Male plants isolation

[samyaza]

Hi all.

I'm new to this fantastic forum where I can always find feedbacks and photos about any strain.

As everybody knows, male plants must be isolated from the mums if you don't want them to give you plenty of seeds. Indoors, you can simply have an additional grow room for males, but outdoors, it's a bit tricky if you want to sacrifice only a side branch kola for reproduction.

I had an idea of workaround. I plan to wait until the male flowers are fully developed, when the bags are about to open, then :

• cut stems, put them in a vase or glass of water and wait for them to open
• or, dig up the complete plants, leave them under shade, far from the female plants and wait for the pollen bags to spread the powder

Then, it's just plain manual pollination ( easy as pie ) but do you think that pollen would be viable ?

 

[neongreen]

[*]cut stems, put them in a vase or glass of water and wait for them to open

This is what I do when I want to breed with outdoor plants.

[*]or, dig up the complete plants, leave them under shade, far from the female plants and wait for the pollen bags to spread the powder

Distance is no guarantee that the pollen won't get to the females.

Then, it's just plain manual pollination ( easy as pie ) but do you think that pollen would be viable ?

No reason why it shouldn't as long as you collect it properly and make sure it stays dry till you use it.

 

[samyaza]

You exceeded my expectations neongreen. You really made my day.

Peace.

 

[vostok]

• cut stems, put them in a vase or glass of water and wait for them to open.. ?

• 
  
  I do this but not as often ...as in many instances the males are ahead in development by 2-3 weeks or more
  
  In that case, late in the day and or first thing in the morning
  drape a trash bag over the plant and shake that limb, in order to collect pollen,.. tip to a glass of uncooked rice and store in the fridge, freezer for longer, a teaspoon will do thousands of plants ...so you don't need much, use this latter method for males way ahead in development of the females,(pre bud) and yeah, mark that limb you made fertilized with a tie or scrap clothe for latter id,
  good luck

 

[neongreen]

You exceeded my expectations neongreen. You really made my day.

Peace.

Glad to help

 

[Psi Haze]

OMG... I usually work with about 4 or 5 males of different strains at a time, I hate them... In NorCal, our weather does not do a hard freeze very much and I can greenhouse things. So... A cheap store was selling clearance items, I bought 5 of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Gardman-R687-...TF8&qid=1417984225&sr=8-2&keywords=greenhouse


...for $10 each.... ..line them up, buddy and put your girls in with them.

 

[Mustafunk]

For outdoor breeding I always keep my males inside home or under a window to avoid unwanted pollinations as much as possible. To collect pollen I cut male branches and keep them in a glass with water until they open, I collect the pollen in a lid or a dark plastic sheet so I can easily arrange it with a card or something.

Then I cover my females with a big plastic bag except the branches I want to pollinate, and proceed to pollinate with a small hair brush. You can do the opposite too and just bag the male flowers and cover the selected female branches.

I always pollinate inside home to avoid wind and accidental pollen escape. But you need to keep your plants in pots or containers in order to do this. Whatever the method you use, it's likely that some pollen may escape and you will find a few seeds around the sinsemilla buds. Nothing to be worried about though.

Vibes.

 

[Psi Haze]

Nice Vibes, Buddy.. I like the idea about trying to isolate a branch. Some of my 70y. old'school relatives said they used to bag 1 branch and it will "Trick" the plant into maturing sooner, those sativas of the 60s.. hehehe...


I tried bringing plants to the males and infuse with pollen, as soon as I bring that female back to the bunch, half my shit has seeds in it..

Rule #1. Isolate the males
Rule #2. Isolate the seeded females, pollen drifts.
Rule #3. Always give a seeded plant at least 30 days of solid light and dry the buds slowly.. The seeds will always mature MORE and FASTER while the plant is cut and DYING.

Rule #4. Some seeds which are fresh will grow immediately, most will not not and rot. Dry the seeds at least 30 days in warm and dry temps, can be as long as 180 days in wetter and colder climates.

