On a rooftop in the shadow of the Salesforce Tower, a 61-story skyscraper that commands the San Francisco skyline, Alan of Oakland Seed Co. sits at a white folding table displaying a laminated list of cannabis seeds and clones. His minimalist booth stands in stark contrast to the flash of seed sales on the building’s ground floor, where the room glows with a dazzling audiovisual display of shimmering green columns that capture what it might look like if the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz were suddenly awash in THC.
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It’s the first day of Terpnami, a two-day cannabis genetics marketplace held Dec. 6 and 7. While Alan’s booth presentation isn’t particularly impressive, he is promoting some innovative ideas. The old-school breeder (who didn’t want to give his last name) “leases” cannabis clones to nurseries for royalty payments and, as the in-house breeder for Phinest Cannabis, is promoting next year’s clones.
Seeing the 2026 offerings reminds me of how the wine industry promotes wine futures, or wine that has not yet been bottled. For sale at the show are the cannabis flowers of tomorrow: en primeur pot.
“That was my vision, real punk rock, swap meet style, let’s sell some f—ing seeds,” organizer David Downs says when I mention the Oakland Seed Co. booth.
And, since sarcasm doesn’t work well in print, I’ll note that this was not the vision. Downs is a longtime cannabis journalist and one of the world’s most preeminent experts on cannabis genetics. Now in its second year, Terpnami is his “daytime seed rave” that promotes up-and-coming cannabis genetics coming out of Northern California, an area that remains the heartland of cannabis culture across the globe.
“Northern California is to cannabis what France is to food, Germany is to luxury cars, or Hawaii is to surfing,” Downs says.
Spreading the Emerald Triangle seed
A chat with one of the seed vendors at this year’s event quickly confirms Downs’ assertion. Talking about his Star Apple, a cross of Green Apple Gas and Pineapple Mojito, Nate Hayward of Higher Heights, located in Comptche, California, shows me a selfie he took in front of 15,000 Star Apple plants growing in Morocco. Breeding cannabis since 2002, the connections he made attending European cannabis tradeshows—Spannabis in Barcelona, Spain, Mary Jane Berlin in Germany, and Cannafest in Prague, Czechia—have led to Hayward spreading his branches into the international arena.
“I’m moving into Europe as much as I can these days,” he says.
As new trade routes for cannabis open, Hayward’s like a seafarer in the ancient ages of European exploration. He’s in it for the glory and wants his strains to have name recognition by becoming “one of the first people to put a name variety in that environment.”
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Trey Hammond, CEO of ReaLeaf Botanicals, located in Silvas, Illinois, is on a similar mission stateside. He’s exploring Terpnami with Realeaf’s grower, Corey Fonder, via an “assisted shopper” ticket that includes a tour of the booths with Downs as a personal guide.
“We want stuff that people want,” Hammond says, calling out Illinois as an immature market where cannabis consumers are primarily “numbers chasers” purchasing strains with high percentages of THC.
Kaitlyn Dickey, the head of cultivation at the 10,000-square-foot indoor State Flower Cannabis grow in San Francisco, is at the event seeking older strains to expand the brand’s line of classic cannabis, “Legends Never Die.” Dickey’s shopping for Chems, Hazes, and Skunks and says finding Blueberry “would be tight.”
Growers as celebs
In a market powered by hype, it’s hard for new strains to reach the recognition levels of the classics that emerged from the first iterations of cannabis breeding in the 1960s. Breaking into the pantheon of pot is not easy, and Downs’ idea behind the seed show is to boost public and media attention through promoting cannabis breeders like celebrities.
I see evidence that the concept is working when Pete Frier, who lives in Boulder Creek, California, asks Nat Pennington of Humboldt Seed Company to autograph his binder. Frier collected stickers for the front of the binder and displayed the seed packs he purchased in plastic sleeves like baseball cards.
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International fame requires relentless self-promotion, and the cool thing about the cannabis industry is that it doesn’t come at a distance. Most prominent cannabis growers and breeders remain accessible to consumers, and in-person meetings remain the ultimate way to establish authenticity.
Sean Ryan, owner of Murphy’s Ridge in Murphy, California, tells me he’s at the event looking out for “real, true growers” as he only buys seeds from those “who are true to the industry.”
Large cannabis corporations can afford to lose money until they make money, he says, which is why consumers who spend their money with smaller operators “support the longevity of the medicine.”
Terpnami shows that the future belongs to those who make waves. And while Emerald Triangle breeders may be rock stars around the world, beloved for their relentless work bringing heady cannabis to the masses, they don’t need flash to appease their fans. All it takes is a plastic bag, some quality seeds, and a sticker or two.