As to refrigerating the pollen. I put my pollen in a old style 35 mm film canister with some rice. When I took it out of the refrigerator I waited till it reached room temp before i opened it, then allowed it to sit for a couple of hours before using with the cap off. If I were to freeze the pollen I would put it in a film canister with rice and then into a small glass jar and do the same thing I did when I refrigerated it.
Producing Feminized Seeds Using Colloidal Silver
- Thread starter Granny420
- Start date
Sorry NotaDrinker, I was being lazy by not backing up the whole thread, to find your original posts on your pollination method, but it's embarrassing to see the above post right before I asked the question. I'm thinking my display was not updated, and I missed the above post.
I'm there rambling on wasting space here. It looks like you've pointed out the big difference.
Kaiser Sose 3
New Member
Amazing!
NotaDrinker
New Member
LOL, No worries m8. If it took less effort for me to repeat it than it would have for you to search for it, then it was more efficient that way anyways 
. And besides, like the rest of you I'm sure, my short term memory is shot just the same .
Best Wishes.
Edit: Just wanted to throw up a pic of some clones that was meant to get feminized FI pollen. This flower was taken from the original plant that was selfed. When I decided to self instead of pollinating a clone, I threw them in the flower box with everything else and let them go. I know for sure that they are baring a few seeds themselves, but were a little late to accept full pollination and therefore flowered nicely. Basically it is a preview of what it to come out of those feminized seeds I made from these exact genetics. I chose focus on the best one of course, but you can still see 2 of the other 3 in the background. All in the same 10x10 square pot.
Still another week or two to go I think. Still a lot of fresh white hairs.
I wish you could open the full size pics when you link them like this on this site.
Best Wishes!
. And besides, like the rest of you I'm sure, my short term memory is shot just the same .Best Wishes.
Edit: Just wanted to throw up a pic of some clones that was meant to get feminized FI pollen. This flower was taken from the original plant that was selfed. When I decided to self instead of pollinating a clone, I threw them in the flower box with everything else and let them go. I know for sure that they are baring a few seeds themselves, but were a little late to accept full pollination and therefore flowered nicely. Basically it is a preview of what it to come out of those feminized seeds I made from these exact genetics. I chose focus on the best one of course, but you can still see 2 of the other 3 in the background. All in the same 10x10 square pot.
Still another week or two to go I think. Still a lot of fresh white hairs.
I wish you could open the full size pics when you link them like this on this site.
Best Wishes!
- Thread starter
- #426
Granny420
Well-Known Member
LUVIES TO EVERYONE!!!Short on time, so this will be a quick one!!!
paw paw and ks3!!!!NotADrinker - 
for responding with your method of pollination!!! I think you hit it exactly that the problem is in the pollen. I think I have not been waiting long enough for the sacs to be ready, especially early on in this experiment. I also have not been having sacs that I can just shake and have immediate release - so that info is VERY IMPORTANT!!!!
AND I LOVE THE LIL PURPLE PLANT!!!! BEAUTIFUL COLORING!!! NICE THICK GROWTH TOO!!! I SURE SEE WHY YOU ARE BREEDING THAT ONE!!!
DennyInCA too!!! I greatly appreciated this...A pistillate flower cluster is ripe for fertilization so long as pale, slender pistils emerge from the calyxes. Cannabis plants can be successfully pollinated as soon as the first primordia show pistils and until just before harvest, but the largest yield of uniform, healthy seeds is achieved by pollinating in the peak floral stage. At this time, the seed plant is covered with thick clusters of white pistils. Few pistils are brown and withered, and resin production has just begun. This is the most receptive time for fertilization, still early in the seed plant's life, with plenty of time remaining for the seeds to mature.
The TBM was quite far into flowering when I pollinated it - thus, this could be a good reason for only 5 seeds - and it probably didn't help that I didn't wait long enough for lot's of viable pollen. Multiple applications - I have definitely been doing this - but I have to make sure the sacs are browning so the pollen I am using is viable with each pollination!!! It's all good cuz I'm learning!!!
