When do male plants start to release pollen?

[Organilush]

When do male plants typically start to release pollen?

Around my area, northern California, I feel most folks would agree that female plants will start to flower around the beginning of August and they start getting ripe around early October.

So for male plants that are outdoors within northern California (central val specifically), is there a typical span of time when males will start to release their pollen?

Mostly just curious when males would "naturally" start to release their pollen. No doubt there are variables and prob depends on genetics, but I figure there's gotta be a general rule of thumb/certain span of time males will start to bust open and let pollen into the wind.



It's my first grow with seed (and only 2nd grow in general), and I have some male pre-flowers showing on 3 plants. One of them is super vigorous and the upper foliage has such a nice chocolatey/diesel/skunky smell, I would love to do a little bit of "pollen chucking" on one of the lower buds of his sister. (strain is "Lemon Wookie Glue" from equilibrium genetics).

I'll probably just end up composting the males...but seeing how vigorous that one male is, smelling how good he smells, not wanting to "waste" a plant, and wanting more seeds from this genetic background (I don't think Lemon Wookie Glue is available anymore), I'm kinda tempted to try out some pollen chucking.

But I don't even know where I'd put the guy to keep em' isolated from the ladies.




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[TychoMonolyth]

All strains are different, and it's hard to say on only a couple plants.

Generally in an open pollination scenario males start releasing much earlier than the females start flowering. More males will back them up by releasing later, then more males, etc. The goal is to fertilize the surrounding females. This is with I would say about 1-200 regular seeds. I usually try to collect the early pollen in hopes that it's help produce early flowering offspring. I have absolutely no idea if early pollen is valid for producing early flower, but hey.... may as well try, then I can start pulling males as they surface.

My advice is to keep an eye on them. When a male appears, move him out and collect the pollen, then flush or burn him. Kill every males that shoes up after that. When you start seeing flowers, lightly pollinate the flowers with a makeup brush or q-tip. Do it again when the flowers fill out.

Good luck.

 

[master kusher]

The moment you see ball is the moment you should pull it if you want good smoke; because those balls will pop open and the bananas will hang from the string and pollinate your crop.

 

[therevverend]

Tycho nailed it, males can start throwing pollen much earlier then the females in the chance that there's a female with an autoflower or photosensitive gene. It also gives them the chance to hit any preflowers on the females. So the correct answer is 'when the balls open'.

That said, when I was guerrilla growing I'd check and cull my males right about now, maybe a week earlier. This year my early male opened it's first flower a couple days ago. I quickly hustled it much further away from the females. The other males are either just forming balls or still in the pre-flower stage. So it's definitely late enough for males to start opening but still very early. Usually the majority of males go full into flower a week or two before the females cluster up.

Be sure your male pre-flowers are male preflowers. Sometimes a female will make 'caylxes without pistils', that look a lot like male flowers. This late it's almost certain your 'pre-flower' males are males, but I usually wait for a few true balls to form before culling.

But I don't even know where I'd put the guy to keep em' isolated from the ladies.

There's a couple tricks here. Always separate your male plants as soon as you identify them. Even if it's only 20 or 30 feet, get them apart. Much less likely for a random early flower to make seeds. If I'm that close I like to have a shrub or tree between my females and males. Figure out which way the wind blows most of the time and keep the females upwind. This year my super-early male opened two flowers before I moved it further away. That 30 feet made the difference, I don't think the pollen I accidentally knocked off it will find a pre-flower.

Male plants need very little light to finish. I move my males indoors. Then I wait until maybe 10% of the flowers are opening. Then I very carefully harvest most of the flowers, put them in a paper bag or lay them out on newspaper. After harvest most of the full mature male pods will open and release their pollen. You don't even need light if the male pods are about to open you could stick it in a dark closet and quite a few would still drop pollen.

If you time it just right you can cut the flowers off the male plant right before they open. Lay them out on newspaper, after a day or two a few will open and release pollen. Plenty for you to use a q-tip and make a small run of seeds. From 10-50 or so.

Water kills male pollen, a good idea to always have it on hand when you're messing with males. Remember that pollen can stick to clothes, hair, hands, so never go straight to your females after handling your males.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

For my final pollination I put the pollen in a plastic sandwich baggie and use it like a condom on the colas and give them a nice stroke. Next cola. Even if you don't see anymore pollen in the bag, it's still in there.

I got 12k seeds on a couple big plant last run.

 

[master kusher]

there is plenty of woods in California to throw the male in, just collect to males flowers when the pods look plump and ripe, but most have not popped open. I would personally then take the pollen and dab it on certain colas with a Q-tip. At least that is how I would do it under the presumption that you can move the males and they are of move able size.

 

[TheScorpion]

If you see staminates in their early stages, (a short rod and a ball at the top, and the ball isn't open yet,) it's only a matter of a couple weeks before they start jizzing freely.

If you want seed for next year, separate them, or cut the tops when you have a cluster and they aren't open. Stick them in a vase and sit the vase on a piece of foil, and when pollen falls, qtip that shit and gently impregnate only the limbs you want to make seed -I choose the lower ones, and try to apply pollen right before a rain.

Swab swab... let the rain wash the rest off.

Voila! A nice bud with seeds in the lower portion. Still smokable, and you get free seeds.

Got to remove them though, or you WILL have a lot of seeds.

Personally, I don't mind if seeds are made, as I'm not selling any of what I grow. Do seeds reduce potency? It's debatable.

How much seeded weed did we smoke through the 80s and early 90s that got you nice and high?
A LOT.

Seedless is nice... and may be more potent, but I observe that freshness and strain choice matter more than whether or not they have seeds.

 

[St. Phatty]

In Southern Oregon, the plants start flowering around August 1st, though that's with a hill blocking some Southern light.

I have one male in Batch #2 (second batch, smaller plants). He has shown his gender but isn't really stacking up the pollen sacs yet.

From past experience, they will spew the 3rd and 4th week of flowering, and then keep spewing till they're dead.

 

[master kusher]

That question is very broad so therefor the answer is very broad as well. Generally speaking they have pods instead of a calyx and when the pods open up the release nanners hanging from a string; when this happens pollen is released into the air and the females have been pollinated via open pollination.

anywhere between 2-4 weeks after summer solstice for most strains.

 

[troutman]

I have a few Outdoor males showing sex and will allow the best one or two pollinate the females for like
3 to 5 days max. The other males will be culled ASAP. Once the females show signs of pollination I get rid
of the males. I find a light pollination makes for better quality seeds whereas overpollination tends creates
far too many seeds of which many never ripen, are smaller and lower quality.