i49 Seed Bank Review 2024

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*Shipping to the United States Only*

If you’ve recently heard of i49 for the first time, you may be wondering how legit this seed bank actually is. Since i49 is still quite a new seed bank with mixed public reviews so far, it’s hard to tell how trustworthy they are or how good their seeds actually are simply by looking over its website. Our full i49 review covers all the details of what this company gets right – and wrong – to help you decide whether or not i49 is the right seed bank for you.

Reputation and History

Founded by cannabis enthusiasts, I49 is based in Los Angeles, California, and stocks an impressively large selection of its own lines of seeds. Reviews of i49 in public growers’ forums have been rather polarized so far, with buyers either very satisfied and ready to order again – or completely disappointed. The number of good reviews does outweigh the bad. However, i49 has gathered a concerning number of complaints about the quality and consistency of its genetics and customer service, in particular. Ultimately, yes, i49 is a legit seed bank, but several key areas leave considerable room for improvement.

Seed Selection and Quality

I49 offers buyers a wide range of choices, with an inventory of over 400 strains developed in house. I49’s website describes its inventory storage operation as free from moisture and light, which is certainly important. And many buyers have indeed found their i49 seeds to yield healthy, robust cannabis crops.

However, the quality of i49’s genetics has been inconsistent, so far. A concerning number of buyers have experienced similar issues, from apprehension over receiving smaller-than-average seeds, to the unfortunate experience of multiple seeds – in several cases, an entire order’s worth – failing to germinate. Some that did geminate yielded smaller, weaker plants, occasionally to the point of being completely unusable.

In other cases, the plants themselves may have appeared strong, but it was the potency of the flower that turned out weaker than it should have been. It’s possible that those buyers who are newer to cannabis might not even notice the difference in potency. But it’s disappointing to experienced growers when the care they put into growing results in weak weed. Still other buyers have grown multiple seeds from what was supposed to be the same strain and ended up with marijuana plants that grew up looking nothing alike.

80% Germination Guarantee

Would-be buyers of i49 seeds may be comforted to know that despite potential issues with this seed bank’s genetics, 80% of their purchase is backed by a germination guarantee. This means that if fewer than 80% of your seeds germinate, you’ll be shipped enough new seeds to bring your total successful crop up to 80% of the number of seeds in your original order. The new seeds sent will be from a different strain than the one you experienced germination problems with.

There are, however, a few important details to know about qualification for i49’s germination guarantee. This guarantee only applies to seeds from i49’s own lines, excluding any bonus seeds you may have received with your order. You must follow the same germination process outlined in the online guide available on i49’s website. You’ll have a 90-day window following delivery of your seeds to fill out the reshipment request form on i49.net and start the replacement process if you run into problems. A more unusual criterion to i49’s germination guarantee is that buyers who are perceived as being rude to i49’s staff members will be disqualified from receiving seed reshipments.

No Return Policy

Outside of the germination guarantee, all i49 seed bank sales are final, with no return policy for unused seeds. The reason i49 gives for this policy is the prevention of the resale of previously returned seeds to new customers. But this means buyers should be doubly sure they have the correct seeds in the shopping cart before checking out.

Authentic Genetics Guarantee

In addition to the germination guarantee, i49 promises a “100% Authentic Genetics Guarantee” and “No Substitutions Guarantee,” stating that the seeds you order will never be sneakily replaced with another variety, as several other unscrupulous seed banks have been known to do. Despite the presence of this guarantee, some buyers have still received the wrong types of seeds in their orders from i49, ending up with photo seeds instead of autoflowers, for example. There have also been several reports of male plants growing from what were advertised as feminized seeds.

Nutrients

I49 has expanded its product selection beyond seeds by offering a line of organic nutrients. You’ll find germination boosters, plant protectants, and nutrient packs with everything you need to encourage a healthy harvest.

The seed bank also provides detailed information on how to use its line of nutrients when growing i49 seeds. In addition, blog posts are dedicated to cultivating healthy cannabis plants, which you can access directly from the nutrients page.

Customer Service

I49’s customer service team is reachable by telephone or email, though response times – and customer satisfaction – vary considerably. Some customers have experienced a frustrating level of difficulty getting into contact with i49’s staff – occasionally never receiving a response to their inquiries at all. Others have complained about only receiving canned responses that did little to rectify issues or answer specific questions. On the other hand, many other buyers have raved about helpful, friendly service, and problems resolved without difficulty.

Website Design and Navigation

This seed bank’s website, i49.net, is easy enough to use, with options to easily browse its large seed catalog by specific criteria, including higher THC levels, strains with heavy yields, beginner-friendly strains, and those strains best suited to the production of concentrates or terpenes.

You’ll find advanced search filters when navigating through the seed inventory, allowing you to narrow down your search. While the inventory isn’t massive over 400 strains can get overwhelming, especially if you know exactly what you want.

Seed Bundles

One of our favorite ways i49 helps users navigate the site is through seed bundles. You can shop feminized or autoflower bundles for various seeds at a great. For example, the ‘Autoflower Blast-Off Bundle’ features the following strains:

• Amnesia
• Bruce Banner
• Gelato

Each strain produces over 20% THC and is available at under $9 per seed.

Strain Pages

Highly informative and thorough product pages are one of the ways i49 is excelling. On each page, you’ll find multiple images, purchasing options (4,8,10, and 20 seeds), pricing per seed, a strain profile, and a strain description.

Few seed banks provide the level of useful information on each strain as i49. The strain descriptions feature essential text on cultivating and consuming each variety. You’ll find strain origins, growing info, flowering times, medical applications, effects, and a similar strain section.