QUIX Hi Honey!!! Wonderful to see you! 
DOC for the refrigeration of pollen info!!!! Do you dry it before you refrigerate it or do you put it in there fresh??? How's the "wait" going for pollen, honey? It sure does take quite some time to get thru this process!!! It is SO WORTH THE WAIT THO!!! I figure even if my seed count number wasn't so good initially - it is still fantastic to have 5 fem seeds from a free plant (TBM - had one more seed in her that I found after completely drying her) and 10 from a strain that I started from sacrificing a single plant. Even if the initial number of seeds is low - they have left me with 5 to 10 times more seeds than I started with for those strains!!! AND I LEARNED!!! Hopefully you will have better seed counts just from watchin' me flail in the water here!!! LOL!!!QUESTION ABOUT GERMINATING FRESH SEEDS: Does anyone know if fresh seeds can be popped and germinated immediately with good germination success? I seem to recall a freeze (after drying) is recommended to increase the germination success so I did stick my seeds in the freezer (no room to grow them just yet).
Last... I will update with a couple pics of a small Red Dragon clone I am using to pollinate. This one let me know that I am on the right track with suspecting what my problem is (not taking sacs that are viable yet - WAIT FOR BROWNING SACS OR IT IS A WASTE OF TIME AND WON'T BE AS SUCCESSFUL!!!)
Below is the clone designated for Red Dragon seeds (although I also have a RD plant I just recently put to flower in case the pollen wasn't ready in time for this clone.
If you look, you can see tags on a couple branches on the right (for RD feminized pollen) and a tag on a left branch (crossed with male Papaya pollen).
Below is a bud from the branch I pollinated with a cross of male Papaya pollen (regular seeds - not fem) on Jan 30th...
Above, you can see the male pollen took nicely with a single pollination.
Below, is a bud from the branch I pollinated with RD female pollen (fem seeds) on Feb 1st with pollen from a RD plant I turned with CS...
You can see I definitely have a number of seeds forming on this one. However, I have since re-pollinated and expect more seeds will be showing in the next week to 10 days.
I also have the same thing going on with other strains that I crossed one branch with the male Papaya and bred another branch with it's same-strain female pollen. I see seeds on both branches, but more on the male pollen branch. So I am being a lot more picky when taking pollen sacs in making sure they are ONLY the most finished/browned sacs. And I am RE-pollinating once weekly instead of just leaving it at the first pollination that I think took. I think this will also increase my seed numbers. Guess I'll find out down the road!!!
Early on in this experiment I was taking female pollen sacs BEFORE they browned (had read when the sacs cracked they were ready - but is NOT true if they are still green or yellow-green!!!). I kept re-pollinating cuz these didn't appear to pollinate very well. As I continued this experiment, I learned that browner sacs had better success. But my early pollinated girls may not have as many seeds for this reason. I bet I do better as we progress here!!! That's my goal anyways!!!
Wish so much that I had more time!!!!! But alas, life is overwhelmingly busy and no chance of slowing down until after my business peak season slows (July)... until then it just keeps getting busier and busier - but I NEED it (financially) to be busy now, so I am not complaining!!! Just letting you all know it will probably be once a week updates for awhile.
Keep the home fires burnin' here everyone!!! I MISS YOU ALL!!!
NotaDrinker
New Member
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me was having pollen come out of the sacs with nothing more than a light tap of the tweezers. Like I said, these sacs all but fell off into the tweezers, often falling into the small cup I had under it in preparation. These sacs were not cracked, but were more-so fully opened with nanners fully exposed and ready to release pollen.
Great to hear that you do have success Granny. With that in mind, I am sure you will be pleasantly pleased with next attempt.
Best Wishes.
Great to hear that you do have success Granny. With that in mind, I am sure you will be pleasantly pleased with next attempt.