Rule #5. Freezing fresh and wet seeds is the same as "storing", it does not count to ripen. Never Freeze, Thaw, Freeze, Thaw, cycle the fresh seeds (drier seeds can handle it).

 

[zambyZeeWanna]

thanx samyaza for your kool tips. and the observation that males flower weeks ahead of the girls is so true in my instance.

my Ochorios has shown himself a male and I wasn't even disappointed 'cause I've wanted to try seed-growing again--and what better germ than from Jamaica!

wandered in years late, so if anyone's still reading this thread, may I ask: will reemay cloth isolate female pollen?

that idea of trimming a stem before he pops and taking it indoors to a glass of water is tremendous--but I'd love it if I could just leave ole Ochorios alone and in place and isolate his pollen from the girls with a cover of reemay cloth.

anyway, thanx heaps y'all for a wonderful forum and a brilliant thread.

 

[MJPassion]

Remay pore size ranges betwen 5um to 125um according to this abstract.
http://www.google.com/patents/EP2627812A1?cl=en

Cannabis pollen grains are about 30um in size so it can get out of the remay cover & pollinate your ladies in waiting.

I wait until I see male flowers begin to open then I chop the boys, as you describe above, placing them in a glass of water over a plate, collecting any pollen that falls on it for about a week. I'll tap the stems in water so that pollen dislodges from their flowers landing on the plate.

It's imperative that this be done in an environment with as little air movement as possible for maximim pollen collection.

Gotta go tap some flowers right now. Hehe

I then collect the pollen in a tiny plastic sack and store it in the refrigerator until I need it.

 

[zambyZeeWanna]

thanx heaps MJP for your prompt and thoughtful response to my query.

looks like some of my male flowers are about to burst open, so I guess it's time to start trimming and bringing them inside to harvest some pollen.

like your idea of collecting it in a plate under the glass of water.

curious: do you then scoop the pollen up with a credit card or something, to get it into the small plastic bag?

asking the obvious cause I'm wondering how delicate the pollen is and if I should handle it more carefully than just with a credit card.

again MJP, thank you for your help.

 

[Stone House]

You can also carefully put a small male branch that is dropping pollen into a paper bag (the size wine bottles are put in when buying at the store). Close the bag to prevent pollen from escaping and carefully take the bag outside to the female you want to breed.
Carefully open the bag (don't do this on a windy day) and slip over the the female branch you want to breed.
Close the top of bag around the stem and put a twist tie around the closed end of the bag to seal it.
After the bag is sealed shake the female branch to distribute the pollen, do this every day.
Leave the bag on for 4 to 5 days then carefully remove the bag and destroy it.
Pollen usually dies in 3 to 4 days if not preserved so you should be ok, if you are worried about the possibility of pollen still alive you can mist the branch/plant with water.
Don't use too much water as it could cause mold.
Most seeds take about 6 to 8 weeks to mature, if your not sure wait until the seed bracts start to split open.

 

[Betterhaff]

curious: do you then scoop the pollen up with a credit card or something, to get it into the small plastic bag?

I use a one sided razor blade and for use outdoors I put it in plastic film canisters. They are portable and easy access. If collecting for indoors or long term storage I make small envelopes from parchment paper. These go into baggies and then a jar after sure the pollen is dry (a day or 2) and then into the freezer (for long term storage).

 

[MJPassion]

You can scoop the pollen with just about anything.

Avoid using a plastic plate, however, as it could build a static charge making collection difficult. Especially in dry weather conditions.

I prefer a ceramic plate & a razor but am currently using a paper plate & a plastic card.

 

[zambyZeeWanna]

razor blade, of course. thanx for that. and I sure wish I had a black plate--but I do have a clear glass one and it's working great. amazing volume of pollen.

and I've got the perfect glass vial to freeze it in, Chinese medicine bottle with a cork lid--which I can then seal inside another larger container.

(thanx so much, StoneHouse for the tip about pollen dying after the third or fourth day if it's not refrigerated; had no idea).