Daggafontein Genetics: The Cream of the Crop – an Interview

Could a local cannabis seed provider really have picked a better name than Daggafontein Genetics? We don’t think so! A name rooted in the South African context that provides a service and product of an international calibre.

The homies over at Daggafontein are passionate about the old school grind when it comes to growing bud. None of that feminised or genetically modified nonsense – just some good old herb grown under the African sun, providing a true representation of the strain at hand.

We love what these guys are doing, so we thought we’d interview them and help the local industry get to know them a little better.

Walk us through how you inspect crops, fields, or plant stock to determine conditions and need for cultivating or harvesting.

Initially, we selected our best African males and our best indoor females, pairing them with each other and letting nature do its magic. The best plants of each generation would be grown, seeded and harvested, selecting the outliers, those magical variations with vigour, resistance, looks, quirk and a whole lot of love, and using those as our breeding stock for the following season.

Over the years this selection process has kept our medicines top notch and our weed and friends iRiE. We use natural fertilizers and pest control, feed minimally, as we want to select strong plants that will grow well in poor soil. We test regularly, especially germination rates. Every batch undergoes many germination tests. All seeds get hand sorted, and only the strong survive. Our grows aren’t huge, we chop weak plants regularly, and keep interesting and unusual phenos till maturity, for pollen, seed and smoke. 

What sparked the idea to start Daggafontein and how did you come up with the name? 

Well, how this all started is our need for quality bud to make quality medicine. We wanted to grow our own cannabis under the sun. No lights, no unnecessary expense. We took the best international medicinal strains that we could get our hands on and over time, Africanised them to cope with our local conditions. The original indoor seeds did poorly outdoors, we needed to make a plan. Marrying them with our local genetics seemed to make sense for growing in our environment. Out of that process and careful selection, we arrived at our 3 main strains. We felt the time was right to start sharing our strains and it made sense to set up Daggafontein to do that.

As for the name, we spotted a signpost to a farm called Daggafontein on one of our missions. When we decided to launch the business, it was the first name that popped up, and the only one that made sense to us. In fact, there was no debate. It chose itself. It also captured our imagination as what that place could be and feel like, and that has helped us build our vision as to our current location. Daggafontein is now nestled in a fertile valley of beauty, an oasis of tranquillity. Spring fed grows and an abundance of African sunshine.

If you could change one thing about the weed industry, what would it be?

The negative stigma associated globally to cannabis and the industry by the majority, due to propaganda. We want everyone to see and understand the positives and benefits that the plant offers and could provide to society. 

How do you feel about auto feminised seeds?

We don’t dig them at all. feminised seeds are weak genetically, with a tendency to hermaphrodite over time. We understand there is a huge demand for them, but we are exploring cloning and tissue culture as an alternative. 

Do you think our government is making a mistake by prioritising the export of cannabis?

Yes, we do. The government should balance local and export markets. It seems “contradictory” to outlaw the local market, but pave the way for big pharma and business to operate exclusively within a legal and bureaucratic framework that’s too difficult and expensive for small businesses and growers to negotiate. It can’t ever work in its current format.

We wholeheartedly support Fields of Green for All and their manifesto on the way forward. This country is filled with an underground network of very talented people with decades of experience, just waiting to turn this into a billion rand industry. That industry just has to be inclusive.

Do you feel cannabis consumption should be legal in a medical or recreational sense?

There is no other way. Dagga should be treated with the same laws as alcohol and tobacco for recreational purposes, but available to anyone for medicinal purposes. We want to see more emphasis placed on empowering communities, establishments of co-operatives to help artisanal producers and the removal of red tape… free to sow, free to grow. We want to see full decriminalization, retrospectively. Let all those out of prison on dagga related charges and quash any criminal records. 

If you were recruited by James Bond, and had 1 weed mission around the world what would it be?

Devillify THC! The queen bee, the most important part of the plant. Captain Cannapants to the rescue.

What is appealing to you about Cannabis?

Everything. We’ve been stoners for decades. We love breeding, growing and smoking. We’ve helped those that need the magic of this wonderful plant. We’ve helped ourselves. We’ve helped avoid the destructive path of other drugs and pharmaceuticals. Personally, it’s been my buffer against that reality. I prefer this one.

What Cannabis stereotype do you dislike the most?

That as a Daggakop, you are a criminal and a no good lazy arse, and that it’s seen as a gateway to hard drugs when the opposite can so easily be true. Here’s entertainment, it’s only side effect is medicinal. Here’s medicine, it’s only side effect is entertainment.

Top 5 tips for growers?

• Do not overwater, the plant tells you when it needs water.
• Do not overfeed.
• Do not over manipulate.
• Have patience.
• Get back to sunshine.

Any new products or line extensions you want to talk about?

We have so many exciting plans, but like everyone else we are waiting patiently for legislation to be put in place, so that we know where we stand. We have been working on a few new strains, but I can’t give anything away just yet.

Daggafontein is currently in the process of moving to the place it’s meant to be. We are gearing up to hopefully take our beans global, but not in a big way. We will always be a craft industry and have no intention of actually being Captain Cannapants and taking on the world. We are just a couple of dudes with creative imaginations, a passion for the plant and an understanding that comes with experience and age…. iRiE TO THE iRiE!

Needless to say, Daggafontein Genetics is the real local source for some of the strongest seeds around – so much so that they are even endorsed by Fields of Green for All. They resonate the South African cannabis culture to the fullest and have taken that extra step to provide genetics that flourish in our environment. A team of just a few dudes with a passion for the plant and the positive impact it has had on their lives, and they now get to share their passion with the people who also live the iRiE life.

If you’re in the market for some hardy seeds for your next grow, visit their website and get yourself some of that spliffyness goodness to embrace your true stonerness! If you don’t get at least 50% females from your crop, they’ll even refund you or send you a whole new pack for mahala. #supportlocal #proudlysouthafrican