Few questions about growing out males

[ItsGrowTime]

Hi guys,
Im taking my first attempt at growing out males to get pollen for breeding use. The strain is Hashberry, which is a 65 day plant when female. Im pretty lost on growing out males so I had a few questions.

1. At what point is pollen viable? Id rather not have the pods burst open and blow it everywhere in my room (no fems in there but will be later). Id rather know when I can just cut the pods off with the pollen still inside and still have viable pollen. When do they usually burst? Thoughts?

2. Do flowering males need the same type of nutrient profile as flowering females? High PK, low N after week 2? Or should I feed them differently? Any point in using flowering PK boosters like I use on my girls or is that a waste and just stick with flowering base nute (Floranova Bloom)?

3. Anything else I should watch out for with males that differ from growing out females? Is it possible to herm a male? Stuff like that.

A flowering male Hashberry:


Thanks! (I would have posted in the Breeders Lab forum but it appears to be locked?!)

 

[Old Soul]

I am going to bump this because I would like to know this as well.

 

[Ktaadn]

I'm no expert, but I've done quite a few seed runs so I'll try to help.

1. When the flowers open and release it it's ready. I've never tried to extract pollen from unopened flowers and don't know if it's even conceivable. It's simple to clip the top(s) and stick em in a container of water on top of glass or some wax paper, and collect it that way. You could even keep it under a box if you wanted - the male flowers don't need light to do their thing.

2. You can feed them the same if it makes things easier, but males generally won't require nearly the same amount of nutrients to complete their cycle.

3. Yes, male hermies happen occasionally. Unlike female hermies though, they may be useful for breeding purposes (according to DJ short). Check out the breeding forum for more info.

 

[Elevator Man]

Here's a male hermie Flo (though only the tip of one branch!), which produced four useful-looking, though very small seeds recently. It's visible at back middle in the long shot. I kept them obviously after what DJ Short wrote, though he didn't explain any further, so I still don't really understand why they're useful genetically...

 

[DoobieDuck]

IGT I've harvested several times cutting a male that is a few days from opening and placing in a glass with water, separate area, then putting the water glass on a mirror. When the pollen falls to the mirror in a couple days scraping it up with a razor blade. Then storing in a small airtight container in the freezer. They burst just a few days after you see them formed...be careful, don't wait to long to get them out...EMan let me know what happens with those seeds? Dr. Duck.