Anyone ever top a male?

seasmoke said:

Guess I'm breaking new ground here.....

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seasmoke said:

Thanx Crackerjax, and yes it worked out very well. Good to know I can use this method.

Uncle Ben, its truley and honor to have you pop in. I have read many of your threads and some of them were fastinating. 40+ years of experiance growing gets my attention.
I guess I should have titled this thread "Anyone ever revegg a male", cause thats actually what i'm trying to do. I didn't have a place to keep pollen at the time, and wanted to know if revegging was possible. I only topped it to get rid of the balls that showed, I then put it back in the vegging room.

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You have several choices for collecting and using pollen. Males will show as a football-like "ball" on a small, short petiole (stem) at the nodes. Once the pollen pods form, they will elongate via a stem, droop, and the flower bracts will open. After about one week after pollen pods first start to form, or upon complete opening of the male flower bracts, the males' anthers will shed pollen which will appear as a pale, yellow dust.

Males do not take much light to survive once they reach flowering stage. Leave your male plant(s) in the grow room until the first male pollen bracts just begin to crack, and then move 'em into another room with a typical 12/12 schedule, this can be simulated with light thru a window, a flor fixture....no big deal.

You have a choice of placing this plant in a very quiet room with NO air movement, set on CLEAN paper, or, you can cut the branches off, making a clean slanted cut with a razor blade, and place the branches in a vase of water over paper. Collect the pollen once it begins shedding by placing a glazed ceramic plate or paper plate under the flowers and GENTLY tapping the individual branches. Pick out any flowers which tend to drop once in a while.

Don't go visit the ladies until you have taken a bath as the pollen is very clinging. Ya know how da ladies are about cleaniness and clinging males

Collect the pollen over time and place it into a clean vial like a film canister. I really like using a paper plate held under a group of flowers, and then gently thumping the stem. After collecting the pollen, the paper plate can be creased, held over a vial, and the sides and edges thumped until all the pollen is vibrated into the vial.

For a pollen carrier, heat about 2 or 3 teaspoons of flour in an oven to 180F for about 20 mins or in a small pot set on low heat, let it cool *thoroughly*, and mix with the pollen to dilute it. I use a ratio of about 1/4 tsp pollen to 3 tsp flour and have very successful pollination rates. Store in small containers like contact lens cases excluding as much air as possible and store in the fridge for long term storage. Remember, it only takes one male to fertilize one female ovule, and there are millions of pollen cells in a 1/4 tsp of pollen so be sure and dilute it.

Take out only enough of the pollen mixture (1/4 tsp.) to use for one session and use your finger, or a small artist brush (my preferred method) to pollinate a few of the lower branches which have fresh, white pistils. Do not contaminate the main pollen source with a resinous, sticky artist's brush! Clean the brush's bristles with Isopropyl alcohol after each session and let the bristles dry thoroughly before using it again. I hit the chosen receptor branches 3 times on a weekly basis to insure a good supply of seeds.

*Label* the pollinated branches, and harvest your seeds in 3 to 6 weeks. I just cure the seeded branches with the rest of the crop, and tear apart the seeded buds with my fingers. You'll find the seeds close to the stem. Store the seeds in the fridge or freezer, labeled of course, with a little dessicant like heat treated rice for long term storage.

Have fun,
Uncle Ben