Pollinate or Pollinot ?

[Jimmynuetron]

I pollinated the lowest branch of my GS with pollen I carefully collected in an envelope, which I put in a zipper bag that went into my cookie jar and stored in the freezer. The only difference I can see in this branch is the black flies left it alone. It’s hanging out in my drying / growing room. I’ll know in a few days if it worked. I dusted a Thai clone I have in the yard, so I hope the pollen is good...

 

[Jimmynuetron]

[No message]

 

[crucialbunny]

It looks like the plant may be a bit far along in flower to be pollinated. It takes about 5-6 weeks for seeds to develop to maturity. Your plant has obviously re-vegged at some point (single blade leaves) so I'm not sure if you'll have any viable seeds and something left to smoke.

 

[Jimmynuetron]

That was just the last branch. I pollinated it Sept. 02. It’s obvious now that my pollen was dead. Not sure why. I did harvest 400 grams from her and your right about the reveg. She started producing white hairs in May when I moved her out, shocked by the cold nights, and kept stretching till she was 9’ tall. The buds were small and stretched out, so I removed ounces of lower stuff, bent her over so every peas getting light. A bit of a disappointing finish with the black flies sticking to it in the end.
I was lucky enough to find two seeds on another part of the plant, and then got stoned enough to knock the container onto a pile of trim...

 

[crucialbunny]

What I have started doing is taking a clone or two from the healthiest plant to use for seed stock. Clones tend to grow smaller but still produce more than enough seed to plant and share. When a bud begins to grow seeds, the plant isn't interested in producing sticky trichomes anymore and focuses on seed development. I used to do selective pollination too and found that the entire plant tended to suffer from it so I began the clone route. As far as keeping pollen viable, the method I use now is to avoid freezing or refrigeration. Now I put it in a small vial (no spillage) and store it in a cool, dark, and very dry place. Any kind of moisture or humidity seems to be the enemy of pollen. A really good trick for collecting pollen is to make an aluminum foil cone that is as large as the plant canopy and put it around the base of the plant. When you have enough you can just pour the pollen into the container.

 

[Jimmynuetron]

I was hoping to do that with the Wild Thai clone but nothing happened. I have a couple newer clones in 3” pots that I’ll keep under my 400 watt mh over the winter for some indoor. I would definitely buy seeds from World of Seeds again. The Thai is a monster.
Next time I have a strong male I’ll try the tin foil trick and no freezer...