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How To Pollinate Cannabis Plants
How To Pollinate Cannabis Plants
As people progress and gain experience with all the different aspects of cannabis cultivation, they
invariably get to a point where they wish to cultivate their own seed. Despite all the great work by
the big seedbanks that has resulted in the thousands of quality cannabis strains that are available
today, seeds tend to be very expensive and this can be prohibitive when budgets are tight.
Producing your own seeds is a relatively simple task. Indeed, many growers have produced them by
mistake, much to their dismay. It is essential that you take control of this process, producing either
seeded plants, or sensimillia, as and when you wish.
First off, let’s have a short 101 on the cannabis life cycle so we all know we’re singing from the same
sheet. Conventional cannabis cultivation has us remove all males as soon as they exhibit sexual
traits. This means that the females remain unpollinated, essentially ‘virgins’, and put their energy
into THC and resin production rather than seed production. The result is sensimillia, literally meaning
“without seed”. If a female plant does become pollinated she will produce abundant seeds. This
does not mean that the plant is wasted, despite the fact that many growers trash accidently
pollinated plants. Your seed bearing female is still useful to smoke, most of us have bought weed
with seeds at some time. It’s just that sensimillia is better!
In the wild cannabis is essentially a wind pollinated species, although there may be a minor part
played by some animals. Male plants will come into flower just before the females and will form
flowers over a period of several days, ensuring that there is some overlap between the male and
female flowering times so that they can be sure to be producing pollen at the correct time.
Having isolated your males you can begin collecting their pollen. Attach a paper bag over the end of
a flowering branch on your chosen male plant. If collecting pollen for cross breeding you will have
selected the male with the most desirable characteristics. A bag with a clear plastic window can be
useful here, enabling you to see the pollen collecting.
Tape the bag around the stem so that it is completely sealed and then pinch a hole in the top corner
to allow the branch to breath. Once a day pinch the breather hole shut and give the branch a good
shake. You should be able to see the pollen begin to accumulate in the corner of the bag. Continue
this process for a week or so.
Now cut the branch off below where the bag is attached. Tear open the top of the bag and remove
the male flowers. At the bottom of the bag will be the pollen and some other bits and pieces of
detritus. Pour the pollen into a ziplock bag, seal it and store it in the fridge.
Now it is time to pollinate our female. When the selected female is ready and her flowers have
developed long pistils, invert the ziplock bag over the end of the cola. You will see the pollen attach
itself to the flowers.
In some cases you may wish to pollinate individual female flowers. This is easily achieved by using a
soft paint brush or cosmetics brush to gently apply the pollen directly to the flower.
Once you have harvested your seeds you should air dry them for a week or two. They may then be
stored (a film canister is ideal) until required.