Best Wishes.
Well I have attained success I think. I collected some pollen that fell onto the typing paper and used it on one of the other Diesels in flower. and today i can see the pistols withering where I brushed them lightly with a pollen covered paint brush. So Diesel can be kept quietly in a cool, dry, dark place while I try some other strains when I recover the seeds 3-4 weeks from now. Thanks everyone. By then I will have a camera and will record the birth of my feminized seeds! I am also going to dry some more of the male flowers and refrigerate for future use. This is still ongoing.
NotaDrinker
New Member
Great Job! If the pollen fell naturally, than it is almost sure to be viable!
Make that 4-6 weeks from now,,, depending on you intended seed maturity rate.
Another week or two for me would have been the icing on the cake. I would have had an extra 20 seeds or so. No big deal, but no need to rush it...
Good luck with the refrigeration!
Make that 4-6 weeks from now,,, depending on you intended seed maturity rate.
Another week or two for me would have been the icing on the cake. I would have had an extra 20 seeds or so. No big deal, but no need to rush it...
Good luck with the refrigeration!
The plant is putting out nanners, male flowers and partially opened male flowers. Took it long enough! It's bud parts that are not affected have the most beautiful amber hues to them, too bad no pipe for them.
Granny,
Here's an excerpt from an article specifically on cannabis seeds that addresses your question regarding the freezing of the seeds:
Here's an excerpt from an article specifically on cannabis seeds that addresses your question regarding the freezing of the seeds:
Blogging this brother, much better wrote then what I could explain!
Many times I have read that to overcome seed dormancy you freeze the seeds as it mimics them going through winter. I have also read that waiting 3 months before trying to germinate the seeds is a good idea. As an aside, My diesel plants that were in flower at 4 weeks or so went through very cold night temps of around 37 degrees F and popped up several hermie flowers that in fact did self pollinate some of the buds! So no matter what I was going to be gifted feminized Diesel seeds. My AKxSk#1 that were in flower and started at the same time the cutting Diesel used for this project are now finished. Dried for 4 days in a bud dryer and now in the jars I had to do a test bud. 2 light hits left me flying for three hours and the small bowl is still half full! I took the first AKxSK#1 that flowered as a cutting mother and the cuttings made last monday are rooting very nicely. They will occupy the next grow. This plant is as tricome covered as the best ones shown here and the high is a tall one not for sleeping. After a weeks cure I will go down to the local smoking spot and ambush my friends with a fattie of this stuff.
NotaDrinker
New Member
I had read posts that tested the viability of fresh seeds vs seeds that were allowed to dry out for a few weeks. The results were obvious. Fresh seeds are not ready to be germinated. I can't find the thread, and I can't remember the stats exactly, but it was significant. Like 10% germination of fresh seeds vs 90% germination of dried seeds (or something like that, it was a significant difference whatever it was).
My seeds have been in the basement in Advil bottles with the rice. The temp fluctuates from about 10-15 Celsius depending on if the lights are on and if has been opened, or if the heater is on.
I hope this will be sufficient. Any opinions?
How long do I keep the rice in there? Forever should be just fine right?
Scrog screen is almost ready, and I will be testing these seeds soon. I intend on attempting to germinate the worst looking seeds first. I only will have 2 plants in this scrog, so I though it would be a good time to see how the worst looking ones fared.
Hopefully, if a few of the worst looking ones sprout, it will mean that the better looking ones should be viable too.
On another note. The unknown strain of which I have 3 small clones flowering now, has slightly hermied. Could be anything from the drastic temp changes to the temp or distance changes in the lighting, to heat from the lights or who knows. They have been in flower for about 7 weeks too, so maybe it is just them trying to survive, but I will have to pay attention to that strain when I grow it out next time. The FI however shows no signs of hermie-ing, and with all the crap I have subjected that strain to during these tests I am amazed that it hasn't. I am really looking forward to growing those out, and in fact I will start with them.
