How do you YOU harvest/transfer/store pollen?

[MAGpie81]

Hopefully in the pic you can see one of these sacs starting to open-
Is now a good time to prep for pollination on another plant?
I have read techniques online but honestly I appreciate anecdotal evidence from multiple people straight up.

Is it possible to somewhat-easily fine target a flower without pollinating others around it, or do you think they should always be separated?
TIA

 

[spliffendz]

@OldMedUser

 

[spliffendz]

Pollination, what do I need to know?

I've been pollen chucking for about 20 years now and there's lots of ways to skin this cat. Easiest is to put a male in with the girls, supply good air circulation and let nature take it's course. That will get you a shit-ton of seeds but the yield and potency of the bud will suffer greatly...

rollitup.org

Harvesting pollen question

I cut down some male plants (female plants the were turned male) about 6 days ago and have them drying in paper bags, i cut the tops off that had the pods and put in bags. I wanted to get them nice and dry and they don't have many pods on them. Will drying them for a week destroy the pollen...

rollitup.org

 

[Johiem]

I've only harvested pollen once so far (only been growing for 2 years) and my sacs didn't look near as nice. I clipped and dried the sacs, then crushed them through a kitchen sieve then used my 75 micron bubble bag to separate the plant material from the pollen. Lastly before putting it in a seed tube, thin the pollen with flour at approximately 1000/1. Then, using a cotton swab, collect some of your pollen mixture and gently dab the buds you want to pollinate.

 

[spliffendz]

I cut mine and put in water when they were near to releasing and let them drop their load over paper then collected and pollinated, from advice here

 

[MAGpie81]

Thanks y’all.
I remember being told about the sieve trick, and was hoping to hear someone’s tried using flour- desiccation (drying-out) as it has been shown to be the most promising way to store it.
I want to “snipe” some onto some autoflower (bananaOG) I have without infecting too much, and save some to mix with (possibly) one of each photoperiod strain I have- Durban Poison, Kwazulu, and Freakshow.
The male was supposed to be Fem BlueberryOG (was a freebie at least!) from either Dutch Passion or World of Seeds (came in combined Seedsman order...), so I imagine there’s some good genetics in there to find, and the little freak (sorry, haha) sprouted sacs that exploded about 3 weeks after the seed itself sprouted! Luckily my others were just as young so unable to bear.
I’m a second year newb with room to experiment and a love of agriculture, so may as well see where it goes.

 

[Zett66]

Haha I just polinated a bud sights on one of mine. I keep the males seperate when the sacks start to look to swell about 2 weeks into 12 12

once they start popping I just put a piece of paper under and shake pollen onto it. Then scrape that to a pile an apply tiny bits on a few lower spots on the plant you like and mark them with rope or something. I do that in another room than my girls stay in. I leave circ fan of for a few days and always generously spray water where you worked with pollen. good luck

 

[OldMedUser]

First get the girl out of the grow room then put a plastic bag over the plant with just a sllit for one branch to poke out. Seal the bag around that branch's stem then either shake the male over the exposed buds or if you've collected the pollen already use a roughed up Q-tip, tiny paint brush or anything else handy to dust a little pollen on the buds. Leave it sit overnight then spray water all over everything to knock out any loose pollen. Could put a plastic bag over the exposed branch but I doubt it really matters. Then take the big bag off and put her back in the light. Might want to tag that branch with a twist-tie or something especially if you do other branches with different pollen. I got 5 different crosses on one plant years back that way.

Should give the dusted branch a spritz too or loose pollen on that will get around as well. Don't take much. When harvesting your seeds don't include any that you may find elsewhere on the plant. Could be from a 'nanner on another plant.

If your seeds aren't ripe when the plant is, just harvest the rest of the plant and leave any pollinated branches on there until the seeds are busting out and ripe. If you want to flip back to veg that's OK too. Won't do anything to the seeds other than maybe make them ripen faster. About 3 weeks into flower is a good time to pollinate but later is fine as well.

Kali Mist male


'Nanners hiding in a bud.


Billions of potential seeds!


