Hey all, so I finished an open pollination seed run in my grow room with 2 tents and wonder, how do you all clean up after this? I want to make sure I get all stray pollen, the room is full of it, out of the picture for my next run. I am assuming bleaching the whole room would be the ticket but tell me, how do you deal with it?
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Pollen isn’t viable very long in open conditions. A few days, max. Don’t worry about it.
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How long would pollen stay viable in a closed vile left out
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Thia was my thinking but want to make sure when I do my Sour Bubble run that I dont screw up the genetics with stray pollen. Thanks.
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I don’t have an exact answer for you but viability at room temp open container has to be less than a week. Light, moisture, air all degrade it rapidly. If stored properly it can last months…it does lose viability surely though…then again if you have pollen and it’s only 10% viable grains it’s still a lot of seeds.
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Thanks vernal, always wondered about that
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Is there any chance for genetic drift/issues/errors with older pollen? Chance of damage to the genes with improperly stored pollen? Or is viability the only concern?
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Possibly, don’t have an answer…but unviable pollen doesn’t really make seeds, so I wouldn’t worry.
I just run plants in the same tent as the pollen donor and pull the male when plants look pollinated. Still gotta wait like 6+ weeks before seeds are ripened, at which point any pollen is completely degraded.
Subsequent runs are clean, no seeds that couldn’t be explained by a simple herm.
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I do a water wipe down spray and clean up can use soap if needing a clean anyways, though no excessive cleaning and then carry on as said pollen degrades.
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Sure, sure, you SAY that. But I tried the same line on my wife and now we have 3 kids so Ill stick to bleach and fire.
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As you know, I’m managing a couple of seed runs that are important to me and a few others. While I generally agree with @vernal about the viability of pollen, I didn’t / don’t want to risk anything to chance. So in the space where I’ve done the pollinating, I run all my oscillating fans and exhaust fan on high, while also running my big HEPA filter air purifier. I move the fans around over the course of a day or two to make sure all the surfaces have been hit. I even have a large fan that tilts to blow straight up to hit the ceiling. For a tent or smaller space, this should be a much quicker process.
Once I’ve completed that process, I put about a half pint of 99% pure isopropyl alcohol and RO water into a pump sprayer and spray down everything, top to bottom. It will definitely kill all the remaining pollen, and the pure alcohol and water ensure you don’t have streaking on your reflective surfaces. Then I just run a dehumidifier to keep things dry.
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some variables there humidity temp ,light, really i liked @vernal 's answer
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again vernals answer is great, always a chance in my mind, but im still waiting on my chance to hook up with SofĂa Vergara, imo about the same odds
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Nothing wrong with keeping things clean, it’s just good practice overall but I can’t imagine 1 iota of risk unless you’re doing back to back pollinations somehow. It definitely isn’t going to last longer than the 6-8 weeks for seed to ripen…that being said the pollen and pollen sacks fall off and get EVERYWHERE in the space and do need to be vaccuumed out with a shop vac, in my experience.
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Yup!! That’s my situation. Separated by a couple of weeks or so, but pretty much back to back.
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Thanks very much @vernal and @Purple-N-Hairy. Yeah the pollen is everywhere caked on everything. After a big vaccum I will use the solution @Purple-N-Hairy suggested just to be on the safe side. From what @vernal said it doesnt look like it will be an issue but I would rather err on the side of caution. Dont want any chance of messing up these hard to find BOG Sour Bubbles.
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This sounds like if you close of the room, add a humidifier for a week to get the place un-ideal for pollen survival, then wipe everything down with damp paper towel and should be good?
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And risk the possibility of mold spores hiding in every crevasse? Sounds like a recipe for future disaster - but it might kill the pollen!
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This is why I say things out loud! SOLID POINT!
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I really wouldn’t worry. Even if there is leftover pollen somehow, it still takes a few weeks for new females in the space to start putting out pistils…at which point the leftover pollen wouldn’t be viable.
Overabundance of caution IMO. It needs to be dried, sealed, and stored in the freezer to have any chance of viability.
Mold that may form in a damp room isn’t the same kind that attacks plants. I don’t think using a humidifier is necessary, either way. Vaccuum what you can, use a little bleach and water and wipe everything down once and call it a day.
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