I would suggest that strain for anyone looking for a short well build plant with some color and that can take a hell of a beating. Perfect for beginners.
But ya, I didn't freeze or refrigerate my seeds. Only the cool basement. What do you guys think? I think it should be fine, but all this talk has me wondering.
Best Wishes
My seeds have been in the basement in Advil bottles with the rice. The temp fluctuates from about 10-15 Celsius depending on if the lights are on and if has been opened, or if the heater is on.
I hope this will be sufficient. Any opinions?
How long do I keep the rice in there? Forever should be just fine right?
Scrog screen is almost ready, and I will be testing these seeds soon. I intend on attempting to germinate the worst looking seeds first. I only will have 2 plants in this scrog, so I though it would be a good time to see how the worst looking ones fared.
Hopefully, if a few of the worst looking ones sprout, it will mean that the better looking ones should be viable too.
On another note. The unknown strain of which I have 3 small clones flowering now, has slightly hermied. Could be anything from the drastic temp changes to the temp or distance changes in the lighting, to heat from the lights or who knows. They have been in flower for about 7 weeks too, so maybe it is just them trying to survive, but I will have to pay attention to that strain when I grow it out next time. The FI however shows no signs of hermie-ing, and with all the crap I have subjected that strain to during these tests I am amazed that it hasn't. I am really looking forward to growing those out, and in fact I will start with them.
I would suggest that strain for anyone looking for a short well build plant with some color and that can take a hell of a beating. Perfect for beginners.
But ya, I didn't freeze or refrigerate my seeds. Only the cool basement. What do you guys think? I think it should be fine, but all this talk has me wondering.
Best Wishes
I haven't updated in a while, so here goes. First off, congrats to all who have had a success story. The pics included in the last posting by both Granny, and NotaDrinker are awesome! Experience really is a great teacher, and having folks share their experiences here just amplifies the learning.
I have been applying pollen to my plants for the past 3 days now. Since I have a nice stash and this whole effort is about seeing if I can make feminized seeds, I'm pollinating everything that has white pistils on it. The half and half plant (I sprayed half of it's branches), looks like it's definitely past it peak flowering stage, with lots of pistils turning red. Today is exactly 6 weeks into flowering. So, it's a little doubtful if it can still be pollinated at this point, and if it does, whether it will have enough life left in it to grow seeds to maturity. But I'll try anyway. Even the female branches of this plant are a bit weird, but I took no special precautions to insure that my silver spay didn't get on an unintended target. I'm seeing some signs of male properties even in some of the female buds, so it will be interesting to see how it ends up. Anyway the pistils I pollinated turned by the next day, which I gather is normal if the pollen takes, however they were changing colors so fast on their own that it's hard to tell. Just have to wait.
My female who was the intended recipient is not as hardy as I'd like. She went into flowering only a week after the she/he. I was afraid she's be too far into flowering to pollinate so I've been pruning, and topping her to try to slow down the rate she was growing and maturing at. It worked somewhat. Mostly white pistils, but smaller buds as a result of having many smaller branches. But, I'm pollinating everything in sight. Right now I've got these two plants side by side, with a male branch pulled over the top of the female. After harvest, I'll probably just break up every female bud, looking for seeds, and try making butter or hash with it.
The clone I started as a backup is struggling badly. I took it when the female was already a few weeks into flowering, and while it has started to root, still no sign of any growth, and leaves are getting a yellow tint.
So, for the past 3 days, I've tried to identify pollen sacs that are ready to release. (not easy). I pick them with tweezers and tap over a female bud. If it drops pollen, great. Initially, if it didn't release, I'd store it in a container till it dried and then apply with a q-tip, but at this point I'll only use what drops readily. I'll continue this for a few more days, and see what develops. After that I'll tap sacs or entire male flowers over a container and store for now.
I feel my experiment has gotten a little out of control, but what I learned by doing, and reading about others results, makes the effort totally worth it. I know exactly how I would do the next one. And only time will reveal the final outcome on this one. I'll let you know.