You don't need the whole male plant to collect pollen. Just cut off a couple of branches or the top and stick it in a glass of water drooping over so the pollen falls onto some tin foil or parchment paper. Not plastic! Static will have it stuck on there. It the end of the stem closes over just nip off a bit. A single 60W equivalent CFL or LED on a 12/12 timer is enough and somewhere far away from the plants with no breezes at all. I've done them in cardboard boxes stuck in a closet.



That dish at the bottom right is my 180µ dry sift screen. Fits in a SS catch pan. Endecotts lab sieve if anyone is into that. Works great for pollen or kief.




Make sure to clean the pollen really good. A 200µ or smaller bubble bag/kief screen works fine. A really fine kitchen strainer should be good enough tho. You want it really dry so if all you have is rice then I'd warm it to 200 for a while in the oven to dry it right out. Put some in a jar you can seal, let it cool first then put your container of pollen in there for a few days to allow the moisture to be drawn out then seal the pollen up and plan on using it in the next 3 - 6 months. Refrigerating should help it stay viable longer. I have colour changing drying granules called Drierite I use to desiccate things with.



Go forth and pollinate!

 

[MAGpie81]

First get the girl out of the grow room then put a plastic bag over the plant with just a sllit for one branch to poke out. Seal the bag around that branch's stem then either shake the male over the exposed buds or if you've collected the pollen already use a roughed up Q-tip, tiny paint brush or anything else handy to dust a little pollen on the buds. Leave it sit overnight then spray water all over everything to knock out any loose pollen. Could put a plastic bag over the exposed branch but I doubt it really matters. Then take the big bag off and put her back in the light. Might want to tag that branch with a twist-tie or something especially if you do other branches with different pollen. I got 5 different crosses on one plant years back that way.

Should give the dusted branch a spritz too or loose pollen on that will get around as well. Don't take much. When harvesting your seeds don't include any that you may find elsewhere on the plant. Could be from a 'nanner on another plant.

If your seeds aren't ripe when the plant is, just harvest the rest of the plant and leave any pollinated branches on there until the seeds are busting out and ripe. If you want to flip back to veg that's OK too. Won't do anything to the seeds other than maybe make them ripen faster. About 3 weeks into flower is a good time to pollinate but later is fine as well.

Kali Mist male
View attachment 4851758

'Nanners hiding in a bud.
View attachment 4851760

Billions of potential seeds!
View attachment 4851761

You don't need the whole male plant to collect pollen. Just cut off a couple of branches or the top and stick it in a glass of water drooping over so the pollen falls onto some tin foil or parchment paper. Not plastic! Static will have it stuck on there. It the end of the stem closes over just nip off a bit. A single 60W equivalent CFL or LED on a 12/12 timer is enough and somewhere far away from the plants with no breezes at all. I've done them in cardboard boxes stuck in a closet.

View attachment 4851777

That dish at the bottom right is my 180µ dry sift screen. Fits in a SS catch pan. Endecotts lab sieve if anyone is into that. Works great for pollen or kief.
View attachment 4851782

View attachment 4851784

Make sure to clean the pollen really good. A 200µ or smaller bubble bag/kief screen works fine. A really fine kitchen strainer should be good enough tho. You want it really dry so if all you have is rice then I'd warm it to 200 for a while in the oven to dry it right out. Put some in a jar you can seal, let it cool first then put your container of pollen in there for a few days to allow the moisture to be drawn out then seal the pollen up and plan on using it in the next 3 - 6 months. Refrigerating should help it stay viable longer. I have colour changing drying granules called Drierite I use to desiccate things with.

View attachment 4851792

Go forth and pollinate!

Above and beyond, friend.
Thank you!

 

[MAGpie81]

First get the girl out of the grow room then put a plastic bag over the plant with just a sllit for one branch to poke out. Seal the bag around that branch's stem then either shake the male over the exposed buds or if you've collected the pollen already use a roughed up Q-tip, tiny paint brush or anything else handy to dust a little pollen on the buds. Leave it sit overnight then spray water all over everything to knock out any loose pollen. Could put a plastic bag over the exposed branch but I doubt it really matters. Then take the big bag off and put her back in the light. Might want to tag that branch with a twist-tie or something especially if you do other branches with different pollen. I got 5 different crosses on one plant years back that way.

