Hi @Baltimore. If you start 2 plants at the same time, and one os female and one male, the male will normally begin flowering sooner. So, you have a chance to catch it before it interrupts the girl.
A good way to save pollen safely is to get it not too long after it first starts dropping pollen.
You can clip a small top off and put in a glass of water and a box, on top of parchment paper, and let it drop naturally, then save it like Sam suggests.
It really takes so little. You don’t have to collect a gram of it or anything. I depends on how you will use it. Storing too much together will just waste what you don’t use the first time. So, keep it simple and remember you don’t have to save the whole plant’s pollen stores. Just a little to use on your next project.
Maybe a good way is to get seeds you aren’t really concerned about and try it a couple of times. Google “saving cannabis pollen” or similar, and watch a few videos or read some posts you find. You’ll get the idea pretty quick.
If you’re using seeds you aren’t worried about losing, then you can then try and paint a little pollen onto a bud on a branch f a flowering plant… she needs to be at week 3-5, and I prefer week 3ish… that way the plant has time to finish the seeds and give them enough time to mature fully.
A plant will begin putting all of the energy into producing seeds, and the THC production slows. You plant won’t smoke quite as good as if it had no seeds, but that’s the deal. It’s still fine but usually a little harsh and it won’t “pop” in aromas and flavors like a fresh sensimilla plant does.
But, do a run to practice, after you have enough smoke to tide you over. You’ll still get smoke but not as tasty or strong.
You’ll learn more by doing it once and finding out what a mess it can be. My first try I saved pollen from a nice male… I had a room full of plants and wanted to paint a few buds on only one plant. I took the plant out, used a small paintbrush, and dusted a few buds.
I took the plant back in, and all is good and continue on with flowering. Well, geting near harvest I start noticing seeds on the other plants… all of them, lol…
Pollen will come off of the plant you dusted and be blown all over your grow room by the fan. It’s microscopic basically and can pollinate with stuff you can’t see. You can also track it back in on your clothes, hair, shoes…etc. And your fan, house ventilation, and any numbers of ways will move the pollen all over the house.
On a good note, if you have a variety of plants, you’ll get lots of crosses to play with and do your own selection process. So, sort of fun to mess up if you’re ready for it.
That first time will show you how sensitive the process can be. It’s very simple and easy to get and save some pollen, but to do it and not pollinate your entire grow, your neighborhood’s outdoor grows… etc… well, not as easy.
But, don’t let it scare you, it just creates unwanted circumstances if not prepared for it
I learned more from just doing it that first time… I broke a few rules on purpose, just to satisfy my own personal curiosity of the boundaries.
So, throw caution to the wind sometime and give it a whirl. If you watch a few vids, you’ll get the basics real quick. And, when you’ve done it once, you’ll know a lot more about how to approach it in the future.
I may have some extra f2seeds I made from that first pollen chuck I could donate. I used the f1s from the first time and made f2s with two siblings the next run. That one, the male was inside on the back porch, and all of my plants were growing outdoor. I took my female inside and shook the male over her…
I ended up with seeds in every plant outside. Some more than others. So, pollen travels very easy… that’s about the only thing to remember… Also if pollen gets wet it supposedly neutralizes it…So, when storing it, use a small airtight container and drop a few rice kernels in to keep it dry.
Also, once you dust a plant, after a bit… 15-30 min, or less, you can spray the plant off with a hose before you put it back with others… that is supposed to neutralize it…mostly. At least it prevents it from blowing off of the plant then.
You may be shaky at it at first, but, you will make seeds, maybe at out all of your plants, but, you’ll be on your way… Just read a little too,. It’'fill in all the gaps I’m missing here…peace
) what about reversing a male? how is that done?
