Jason Begley created Zennetix to combat the worst problem cannabis farmers face: bad genetics. What constitutes bad genetics? The yields start to decline, buds aren’t as dense, and the terps aren’t as loud. Each harvest is substantially worse, and you’re forced to pop new seeds and find new strains. Those strains are awesome for a few harvests, and then slowly but surely, they too start to deteriorate.
It’s one thing to deal with powdery mildew, pests, mold, etc. But when you deal with all those extrinsic issues and still produce a mediocre harvest, what is going on? Do you just suck at growing weed? Maybe. Or more than likely, you’re dealing with bad genetics. Your mother plants could be infected with a pathogen, viroid, or virus that affects your crops insidiously from the inside.
The hop latent viroid is known to cause dubbing disease, which stunts the growth and reduces the overall vigor. The hop latent viroid is what sent Begley down the rabbit hole that eventually led to the creation of Zennetix. Zennetix uses tissue culture breeding to take a cultivar’s genetics back to seed-level vigor.
“The reason why hop latent is so deadly to a cultivation facility is, you don’t know it until it’s too late. So when it’s too late, you’ve infected everything in your grow,” Begley said.
What Zennetix Offers
Begley fell in love with tissue culture cloning and started Zennetix because it gives farmers more solutions to combat the insurmountable number of variables they deal with every crop.
Zennetix clones are pathogen and viroid-free to ensure genetic infections like the hop latent viroid don’t ruin their customers’ crops. They have an entire library of genetics in vitro that any operator can peruse. Once their strains are selected and the order is placed, Zennetix gets to work creating a fresh batch of genetically stable clones for the customer.
It takes about six weeks to take the in vitro genetics and turn them into clones ready to take root. Repeat customers have their order history stored so that Zennetix can send them new “mom stock” on any delivery cycle they want. This ensures farmers have their clones ready when they need them, no need to wait six weeks every time they need a new order.
Begley argues that his service is valuable for every level of producer. Let’s be honest, nobody is worried about corporate-backed multi-million dollar operations; it’s the mom and pop growers that need the most help. Begley says hop latent has the potential to hurt small growers the most because their crops are smaller, and every gram produced is precious to the small profit margins.
Is it cost-effective? That’s for each individual to decide. I know many growers are already spending thousands of dollars a year on high-quality seed packs. Zenneitx offers pricing tiers; the more clones you order, the cheaper each clone is. A batch of 6-21 clones will run you $50 per clone, while a 500-clone batch will run you $20 per clone.
Black Market Side Quest
Begley also embarked on a side quest to create one of the best-tasting infused beverages on the market. The “Black Market” THC beverage is made from black currants and a proprietary blend of major and minor terpenes. While black currant isn’t a common flavor, it masked the bitterness and complemented their terpene and cannabinoid blend. The result is one of the best-tasting drinks on the market.
Black Market is made in Texas and available nationwide, thanks to the loopholes regarding hemp-derived THC laws regulated by the Farm Bill of 2018. The Black Market website features an AI mixologist that can create a specialty cocktail, or rather a “hightail” recipe using Black Market. All you have to do is take a picture of the contents of your refrigerator, and the AI mixologist does the rest.
