Why PremiumCultivars.com Is a Scam

There’s a new seedbank online called Premium Cultivars that’s been pushing hard on marketing and lies. They aren’t legit and you should not buy cannabis seeds from them.

Backstory: I get approached a lot to promote cannabis affiliated websites. Everything from the standard “sorry to slide into your DMs” graphic designers, small arms purveyors, and Telegram channel hosts to formal emails from operators of clearweb honeypots operating under an ephemeral veneer of decentralization. The world is full of dumbasses who think they can pull one over on stoners and it’s time to shed light on bad actors in the space.

I’ve got scammer radar and it’s time to write about a particularly egregious scammer in the cannabis space: Premium Cultivars.

Brand: Premium Cultivars

Is Premium Cultivars Legit?

No PremiumCultivars is NOT legit. Premium Cultivars claims to sell “premium” cultivars and strains. What they’re selling is 100% unverified genetics. They repackage and sell wholesale cannabis seeds under popular cultivar names with the goal of scamming growers around the world. You think you’re buying that new hot strain? Guess what, you probably got sent a hermie, king of crap seed that does not have the claimed lineage and genetics.

Is Premium Cultivars a scam?

Yes, Premium Cultivars are scammers. They don’t actually have the genetics that they’re allegedly selling. Will they actually send you seeds? Will they grow into THC bearing plants? Maybe, but if they aren’t the exact pheno you wanted what the hell is the point? Why support a scammer that is trying to pull one over you?

Where does Premium Cultivars get their cannabis cultivars (strains)?

Who knows, but they 100% are not from the original breeders of the cultivars that they claim to sell. Premium Cultivars does not have the strains they claim they do. Full stop.

Who runs Premium Cultivars?

Premium Cultivars is supposedly run by someone named Roland Lenny. Not a real person as far as I can tell but I’m still eager to be proven wrong. If that is a real person with real seeds. I’m a real person with real ears and eyeballs and I’d love to chat with this real person and talk about the provenance of their seeds. The thing is, every time I ask for that to Roland’s official Premium Cultivars contact email – the one where “he” first reached out to me – I’m ignored.

On Linkedin, it seems that PremiumCultivars.com is run by one “Clint Schaffroth,” which also may or may not be a fake name.

The “company” behind Premium Cultivars is called Boring Content Agency, and they are based out of a rentamailbox office in Portland, OR.

Where is Premium Cultivars based?

Premium Cultivars uses a mailbox service in Portland, OR – which isn’t damning in and of itself, but in combination with fake names, black hat SEO tactics, and fraudulent  claims, I’d consider a giant red flag.

What fake cultivars does Premium Cultivars claim to have?

Deep East – Zoap

Gumbo – Gumbo

Seed Junky Genetics – Giraffe Puzzy, Permanent Marker

The Tenco – Yellow Zushi, Blue Zushi

If you’re a breeder who has been ripped off by Premium Cultivars, please contact us to be featured in this expose.

Sans quotes and legal claims from the actual breeders behind the cultivars, I have this explanation:

When a white label seedbank or their breeders actually crack the code on a cultivar, it shows up far and wide, not just on one “seedbank.”

When a cultivar’s seeds are only available from one source – that source is generally going to be the actual creator of the cultivar.

When that single source isn’t the known breeder but rather a newcomer “seedbank” with no history or inclination to prove themselves, it’s pretty damn clear it’s a scam.

So does Premium Cultivars actually have real Seed Junky Genetics?

No.

I reached out to JBeezySJG on Twitter with this message:

Hello!! I am writing an article about fake seedbanks and wanted to confirm that the seeds listed on http://premiumcultivars.com like permanent marker, giraffe puzzy, and others are fake. It’s obvious but some people need it spelled out so a quote would go a longggg way XD

And he kindly responded:

Yes they’re fake.

So does Premium Cultivars actually have real zushi seeds?

If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe the hosts of First Smoke of the Day.

While talking with Bill from Up the Hill on FSOTD, The crew started talking about imitations showing up on the market.

Blackleaf started:

“People will be like that’s zoap or zushi and i’ll be like no it’s not.”

PackGods agreed:

“Oh, I hate that they’re doing that. If you’re not breeding with the Zushi that we know is Zushi from Team Ten… You can’t call it Zushi.”

Pack Gods continued:

“It’d be like you calling a strain rs-11 but it’s like some other thing you called rs-11 that’s kind of like the strain. It just doesn’t make sense.”

He ended with a plea to growers around the world:

“Please stop doing that.”

“I’m starting to see Zushi pop up and I’m like, nah because the crew that holds that down holds it down so tight that I know it’s all just lies.”

Which companies fell for PremiumCultivars.com scam?

Just do a google search for Premium Cultivars and see which companies are listing their “seeds” and which companies have published verbatim propoganda from Premium Cultivars. (NY Weekly)

So who should I buy seeds from instead of Premium Cultivars?

Anybody but them. Seriously. Run don’t walk. Premium Cultivars is not a good actor and you do not want to give them your credit card info, your shipping address, your IP address, or anything.

Best case scenario, they’re a scammer seeking to prey on cannabis users. Worst case scenario, they’re an alphabet soup run honeypot. Either way, Premium Cultivars is not a legit seed source.

Editor’s Note: Premium Cultivars has not provided any comment or response to multiple inquiries over multiple months.

Editor’s Note 2.0: Premium Cultivars responded on 3/8/23 by accusing The Highest Critic of being a known plant in the industry being paid by Homegrown Cannabis Co to post this. They also included this note on their seeds provenance.

Premium Cultivars seed provenance claim proven false

Premium Cultivar’s Clint Thompson (aka Clint Schaffroth) provided the following comment:

In regards to our seeds

The provenance of our seeds is not an issue. We make no pretence that we work with a network of breeders across the US and white label their seeds under our brand.

Once genetics are in the public domain, strains can be replicated from seed or reverse engineered. This is the nature of cannabis breeding. We make no bones about the fact we want to get the newest strains to market as quickly as possible.

We do not claim to sell genetics from the original breeders, rather we offer our produce at an affordable price point for the homegrowing market. Our reviews speak for themselves in regards to quality and stability of the genetics we supply.

I hope this explains the situation.

Thank you

Editor’s Note 3.0: Despite their claims of being a normal open source cannabis seedbank participating in the normal rise and grind of reverse engineering or selfing seeds with a network of breeders across the country, it’s just that – an unproven claim.

Let’s take a look at Premium Cultivar’s newly updated (after they read this article) attempt at providing lineage and genetics information for their fake “Yellow Zushi strain seeds.”

100% Hindu Kush genetics, except for the 50% that’s psilocybe cubensis? Seriously? Come on.

I can’t find any information on a Golden Teacher Cannabis Cultivar (Strain) – can you?

It’s just more proof to those in the know that they’re keyword stuffing to scam uneducated buyers.