Not Growing Commercially - is pollination an issue?

This forum has been invaluable to me getting the plants to where they are, and I thank you all. But since I'm not planning to sell any of this crop, and am planning to juice most of it (for medicinal reasons)- need I be overly concerned with some of the techniques discussed here, such as males pollinating the females?

I know that sensemilla females are the most potent, since the plant doesn't put energy into seed creation. But I'm also not looking for top bang for my buck. My 8 plants are going to give me a lot of potent juice - THCa, reportedly many times the potency of decarboxylated THC (heated).

I have 8 plants, and it looks like I have 3 males or hermies that are just showing pollen sacs. Do I really need to pull them from the room and isolate, or does it not matter that much that they pollinate the females?

Would love to hear some thoughts on this, thanks in advance.

If it's early and they haven't spread any pollen.. pull them unless you want a bunch of seeds. Just sayin' Farmer Rich

once pollinated the plant will concentrate on seed production over anything else. if extracts are your goal then you want that plant to form buds and cover them in trichomes as heavily as possible ....so no males.... yank em.
if you really want to keep them then find another place to put them but you might want to get a tyvek suit or 2. just going in and out of the room can transfer pollen on your clothes, hair etc.

no males, they are useless unless you need seeds for some reason

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Originally Posted by Mal420xl

once pollinated the plant will concentrate on seed production over anything else. if extracts are your goal then you want that plant to form buds and cover them in trichomes as heavily as possible ....so no males.... yank em.
if you really want to keep them then find another place to put them but you might want to get a tyvek suit or 2. just going in and out of the room can transfer pollen on your clothes, hair etc.

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This is definitely right.. I do think the weed is still good, maybe in a Mexican from the 70's way, so a BUNCH of seeds. I had a hermaphrodite Amnesia Haze pollinate the entire room once and it was bad, pretty much like a mentioned. If you're doing extractions from your bud, I'd definitely get rid of the male/hermi.

Farmer Rich

Okay thanks. I just made up a hall closet for the 3 males, with a 24/7 upward draft flow into the attic, and out a soffitt. I was worried the pollen could get into the air circulation system if I let it hang up there.

I may just juice these 3 right now, but was hoping to get them a little bigger and more mature. I pan fried just a handful of pruning leaves yesterday in coconut oil, as I would spinach, with peccorino-romano cheese melted over it. Was delish..... and about 1.5 hours later a very, very slow intense buzz came over me. :)

Good luck on it! I understand you can bag the pollen and freeze it, though have never done it. Also that you could spot pollinate but no experience here either.. Might be fun to experiment with.

I am curious, why are you keeping the males?

Farmer Rich

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Originally Posted by Farmer Rich

I am curious, why are you keeping the males?

Farmer Rich

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Simply don't want to throw away any THC. :cool: As I said, I got a medium buzz from 7-8 of leaves, so it's got a decent amount in it. Today, I ate the same amount as a salad with walnuts, sesame seeds, strawberries and a hemp oil topping.

Okay, the 3 bad boys are isolated in their own little space, AND I am putting them back on 18/6 to stop any further sexual development. Not certain if that will work, but it can't hurt. All I want them to do is veg some more so I can get as much plant volume as I can from them.

Another question - the other day, I pan-fried a random sampling of pruning leaves, about 8 of them, and got a nice delayed buzz. Today, I did about 6, but ALL from these male plants..... nary a twinge of high, even 3 hours later. Is it at all possible that male leaves do NOT have significant THC in them, even before flowering? The only difference was just 2 leaves, and that all of these leaves are now from known males.

Would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this.

Don't use male leafs for ingestion. If you do a closeup on the leaves, the THC that starts forming is in a hook shape. This is actually SUPPOSE to serve as a natural deterrent to predators, these 'hooks' actually upset the stomach, causing diarrhea and the like. The reason there is a difference between this and hash, is because in hash you seperate the small hook from the leaf, its the difference between swallowing a fishing hook, and swallowing a fishing hook tied to a line.

Now, do mail leafs have significant THC before flowering, simple answer, no. There is a trace amount of THC in both male and female before flowering, but drying them out and smoking a joint, unless you have about an ounce of leaves in there, isn't going to do a damn thing, eating them won't do much either aside from upset your belly.

After you flower, can they be used for hash? Yup, then you can use the hash for cooking, or just smoke it.


Had to add that both Male AND Female leaves have these 'hooks'

Well, I see your point, but yesterday I pan-fried a handful of leaves and got no upset stomach, and nice slow buzz. Still waiting on today's activity. Yesterday's were a mix of male and female, that's why I asked.

as long as you cook it well the cystolith hairs will soften. but yeah not much there to work with buzz wise.

I'm going to prune later this week, and eat some female leaves again. Want to make sure I didn't imagine the buzz. (But I know i didn't. I wasn't even expecting one, and 2 hours later.... wow.) :smokin:

Btw, today's male plant leaves did zilch, if anyone besides me is keeping score. :cool:

Pseudo-Scientific Leave Eating Study Part 1 concluded: the male leaves have NO psychoactive effect, not even the small tops. :D

Next up, the female leaves that - I SWEAR on my parent's graves - gave me a buzz. Stay tuned.

Can you imagine me getting hit by a truck, and the autopsy shows all these MJ leaves in my gut? They conclude that I must have had a "marijuana acid trip" and walked out in front of a truck. :stoned: Which is ridiculous. I walk out in front of trucks all the time, and I'm not always stoned. ;)

Wow.... tough room.

I did read once, I think in an Ed Rosenthall book, that the male flowers are quite potent before they open. Never tried them myself but if you still have the males and have some young sacs give em a try.

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Originally Posted by built2spill

I did read once, I think in an Ed Rosenthall book, that the male flowers are quite potent before they open. Never tried them myself but if you still have the males and have some young sacs give em a try.

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Damn, NOW you tell me. :D

Have saved special males in separate location, saved pollen for breeding program, froze the pollen, stayed viable.