Collecting, Storing, and Mailing Pollen

[ezozo]

I am using silica gel to let the pollen dry.
I found that rice can catch mold.
you can but silica gel in 50 gram bags (~5$) the balls are blue when they dry and getting pink when the soaked.
you can re-used them - let them dry on the oven/micro for fer minuts and they will tern blue again.

here is the pack

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here is how I put them in a film box

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then I every day type on some male flowers in to the box.

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then after few days I have

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look at the sillica balls turning pink the I add some more.
I keep them in the refrigerator till I need to pollinated the ladys and if I need to send them or to save them for longer time -

I put the pollen in a small bag will new sillica gel and freez them after they are dry


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PS - my max time that I try to use saved pollen was 7 months with success but not 100%

zozo

 

[Guest]

Ezozo

Ezozo

Top pics man,
just what i was looking for, thanks buddy.

 

[Chamba]

here's a hint for pollen collection - once the males show sex bend them down horizontal if they are planted in the ground, I also trim them down to a much smaller size as one small branch can make 1000's of seeds...

also when pollen is about to be released remove the large leaves from the around the males " buds" - do this and the pollen will be much easier to collect....

Since males mature weeks ahead of females, and storing pollen is not always successful, you can retard the male's pollen drop by removing all the growing tips and preflowers on the plant....I've de-tipped males twice to postpone pollen drop...but don't cut back a plant too serverely or you may kill it

Once collected ideally use a stash box screen frame for separating bits of male flowers and the pollen........ ..I use a sheet of white paper to collect pollen as it is easy to fold and pour once it has been tapped out....be careful with pollen around your girls, a little goes a long way and will make plenty of seed.

A good time to pollenate the fems is about 5 or 6 weeks before harvest when the female flowers are fresh and new, seed a lower branch is best....with long flowering sativas you have to be careful, once the seeds are mature they readily drop them so don't seed them too early or you may lose some or ve prepared to hand pick them off as they mature, indica seed tend to stay on the bud (perhaps to survive winter?)

I make seed every year. This year I have a Cindy x Black Domina male that seeded a Zamal x Nev Haze fem, and a Cindy 99 and I also seeded an original Zamal clone ..and a Jack Herer male that was the most vibrant plant with the largest leaves I've grown in years ( let's hope his vigor is passed on!)

happy pollenating!

 

[Hypergrl420]

This may be stupid, but how do you know the seeds are fully grown in the bud?

 

[Harry Gypsna]

This may be stupid, but how do you know the seeds are fully grown in the bud?

U dont, but u can see em forming i believe, i think its trial and error

 

[Hypergrl420]

I guess you let it grow till you chop and then see what you got inside for the seeds huh? Thanks for answering my question.

 

[ezozo]

First you see the seeds growing.
if you pollinated them on time 4-5 week before the end you will get seeds.

me when I harvest I leave the seeded bud for a week more anyway I send to to bubble
The I have more mature seeds in the buds



peace
zozo

 

[Guest]

ezozo is the man.
i am soon to harvest my deep chunk beans. I know they are there because you will see a few seed pods skin layers that are showing color or cracking...when you fiddle with the buds youl find hundreds of the buggers that at first may look like calyxs but have seeds inside.

I used to have an old close up pic of a seed in gestation up close, it was pretty awesome. I find sometimes i can see them on some strains more than others. If you let it ripen beyond beliefe they will fall off when done properly i would say.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Ive got a nice Sour bubble male with big balls, hes gonna do the nasty with a clone of everything i got, hahaha, sb x allsorts.

 

[Kenny Lingus]

When a flower is germinated by pollen you will notice it's hairs wither within a couple of days or so... Later the flower/calyxe will swell into a rounder and much bigger nut than on sinsemilla buds. This is of course only visible when the seeded flower is at the outside of a bud, and you will see the calyxe/seed-pod changing colour/ripen/dry out/dropping pistils and eventually it split open to show a goldening seedshell instead of them. Phew, I can really go on I see. Damn Phoenix Haze

 

[jahseeds]

verry nice

 

[HawaiianGrown]

the Collecting part

the Collecting part

Aloha,

I collect Pollen with the help of a piece of clean glass.

