Cannabis Pollination-Collecting and Storing Pollen
Prior to talking about the collection of pollen, let’s look at the method of staggering and what it does to cannabis pollination. Staggering is a tactic that allows the cannabis grower to acquire a maximum amount of seeds in each marijuana plant. When the grower wants to pollinate a mother plant to secure seeds, it is best to begin with 12 hours of light and 12 hours without light for a complete seven days, after which the male plant should be moved into the budding room.
Time Frame
You should bear in mind, though, that every strain will be different during this time frame. If you want to breed your cannabis strain or make your cannabis seeds, you may not be sure of how you will collect the pollen and pollinate the plant effectively. Well, glad you are curious. It is easy. Let’s look at how to begin.
Open Pollen Sacs
Once the male cannabis plants begin to flower, you can collect pollen. If the female plant is feminizing its seeds, you can do the same. As soon as you see the pollen sacs cracking on the marijuana plant as if they are going to open, you are ready to harvest the pollen. One way that you can tell if your pollen is ready to be harvest is to carefully and gently remove the pollen sacs and allow a week for them to dry. After they are dried, you would then place them all in a re-sealable bag. To know for sure that they are ready, just shake up the re-sealable bag with the pollen and it should spill out easily. It is possible that you might have to cut some of the pollen open.
Storing Your Pollen
Now that you have harvested your pollen, it is now time to store them. The enemy to storing your pollen is moisture. It can greatly damage your cannabis seeds. It helps to add cooking flour to coat the collected pollen, keeping the moisture away. The flour will absorb any moisture as the pollen is being stored. It will also make it easier for you to pollinate your marijuana plant later. If you add more flour mixture and put it in the freezer, you can actually store your pollen for one year or even longer. Use freezer bags instead of plastic bags and make sure to label the freezer bags.
Female Plant Pollination
Wait until your female plants are up to three weeks into their flowering phase before you consider pollination. Now that your mother plant is in its third week of flowering, use a paintbrush and apply the feminized pollen where the buds are developing. Where the leaves of the plant meet the stem is where the bud sites can be found. By the third week, the bud sites should show lots of thin white hairs. You will put the pollen on these thin white hairs. You will notice that the buds that touch the pollen are the only ones that will grow marijuana seeds. You can decide to pollinate a few of the buds or all of them. Be sure that all female hairs are being touched with pollen.
Harvesting the Seeds
You should wait about six weeks before harvesting the seeds because that is how long it will take to see a well developed cannabis seed. Be sure to keep the cannabis plant alive before the seeds drop. You can use your seeds immediately or store them in a dry place until you need them. However, always label the seeds, putting the storage date on the label.
Conclusion
If you want to learn more about pollinating, and harvesting cannabis seeds, you will need to take the cannabis master certification course online at Cannabis Training University. Enroll today.
Learn how to pollinate cannabis at the premier cannabis college, Cannabis Training University.