Debating if I Should Germinate a Stray Seed

[FoolsParadise]

I'm a guerilla grower and last season I noticed my Chronic Haze had two mature seeds in it. She was a big girl (or at least at my latitude) yielded about 13 oz. The Northern Lights right next to her had no seeds. So I assume she didn't hermie late. Wouldn't there have been more seeds? And there were no under developed seeds. I tossed one I found early. But I'm considering germinated the second one because I lost two of my three Chronic Haze seedlings for this season (and as an seasonal outdoor grower, waiting a couple weeks for seeds to arrive will set me a back.) I'm guessing two grains of pollen floated in from another grower in the woods. If that's the case, it might make for a good cross. If it was self pollinated or perhaps I had pollen from a ditch weed bag my neighbor gave me, I doubt it will be worth growing (and hoping it's a girl). Have any of you ever popped a stray seed and had good luck?

 

[TheFertilizer]

Pretty sure lots of people have had good luck popping seeds they find. It could have been errant pollen, but if it was then I'd kind of expect your other plant to have gotten pollinated too. On the other hand, on a 13 oz plant, there was probably just one little nanner or something that popped and spread pollen on the inside of it, but that didn't get out to the other one. if that's the case it will end up either female or go hermaphrodite itself.

 

[FoolsParadise]

Thanks TheFertilizer. I've never had a plant hermaphrodite and assumed it would have caused more seeds. Definitely don't want one with the outdoor girls this season. But we have recently moved and have some indoor space now. I've identified male plants but haven't bothered sprouting mixed seeds in about a decade. So I assume if it's male or hermaphrodite, keeping it in a bedroom next to my seedling girls will be okay until they are outdoors?

 

[TheFertilizer]

They don't always grow a ton of male flowers, other times you'll see "nanners" sprout up on a bud in a single spot. Just one male flowers in a cluster of calyxes. Something like that usually happens as a stress response. Other times when you have whole clusters of male flowers, it's become more of an "intersex" trait that's been reinforced in the plants genetics. So if you do grow this seed, and you get a plant that pollinates itself, you probably don't want to grow out that S2 generation ('s' standing for self) because then you'd be artificially selecting for the hermaphroditic response. On the other hand, if it's just a one-off reaction by the plant due to some stress, then that S1 generation will produce a female plant without any intersex flowers.

You should be fine to grow it out around sexually immature plants without worrying about it pollinating them, but just be mindful that pollen can travel on your clothes and hair, so if you work around this plant and it sprouts some nanners you may end up taking it into your outdoor garden. That being the case, some simple precautions like visiting this plant first, and then having a change of clothes and a shower, and you should be fine. You should also mist the area with water as this deactivates pollen. Also when you examine the plant to look for male flowers, mist it down well before you look under any leaves where male flowers may be hiding, because disturbing the area may result in a big cloud of pollen dropping.

That might sound complicated but I mean, just be mindful that the plant could throw some pollen around, keep it away from sexually mature plants, and wet the area down so it doesn't contaminate future plants. You probably won't need to worry about it at all and will just end up with a female plant.

 

[Jackalope]

With only a couple of seeds. It was probably one of those lone male flowers that show up here and there. Not a hermie. 8 out of 10 strains will try some kind of last ditch effort to propagate. Its what plants do. There would have been lots of them if it was because of a hermie. Should be female seeds and not a problem to grow.

 

[FoolsParadise]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've been growing a long time, but there is still a lot I have to learn. Have the seed in a paper towel on a heating pad.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've been growing a long time, but there is still a lot I have to learn. Have the seed in a paper towel on a heating pad.

Hey man, sometimes doing is better than learning. I spent basically two decades reading and dreaming about doing it before ever popping a seed, and now I've been growing for a couple years and feel like I still haven't got my green thumb lol