Durban poison by Mel Frank

bigskymtnguy

bigskymtnguy

Well-Known Member
Wow, seems like lightyears ago since I posted, but I needed to throw my personal experience in this thread. I was lucky enough to meet Mel around 1980 and was gifted a pack marked "Durban South Africa." I grew them out for a few years but wasn't very careful and they got hit with some pollen with another type he gifted that was Afghani, so my pure Durban was lost, but the resulting cross did very well outdoors in New England. Recently I connected with Mel and Todd through AG Seed Co. and purchased more Durban. 100% germination. I have to admit, the results were very surprising...in a good way. The present offering from the Mel Frank Collection at AG is very, very close to what I grew in the 80's. Broad leaf, anise smell, early flowering for a Sativa. No question in my mind they are top-shelf genetics. You could argue all day about what is "authentic"... and the twists and turns taken by a strain before making to today's market. What really matters is "what is the end result this season?" I say you can't go wrong with the AG offering because the results speak for themselves.
 
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Schmickdundee

Active Member
bigskymtnguy said:
Wow, seems like lightyears ago since I posted, but I needed to throw my personal experience in this thread. I was lucky enough to meet Mel around 1980 and was gifted a pack marked "Durban South Africa." I grew them out for a few years but wasn't very careful and they got hit with some pollen with another type he gifted that was Afghani, so my pure Durban was lost, but the resulting cross did very well outdoors in New England. Recently I connected with Mel and Todd through AG Seed Co. and purchased more Durban. 100% germination. I have to admit, the results were very surprising...in a good way. The present offering from the Mel Frank Collection at AG is very, very close to what I grew in the 80's. Broad leaf, anise smell, early flowering for a Sativa. No question in my mind they are top-shelf genetics. You could argue all day about what is "authentic"... and the twists and turns taken by a strain before making to today's market. What really matters is "what is the end result this season?" I say you can't go wrong with the AG offering because the results speak for themselves.
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Lucky enough to travel around Still Africa while in Durban risked my life to score a smoke that was crap later found out laced with mandrake.(Interesting dinner at posh Indian restaurant).went from there to Holland and UK and procured some early DP which were after grown the best smoke I've had identifiable to me by the Anise that no one seems to mention much but obviously loved to be the base of so many crosses, while not the strongest I've had as in MM tripping weed, when I look at the strains called DP I notice most don't look anything like the original.
Regret not honoring those originals.
 
Charles U Farley

Charles U Farley

Well-Known Member
Feminized cannabis (which is the only option with his DP afaik), regardless of its genealogy or provenance, is _always_ suspect to me. And for me, Mel Frank is a fucking Godfather/OG but feminized/autoflower anything is a fucking abomination.
 
Week4@inCharge

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member
Schmickdundee said:
Be interested to see if it is similar.the original is sativa looking and has a distinct aniseed smell, still the best smoke I've had .
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If these have half the flavors might be worth the grow. Not sure I'd want to grow out a 18 week grow with a Landrace but then again I probably would. I sent these guys an email just for shits, see what happens. Probably want a kidney for their beans. https://www.tltseeds.com/durban-poison-highland/

EDIT: I took one for the team and placed an order on the blind. They said it was regular seeds. So we'll see. I couldn't tell the difference from regular or feminized seeds so who knows what I bought. Worse case scenario I get sunflower seeds if at all.. :roll:
 
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Schmickdundee

Active Member
Week4@inCharge said:
If these have half the flavors might be worth the grow. Not sure I'd want to grow out a 18 week grow with a Landrace but then again I probably would. I sent these guys an email just for shits, see what happens. Probably want a kidney for their beans. https://www.tltseeds.com/durban-poison-highland/

EDIT: I took one for the team and placed an order on the blind. They said it was regular seeds. So we'll see. I couldn't tell the difference from regular or feminized seeds so who knows what I bought. Worse case scenario I get sunflower seeds if at all.. :roll:
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The real DP seems hard to find ,Good luck.
 
Week4@inCharge

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member
Schmickdundee said:
The real DP seems hard to find ,Good luck.
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Yeah thanks, was excited for a minute and just found out these guys are from Canada. .. so . sigh... hence my signature.
Edit: Had this vendor confused with the one from Canada, I have no idea as of now where these guys are centralized. The good news is from other posts here is that they do carry the legit 100% sativa stains. I have a shot at this. Stoked.
 
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Schmickdundee

Active Member
There is a member who is growing IBL in South Africa including DP on this site or THC.
If I find it again will link but I presume long flower times.
The flavors and hit would be worth the trouble.
 
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Schmickdundee

Active Member
conor c said:
Not true they are just some of the few who are doing it for big pharma and other shady entities your deluded if you think they are the only people who apply science to there breeding programs but hey oh well each to there own agree to disagree and all that anyway mate
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Agree I implement instinct and my senses and with time and a big enough gene pool could make anything into something worthy.
 
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conor c

Well-Known Member
Schmickdundee said:
Agree I implement instinct and my senses and with time and a big enough gene pool could make anything into something worthy.
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Yeah i agree you just need time numbers and a safe place to do it in be it going off the scientific approach or breeding based just on your own senses i think both have merit obviously not everyone has the eye for selection but assuming you got it then yeah and sure science so far can help to a point but theres major gaps in our knowledge with this plant and you would need to be ignorant to not already be aware of that fact cos lets face it thc content terpenes other cannabinoids etc arent a good guide to saying how potent a strain is gonna feel when you smoke it yet are they? In my experience that dont work fully just yet cos theres something we are missing clearly in my opinion
 
graying.geek

graying.geek

Well-Known Member
Week4@inCharge said:
How different is the Dutch version from the Landrace besides the extra 4 weeks of flower?
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I've bought and grown the Durban Poison from Dutch Passion and it is the furthest from being a landrace strain that I've seen; extremely homogeneous phenotypes, wide, 5-7 blade leaves, 8-9 week flowering time, and all of the "wild" character has been bred out. It produces "OK" weed, but nothing special in character, flavor or effects. You're better off going with something from Ace or WoS if you're looking for something closer to landrace.
 
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