We salute seed banks that invest the time to provide everything known about each seed.

Flower Images

Multiple high-quality images are essential when shopping for seeds. Thankfully, i49 provides at least images per strain, so you can understand what you’ll be growing. The photos are premium quality and give you various angles of the plants in the flowering stage. However, all the images on i49 are watermarked with a massive ‘i49’ logo. We understand why they need to protect their pictures, but we also find it a bit excessive and annoying when swiping through beautiful images of mature cannabis.

Price and Payment Options

Accepted Payment Methods

I49 accepts a variety of payment methods, including money order, check, bitcoin, wire transfer, ACH, and some credit cards. It is worth noting that a $9 convenience fee is assessed for ACH payments, however, there is no mention of this at the checkout screen, understandably leaving buyers who use this payment method surprised and wondering where the difference came from. To make this issue more confusing, this fee is listed as a “discount” line item on the invoice.

High Seed Prices

I49’s prices per seed are high when compared to other comparable seed banks, and discount options are limited. But i49.net does feature a “Deals” page, listing all of the seeds i49 currently has priced the lowest.

If you only want 4 seeds of a specific strain, you can expect to pay upwards of $23 per seed for the most expensive options and around $19 for the cheaper strains. With standard shipping and the convenience fee, your total will run around $100 for just 4 seeds. However, you’ll get a significantly lower per-unit price once you increase your seed numbers. For example, American Haze Feminized is $77 for 4 seeds ($19.25 per seed) but only $185 for 20 seeds ($9.25 per seed).

So, if you are looking to buy a couple of seeds to grow at home, we’d recommend trying a cheaper option, but once you buy 10 or more seeds at a time, i49 is a reasonable option.

Wholesale Buying Option

For cannabis industry businesses or those interested in purchasing large quantities of feminized cannabis seeds, the option to buy wholesale from i49 is available. I49’s wholesale cannabis seed customers can take advantage of free shipping, no assessed sales tax, and the assistance of a dedicated account manager.

How to Save on Seeds

The best ways to save on seeds at seed banks are to rack up points on purchases, increase your cart amount, or take advantage of promotional deals. However, i49 doesn’t offer these typical routes in savings. We recommend purchasing bundles, discounted seeds, or the Buy One Get One program if you want to decrease your spending on i49 seeds.

Does i49 Seeds Have a Loyalty Program?

Unlike many other popular seed banks, i49, unfortunately, does not have a loyalty program. So, don’t expect to rack up points on purchases and use them on the seeds of your choice. We prefer seed banks that offer rewards or loyalty accounts because it gives customers more freedom.

Free Seeds and BOGOs

I49 does provide shoppers with opportunities to save, the best being BOGO. When you navigate to the ‘Deals’ page, you’ll see a banner advertising the new BOGO promotion. Currently, there are 20 strains available, including favorites like Autoflower Gelato, OG Kush, and Blue Cheese. Once you click on the product page, you’ll notice your feed seeds added to your cart automatically.

Some buyers have also had the happy surprise of receiving bonus seeds with their orders from i49. However, this seed bank doesn’t currently have an across-the-board policy on how many bonus seeds buyers may expect to receive with a specified order quantity.

Shipping Range and Stealth Methods

I49 currently only ships seeds to locations within the United States. This is good news for US-based buyers who won’t have to worry about customs seizing their seeds, but the lack of international shipping options, unfortunately, rules out a very large number of potential buyers. I49 seeds are sent via USPS from its Los Angeles headquarters. The cost for flat-rate shipping is $10, with additional expedited and tracked shipping options available.

I49 ships out orders once every two weeks, so depending on the timing of your order, you may receive your seeds very quickly, or it may take several weeks. Some buyers have reported seeds taking a month or even longer to arrive. There have also been a number of concerning reports that seeds were not received at all – and that the missing seeds were not refunded.

Like most seed banks, for the sake of discretion, i49 always ships seeds in unmarked, unlabeled packaging with no indication of cannabis-related contents. However, while the packaging may be somewhat stealthy, it’s not necessarily the most durable, as many buyers have had the disappointing experience of finding the seeds inside crushed or damaged.

i49 Community

As of now, i49 has made a decent effort to provide shoppers with value other than their inventory of seeds. However, we’d like to see more interaction with customers through social media, forums, blog posts, and video content.

Extensive but Stagnant Blog

i49’s blog has incredible information ranging from cultivation pointers to consumption how-tos. In addition, the blog is categorized well so that you can find multiple articles on relevant topics such as outdoor growing, soil, troubleshooting, and other essential cannabis information. Unfortunately, the i49 has gone dark on the blog and hasn’t uploaded any new posts for over a year.

We’d really like to see i49 continue to pass on valuable information to their community through the website. The cannabis industry is constantly changing, and we’d like to see i49’s thorough coverage of new topics.

Social Media

If you want to keep up with new stains and promotions from i49, you’ll need to visit their website. The seed bank is virtually non-existent on social media platforms. Unfortunately, some cannabis companies don’t see the value of keeping up on socials because they can’t directly advertise or list products for sale. It’s too bad because the cannabis community is highly active, and engaging with growers online is one of the ways beginners can learn to grow cannabis.

In Conclusion, i49 Review 2024

I49 is still a new seed bank, and still has some kinks to iron out. I49 does offer a large catalog of seeds and has some nice search features on its site. I49 has enough satisfied customers that we do consider them a legit seed bank with great potential. But i49’s US-only shipping range, alongside numerous complaints about sub-par genetics and disappointing experiences with customer service, show that this seed bank still has a ways to go before we can count them among the best.

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