I grow from seed, starting 4or 5 strains and then culling the males. Usually, Ill have a couple of strains in buckets at home, 2 females that I look for a male to polinate for seeds.

I encounter 2 big problems maybe someone can give me some suggestions on.

First it never fails that if I leave one male, I end up with nearby plants seeded, and thats even if I continue to trim any maturing limbs off of the male plants in an effort to delay flower maturation on the plant. The male has to mature enough to release pollen so how can I collect that pollen without it reaching the other plants within a few hundred feet of it?

If I am succesful at collecting the pollen, Im usually unsuccesful at storing it.

I would like to find good males some other way but i feel you have no choice but to let one mature somewhat to know if its worth breeding.

How do you folks get pollen out of the field and back to you breeding girls? Ive read all the methods for storing pollen but it aint workin for me.

[hamstring]

Great question.

I too am looking for the "best practices" of outdoor pollination.

[Hindu Killer]

Sounds as if you'll need to move the males..have a male patch of mixed genetics that are labeled. I just cut off good size flowers wrap in Newspaper bring home and place up high so it dry s quick. I then collect the pollen, being careful to not leave any veg material or bugs in it. As these can spoil it. NO moisture at all in the container! I like to pick 2 males of each paticular variety...this way I still get some diversirty..and can backcross them to themselves etc...

[jaykush]

with males outdoors your really in a big mess. pollen is meant to get airborne and fly for miles so your kind of screwed there. one good way is to find the male you want. take clones right before the balls drop and open. put it in a glass of water and wait for it to open up and collect pollen.

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I keep my males several miles or more from my females(unless I intend to make seeds with that male/female combo).
When I trasport pollen from a male to a remote female, I put a large zip-lock bag over the male flowers and shake the yellow pollen into the bag, when I have enough I zip the bag shut, and usually go straight to the female since pollen doen't store longer than a couple days.

Once I am at the females plot, I open the ziplock and place the buds to be fertilised into the bag and shake to apply the pollen-


The only real answer to the problem of accidental fertilisation is to keep the males as isolated as possible.

Hi all. It seems the consensus is to isolate the males. Good advice and Ive tried planting a seperate breeding patch but that special male never shows up there. A couple of years back I had a conversation with Joey of Joey seeds about choosing males as I feel he's darn good at it. He stated what I already new, and it was that your f2s can be less than desireable if you don't follow some basic guidelines for choosing a daddy.

My grow method hurts me here. Ive used the same method for a long time. I dig 40 holes. On march 22 i germinate enough seeds to get 40 seedlings and by April 25 they're out the door. I don't know where the males are until later in may.

I read a grow report yesterday that provided a remedy to my problem that is quite simple, and I guess it's only because i smoke so much pot that I didn't consider it. This grower just took a few cuttings of the desirable male and once successful rooting took, he cut the male standing in the field.

Duuuuuuuhhhhhhh.....

Thanx ham, HK, J and BC.

Hey hamstring

The tips joey gave me were very basic as well. He told me the good males have never been the first males to flower and in fact, often drag up the rear. He stated that once he selected the males that show good vigor and other positive , growth characterisitics,( no deformities, odd growth or appearance, nute sensitivity, etc.) he generally went with the males that displayed the most resin production on leaves and male flowers.

With regaurds to Dr. Greenthumb and Endless Sky, I do like the strain very much and would grow it more if it were'nt so expensive. I didn't make any seeds and thats too much to spend for me. If I could be assured they would always arrive I wouldn't hesitate but to spend that kind of money to get a green sticker and a gotcha letter is a deterent from ordering.\

I think ES will finish in Sept or at least some plants have for me. Your'e right though, most plants finish in the first week of Oct. I think the doc is hoping to increase purchases of the seed with his new finishing dates. He could accomplish the same thing if he lowered the price and Ive told him that.

[hamstring]

Silverback

Great tips on male selection. May sound like a newbee but I had never heard that the first males to show are not the ones you are looking for. Great tip because I have been known to look at the first males as a good choice. Just never really took the time to separate the males from the girls. Every time I made a seed crop I let it all go.

Yeah ES is pricey it was like $100 frog skins when I first bought mine 4+ years ago. Now that I need to purchase again you can see why I want to sharpen my pollinating skills. If I spend that much on beans I want to have some smoke not just seeds. I looking at trying to transplant males into grow bags and move them away from the females once I am able to sex them from so I can study them a little closer without always being worried.

I am also interested in Buba Kush from the Dr but that’s just talking smack because of the price. It sucks because I only grow outdoors from seeds and its hard to try some of the more sought after strains.

PEACE