Emerald Cup Winners?

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UgrewWHAT

UgrewWHAT

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Hello everyone!
It was a fabulous day at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa today at The Emerald Cup... with one exception: I missed the winners ceremony completely.

Can anybody tell me who the Top 3 winners were? I was in the Prop 215 area and was so lit that I just spaced it.

Thanks in advance!
 
mittenmedgrow

mittenmedgrow

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Never been to a cup, could someone tell me how the judging is done. Do the judges have a name of the strain or just a number? How many judges? Are all variety smoked in the same manner? How do they decide what gets sampled first? Are the cups rigged is there favorites, do the judges know who entered what? Who picks the judges? Just curious how the whole thing works.
 
Blaze

Blaze

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It is supposed to be anonymous. The jars are given a serial number which matches the entry sheet submitted. So when the judges are smoking the entries they do not know what the strain is or who entered it, they just know it by its number. There were 12 judges this year, not sure how they were selected. It has been the same judges the last few years, and there was definitely grumblings this year that new people should be brought in, as the same few people with the same few strains keep winning the top couple spots every year. Not sure if it is really 'rigged' per say, but if you have the people judging every time, with the same personal preferences, the same strains will likely be the favorites every time.

The manner in which they are smoked is up to the individual judge. Samples are evaluated over several weeks (which is good, impossible to judge potency on 100+ strains in a day). Many samples are weeded out pretty quickly if they have for example a bad smell, etc. Over 100 entries were disqualified due to testing positive for pesticides and/or mold.

The cup was only for organic sun grown cannabis, no indoor was allowed.
 
UgrewWHAT

UgrewWHAT

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Blaze said:
1st place #373 Cherry Limeade
2nd place #371 Lemonhead OG
3rd place #13 Purple Candycane

You can view all the entries here:

http://contests.theemeraldcup.com/entries/2015/flower

They still have not released the list for the top 20 yet apparently.
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Blaze, thank you! I just saw that the San Francisco Gate posted that Cherry Limeaide won but didn't disclose second or third place. Were you there too?
 
UgrewWHAT

UgrewWHAT

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Blaze said:
It is supposed to be anonymous. The jars are given a serial number which matches the entry sheet submitted. So when the judges are smoking the entries they do not know what the strain is or who entered it, they just know it by its number. There were 12 judges this year, not sure how they were selected. It has been the same judges the last few years, and there was definitely grumblings this year that new people should be brought in, as the same few people with the same few strains keep winning the top couple spots every year. Not sure if it is really 'rigged' per say, but if you have the people judging every time, with the same personal preferences, the same strains will likely be the favorites every time.

The manner in which they are smoked is up to the individual judge. Samples are evaluated over several weeks (which is good, impossible to judge potency on 100+ strains in a day). Many samples are weeded out pretty quickly if they have for example a bad smell, etc. Over 100 entries were disqualified due to testing positive for pesticides and/or mold.

The cup was only for organic sun grown cannabis, no indoor was allowed.
Click to expand...
I was about to say the same thing about the judges/ judging. That, Aficionado seems to be on a streak is one thing but you're absolutely correct. The same judges and their personal taste will very likely pre-empt the same results every time.

Contest aside though I smelt and saw some very fine specimines within the "marketing" area. I'd call it the main area but there was an element of hard-sell happening within some of those booths. BOG had some mighty fine herb on display as did Swamp Boys.

I put Aficionado's BlackLime Reserve up against what I gew this year from the Midnight Farms BLR cut and they were a perfect match. If you put mine and theirs in the same jar you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. That was a treat to see!
 
UgrewWHAT

UgrewWHAT

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I'll go out on a limb here to clarify what Blaze said with my own two cents put in:

Having personally tasted cannabis grown in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Coast, the Central Valley, Big Sur, the Bay Area, Mendocino, Redding and Shasta Trinity, Arcata... I can say that each of these have their own unique micro-climate, soil and surrounding vegetation.

No two are alike and therefore if one were to grow the same cut in each of the aforementioned locations no two will turn out identical. I've done this. I've grown the same IBL in San Diego, then later in LA and when living on the central coast grew it there. My central coast grow blew the other two out of the water.

If our judges are Mendocino native then chances are they will favor something flavoresque to their climate. This may be why Aficionado and their neighbors find themselves in the winners circle.

Any ideas?
 
Blaze

Blaze

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UgrewWHAT said:
Blaze, thank you! I just saw that the San Francisco Gate posted that Cherry Limeaide won but didn't disclose second or third place. Were you there too?
Click to expand...

I was, my Watermelon Rancher placed in the top 20. Not too bad for my first contest.

outwest said:
That's fucking scary. I imagine if these douchebags are entering contests with this weed they are also selling it.
outwest
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Without a doubt. What was entered was also the cream of the crop for California outdoor as well. I bet the fail rate would be much, much higher if you could do a sample across what is grown state wide. That being said the mycology testing is a little wacky - for example there is no way to differentiate between good and bad bacteria in the test.

How long some of these pesticides can remain is pretty scary as well. I had a good friend who was shocked to see that he had one of his entries test positive for myclobutanil (Eagle 20). He had gotten the cut from someone else in the spring, who had treated their mother plants with it before they took cuts. That means it was still present in the plant over 7 months after it was applied. According to the rep I talked to at SC labs they have seen Eagle 20 show up even after 3 generations of clones.

Also I believe many of the judges were from out of area as well. Like I said, I don't think it was rigged, but new people, with different tastes would probably help mix up the results in the future.
 
fishwhistle

fishwhistle

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UgrewWHAT said:
I'll go out on a limb here to clarify what Blaze said with my own two cents put in:

Having personally tasted cannabis grown in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Coast, the Central Valley, Big Sur, the Bay Area, Mendocino, Redding and Shasta Trinity, Arcata... I can say that each of these have their own unique micro-climate, soil and surrounding vegetation.

No two are alike and therefore if one were to grow the same cut in each of the aforementioned locations no two will turn out identical. I've done this. I've grown the same IBL in San Diego, then later in LA and when living on the central coast grew it there. My central coast grow blew the other two out of the water.

If our judges are Mendocino native then chances are they will favor something flavoresque to their climate. This may be why Aficionado and their neighbors find themselves in the winners circle.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
I agree with this 100%,what grows well at my old spot near san diego does not do so well in my new spot,4000 ft in elevation higher and a different micro climate completely.I do beleive you can acclimate an old strain to a new area but it takes awhile.
Hey @Baba,have some malilas in veg that are making the other strains i have vegging look bad,had to move the malilas to the edge of the light to give the others a chance to catch up!The malilas will be going to the guy i PMed you a picture of awhile back as a favor to our mutual friend,100% organic so as to keep his immune system as healthy as possible!
 
outwest

outwest

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Blaze said:
I was, my Watermelon Rancher placed in the top 20. Not too bad for my first contest.

According to the rep I talked to at SC labs they have seen Eagle 20 show up even after 3 generations of clones.

Also I believe many of the judges were from out of area as well. Like I said, I don't think it was rigged, but new people, with different tastes would probably help mix up the results in the future.
Click to expand...

Congrats on growing some top 20 Cali Outdoor. Win or not, that is an accomplishment worth recognizing.

3 generations of contamination? Seeds are more and more becoming the only way to go these days.

Yeah some fresh blood in the voting booth probably ain't a bad idea. Figuring out a way to give the people a voice in the process would probably work too.

outwest
 
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