Managing a sequential selective pollination
The stars must be in some fortuitous alignment because all the elements necessary have come together to allow me a shot at hitting every goal we have envisioned for wrapping up this project.
Que Milagro Este!
All the component parts (Tools, Pollen & Flowering Plants) are all here in a big pile, and if my luck prevails we will soon have (Mom x Dad):
- Frankenstein clone x Fem Frankie pollen (selfed Fem S1 seeds)
- Frankie’s Daughter Hilda x Fem Frankie pollen, (BC1 Backcross, Fem seeds)
- Frankie’s Daughter Olive x Fem Frankie pollen (BC1 Backcross, Fem seeds)
- Frankie’s Daughter Hilda x Oger Kush Pollen (Regular F1 seeds)
- Frankie’s Daughter Olive x Oger Kush Pollen (Regular F1 seeds)
- Frankenstein clone x Oger Kush Pollen (Regular F1 seeds)
There’s just the little matter of coordinating all of those nuptials at the right time and in such a way as to avoid any potential cross contamination of pollen hitting the wrong plant. So, yeah.
The “Sequential” part of this involves picking pollination dates for each plant after the buds are ripe & receptive, but soon enough to allow for a full six week seed maturation. At this moment, only one of the three recipient girls is ready.
The “Selective” technique is to put a protective cover over most of the plant during pollination and only expose a branch or two to the magic dust. It also involves color coding the selected branches to keep track of which pollen they have received.
Preventing contamination is the hardest part by far, but I have a plan to handle that.
Today was my first trial run and it went pretty well.
Here’s my first victim, an unsuspecting female Frankenstein clone mother plant. She has been living in the squalid Mom-Plant dungeon since last summer so it’s time for this lonely spinster to achieve multi-motherhood. The two branches with tags at the bottom of the pic are up at bat first.
Her amorous male partner consists of a dose of the reversed Frankie pollen I have been collecting. This dust was gathered over the last few days so it is as fresh as it will ever be. Should be potent!
Here’s my selective pollination tool kit.
- Waterproof tarp to collect stray pollen and washdown water
- Drip tray and rotating platter for the plant to allow dusting from every angle.
- Misc. tape, hand sprayer and various brushes for dabbing pollen.
- Two “Raincoat” bags with slots for a selected branch or two to poke out of for dusting while the rest of the plant is protected from pollen. The black bag spread out is for medium sized plants. The two bamboo sticks go into the soil pot to keep the bag off the plant as much as possible. The large bag on the left rolled up is for Big plants. It has two long bamboo poles inside. Not shown is the small plant bag I’ll be using today.
Here is the reversed pollen-bearing Frankie male plant that I have been collecting pollen from on a daily basis. This whole event is being hosted in my adult Son’s bedroom. I have a “temporary Lease” on the space from my Saintly Spouse.
The blushing CannaBride in her demure wedding apparel. The three week old buds on these two exposed branches were dusted twice, about 20 minutes apart.
I have tried various brushes and the one shown here seems to work best. Just touch the tip gently to the pile to pick up a bit of pollen, then tap and rub gently over the pistils of a single bud. The pollen pile is what was left over, I reckon I used about half. (Hat tip @Bobgrows, for the bitchin rolling tray!)
I attempted to take a trophy shot of pollen actually wafting down onto the wiggly harem of virgin pistils but it failed miserably. I’ll have a bunch more chances over the next few weeks.
DECON
Once the deed was done, I poured myself a glass of jug merlot and retired to the hot tub as a light snow gently performed its own silent powdery dusting of my yard.
My claim is that this outdoor bathing step is an essential decontamination procedure to deactivate any stray pollen on my aging bod. My Saintly Spouse calls it “Just F*ing Off,” which I think is kinda mean spirited! After 40 years with this woman, I’m still misunderstood!
After a couple hours of tipsy decontamination, I re-entered the bridal chamber armed with a spray bottle of tap water to dose every surface in the area with a solid misting. You probably know this already, but moisture is the Deadly Enemy of cannabis pollen. The newly dusted branches and protective bag got special attention to ensure that any remaining pollen was thoroughly soaked.
And then, I started over and did it all again. This plant is going back into the flower room and I want to minimize the chance of accidental pollinations.
When I was satisfied I immediately moved the bagged plant downstairs to dry completely in front of a fan. The final step after Decon, is to remove the bag and take our, hopefully pregnant, but pollen-free, bride back to the flower room to celebrate with the other girls.
Here are before-and-after shots of the same bud. The first was taken right before pollination, the second was the next morning. You can see that the crinkly discolored pistils are already sending those boy-bits down the pipe to waiting ovum. Each pollinated pistil makes a seed.
Virgin Flower
The Morning After An Incestuous Fling)
A little rough and rumpled.
So, all that remains is to do all those steps, perfectly, again, another half dozen times. Stay tuned…
Peace Out,
-Grouchy
[Edit, added: the “Frankie’s Daughter Hilda x Oger Kush” cross. The most likely to achieve stardom IMHO!]