Sorry to start a new thread but I figured it may be easier to start a new one as opposed to jumping on old ones.
I have a Gorilla Zkittles that has suddenly shown himself. I thought I had all females and was bummed out with the lack of a viable male. Now it looks like my plan as originally laid out may may come to fruition. Guess we shall see.
I am including pictures for others to weigh in on as I am not sure exactly how to proceed. The plant is about five feet tall and very healthy. Hate to take it down but I also do not want a seeded harvest, just some seeds.
My thoughts are this so any input is helpful.
I want to chop the top or tops off and put in water to collect pollen like cut flowers. This seems to be what people suggest.
When should I do this as I am not sure how long it takes for pollen to form and if I cut to soon will I miss my opportunity to get any useful pollen? If this is not an option or my timing is not right I may stick the whole thing in a tent if the consensus is that I should. I could throw some small lights on it.
My goal is to dab a bit of pollen on a single lower bud on each plant and see what comes out. Currently I have a female version of Gorilla Zkittles, some SuperSkunk, and what i thought were Triangle Kush but may not be. Also I have one Ed Rosenthal Super Bud
If/when I do this will the entire plant stop with thc production and go into seed production, or will only the pollinated bud show this retraction? I know the non pollinated branches should be “sensemilia” in the sense but will the yield be dramatically affected? This is my main concern.
That dude is already throwing his dust about. Anything you have in flower right now, its a safe bet, is already pollinated.
As far as collection, bend a few branches down, put their tops in a bag and tap the branches. Your cutting the branches and putting them in a vase should work, just put something like tin foil, or parchment paper under it to catch the falling pollen and anthers
@Enrico I agree with @joheimgrohen , some of those male flowers are already open, which means they’ve dumped pollen. I’m 99% certain you already have way more seeds on the way than you want.
To do the best save of your harvest, wet the male plant thoroughly first thing in the morning, preferably before the dew dries / lights come on. Do this before you move him in order to stop additional pollen from getting in the air. Then get him out of there.
I would wet the female plants thoroughly also, to wash off / deactivate the pollen that’s on their leaves.
If you want to do like Joheimgrohen suggested to collect pollen, that would work if you do it before getting him wet, but might also release some pollen from the rest of the male plant. I would do the vase thing instead, and would snip the branches only after wetting the plant.
Then just watch your plants. Hopefully you only get a few hundred seeds. I’ve noticed some plants stop making resin on seeded buds, but others carry on as though nothing happened. When it’s a small number of seeds, or low down on the plant like your original plan it doesn’t seem to be an issue for most plants.
If that Big Boy was anywhere near the flowering girls there are seeds already forming. Pollen gets everywhere.
When I want pollen I move the male plant upstairs when it first starts forming flower spikes. A sunny window nearby is all the light necessary to continue flowering the male. I use a square of wax paper to collect the pollen. I bend the flowering branch and tap it to release the pollen onto the wax paper. Pollen slides easily on wax paper. Fold the wax paper into a little pouch, label and date it, and keep it cold and dark to store.
Thank you for the quick and detailed responses. As of this morning he is no more. Followed @joheimgrohen and @RainToday advice and wet em all down. I pulled the male and isolated about 72 hrs ago but I was so busy and tied up it prevented me from following up here.
The Super Skunk was next door neighbors and is by far the farthest along in flower so my thinking is this is the seed queen.
