Seeds Runs - sharing tips for success

[slain]

Follow up to discussion: Seed Runs Co-Op Logistics/Cost/OT Discussion Megathread

Cool… I have two smaller tents that I use for seed making… each with a 20l dwc tub with six net pots per tub… I keep one on veg and one one flower and then just move plants from veg to flower when they are ready to be pollinated… with a bit of organisation it’s possible to always have plants either being pollinated/crossed or have them vegging so I can get to select the males and characteristics that you want to use… When the female is fully loaded with seed from the male or reversed plant then I move it to another tent with the light on 15/9 for the seeds to ripen so that it’s completely out of range of any other pollen cross contamination… I have found I get a LOT more seeds with dwc that I was with cooco… and also no more coco/perlite from asshole to breakfast.

I really should document the whole setup/process I have on here for the benefit of anyone who might want to do simmilar… it’s a very efficient way to make thousands of seeds in a production line with minimal effort/maintenance. It also works a treat for backcrossing… although I would like the make the tubs and bigger with 24 plants per tub oi that I have more pheno’s to select from at any one time…

Cool well I got no problems doing this…

[Olbrannon]

I have done seeds for myself and am a bit more confident. Still it is a hurdle that one has to manage before a seed run for others. As a new grower with only a little experience and a lot of enthusiasm I get that everyone would like to contribute once they find this place.

Definitely need to have done this before and know what you are getting yourself into. 1000 seeds is not a large yield for a single plant but probably gonna require more than a solo cup or two.

@slain

I have found I get a LOT more seeds with dwc that I was with cooco.

Yield (bud) also higher?

random stoner thought- If say 10-12 growers grew out and seeded their selections in a strain at say f2 and then sent 100 seeds back to a single point would not that work as well for an open pollination of the collected 1000-1200 f3’s?

[slain]

@Olbrannon

definitely need to have done this before and know what you are getting yourself into. 1000 seeds is not a large yield for a single plant but probably gonna require more than a solo cup or two.

Yep, for sure, solo cups won’t cut it I agree.lol. I normally start with 12 plants when making seeds indoors, and usually have that down to 6 of so by the end,. depending on of they are regs,. fems etc.

@Olbrannon

Yield (bud) also higher?

Loads higher and faster and a truck load less work

[MichiGreen]

@slain

When the female is fully loaded with seed from the male or reversed plant then I move it to another tent with the light on 15/9 for the seeds to ripen so that it’s completely out of range of any other pollen cross contamination…

INteresting! So after a thorough pollination you change the light cycle back to 15/9 for ripening?
I never heard of that approach before… usually just a normal or extended flower period for seed runs.
After pollination does the plant no longer care about photo-periods - just making seeds?

[slain]

Yeah I can’t recall who I heard this from, it may have been BOG maybe? Some pro breeder was telling me how to speed the seed development a bit… Anyway seeded buds tend to be slooooow and the seeds even slower to mature, Basically I am really impatient.
so more light hours makes the seeds significantly faster to ripen so that you don’t have to wait the entire slow flowering time and longer… After it’s been fully seeded the slow growth means at 15/9 reveg never gets a chance to happen before I have killed it to harvest the seeds.

[MichiGreen]

I searched the forum for an existing thread regarding seed production and didn’t find one…
so here’s a spot to post tips, tricks, and suggestions for great seed runs!

EDIT:
This was only the third topic that I created…
and it got hijacked…!

[LemonadeJoe]

Should blooming be extended extra time when making seeds?

i’m making my first seeds and want to know if i should allow an extra week or two when making seeds? is there any risk in allowing them to dehydrate and die naturally in that end period? thanks. first post. Cannabis.Sequoia

When to harvest for seeds?

I make seeds too but only for me, and I use just hand pollination of selected branch’s. Question is this: CAN I remove the seeds from a branch that was JUST harvested, or MUST I or do I want to wait 2 weeks till the branch is "dry’ before pulling them out??? The seeds are done, one fell out and on to the floor 2 days before the harvest, it was 100 % finished. Dying to get at these seeds I just made, see how many I made, because I am about to do it again and want to see i I need to hit more of…

Seed production

Hello everyone. I just was told by the breeder of this strain I could share the seeds and talk about the grow. In August I started some LA Diva x lowryder. He sent me some regular seeds and I had a male and female growing that would be great to breed. So I put them outside away from everything. I had to put them in jail so the damn rabbits wouldn’t eat them. Here are some pictures of them breeding. I also helped with my paint brush. [image] [image] Here are a couple of the male on August 20th…

[MichiGreen]

Thanks @LemonadeJoe!
We were posting seed-related stuff to the “Seed Runs Co-Op Logistics Megathread” and it seemed like a worthwhile topic but in the wrong place.

