Males is a problematic and polemic subject generally ^^
In practice i keep mines at 18/6, no real specific treat but somes PK dose in veg just before i enter them in the pollen box. Really nothing special.
I can’t write very long with references and pics etc …, bit rushed, but you have first to distinct three specific behaviors with males :
1 - a male that just show preflowers at nodes and that continue to veg
2 - a male that have been triggered (by accident or something else) in flowering stage and that don’t stop when back in veg (18 or 24, doesn’t matter it’s hormonal at this stage)
3 - a male that truly flower under 18/6 or 24/0
So it will depend mostly on your own goals, your choices about what kind of male you want to use. If you want to mostly use the “dragster” males (#3) in your breeding program, go 24 with a light intensity of 1K/sqm and you’re safe to maintain the fastest males on earth lol
On my side, and it’s a very personal choice and that is totally against the actual trend, i simply avoid any #3 type males in my breeding programs. A long lasting effect is my main priority over everything else, and to maintain it with the fastest males is like walking on the water.
What about when you want to breed a male clone with the females, do you start flowering both at the same time ?
This question is totally irrationnal, so it’s a good question. If you want to short a haze with an aghani, do you really thing than the best afg pollen will be thrown on the haze in the right time with a male that fully flower in 40 days and a female that fully flower in 120 days ?
In this specific case, you will launch your haze, then wait the right window (bract thickness and aimed productivity in term of number of seeds) to launch the male, that don’t take more that a week to throw mature pollen (afg). This equation must be evaluated each time that you pick a new reference (male or female).
Since this post, you can find the type of information you searching for in details with an accurate pictures of synchro.
Some males are faster then other, do you get to know your male through trial and error and base the flowering window on the males maximum pollen production to be time with the females optimal breeding time frame 21-28 days ?
Yes, you have to known them before using them. At least to best synchronize them with your chosen females. This 21-28 day rule is BS and totally irrationnal. If you pollenate this way one of the jack’s female that i’m working with actually, you will just get immature seeds with immature pollen ^^
Just keep it practical and not theoric, pollenate when the majority of the bracts are thick (mature) and appear like “plush”. No matter how many seeds you aim (heavy loaded female or partial, or lightly seeded etc … depend on the mother vigor mainly). And please forget any absolute rule that simply don’t exist in breeding of cannabis.
Should indica fathers have the same light/nutrient schedule as a sativa father?
It’s entirely drived by the specificity of the strains, not so by its subclass. There is not really “sativa” feeding chart, just adaptation to the long seeded flowering stage that imply to grow seeds and not weed. It’s of course more caricatural on a 120 days haze than on a 40 days chronic ^^
Don’t change the behavior than you have with sensi, everything is proportional and rational on feeding seeded plants.
I just firmly advise you to limit your flo boosters for these specimens to a PK boost during flowering stage and root stimulator during veg stage (only).
What about pollinating using a live male vs stored pollen ?
This a very polemic subject (in my case). I love to keep my stuff fresh and alive and my reasons are fundamentals, i mean it’s an insurance to accomplish what i have to do.
imho, and no matter if you want to freeze it or not, you have first to known when to collect this pollen to get the best one. And it’s near different for all specimens. The use of a little microscopic device to watch the grains can help a lot in the begin, after it’s more a combo of smells/pollen bags repartition/colors that you will be used to deal with without any technical help.
What about npk ratios for veg and flowering males are they the same as females?
Males are the brothers of theyr sisters, not aliens ^^
Just avoid flo boosters for seeded clones and you’re fine, keep the feeding very simple and very stable.
What the best light cycle to get a male to show its pollen sacks the quickest and in the most productive maner?
Like you don’t want to smoke only the preflowers of your females, you don’t want too the pollen of the first bags of your males. So the question is a bit biased and get out from my spectrum of consideration.
To answer purely to the question, just put your male on a paper box for a little week without any light. When he will see the light again, and with a hint of PK, he will throw the hell on your females. I use it only in extreme emergencies.
What about pruning and defoliation and bonsai father plant techniques? Males tend to be strechier than females, how can I tie/bend/prune a male to make it more productive and compact in veg ? Does lst, scrog and supercropping apply to male plants also?
I use a very simple training method with both (mom/pop) that consist to training upside down the best apical meristem of the plant. On clones, i generally try to split them in twos vigorous stems for productivity considerations. But it have nothing to do with breeding (if you don’t select these specifics linked traits), just adaptation to your needs. To be clear, do what you want on this side it doesn’t matter.
BUT, you have to consider that a sinse flowering time is not a seeded flowering time. With time and experience, you will quickly avoid anything that add extra time and cost extra energy to the plants on the seed production.
True secrets are real only in selection, nowhere else in breeding. Engrave it for good to your mind and have fun with your fresh seeds ;o)