breeder PROFILE LEAFMAGAZINES.COM
22
Owner Tom Dudycz
GREEN TEAM GENETICS AS MORE states permit the medical and recreational use of Cannabis, legal THC products are becoming more readily available to the consumer. Unfortunately, this increase in availability is often accompanied by a decrease in the quality. Much of the marijuana that we consume is cultivated in large production settings, which are unable to match the high quality, craft Cannabis grown by small batch cultivators. Craft Cannabis companies can’t compete with the output of large scale pot production facilities, but they have something even more important: individuals that are passionate about growing and who genuinely care about how the plant is handled from start to finish. Tom Dudycz is one of those people and as the owner of Green Team Genetics, has created an innovative atmosphere that’s yielded highly coveted strains like Milkbone and Cookie Pebbles. Born and raised in Worcester, Mass., 38-yearold Dudycz is a true east coaster. His talent with and longtime love of marijuana have earned him an excellent reputation in the industry, and his desire to provide dank weed for Cannabis consumers to enjoy brought him to breeding several years ago. Dudycz is committed to creating strains that combine characteristics found in old-school varieties with the flavors favored in modern marijuana. “I was first interested in breeding a couple years into growing Cannabis. The thought of combining my favorite strains to produce something new and unique was something that excited me,” Dudycz said. “When I first started breeding, my goal was to use both current and classic strains I was a
fan of to make new unique strains. Over the years, I’ve incorporated strains that weren’t necessarily my favorites to utilize in my breeding program for certain characteristics, or to create something unique and fresh.” Back when growers like Dudycz started out, it was often necessary to do some digging in order to figure out the true genetics of their seeds. This was accomplished in part by literally digging, as cultivators had to grow out seeds to see what flowers popped. As Dudycz recalled, “The first strain I grew was not what it was advertised as, which was a common occurrence when purchasing Cannabis seeds overseas from unreputable seed banks at the time. The first strain I grew that I could authenticate was DNA Genetics’ OG 18, which was feminized stock. And Sour Kush, which was regular stock.” One thing about good weed growers is that they are always open to learning new ways to improve their technique. Starting out with PRO-MIX and using salt-based nutrients, Dudycz said he saw moderate success. “My growing style has changed over the years,” he explained. “Being around and in contact with different growers on the forums, I learned from their methods, regimens and experiences – and eventually transitioned to organic growing, KNF and building my own super soil mixes for a period of time. In the past few years, I’ve updated my media to coco with the majority of feeds being done with salt-based fertilizers, while still using some organic inputs in some cases as well.”
“My new projects will be tested by our team and cultivated to the best of our ability, to bring the finest quality flowers to the Mass rec market.” MAR. 2022
STORY by LEXIE PADUSSIS @LEXPUP__ for NORTHEAST LEAF | PHOTOS by @AJSFLOWERS
