Interview with Krk from HighRise Seeds

We would like to thank Krk from HighRise for giving the opportunity to our readers to learn more about the company he founded – HighRise Seeds. This is our very first interview and we are so excited that he agreed to answer some questions for us.

Let’s start with how you decided to get into breeding. Was there something that made you said: “This is what I want to do!”

Krk: I got into breeding because as an outdoor grower there were little choices left for early finishing genetics, and especially the ones with good mould resistance.

Can you give us a brief idea about how breeding takes place?

Krk: Such a basic question with so many complex answers. For every one it starts with a plant, then you must find a pair you would like to mate, this can be a single line or a hybrid. Many misconceptions on inbreeding confuse many as it’s not the same as in animals.

When did you first start growing?

Krk: The second I moved out of my parents house, I was 18.

Do you remember what you grew first?

Krk: Yes, it was bag seed from Washington outdoor. I planted it in the backyard of the house I was living in, it got so large the guy next door gave me 24hrs to get rid of it or he was going to. So I dug it up put it in a wheelbarrow and moved it. It finished with small poor buds.

What was your first strain and how did it come about?

Krk: My first strain was a late 80s mix of SSSC gear x early skunk from Sensi. Back when Nevil was in charge. I had missed a male in a field and got lightly seeded, it got me started but I was clueless and dropped the idea.

Tell us something more about HighRise Seeds. Did you start on your own or someone helped you?

Krk: I was at Unleash Da Green trying to buy some seeds, and found out that Greens was retiring. I approached BreederBrad about the Guerilla Gold lines, seeing that he created GG* it was proper educate to ask him about breeding a well-established line that was worked many directions. He was happy to have me work it further as at the time his focus was on indoor lines of grape. I had gone to the Icmag 420 fundraiser and had to buy the only remaining GG seeds that I could find… which Breederbrad had mailed into them. I paid $280 for a pack of seeds to get started. That summer I grew them all and put a few clones in the patch outside… Bluebonic clone and a Skunk#1 from 1989… I started with these two lines Bluebonic x GG3 and Skunk#1 x GG3… I got very lucky, the Bluebonic line right away proved to be a killer strain for mold resistance, and the Skunk#1 x GG3 was a monster. HighRise was born. Born from the excess seeds that I produced for myself.

Are there any breeders that you currently work with?

Krk: Yes, but none outside of the forums, I have spread the seeds to others and maybe someday they will also enjoy the success I have from fine selection and being able to have enough to also sell if they wish. Deception, and seed greed are not a part of HighRise, everyone gets a seed from somewhere so protecting a line is irrelevant, I have always said if you buy it, it’s yours to do with as you please. If someone gifts it to you then a little educate should be used.

HighRise Seeds has lots of fans but which are your favorite strains?

Krk: Some of my newer lines. The Fire crosses and the MOB crosses are quite pleasing to me, just wish I had more to share.

Name some of your popular strains, please.

Krk: Bluebonic x GG, Patriot Meds, MOB, Fire99… GG… and auto lines GHaze99

Any new “secret” strains that we can expect from HighRise in the future? 

Krk: Ha… Ha…Secret strains, secret strains are for “profit” and greed. I pack no lies, I explain all my genetics used, for me it seems like something that can prove my intentions as a breeder. My future will be change, as I grow older my family needs me more and more so the time I can dedicate to multiple lines will suffer. But it’s clear that people want more feminized seeds from me and early outside mold resistant fems and auto fems, so I will try to produce these and some regular (m/f) seeds along the way.

What about new HighRise autos? Any news about auto Cinderella99 you are working on?

Krk: I have some new auto lines gifted to me from a friend, which are far removed from commercial seeds of today’s market. I’ll grow some out this fall and see how that preform. The C99 auto is a work in progress to understand C99 you must understand the story of Bros Grimm C99, it was bag seed, and I think it was also bag seed “hermi carrier”.  I completed the C99 auto and had it tested and the fem line was fine… but the m/f line I had chosen had a slight hermi, so I had to backtrack to the C99 backcross (BX) and start over. It’s time to also start them again, it;s at F4 and could be finished soon, it’s good stuff that C99 and makes great crosses. But the strain is known for its weak branches, which is a trait I don’t like.

Your work is focused on creating fast finishing strains and autos. Please discuss the Ruderalis genetics influence…

Krk: The explosion of LR** based auto has many misconceptions abound. First off I have been explaining for a few years now that whether you call the gene which all LR based strains have dominate or not, if you breed with it you can never get rid of that gene. Ok so if you don’t understand, I’ll explain. If you cross any LR auto to any photo the offspring will now be a genetic carrier of this “auto” gene, and even if you breed against it within a few generations it will turn any photo into an auto. So even if you breed just photo offspring to photo offspring by F5 your offspring will be mostly auto. I’m not sure today if there is any other “auto” available other than LR based genetics. I have often wondered about Mighty Mite, it was around before LR and maybe LR is even Mighty Mite, but until some genetic tests can happen it will never be known.

What do you look for today in a new strain? Medical properties, taste, yield, potency or something else…

Krk: Potency, I’m a potency breeder, first I test for potency, and then if its there I ask myself can I live with the buds size and characteristics…

Do you have any special cultivation tips or tactics for your strains?

Krk: Not really, it’s truly a different stroke for different folks type of thing.

Do you have any basic tips or advices for growers who want to start breeding their own strains?

Krk: Yes, selection, selection, selection… and selection can be achieved many different ways and all starts with the seed. When a friend of mine passed me a bunch of lines of the same strain…just numbered… my selection started with the seed size… I hate small seeds, small seeds germ bad, are tuff to count, handle and come from small calyx’s… so I chose the big seeds… That’s a type of selection right there. You can start 100 autos and pick just the biggest ones at week 2… that’s selection… Killing runts and weirdos has always been on the top of my list for selection, I’m breeding potency plants and selection of these anomalies can never help in selection, unless of course your looking to start a new line of “runts” or “ugly mutts”.

And let’s finish with what you like most in breeding. Creating new strains or something else maybe?

Krk: Ahh, a simple question. Something new and potent, it’s that simple. Each person finds a taste they like, and that taste should be improved down the line with potency breeding. Size is also important, but as long as the buds are not tiny I’m not too concerned, as the whole point for me is to develop strains that are potent for recreational use or medicinal use.

And to touch briefly on medical… for anyone who has put time and experience into smoking and eating cannabis, its now known that its side effects can be used for medical purposes. I have known for a long time that eating cannabis can heighten your “high” exponentially. Still to this day after a life time of eating and smoking I have not been able to find the ceiling or upper limit of the cannabis high. I recent studies that I conducted using butter I have established that high doses of cannabis butter can bring on symptoms of hallucinations, sleep, and different levels of out of body experiences. For me these levels of “canna intoxication were very uncomfortable. But do indeed need to be explored.

 If there’s anything else you want to say to Autoflower Portal readers, please share it with us… Thank you!

Krk: Enjoy… it’s a wonderful flower, whether you smoke it, eat it or vape it.

We would like to thank Krk from HighRise seeds for his time and we wish him best of luck with his projects.

We hope to have more interviews in the future with our team members.

 shareone

* GG – Guerilla Gold

** LR – Lowryder

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