Flower Pollination & Interbreeding Basics
Most growers have at one time thought about breeding up their own strain of cannabis. Thinking it through usually ends the project before you even start. There are a lot of variables to producing your very own strain. It is a lengthy process, requiring months to complete.
First and foremost, you have to be a skilled grower. Being able to breed marijuana stems from at least half a dozen successful harvests. You simply have to have the experience and knowledge to not destroy your plants by pollinating them incorrectly. Since cannabis is asexual, you will require both male and female plants in order to produce seeds.
Know a male marijuana plant by keeping an eye on the sprout that resides on the junction of a limb to the stem. If it grows out looking like a green leaf in the center you have a male plant. If the growth looks more like the stamen of a flower the plant is female.
You basically have two choices when it comes to cross pollinating cannabis – you can pollinate directly with a cotton swab or you can do it the more natural way and simply blow a fan across your plants. The pollen will be swept up in the air flow from the fan. You would only let nature take its course in this way if you’re growing in an area that is small and contained, such as a hallway closet or a walk in closet.
If you’re growing thirty plants in a huge room like a basement you can still use a fan, but this usually results in having only a few plants getting pollinated. There will be holes in the pollinated and thus seed producing plants. The direct method of using a cotton swab to pollinate your crop requires patience and a steady hand. First of all you have to wait for your flowers to mature. This is harder than you might think. Cross pollinate your flowers when they’re a day or two from naturally shedding their pollen.
This is where experience comes into play. Knowing when your plants are mature enough to breed only comes from prior experience. When you and your plants are ready to pollinate you want to gently hold the flower and very carefully swab the stamens from the base outward. You would do this once, not twice.
Swabbing more than once may harm the flower, which in turn will produce a plant that has no seeds. Start at one side of the room and work your way to the other. Your cotton swab will become dusty and sticky with pollen, which is exactly what you want. Once you’ve reached the other side of the room, ensure every flower gets pollinated by swabbing again in the other direction.
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