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.
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Just had a quick look… Cookies are OG Kush x Durban… 
I’ll bet there’s more strains out there like this. 
Cheers
G
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It had me guessing for sure. 
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Based on the description, this sounds like a great strain for me. Signed up! 
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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
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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
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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 
.
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@Gpaw thats really killer and super helpful info there! Gonna have to remember this the next time it’s time to collect pollen.
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Ask any questions if there’s parts I wasn’t clear about.
Sometimes it only makes sense in my head…
Cheers
G
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@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.
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@Seamonkey84
Dude that strain sounds amazing !
What strain did you find those terps in ?
Im glad you were able to keep at least that one. Damn. If you ever make any S1s please let me know haha. I would love to work with and try some of those.
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It was a pair of seeds I found in an oz of Banana Kush from the dispensary (indoor grown). So either something else in their grow hermied and made a cross, or they’re S1 from that banana kush. I do plan on making seeds with her, not sure if I want to self it since there’s a high chance of it being S1 to begin with
This is the one I was able to keep, the lucky charms marshmallow one. I call her Monkey Picked Kush, I put a clone into bloom two weeks ago. This is from the last time I grew one out, but it was just a 6” clone when I flipped her
Sorry, getting off topic.
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You are going to love tomorrow’s post!.. 
Ok, if you want more now before then, check out:
That should have been better presented, but you’ll get the idea.
Somewhere later I discuss the ‘Quality Control’ data as to how well my pollen protocol worked.
TL:DR
On an adjacent sensi cola I had 2 seeds…
I had several hundred on the pollinated colas.
This time, I trying ‘sloppier’ protocol just to check the cross contamination. This is mostly with the head stash plant but also on the Critical Plus. I crossed both OG males to a couple branches and left 3/4 of the plant sensi. I’m looking forward to see how much seed I have in the sensi buds.
If I totally screw it up, I have a clone of the Critical as Plan ‘B’.
Cheers
G
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So, @Gpaw, you really have a way of delivering information making it easy to follow. I appreciate it for sure.
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Well thank you so much!
I truly appreciate that…
That is my primary drive, well - that and some level of wit…
but… I frequently miss on the last part…
Cheers
G
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Great pollen primer/topic! As I move forward with more seed production/pollen distribution, this kind of stuff is gold. Thanks!
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Oh sweet ! Thank you I need to read this. Im so worried about the pollen. I even thought of waiting I think was it 30 hours ?? after pollination and then spraying the entire area including the buds with water. I think I read that in Marijuana Botany Robert ClarkeI
need to find the page again. I forget how many hours it takes for the pollen to complete ots job on the female.
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I think of RC Clarke as professor Pot… I love his work.
It was mind blowing last year seeing comprehensive DNA work vindicating his suppositions from 20 years before.
He was literally 100% correct (as far as he would allow himself to speculate).
His academic rigor was proved masterful. He built his thesis on multidisciplinary works, I was skeptic until near the end.
Cheers
G
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