The male should be dry and have been in a wind free environment for a few days if possible.


Gently with both limb and cutters secure, snip as gently as possible the portion you think you need. I usually just (gently) snip off the top two feet.

Place on clean glass. tap. Snap. flick. whack the pollen off the plant.


You will also see male flowers and various greenies. Lift and wiggle the glass and these will all go off. They have moisture and will be dangerous if left in the mix.

scrape up your pollen and store in a dry place. I use rice paper rolling papers as moisture absorbers. works for me.

This is for some friends.

Hawaiian Sativa --- Golden!

 

[Guest]

I use wax paper to collect pollen, cheap and easy, and I tip the wax paper slghtly after collecting pollen and let the debris fall off

gel caps are great for storing pollen, you can divide your pollen up into several gel caps and put them in the fridge briefly then into the freezer and just pull a gel cap as needed

for cutting pollen (to extend it's coverage) the best thing I've found you can mix it with is some old/dead/not viable pollen, using flour can cause mold especially outdoors

for sending pollen I recommend folding up a piece of wax paper, vacuum sealing it and sending it express if possible

 

[3legdog]

Very nice thread !

Very nice thread !

excellent info everyone man do i love learning this stuff 3ld

 

[DankBank]

This may be stupid, but how do you know the seeds are fully grown in the bud?

Basically, seeds need about 30 days after pollenation to mature. If you hit pistils about 2 weeks after they start forming flowers and then allow at least 6 weeks from that point, you should usually have good seeds. Another indication they are done is that they will practically "fall out' of the pod. If you find yourself "peeling" the covering off with difficulty, a lot of the time you're taking them too soon. When they've lost any and all green color you know you're close or totally there.

Pollen Storage:
Most fridges have lots of moisture in them. I wouldn't put pollen in a fridge. I've been told pollen can last several months, even a year+ if stored properly. Lots of indicating silica gel and cool (not frozen) temperatures. The source was very experienced, so I'm thinking it's true. I've used pollen stored with this method (kept cool but not in a fridge or freezer) that was 4 weeks old and had great success, but never tried anything later than that.

A good visual indicator of pollen's viability is it's color. When fresh, pollen is such a bright yellow color that it almost looks flourescent, it practically glows. Pollen that's stored really well should look exactly the same as it did the day it was collected. Dead pollen usually turns a darker color and looks different than it did when fresh. This isn't a "for sure" rule, but it's a good general one to use.

Take care everybody.

 

[eskimo]

 

[bush@crackhouse]

Put your polen on the fridge on something that is air sealed, that's it.

After ruining DP Mazar and JLP's Cindy haze on less than 4 weeks on the fridge, I've managed to keep some DP skywalker polen on the fridge for more than 3 months before using it all.

Now, I've had JLP's G13 bx in the fridge for about a month and still dusty, not blocky..

 

[madcat]

Thanks to lucifer Ive been using wax paper collection with an immediate wax paper rub / smash spawn with 100% success, in the big room, with nothing flying around very good, very simple.

Next test dessicant dry and freeze the pollinated wax paper.

 

[latewood]

I don't know if telepod is still around, but thanks for the research, great info, and at just the right time...my BBJack just sexed Male And I didn't want to waste these genetics, so I am going to collect and store all the pollen I get get from "the Man"

 

[Guest]

I'd recommend cutting branches on the male, instead of collecting pollen. Keep the flowers with intact pollen sacks, and collect the pollen only when you need it (just before you pollinate). This way you're sure the stuff is still viable (pollen from cut male branches remains viable for at least two weeks, even if the branches look quite dry).

I've sent 2-3 week old pollen by mail several times (in paper), and I'm afraid it never worked. I believe the best way to ensure viability/fertility is to keep intact flowers (even closed, green ones, provided they're big enough) and use them at the last minute.

Just a thought.