To Notadrinker: I have no experience with storing seeds, but I would bet that yours are fine. It seems dry is most important, and your temp is on the cool side. Do you see a downside in refrigerating them?
Looks like Doc is on his way to a success story.
I wish continued good luck to all.
I have been applying pollen to my plants for the past 3 days now. Since I have a nice stash and this whole effort is about seeing if I can make feminized seeds, I'm pollinating everything that has white pistils on it. The half and half plant (I sprayed half of it's branches), looks like it's definitely past it peak flowering stage, with lots of pistils turning red. Today is exactly 6 weeks into flowering. So, it's a little doubtful if it can still be pollinated at this point, and if it does, whether it will have enough life left in it to grow seeds to maturity. But I'll try anyway. Even the female branches of this plant are a bit weird, but I took no special precautions to insure that my silver spay didn't get on an unintended target. I'm seeing some signs of male properties even in some of the female buds, so it will be interesting to see how it ends up. Anyway the pistils I pollinated turned by the next day, which I gather is normal if the pollen takes, however they were changing colors so fast on their own that it's hard to tell. Just have to wait.
My female who was the intended recipient is not as hardy as I'd like. She went into flowering only a week after the she/he. I was afraid she's be too far into flowering to pollinate so I've been pruning, and topping her to try to slow down the rate she was growing and maturing at. It worked somewhat. Mostly white pistils, but smaller buds as a result of having many smaller branches. But, I'm pollinating everything in sight. Right now I've got these two plants side by side, with a male branch pulled over the top of the female. After harvest, I'll probably just break up every female bud, looking for seeds, and try making butter or hash with it.
The clone I started as a backup is struggling badly. I took it when the female was already a few weeks into flowering, and while it has started to root, still no sign of any growth, and leaves are getting a yellow tint.
So, for the past 3 days, I've tried to identify pollen sacs that are ready to release. (not easy). I pick them with tweezers and tap over a female bud. If it drops pollen, great. Initially, if it didn't release, I'd store it in a container till it dried and then apply with a q-tip, but at this point I'll only use what drops readily. I'll continue this for a few more days, and see what develops. After that I'll tap sacs or entire male flowers over a container and store for now.
I feel my experiment has gotten a little out of control, but what I learned by doing, and reading about others results, makes the effort totally worth it. I know exactly how I would do the next one. And only time will reveal the final outcome on this one. I'll let you know.
To Notadrinker: I have no experience with storing seeds, but I would bet that yours are fine. It seems dry is most important, and your temp is on the cool side. Do you see a downside in refrigerating them?
Looks like Doc is on his way to a success story.
I wish continued good luck to all.
OG13
New Member
Hey NOTA, I've always kept seeds cool and dark (in basement), never frozen or refrigerator. Works great. Some have been viable after 20 years.
Denny, it's always fun when your experiment gets a little out of control and you know what to do different next time.
Denny, it's always fun when your experiment gets a little out of control and you know what to do different next time.
NotaDrinker
New Member
Thank you OG, that really makes me feel better.
Kaiser Sose 3
New Member
OK I have a question. I have a plant that is showing male tendencies(Tall Stick Figure).
If I use colloidal silver would that create fem seeds on this male?
Or do I take a female and apply colloidal silver to create fem seeds?
I think I misunderstood originally?
I just reread the first page. SO what can I do with a 20" tall White Widow plant that I think will go male? That is besides chop it down into kindling......
If I use colloidal silver would that create fem seeds on this male?
Or do I take a female and apply colloidal silver to create fem seeds?
I think I misunderstood originally?
I just reread the first page. SO what can I do with a 20" tall White Widow plant that I think will go male? That is besides chop it down into kindling......
CS should be used on a natural female to get the female to produce pollen (like a male would). The pollen will have female genetics, and when used to pollenate another female, will result in feminized seeds.