Yo, what's going on? Everybody? It's Candid Dave right over at MJ Biscow on twenty twenty three, and we'll guess who we're with. We're with Exotic Genetics. Mike. Thank you, man, I appreciate this. You're very welcome. Happy to be with you. A huge fan, love your product. But I want to get to get to know you a little bit, and what got you into cannabis? So like, what can give me a little back history? What got you into the cannabis? For sure?
So I was going to school for some computer degree that I had no business going to school for. I was finding ways to get good grades on my test, but not knowing anything about the actual content that I was I was taking the test for. So at the time I would always you know, I've been smoking weed for many years. And at the time I found out I could get a medical card for you know, for cannabis, and I was like, wow, I can I can get a card and start growing
my own flour. So I started growing my own flour, and after a while I started working at a hydro shop just to kind of fund some of the things I was doing. Continue to go to school, change my degree, to plant biology. So started going on this plant biology path. And then I started dabbling while I was at the hydro store of making some seeds experimentally in my garage. And after a while, people will come in the hydro store trying to find Hey, I got bugs, Hey I have pottery
mildew. I need some juice for that. How do I get rid of it? It didn't matter what they bought, they would always be back in the next week looking for some more shit to try to fix it. So after a while, I just started saying, you know what, go home, burn it all down, sterilize everything, don't let anybody in your garden or take in the clone, and just pop these seeds. You won't have
any of those problems. So I started giving people seeds like that, and to my surprise, they started just coming back every month, every two months with success stories. Mike, that was great, it was amazing, Can I have more seeds. Some of these guys would come in and like we would hug it out and high five, and it like greatly changed their life, because you know, these guys are growing medicine for themselves, and growing
medicine with problems isn't exactly the best medicine. So when it changed that for them, it was huge. So people would come in teared up, so I would just I gave seeds out for several years just in the hydro store, and then one day it's so nice is helping everybody out? I was trying to at the time man. And one day this this gentleman met the gentleman at the hydro store who was the owner, and his name was Rick Cusick. God rest his soul and said he worked for High Times. Do
you want to come to this competition? So I went to the competition. I entered one of those first strains I ever made, and we took second place at the High Time Cup for Besativa with super natural. What was that against? It was supernatural super natural and it was We took second place best at Tiva, And at that point I had that little taste of oh my god, this is great little recognition for something I worked really hard at.
So the next year we entered cups for the rest of the year in many different places, and the next year I took third place, and then another year went by and finally I won my first Cup in Denver, And at that point that's when it kind of just really took off. I started to have a real passion for doing this and it just I mean, there was a snowball effect from that point on. That's a wonderful story, man. I love the backstory on that, and I love that you're helping out people
with when you're there dealing with pests and bogs. I mean that's a common problem for many home growers. And when you feel confident and you get some seeds that might protect against that and there it's quality genetics, as we've now seen through the through the last years. With all your placings, you make it. You make it easy for the growers, and that's why I love it. I use your bangering and placed out at the organic cup third place
or soil with bangering, and that's the fire. It's got lemonone taste and it was off of one of your drops, like a year and a half two years ago. Do you have like a personal favorite strain that you've bred or created, because I mean you have so many different genetics, like you have different lineups, like maybe not your favorite, maybe got like one too, But I'm curious there's so many of them. I tell everybody the same thing when they ask what my favorite is, it's like asking what your favorite
kid is. So it's hard to actually put a favorite. And I'm constantly going through new I'm trying to evolve and make things better and better, at least for my genetics, and I always find things better and better, because let's be real, if we're not finding things that are better and better, are we really doing any service to you know, actually breeding the plant. And look, we can throw a with B and come out with C. And that's the idea, that's the fun, that's the art of it.
But the number one thing that no matter what you're doing, you should be making. Whatever you're finding in the end should be better than the first two things you start with. And if it's not, then maybe you go back to the drawing board on that specific strain. But with that being said, there are so many that I've created, I mean, over the years. Cooks and Cream was one of my first favorites early on, and went to Grease Monkey was another favorite for many years. We went to Red Pop for
so many years too. From the original Strawberries and Cream. I mean, we've just had so many different variations and directions to you know, we have the next level here the unreleased lineup, and on top of in January, we got the big Grape Jubilee that's coming out that I'm very excited about. And it's gonna be a new twist on grape that most people haven't seen, smelt or smoked. So is it grapey like grape grape? It's sour grapes, sour grapes, sour grapes that a lot of strains I've done in the
past. Is it tinges your nose, not on the smoke, but when you smell it, it's powerful, It's intense. It makes you like kind of move your face back because it's so pungent and that So we got on this Grape Jubilee. It's finally a not just a grape smell or oh it's a little fruity. This thing powers You're right in the face, You're like, whoa, you got to take your head back from the grape. So excited to get that one out there. You know what that means, I'm
probably have to be buying some new genetics come January. I just I love your drops. I appreciate what you do for the industry and the whole community as a whole, Mike, and thank you for doing this interview shot. It's at Groovy, but back there doing all the filming for this and yeah, that was it man. I just want to thank you. I appreciate you having me and uh yeah, I love all you guys out there. Peace and as always Groovy, We're here to advocate, educate and inspire the next time y'all. Peace,