Should give the dusted branch a spritz too or loose pollen on that will get around as well. Don't take much. When harvesting your seeds don't include any that you may find elsewhere on the plant. Could be from a 'nanner on another plant.

If your seeds aren't ripe when the plant is, just harvest the rest of the plant and leave any pollinated branches on there until the seeds are busting out and ripe. If you want to flip back to veg that's OK too. Won't do anything to the seeds other than maybe make them ripen faster. About 3 weeks into flower is a good time to pollinate but later is fine as well.

Kali Mist male
View attachment 4851758

'Nanners hiding in a bud.
View attachment 4851760

Billions of potential seeds!
View attachment 4851761

You don't need the whole male plant to collect pollen. Just cut off a couple of branches or the top and stick it in a glass of water drooping over so the pollen falls onto some tin foil or parchment paper. Not plastic! Static will have it stuck on there. It the end of the stem closes over just nip off a bit. A single 60W equivalent CFL or LED on a 12/12 timer is enough and somewhere far away from the plants with no breezes at all. I've done them in cardboard boxes stuck in a closet.

View attachment 4851777

That dish at the bottom right is my 180µ dry sift screen. Fits in a SS catch pan. Endecotts lab sieve if anyone is into that. Works great for pollen or kief.
View attachment 4851782

View attachment 4851784

Make sure to clean the pollen really good. A 200µ or smaller bubble bag/kief screen works fine. A really fine kitchen strainer should be good enough tho. You want it really dry so if all you have is rice then I'd warm it to 200 for a while in the oven to dry it right out. Put some in a jar you can seal, let it cool first then put your container of pollen in there for a few days to allow the moisture to be drawn out then seal the pollen up and plan on using it in the next 3 - 6 months. Refrigerating should help it stay viable longer. I have colour changing drying granules called Drierite I use to desiccate things with.

View attachment 4851792

Go forth and pollinate!

One question with the bagging of the plant-
Won’t the overnight moisture buildup negatively affect the buds within?
I tried the reverse once- trying to isolate a bud in a bag with pollen sacs (very amateur- too little if any mature pollen) but noticed it steamed up within 15 minutes, and didn’t think the moisture would help the pollen work. Love the trick to take cuttings and let them drop pollen from there.
Thanks again! Great advice.

 

[OldMedUser]

Never seemed to hurt anything and I've done it lots. If the plant is small enough you could use a paper bag and tape up around the branch stem. The paper will absorb the moisture and let it evaporate into the room while still keeping pollen out.

I cut a paper bag to tape a plastic window in so I could use it to collect pollen in the grow room without knocking up the girls. I just cut off every branch but the one in the bag and let it do it's thing in there. Once there was enough pollen I just cut off the branch and took it elsewhere to open and collect the pollen. The pollen worked later and no unwanted pollinations happened. Wanted the branch to have light so needed a window.

A lot more fussing around than just taking some branches and using the other method with a glass of water.

 

[MAGpie81]

Never seemed to hurt anything and I've done it lots. If the plant is small enough you could use a paper bag and tape up around the branch stem. The paper will absorb the moisture and let it evaporate into the room while still keeping pollen out.

I cut a paper bag to tape a plastic window in so I could use it to collect pollen in the grow room without knocking up the girls. I just cut off every branch but the one in the bag and let it do it's thing in there. Once there was enough pollen I just cut off the branch and took it elsewhere to open and collect the pollen. The pollen worked later and no unwanted pollinations happened. Wanted the branch to have light so needed a window.

A lot more fussing around than just taking some branches and using the other method with a glass of water.

View attachment 4851810

I can be pretty fussy and like getting crafty. May try that in later trials.
Paper bag- great idea to contain without moisture build-up.
Here’s the little 9wk old male I’d be working with (he threw pollen at 3 weeks old before!)
1-gallon pot for comparison-

and here’s an auto Banana Kush I’d be experimenting on-

 

[Geneiac]

I cut mine and put in water when they were near to releasing and let them drop their load over paper then collected and pollinated, from advice here

This is what I do as well, but I'm usually just trying to pollinate plants grown alongside the males, not store the pollen. Lots of handy tricks to choose from here, good luck!

