ZoBudd
Well-Known Member
Great post!!!! I should have my .999 silver by the end of the week. All other supplies are set (cell phone charger, etc.).What does a Colloidal Silver generator look like / How do I make my own:
Colloidal Silver generators can be either bought, or made. If you decide to buy one, aim for the one with the lowest possible voltage between (5-30v) and try to stay under 1000mA. The weaker current will help create smaller particles even though it takes a bit longer (only hours so it doesn't matter).
It can be made from a simple cell phone charger with the end cut off and stripped to look like this.
The exposed wires would then be taped (using electrical tape) to silver electrodes (pure .9999 silver wire), which would need to be kept apart (they can't touch), and spaced evenly/parallel in the water without touching the bottom or sides. A distance of 1-4" is best depending on your generators power.
You will also want to run an air pump with aquarium tubing and an airstone in the generator jar to keep the water moving around which will do these three things:
1. Prevent/slow down buildup that forms on the wires during the generating process.
2. Stir the solution to keep the silver particles from bunching up and agglomerating around the electrodes which will create larger particles, and possibly cause the solution to turn amber any time from when it is being made, to the next few days.
3. Allow for a creation of higher ppm Colloidal Silver (you only really need 15 but can use up to 40 if you want to spray less than 3x daily).
A store bought Colloidal Silver generator often looks like this:
And is run like this for 5-15 hours: (Note the air pump + air stone in the jar)
Throughout these hours, the wires will get discolored (esp the negative electrode which will turn blackish) and some buildup may collect on them as well (once again, the negative electrode is most drastically affected by this). Simply unplug your generator, remove it from the water, and wipe the electrodes clean. You can use a paper towel only, but it helps to have one of those green, non-metallic Scotch-Brite scrubbing pads (no chemicals added such as soap or anything). You should do this every 30-60 minutes or when you see buildup forming. The first few hours may only cause a rise in ppm of 1-2 if that, and little discoloration on the wires, but as time passes, and the ppm rises, the process speeds up exponentially. By the end, you may have to wipe your wires every 15-20min depending on your generators power level.
Once the ppm has reached the desired level (tested with a TDS meter), the generator is removed and the mixture is filtered through a 2 unbleached coffee filters, into another jar. This should filter out any larger silver particles that can and probably will form around the wires during the generating process, as well as any dust or anything else that may have found its way into the jar while the Colloidal Silver was being made. When you are done, you shouldn't see anything floating around in the mixture. It should look like pure water, except that a laser beam shows up when you shine it through.
What is a plant treated with Colloidal Silver supposed to look like:
It should look normal until a couple days after spraying, when you may see some unusual flower growth. After about 2-3 weeks, the plant will be growing almost exclusively pollen sacs, and should look just like a regular male with clusters of "balls" lacking many stray pistils.
The following plant was completely doused all over (including the tops and undersides of the leaves) 2-4x daily with homemade Colloidal Silver, and it wasn't burned in the least bit.
Pollen Sacs
Q&A / Troubleshooting:
Q: When should I start spraying my plant?
A: If it is a photoperiod plant, start spraying a week before flipping the lights to 12/12 (or whatever flowering schedule you use). If it is an auto wait until you see pistils and then start spraying the day the first couple appear. Even if you bought the seeds as autofems, I still recommend waiting until you see the first couple pistils because there is always the chance that you were send seeds with males in them and you wouldn't have any way of knowing until you started popping males out of your "female seeds".
Q: Why is my Colloidal Silver amber/yellow/grey colored?
A: The silver particles are slightly larger than they would be in a clear solution. They can still work for cannabis reversal, but I don't recommend ingesting the stuff. Amber/yellow is the first color you should notice. As it begins to get darker, or greyer, that means the the particles are larger and larger. The plant above was reversed with only amber Colloidal Silver as a test and it worked fine.
Q: How do I fix that color problem?
A: Add an air pump and an air stone to your generator jar, and clean the wires more often (every 30min, or when you see buildup forming). Discoloration on the wires (esp the negative electrode turning dark) is fine and expected, but if you leave it for too long you will notice that more and more silver particles build up on the negative electrode and start breaking off and floating around your mixture causing it to be cloudy and lower quality.
Q: How long does Colloidal Silver last / How do I store it:
A: Colloidal Silver remains at the desired potency for at least a month.
It should be kept in glass (plastic can attract the silver particles and ruin the mixture), and in the dark.
Q: Can I only spray one part of the plant to force pollen sac to form there and only there?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I then take that pollen and pollinate pistils somewhere else on the same plant, or will that cause hermies?
A: Yes. properly made Colloidal Silver does not carry over into the pollen or the seeds created using it, nor does it cause unwanted changes in the plant, its DNA, its offspring (and their DNA), etc. If you used a low quality spray and ended up stressing the plant to the point that it "hermied", and then used that pollen, you would be inadvertently selecting for the low stress tolerance gene that allowed the reversal, but if you start with solid genetics, and a good quality spray, you should have nothing to worry about.*
*Here are actually some posts by members on here (who have experience using pollen from a plant to pollinate its own pistils). I asked around to get a few different perspectives and see if I was missing anything, but they all agreed. (If anyone posting below would like their quote removed, feel free to pm me.)
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*Disclaimer: This post in no way promotes the cultivation and/or breeding of cannabis illegally.
My goal is to produce 20-25 seeds of 3 different strains that I've been growing for a few years.
I've been propagating by clone up to now.
I'll be spraying a few branches of:
Marionberry Kush (TGA), Strawberry Amnesia (Dinafem), and Fruit Punch (Heavyweight). I have 2 of each in veg right now, and I always take clones before flipping to 12/12. So, I'll have backup if my first attempt fails.
Right now, my plan is to only spray a few branches of each strain to produce enough pollen to pollinate a few buds on the same plant. No fancies, or crosses here!!! I just want to hit my goal of 20-25 healthy, viable seeds of each strain. (Although....I'm tempted to cross my Strawberry (Original Strawberry Cough × Original Amnesia) and Fruit P
(Skunk x Haze x NL)......I love them both SOOOOO much.
I'll begin posting pics once the process is underway.
Now, for a few questions:
1) Does the type of sprayer/mister matter? does it have an impact on Ag particle size?
2) What is the optimal maturity level of a flower for pollination?
3) And I know that there are loads of variables but - ballpark -- say you pollinate a flowering bud the size of a Bic lighter. How many seeds would that bud yield?
Thanks for the help!!!
Zo
