Collecting pollen from pre-flowers?

I have three strapping young lads. :wtf:

I would like to snag some pollen, and move the boys out. The strain is something that I would like to keep playing with (PWx(PKxPR)), and one of the boys looks *really* promising.

I've never harvested pollen from a plant that wasn't in full flower before, but if the pre-flower pollen is as good as waiting 'till later, then I would LOVE to free up some space. :)

So what do ya think? Any opinions on this, one way or the other? I'm sort of going on the assumption that a flower's a flower, but what the hell do I know? :confused:

I collect as soon as they are ready to start dropping the pollen. But the female pistils (and their respective calyxs') need some maturing prior to pollinating, or you won't get many seeds. I 'paint' the pollen onto the pistils of lower branches when ready. (4th week of flower, minimum) Turn-off fans, segregate the plant to be pollinated, and don't sneeze. Remove pollen container from flower room and either store the rest of the pollen, or rinse well in warm-soapy water to kill the remainder of pollen. Do not foliar spray for a couple of days, or you risk killing the pollen before the tube (pistil) transports the pollen to the calyx. Water drowns pollen.

Not the most ingenious solution, but here's my isolation chamber for males:
If they get too tall, I just top 'em. Takes a week or so to recover, but this allows the females to mature a tad more with minimal risk of widespread pollination of your entire crop. Would love to find a 4 foot long 10" tube of plexiglass to replace this ghetto set-up, but this has worked very well over the past year or so of use. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Rusty Trichome

I collect as soon as they are ready to start dropping the pollen.

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Sounds good to me. Thanks, bunches!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rusty Trichome

Not the most ingenious solution, but here's my isolation chamber for males:

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Ooh, I like the clear plastic idea. My little 12"x12"x24" "boy box" requires me to light it separately. Works ok, but I'm liking the idea of keeping it all in one space. :thumbsup:

The plan for this pollen is to store it for a bit. I'm hoping to use it on some lil' ones that are just barely getting started, and some more that will be sprouting soon.

Thanks for sharing, looking like a couple of these may pop today. :thumbsup:

If you try and pollinate before the calyx's are numerous enough or mature enough to pollinate, the effort will be in vain, or you'll get a very small seed harvest. (not small seeds, small quantity :thumbsup:)