 

[Detroitwill]

I have used the simplist method I’ve ever heard and gotten good results.... first separate the male and wait for it to begin to show its opening. Second use paper bag Over a single limb to catch the pollen from gently tapping the stem. Third. Place the same bag over the bud site you want to pollinate n shake the bag. After your done gently mist to make sure it doesn’t get blown off n into the plant. It’s the same method used when forcing a female to produce pollen sacks for breeding. If you want to collect the pollen after you can get it out the bag easy enough. Be mindful of loose pollen on the bag or your person. It only takes a single grain to pollinate a bud site. So be very cautious and clean about it unless you are trying to pollinate a whole plant. (Which is not necessary)

 

[MAGpie81]

This is what I do as well, but I'm usually just trying to pollinate plants grown alongside the males, not store the pollen. Lots of handy tricks to choose from here, good luck!

I realize what it is meant by this now after seeing pics from OldMedUser above.
Such a small plant this time might just shake’im where’e stands.

So- he’s already popped once, at 3 wks old, and I moved and cut of all sacs but very top.
He’s grown new ones I want to harvest from-
How long do you suppose I could viably keep him around, so as to produce fresh pollen and not have to store?
I have a few plants I just started flip on March 11, ‘21, that I’d like to selectively pollinate...

 

[Geneiac]

I have used the simplist method I’ve ever heard and gotten good results.... first separate the male and wait for it to begin to show its opening. Second use paper bag Over a single limb to catch the pollen from gently tapping the stem. Third. Place the same bag over the bud site you want to pollinate n shake the bag. After your done gently mist to make sure it doesn’t get blown off n into the plant. It’s the same method used when forcing a female to produce pollen sacks for breeding. If you want to collect the pollen after you can get it out the bag easy enough. Be mindful of loose pollen on the bag or your person. It only takes a single grain to pollinate a bud site. So be very cautious and clean about it unless you are trying to pollinate a whole plant. (Which is not necessary)

Really good advice here to spray down the pollinated branch with water after removing the pollen containing bag (after a few days perhaps).

 

[Geneiac]

I realize what it is meant by this now after seeing pics from OldMedUser above.
Such a small plant this time might just shake’im where’e stands.

So- he’s already popped once, at 3 wks old, and I moved and cut of all sacs but very top.
He’s grown new ones I want to harvest from-
How long do you suppose I could viably keep him around, so as to produce fresh pollen and not have to store?
I have a few plants I just started flip on March 11, ‘21, that I’d like to selectively pollinate...

Thats a good question...I typically pollinate the females around 3 weeks after flip but every strain is different and you'll need to use your discretion. I bet your male could last that long but seeing as how it sounds so small and started flowering so soon, I'm not really sure. Just got an idea tho...you could pollinate the preflowers on the females!

 

[Detroitwill]

Just a thought.... (nothing I’ve tried yet) but, I bet you could wait till like week 5-6 and then choose a bud to pollinate, and then at harvest get the seeds you want and a nice fat nug too.

 

[spliffendz]

I realize what it is meant by this now after seeing pics from OldMedUser above.
Such a small plant this time might just shake’im where’e stands.

So- he’s already popped once, at 3 wks old, and I moved and cut of all sacs but very top.
He’s grown new ones I want to harvest from-
How long do you suppose I could viably keep him around, so as to produce fresh pollen and not have to store?
I have a few plants I just started flip on March 11, ‘21, that I’d like to selectively pollinate...

you could take clones of the male and keep them in veg if it is that good a specimen

 

[MAGpie81]

Thats a good question...I typically pollinate the females around 3 weeks after flip but every strain is different and you'll need to use your discretion. I bet your male could last that long but seeing as how it sounds so small and started flowering so soon, I'm not really sure. Just got an idea tho...you could pollinate the preflowers on the females!

I wondered if I could pre-pollinate some pistils. I imagine the inevitable damp would probably neutralize the pollen, though?
Thanks for your input! Not too stressed on outcomes so may try some things