trying to make some new seeds

I tried topping some plants from seeds I has purchased this year (thank you to Boatguy for sharing a link to Uncle Ben's Topping Technique!) I tried to root the cuttings from the topped plants and got one to survive. So then I cloned one of my plants I had identified as male. Of course, the female cutting has turned out to be one of the slowest to flower (it's Fat Banana if anyone is familiar.) The little female is finally making white hairs but it's not flowering quite yet. I have spent the summer picking off the flowers from the male plants so they didn't fertilize anything I didn't want them to. Now that I've harvested all the autos that were on the patio I was thinking I could just leave the males alone and when the female goes into flower mode I would wind up with some brand new seeds. Will this work or should I still keep the males in check until the little female is fully flowering? Many thanks for any advice!

I usually cut off a branch of the male, bring it indoors, place in water, and set it by a window with a piece of paper underneath it.
I collect pollen from the paper and by tapping the male flowers that have opened up.

You can collect fresh pollen every time you see some on the white papper. Just keep placing the air tight container back in the refrigerator after your done. I like using black film cannisters to store the pollen. Keep the pollen refrigerated and use it to pollinate the female flowers in week 3-4 of flower. You can use a small paintbrush to dab the pollen on the female's white hairs.

Or you can use the sandwich bag method. Place pollen in bag, twist tie it around a mid sized flower, shake it and leave it on there for 2 days. The built up condensation will destroy all the unused pollen and it is safe to remove the bag from the plant.

Good luck

Thank you very much! I don't have any big males to cut a branch from - just the little cuttings that are admittedly a little stunted. But I guess my biggest take away is that I do need to wait until my little female is well into flowering before allowing the males to fertilize her.

Can anyone explain why you shouldn't let a male pollinate a female before she's been flowering for at least 3 weeks? What happens if pollination occurs earlier than that?

There need to be pistils for the pollen to land on. Week 3 and four usually have the most fresh ready to be pollinated pistils. You can do it earlier or later, but will end up with fewer seeds on average.

I'm shocked at all you guys that leave males on the porch outside. smh

Thank you! The female that I want to pollinate has been making pistols for around 2 weeks and I would say it is starting to flower for real now. In response to SouthFloridaGenetics - I was thinking/hoping that my patio is far enough away from where my big female photo period plants are growing but after reading more about it I decided to bring the males inside. They won't get as much light but since they are flowering I don't think (I hope) that it will matter. Somehow I am going to make this work - been waiting all summer to make some new seeds!

Fighting Sioux said:

Thank you! The female that I want to pollinate has been making pistols for around 2 weeks and I would say it is starting to flower for real now. In response to SouthFloridaGenetics - I was thinking/hoping that my patio is far enough away from where my big female photo period plants are growing but after reading more about it I decided to bring the males inside. They won't get as much light but since they are flowering I don't think (I hope) that it will matter. Somehow I am going to make this work - been waiting all summer to make some new seeds!

Click to expand...

I had 16 big girls in my back yard and no males. My weed had gazillions of seeds from some clown leaving males outside. It really sucked. I almost cried. It was the last time I grew outside. Can't trust you people to be responsible with your males.

Well that is a shame. I can't speak for my neighbors who may or not be growing, but I will continue to grow outdoors in the summer. You can relax - I'm nowhere near south Florida.

I'm running out of time with this female. There are pistols, but it's taking its sweet time to really flower. I'm going away mid October, 6 weeks from tomorrow, and I've read it takes about 6 weeks for seeds to mature. I guess fewer, mature seeds is better than lots of immature seeds.

There need to be pistils for the pollen to land on. Week 3 and four usually have the most fresh ready to be pollinated pistils. You can do it earlier or later, but will end up with fewer seeds on average.
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