Contributed by: Kryptonite
Collecting Pollen:
When the first male flowers start to show a possibility of opening, the plant is removed and isolated from the rest of the garden. The male can be placed in a makeshift box, closet, or in an adjacent room.
It is very important to make sure it is secluded from the female garden and there is absolutely NO possibility of pollen drifting into unwanted areas.
It is preferable to have sufficient lighting such as a compact flouroescent fixture, or if “Direct” sunlight from a window source is available that may also be adequate.
The male plant MUST Remain on a 12/12 schedule.
Through Experimentation I have found that if the male does not have ample lighting it will in most cases cease to finish the flowering cycle followed by complete shutdown of pollen production within several days.
Pollen is Easily collected by placing a shot glass or similar item under the flower of which you would like to harvest the pollen from.
Giving a gentle tap to the “ripe” flower with an object such as a pair of tweezers will often cause it to spring open like a parachute and occasionally fall into the glass, “remove them as they fall”. It is very important not to let anything that will cause moisture to build in the glass which will result in your pollen caking up on you. Pull the flower from the glass with your tweezers and give it a good tap on the rim of the glass to remove remaining pollen stuck to the flower.
While harvesting Tap the Flowers gently as not to disturb other male flowers on the plant. An agressive Tap will cause pollen to fall from other finished flowers on the plant resulting in a loss of viable pollen.
Male flowers open over a period of several days, during this time you should gather what you deem to be enough for your project, working around the plant as the flowers are ready. A little goes a long way.
It is also helpful if you remove flowers that you have already collected pollen from after each harvest. This is done so that each time you visit your male you can easily Identify Newly ripened flowers.
It is common to catch enough for a small project over a period of 5 days or so after the male flowers have begun to open. At this time the male can either be discarded, consumed, or cloned for future use.
“Naturally” the males flower earlier than the females in order to allow for sufficient overlap. By the time you have finished collecting your pollen the girls should be just about ready to be pollenated.
I would then seclude your best Female for the traits that you want to hopefully preserve from the rest of the garden.
Pollinate early to insure sufficient time for the seed to ripen, most Indica Strains should be pollinated from 10 to 17 days of 12/12 allowing at least 4 weeks for them to finish. It would be preferable to let them finish with the buds, the longer you let your seed ripen the more viable they will be.
Applying the collected Pollen:
If you are not breeding for seed only pollinating the main cola should be avoided, as an example I have personally had excellent results introducing pollen to the secondary colas producing plenty of seed for future use and enough to give to friends.
Now take a cotton swab and gently dab it into the pollen collecting a small amount on the head of the swab, then hovering over the selected buds “female Flowers” that you wish to pollinate give the q-tip a gentle tap with your forefinger and you will see a golden cloud of pollen drift into the bud, try to avoid touching the “hairs” during flowering, It does harm them making them die and wither off.
You can control the fall of the pollen by blowing gently in the direction you want it to travel.
Before placing the girl back into the room make sure you dust it off by blowing excess pollen off of her manually, or you using a hair drying on it’s cool setting also works, this will help to insure that you will not have the surplus pollen drifting into unwanted places.
Another good suggestion would be to let the plant sit “secluded” for several hours after pollination, at this time spray a mist of plain PH corrected water over the entire plant “thoroughly”.
Wetting of the plant will dampen any residual pollen rendering it non-viable and basically useless. Let the plant sit and dry while it is away from the rest of the garden.
Within 24 to 36 hours you should begin to see the pollinated “hairs” turn reddish or amber, this will show you exactly where to find your seed later.
It is also a good identifier for finding buds pollinated by any occasional excess pollen.
Don’t rush their finish, let them go!
I’d hate to see you waste a lot of good bud on immature “green” seeds by not letting them finish fully.
Another tip: In regards to pollinating the lower branches, make sure that you are getting enough light penetration to the area that you have pollinated, if the buds in the areas which lack ample lighting do not usually finish properly neither will your seed.
I’d try to always let them go at least 4.5 to 5 weeks.
The seed is then dried, cured and stored IN the buds, packed neatly in canning jars or bagged in the fridge, taken out as they are needed for use.
This should be a simple easy to use base for you to get started, but please continue Learning through experimantation. By doing this you will find unique ways of customizing this technique that better suits your needs.
Good Luck in your Breeding Endeavors, I hope I have helped you OVERGROW The World!!!