Best way to collect, store, use and mail pollen?

I’m planning on reversing a plant, and just want to collect plenty of pollen…

Please share your methods-

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Oh I am so watching this thread, thanks for posting.

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My method is to get a large, dry mixing bowl and an old sonicare toothbrush. As the male starts dropping pollen I use the toothbrush to vibrate pollen out of the pollen sacs. Then I use the toothbrush to vibrate the pollen out of the bowl through a mesh screen.

Once I have clean pollen, I dry the pollen in a dessicator. This is a very important step. You need to dehumidify the pollen as good as you can for longevity. I continue to collect pollen for about a week. After it is finished, the pollen can survive for the better part of a year in a strictly very low humidity environment. It takes at least 2-3 days to adequately dry pollen using a dessicator.

After that, I seal it into mini zip loc bags, squeezing out as much air as possible. Then I heat seal it in a mylar bag, also squeezing out as much air as possible.

I find that if I dry it well, then I don’t need to put silica in with the pollen in the bags. It would be better, but I do worry about it puncturing the bags if they go through mail rollers.

Store these in the freezer for longer term viability.

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Please i know i"m new in this group …
But i have a question .

First week male in flower X Almost last week fem in flower = MATCHES ?

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New or not never be concerned about asking a question brother. I would think a female in the last week of flower was too far along to do much with. That said I have no experience making seeds so let’s allow other more experienced folk to answer.

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Thanks for the reply :+1:

I knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounds…

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Dear @DougDawson you wil know the result … tks

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Hey Bud,

I’d say it’s too late to make seeds with a male that far behind-

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There’s many ways to do it. But however you do it, the better you dry it the better it will store. :+1:

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Tks @vaportrail i will (try ) to save the polen for the next “project” …

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Generally it’s best to put the females into flower a week or two before the males, so they will have plenty of buds sites to receive the pollen, and then have time to mature the seeds. The seeds should be given at least 6 weeks from pollination to mature. If you wait too long to pollinate, it’ll have many more bud sites, but will likely end up making too many seeds, so lots of them won’t be fully developed.

Also, pay attention to what @lefthandseeds says about storing pollen. I tried 4 pollen sent to me from 4 people, lefty’s was the only one that worked.

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I like the electric toothbrush idea-

Thanks again for sharing your secrets :smiley:

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Tks man … I love and hate numbers … 6 weeks … I don’t have this window … Right now … But … It’s up to us to know how to store … In Brazil i say 0800 =Tool free …

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The sonic ones make a nice vibration that knocks out the pollen if you just touch the back of the brush head to the branch. Plus they’re pretty cheap now for the low end ones or old models. I just had an old one around because I got a newer model, and it really works well.

It’s also useful for making hash flow off of surfaces.

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Thanks for the insight brother. I may just be able to collect some pollen with my current seed run so I have great interest. PPP would likely make a good mix for something. What do you use for a dessicator?

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I started with a Sterilite brand gasket tote, and a “mini closet dehumidifier”. It does a great job. Put in a mini hygrometer and you can watch it dry.

Now I use a lab grade one from lab surplus off of eBay, and bulk color indicating silica beads.

Both work well. More silica =better, so i like the bulk solution. Supposedly you can bake it in the oven and reuse. The closet one is cheap and has a convenient heater built it. So you just plug it in to recharge.

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Well 6 week is the minimum, depending on strain. You generally let the seed plants go beyond when you would harvest for buds. Like till the plant is dying and starting to dry and the seeds are poking out of the calyx.
This was my first pollination, so I hope this is how it’s suppose to look lol

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The ideal time for most hybrids is week three or four of flower. The male is best if it has developed a little in it’s progression of flowering. You might not want to collect the very first male flowers. No science, just my hunch. Google it, too. You’ll see a lot of interesting ideas of how people do it. You’ll figure your own way. It does require a little planning and care if you don’t want to pollinate everything in your house and your neighborhood, lol. That stuff is so microscopic it travels very easily. It’s not necessarily hard or complicated, but getting the finesse part of it is an art.

I haven’t learned that art yet. I have lots of crosses I never intended and lots of seeds to share in the future, heh. ?That’s how you learn though. Google will show you videos and lots of stuff to read. It’s fun but just know that it only takes a little. Too much goes everywhere. The trick is just figuring out how to keep it under control.

@lefthandseeds has got some great ideas on it. I need to pick his brain myself. I’m not finesse at all. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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Thanks very much. I really appreciate the info.
dl06DfL

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@DougDawson

Here’s my fancy setup. Notice how the silica color changes when it’s saturated. 10% is the lowest the hygrometer reads. :sweat_smile:

My closet dehumidifiers are the white ones on the bottom. They don’t do much compared to the bulk silica.

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