Damn I missed out
3 Likes
You haven’t missed out …yet.
There’s still lots of slots still open 
Cheers
G
9 Likes
I’m TL3
I know someone who will share his with me.
5 Likes
Sign up in the TL2 group, it all coming ‘out of the same pot’.
If that fills up I’ll add another 25.
Cheers
G
16 Likes
Thank you.
I didnt want to take anyones spot
9 Likes
Pollen collection is happening, here’s the group shot of the boys 
In case you were wondering… Yup, right through the lights… 
Back to the ladies…
The pistils are the most obvious difference between Critical plus and OG.
Critical plus
OG Kush
Yup
Gpaw’s getting a little sugar… 
It’s a little hard to make out, but the OG bud structure is interesting. There are dark brown spiky bits mixed in with the pistils (I need a better camera… )
{enlarge the photo above}
After spending some time with the magnifying loop, I can say: they aren’t old pistils and they aren’t the tips of sugar leaves…
I think they are the tips of the calyxs… 
Cheers
G
44 Likes
Those are rather strange looking…. The flower looks great though! 
4 Likes
All three ladies are showing the same structure…
Not something I’ve run across before, so interesting…
It’s a little spooky how well they are looking…
Murphy is probably setting me up…
Cheers
G
18 Likes
Maybe the start of some new different color sugar leaves? That’s my guess
6 Likes
Maybe… we will see how this develops. 
I love a girl with a little mystery… 
Cheers
G
8 Likes
Those spikes got me on my Blac n Blu Cookies.
When they first showed I thought they were pistols and they had magenta tips. I thought I had the pheno that @BigMike55 had for just a while until it became more obvious what color the actual pistols were.
Yeah. I know just what you described.
4 Likes
Just had a quick look… Cookies are OG Kush x Durban…
I’ll bet there’s more strains out there like this. 
Cheers
G
8 Likes
It had me guessing for sure. 
4 Likes
Based on the description, this sounds like a great strain for me. Signed up! 
5 Likes
I think you are correct, on closer inspection last night - they appear to be modified sugar leaf tips.
They are visible in the upper buds that are catching the most light and they are on 3 out of the 4 females. So maybe a ‘genetic/light intensity thing’?
I’m running about 50K lux at the canopy level.
It will be interesting to see how this data compares to the final smoke test…
Cheers
G
13 Likes
Pollen Collection and Storage
Let me start with this.
Humidity/moisture is ‘pollen kryptonite’.
It sounds ‘dramatic’ but this gives us a valuable tool for pollen handling and ‘decontamination’. To implement this, a ‘dollar store’ sprayer set to misting and plain water takes care of that job - superbly.
Researching the ‘interwebs’ led to studies going back to the 1950’s discussing pollen storage & preservation. These studies had a common thread circling around humidity and temperature.
Properly prepared pollen (that’s an alliteration – you know, bonus points… 
) demonstrably lasts longer at cooler temperatures.
Frozen being best for longest term storage. For our purposes, the ‘close to freezing’ temperatures of the typical refrigerator should do for short/medium term (up to 6+ months).
Last year, I collected pollen, sieved out the garbage (male flowers etc) and mixed 1:10 with toasted flour and this was immediately used to great affect.
I have since noticed an increase in pollen swapping among members here and that led to this year’s side project.
My goal is to desiccate (dry) the pollen, package and then vacuum seal.
To do this, I’m going to package the pollen in a small paper ‘coin envelopes’ and condition them in the drying box (air tight box with desiccant pack) for 72 hours. Then heat seal that envelope in a vacuum bag…
To test my protocol…
Some of these vacuum sealed packets will be stored with my bean collection (in the fridge) and some in my freezer (long term testing).
…I’ll be chucking test pollen for years… Hopefully with a little help from you folks!
Pollen collection
The males have been manifolded and stripped of most leaves as they get in the way…
I’m using a sheet of paper to collect the pollen, then cleaning out the male flowers.
{Bristol board would probably be an improvement over the paper}
Conditioning
I secured a gasketed plastic ammo box and a desiccant pack this fall to condition the pollen for storage and preservation.
Tests showed that I could achieve 23% RH (the external RH was 60%).
Allowing 3~4 days to achieve equilibrium I will then vacuum pack and store.
Cheers
G
48 Likes
That right there! Yes it takes up a lot of room (one reason I actually dislike popping more seeds 
) but I’d hate to loose a keeper again! I won’t put a plant into bloom until I have a rooted cut.
Freebie or bag seeds, I’ll take a clone. One of my favorite plants came from a bag seed, I just really wish I had a clone of her sister too/instead. This one is smells like lucky charms marshmallows, while the one that didn’t have a rooted cut was like fruity pebbles and bubblegum 
.
8 Likes
@Gpaw thats really killer and super helpful info there! Gonna have to remember this the next time it’s time to collect pollen.
8 Likes
Ask any questions if there’s parts I wasn’t clear about.
Sometimes it only makes sense in my head…
Cheers
G
8 Likes
@Gpaw
Dude ! nice side project 
If I ever need to collect and store pollen, Ill be sure to try it your way. Sounds so cool to have pollen in the fridge from superior males. Such a nice things ti have when deciding what new strains you could cross. All the hard work is done, and you just get to sort throu which male you would like to use.
.
Im kinda paranoid about pollen, not sure if I try to make a cross if I will clean everything properly afterwards.
Ive been trying to design some kind of airtight bag to place over my cross projects so pollen dosnt get everywhere. It wowoul allow me to use several diferent pollen donors at the same time while being sure no stray pollen from the other males touches the unintended females.
Im attaching several filters to the bag in order to allow air exchange and also rid them of any condensation. I looked up the pollen μm size and found a filter that will block even the smallest of thr pollens from the forget me nots. It isnt necessary to be that small, but it should block any pollen from getting in or getting out, and just as importantly, condensation will not form as it can breath.
I guess im going to try it out. I will also have control plants in the same tent as the crosses. This way if they dont become pollinated, then I know the bags are woworkingif im successful, then Inshould be able to create multiple crosses in the same tent at the same time without cross contamination of pollens.
5 Likes