Cadillac).
Supplies of Bodhi’s latest Lavender Lemonaid f2 Lemon Tree x Wookie 15) didn’t last a week. Monkey Milk (monkey paw x strawberry milk) is still there, though for $69 with smells of “green grapes, kumquats, and cream…. Oldschool meets new school.” And there’s nine packs left of Island Cream (mana x strawberry milk) $69 for “classic afghani Hawaiian with a creamy og strawberry glaze…. large and lanky power wands soothe…”
Reminders
RSVP to Clonetopia 2026: NorCal’s biggest simultaneous clone release ever. With Phinest, Purple City Genetics, Talking Trees, Haze Valley Nursery and HendRx.Farms. At Mercy Wellness in Cotati, CA, 7 Stars-Richmond, CA, and Solful SF. Support from PowrHouse, United Nutrients and Kaya Coir.
Look for Fire Follower syndicated in print editions of Leaf Magazine all around the country.
TOP BUD SHOT OF THE WEEK
In this week’s Fire Follower Pro for $5
Where to get the latest Toad Venom and Purple City Genetics clones
10 top seed drops from Bloom Seed Co, Clearwater, Exotic Genetix, and more
10 essential buys from Bodhi, Humboldt CSI, Skunktek, and more
Genetics and awards Event Calendar
Access to back-issues of Fire Follower Pro, featuring dozens more stellar additions for your grow.
Fire Follower saves you over 400 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, save 30% and get personalized picks. (I email you the full genetics intelligence report when you pay.)
I’ll see you in the Pro edition.
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So autoflower is not necessarily an inferior product Im gathering? Good to hear, I was probably misled. Nice work!