Thanks for adding these other related posts and approving the thread

[LemonadeJoe]

Sure, we can have dedicated topic…

[Shanti-ri]

@slain

I really should document the whole setup/process I have on here for the benefit of anyone who might want to do simmilar

@LemonadeJoe

Sure, we can have dedicated topic…

To tell the truth, I would really like to see how @slain manufactures its seeds with videos and / or photos, I certainly intend to copy somehow.

[slain]

@Shanti-ri

To tell the truth, I would really like to see how @slain manufactures its seeds with videos and / or photos, I certainly intend to copy somehow.

Give me a few weeks and I’ll be happy to do this… I am moving house in about a week so I’ll be pulling out ALL of my growing gear and setting it up again anyway. Eeeeek. . Honestly it’s nothign at all complicated and it’s so cheap and easy to get set up and working that anyone on OG could do it…

[AllOra]

This too:

Wiki for seed harvest

Here are some things I would like to know more about with regard to harvesting seeds. Seems like this would be an appropriate FAQ so I will make it a Wiki. Feel free to edit. -When to harvest seeds: Optimally when the plant says it is ready by dropping the seeds. If this is impractical, be sure the calyx is open. The seed should be visible, brown and mottled or striped. If it is green, yellow or white it is too soon and may not be viable. If you are not concerned with bag appeal, it is also…

[Tappy]

I have a few questions for the breeders out there…I know we have many talented folks who make loads of seeds, but I’m just looking for some direction.
Anyone else who wants to chime in, please do…these are just the names that come to mind while my brain is mush on kush…lol
@50State @AllOra @Sebring @Mr.Sparkle @Hashtree @slain @lefthandseeds @SCJedi @Senor_frijoles @ @ @ @ @
My fems that are designated solely as seed producing plants are on day 40 (12/12 from seed) and started throwing hairs about 12 days ago. I’ve read that this is when I want to dust pollen to create seeds. Do I need to re-apply pollen in another week once more bud and hairs (potential seed sites) grow in? I want to get as many seeds as possible and dont want to botch this. Should I be doing multiple applications as flower goes on or single application early in flower will give the desired outcome (as many seeds as possible). As for seed harvest, I’m just going to let nature take its course and let the plant go as long as it needs…no problem there.

Any tips or tricks to increase seed harvest is welcomed and appreciated!!!

Also…

@MichiGreen

So after a thorough pollination you change the light cycle back to 15/9 for ripening?

@slain

After it’s been fully seeded the slow growth means at 15/9 reveg never gets a chance to happen before I have killed it to harvest the seeds.

Has this method been proven??!

[SCJedi]

To be honest I am not much of a duster. When I am doing any kind of selection I typically clone the select males and let them go to town. I typically put them in 2 weeks after flipping the females.

I allow plants to ripen on a normal schedule but I am sure that different cultivars like different things. The only thing I do differently than a flower run is let them flower until seeds look like they are falling off the plants (and sometimes they do)

[Senor_frijoles]

This is my first time making seed. I will have this thread bookmarked… cant wait to learn what everyone with more expierence than me has to share

[AllOra]

Honored and amused to find myself on such an illustrious list.

These two JS F3 are pregnant.
The Blue has been in the Flower tent under low priority light. I anticipate 50 - 100 seeds from her.
The Green has been in the Veg room also under low priority light. She doesn’t flaunt her seeds the same way. Probably similar yeild.
No indication of reveg. It wouldn’t make sense to waste the energy. The life purpose has already been achieved.

Questions for those who actually belong on that list:
Do pregnant plants reveg as easily as similar females? I am running an experiment now with a pregnant JS that reveges at the drop of a hat (well, chop of a head anyway). Been a few weeks and she hasn’t started with the weirdness.
If so, what is the effect on the seeds?
More
Do pregnant plants herm? Anyone? I am VERY curious about this.

[Mr.Sparkle]

@Tappy any photos of said plant, yes you can reapply if you want but also will have seeds finishing at different stages or at all as once the plant starts working on seeds throwing out more calyxs is just secondary.

Best is to have the plant just packed with good green/white viable pistils and do a mass dusting then and if desired follow up again the next day or two and call its done.

@AllOra and yes preg plants will reveg they are a little harder jsut cause of thje seed focus, but if you have enough leaf/bud mass they will

[Tappy]

@Mr.Sparkle
These pics are almost 4 days old…bud/seed sites are a bit bigger with more hairs now.

They’re currently sleeping, but can get updated pics in 4 hours.

.
Only the 2 fabric pots in this last photo are flowering…the solo is much younger.

[Grease_Monkey]

My limited experience says wait. I did my purple kush a few times over a week and a bit. And she got hit when the budsites were and clustered with pistils. Ya know like when they get to that point of being a nickle to quarter around and all pistils.

[Grease_Monkey]

It would have been about this point that I pollenated. I got 140 from 2 smaller branches. After letting it go until they were dropping I may have tossed 10 immature seeds