Amsterdam Marijuana Seeds (AMS) Review

I'm in the North-West region of the U.S.A and it took 3 weeks to get my seeds. I ordered them May 29, 2011 and received them June 20, 2011. I suppose with overseas packages this is fairly normal. All of the seeds were in great shape when they arrived, none of them were damaged, plus, the 10 Easy Rider seeds I ordered looked mature, viable, and of a darker color. The 20 free seeds looked pretty good too, although they were a little more on the light green side but I bet they'll pop just fine. I've read good and bad reviews about AMS. My experience was positive and I didn't have problems whatsoever. I plan on going through them again if the need arises in the future. However, my second choice would probably be Attitude Seedbank. This was my first time ordering from AMS and I've never tried Attitude Seedbank but most of the reviews I've read about Attitude have been positive. On another note, I'm in the process of germination. I sterilized a cup of water by boiling it for 5 minutes then I put the 10 Easy Rider seeds in the cup for 24 hours then I switched them to a damp cotton rag inside a ziplock bag/tupper container. Amazingly, 3 of the seeds popped within 22 hours, the rest are still germinating. I'm only about 36 hours into it but I have a good feeling about the rest.
The only negative I can think of is the packaging. Sure it was a crush proof package but it didn't seem stealth like how they claimed. If customs had opened it the seeds would have been spotted immediately because they weren't concealed inside the package. I was under the impression that I'd have to search for them inside some kind of "gift."
How much did I pay for the seeds? Well, the 10 autoflowering Easy Riders were $35, plus, $23 for shipping. So, I paid approximately $58. I was surprised at how much the shipping was. I'm not certain if this is normal or not? I'd guess that it's normal.

Cool man I was under the impression that AMS were complete rip off artists because they hide under different website names and when you click to go into the site they pop up its just like wtf? but congrats man order well done

Thanks. Yea, at first I just did a little checking and then I went ahead and ordered. After I ordered I did more checking and came across a few bad reviews which left me sweating or thinking I may have been taken. However, like I mentioned everything went according to plan. Getting seeds in the mail is similar to opening presents Christmas morning. Actually, it's better.

I've never had a problem w/ ams. Got their medijuana & hindu kush, both are wonderful strains.

Just an update on the germination of the seeds, 9 out of the 10 sprouted within 3 days. Amazingly, 5 of them had sprouts that were 2-3 inches long. I should have checked and got them planted sooner. I guess I didn't realize that some would sprout like monsters. The other 4 were only about 5 millimeters long, about the length of the seed. Okay, so then I planted them and the 5 that did awesome broke the soil the next day like true champions. The other 4 sprouts, plus, the one that hadn't sprouted at planting haven't come up through the soil yet. It's been a week but I'm being patient and hoping they'll come up soon. I've heard it can take up to 2 weeks sometimes? Back to the "fantastic 5," 3 of them didn't have any problems whatsoever, but 2 of them had their seed shells stuck to them which was slowing their growth. One of them lost the seed shell 2 days ago and the last one finally broke out of it a few hours ago. I was reading about what to do when the seedlings keep their "helmets" and was contemplating whether I should try to carefully remove it with tweezers and a gentle water spray bottle or continue to let nature take its course Thankfully, I was spared the hassle. Needless to say, being patient payed off. In sum, I have 5 seedliings off to a great start and 5 yet to be determined. On a side note, I'm using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and I noticed that if the light isn't placed directly above the seedlings that they'll lean towards the light like crazy. Keeping the light directly above the plants within 2-4 inches is really important when using CFLs. For any new growers out there like myself using CFLs, remember to use 6500k lights for vegging. If you can't get 6500k at your nearest store, don't use anything less than 5000k. When you're ready to flower use 2700k. Don't pay attention to cool white, soft white, warm white, daylight, or full spectrum et cetera because it can be confusing. Just concentrate on the rating that ends with K. When I was shopping for lights I almost bought some 4100k cool white lights because I was focusing on the names instead of the ratings. Last but not least the more lumens you can get the better. For example, keep in mind that in the middle of Summer, one square foot of actual sunlight emits roughly 10,000 lumens.

You put the taproot pointing down when you planted them right?

They should be sprouted by a week in soil, especially if they were already germed.

When I get seedlings that are stuck in the shell, I have found that a mini zip tie is the perfect tool to scrape it off. I spray it with water and keep it wet for like 10 mins and then start pickin it off with the pointy end of the zip tie. It gives me precision, flexibility, and the beveled edge is perfect for picking at the placenta without damaging the seedling.

And just to let you know, you don't rly need to sterilize or boil a cup for germing, or anything really. There plants, they live in dirt.

Not tryin to be a dick, just givin some tips.

Good luck

Yes, I put them in the soil with the taproot or spike pointing down. Yea, 5 out of the 10 sprouted within a 1-3 days. Afterwards I planted them and they came through the soil the following day. I'm beginning to believe that seeds that don't take off right away will simply not grow or not grow at all or be problematic which really doesn't make them worth their time. I guess that is the way the cookie crumbles. Some do great whereas some don't. My avatar pic which was taken last night is one of my five. They're doing good which I'm excited about. Your mini zip tie idea is a good one. I've noticed that it is important to get the shells off as soon as possible, otherwise it temporarily stunts their growth. About sterilizing or boiling water before germination, I was just being cautious I guess. I don't know why people out there are saying that it should be done if it isn't necessary like you said. Thanks for the advice. Next time I'll just use standard tap water and not worry about it. On another note, one of my plants is leaning to the side a little bit. I don't know if I should prop it up with more soil or just leave it. It all started when I didn't have my lights directly over the center so they naturally grew a little to the side to reach for the light. Then I made a dumb mistake by misting them with water which made them lean more because the little seedlings couldn't support the added weight of water on their leaves. I read somewhere that it is good to mist the leaves to help keep them healthier. I suppose this should be done when they're a little older and stronger. This is just a part of the learning experience that new growers like myself go through.

sup, i just harvested 3 big black indica plants from seeds i ordered from AMS, the whole grow (pretty much) is in my sig with pics. I have two more of them growing and four of the free seeds and one bag seed vegetating right now.

Lol its funny readin about your leanin seedlings and the water bein too heavy, I've done the same thing many times lol. They will stand up. I don't know what size pot you have them in but if there in a cup or something small for now, when you transplant them just bury them a little deep so there not so stretchy. I start my seedlings in rapid rooters, let em grow for 2 days and then bury them up to there starter leaves when I put them in pots.

And some ppl just like making a big deal out of things. I read some cloning articles that tell you to sanitise everything with alcohol, or sanitize your blade in between every cut, or even to make your cut under water. Lmao. There plants man, ppl make it to difficult.

Actually germing in tap water is good because yes the seed pretty much supplys its own food for a while but there are valuable and usable minerals in your tap water.

And it does build strength by spraying your seedlings and even vegging plants. I always have an oscillating fan that blows over my plants, not hard but enough tp move them and get good air movement in there.

O yeah I looked at ur avatar n they look good, if your worried about the stretch it looks like you have room to add some soil.

Thanks for the compliment on my seedlings. It sure is quite a thrill watching them grow. Yea, the misting of seedlings is funny. At first I was like, oh no, what have I done. Did I just screw up my plants? Fortunately they were okay. Yea, I just put some soil around the base and they're doing better now. I'm using 7 quart plastic garbage cans from the dollar store. I simply put 5 big holes in the bottom of each of them for water drainage. I'm doing autos so I just planted directly into the primary pots. I've heard that autos shouldn't be transplanted because they have such a short life. Yea, I have an 8 inch oscillating fan 2 feet above the plants. My grow box is only 2W x 3L x 6H, though the air isn't blowing directly on the plants, it's certainly circulating the air around in the small space.

Yea you can never have enough air movement, I have 5 fans including the one that cools my lights.

I like to have air blowin in every direction and oscilating back and forth over the plants. When you have big fat dense sticky nugs packed in there your gonna want air movement to prevent mold.

Also bugs have a harder time hangin on and movin around in the wind.

You're right. The more air the merrier. I'm in a relatively dry climate so I'm not too worried about mold. Although, I suppose the moisture that is created in the grow room could cause mold. A fan just for the lights? I hadn't thought of that before. I'll keep that in mind. It sounds like you have a pretty good set up. The money that I spent on my light fixtures that included hoods for my CFLs, plus, the CFLs themselves, I could have bought a 150W HPS to use for my entire grow.

Yeah its a 6 inch inline fan, 440 cfm cooling 2x 400 watt ceramic metal halides.

Its got ducting connected to the reflectors and pulls air through them and exhausts the hot air into the attic.

But I veg under t5s and my cmh.

These people ripped me off!!

Virtousman, do you have any details? Normally, it takes 2-3 weeks to get your seeds. Plus, regardless of the seed bank you go through, there is a very small chance that customs could confiscate your seed package. My understanding is that it is highly unlikely to happen though. Word of mouth travels fast and seed banks won't stay in business if they're ripping people off. So, why would they want to rip you off? All I know is I ordered from them and got my seeds in 3 weeks. I'm thinking about ordering some lemon ice in the near future. It looks like a pretty good strain.

Ripped me off also. Never got anything at all.

Also got "ripped off." Contacted them at three weeks, they said could take up to a month. Contacted them at 4 weeks, they said could take up to six weeks. Told them bullsh*t. Waited 6 weeks anyway. Contacted them and got no reply. (Tried 4 times) Finally e-mailed them and told them I would disputed the charge and asked if they could trace the package. You should read the reply I got. They said I would have to send them a copy of my drivers license (without NO information covered) and a copy of my bank/card statement (also with No info concealed). If the information was sent to an address other than my personal one I would have to send a copy of the residents I.D. and all the same sh*t. Said that if any fake name was used (i.e. a name) the Post office could/would not trace it. Absolute bullsh*t.
Sounded like utter bunk so I e-mailed them back and guess what. E-mail was rejected from their support site. So I logged on to their website via the conformation order from when I ordred the seeds and guess what. As long as I put my valid e-mail address in the message e-mail slot my message is rejected.
I did'nt do my homework well enough. Found more than a few people that had "issues" with them on other message boards. I guess these fellows are a take a chance type deal. I read a few very positive reviews along with a few "ripp off alerts." After the fact.......why do you think they call it dope ?

Total scam. Anyone denying it is in on it.


Example:

www.peakseedsbc.com is a great, reputable, breeder/seller
www.peakseeds.com is a copy-cat of the above and it links to AMS if you try to buy seeds.
There are a multitude of sites that do the same thing. Does this qualify as a scam? If they send great seeds, maybe you could call it clever/aggressive marketing....but they don't!!!! They steal your money. This qualifies it as a pure scam in my book.

I am in Arizona. I never received my order and when I contacted them they told me they did not guarantee delivery. BUT, they said send us some more money cash and we will send it out again certified mail. What a rip off. There are too many good sellers to deal with these assholes.