Let's pick a SSH male!

[Jackalope]

First off I hope this does not get moved to journals. This project is only going to last about a month. Over the next couple days. I will be starting to post photos and info as I flower a couple Mr Nice Super Silver Haze males. Well they are not for sure males yet. I am pretty sure and will try and post photos tomorrow as to why I think this. The plants are showing only a tiny nub. 4 other plants are showing hairs so I know they are mature for the strain. They showed sex under 16 hrs light.

I just moved what I think are males to a flower tent under 12 hrs of light. I should know soon. I pretty much love everything about growing. Breeding is only a part of it. I knew years ago I would breed my own strains now I am in my 50's am finally getting a chance to do that. I have dabbled a bit in the last couple years and am happy with the results so far. Mostly all it was practice.

I am close to being where I need to be to really see what kind of strain I can breed. This grow is the last of my random breeding program. Don't laugh it was worked pretty good for me LOL. Either way I am not going to have a ton of info about the plants I am using.

Anyone that has ever seen the price of a pack of Mr. Nice SSH seeds will understand why I feel the need to get everything I can out of these seeds LMAO. Plus it is such a damn good strain the males from it have great potential. Plus the strains I am growing along with the SSH are high quality genetics. With this good of genetics involved I can easily get lucky and find a true winner. I will only be pollinating a single branch of each plant I use. Because of this I can do multiple plants and just keep the outcome of the very best one or one's. I will also be doing at least 3 different strains. This gives me one more chance at being lucky. In the end I don't think any of it will suck.

Because of this my choice of the male plant can make or break the project. I know I have posted pics of males before. I never really went into it to deep. My last project I never posted any pics of the 2 males I worked with lol. This time I figured I would let you all come along for the ride. We will start tomorrow with pictures of what I am working with. I will try and let you guys understand what is going through my mind as they mature. We will look at all the things I know to check about males plants. I am sure we will check a few things suggested from the people here. There is lots of knowledge on this site. I really hope a few home breeders get involved. As the plants mature we will see bud formation and growth traits that will be the keys in my choice of males. There is some really interesting info on males now. I think it is high time we see one of them strut its stuff.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I'm in

My SSH from Greenhouse seeds sucked arse

So excited to see yer project

Van has mentioned males that don't flower fast are good males
So if u get two, the later flowering is supposed to be the strongest


Where did u get these seeds at ???

 

[Dwight Monk]

Sounds like fun and may learn something along the way too . My first two mad scientist experiments I didn't have any options as was just one male, the latest one I had popped two of a Strain and they were both Males so had an option but not a lot of "science" was put into the choice. Subcool had a few blog posts on the subject, which threw a wrench into my thought process about how to pick the best one , so was more of a follow my gut than anything.

 

[Jackalope]

Thanks for the company guys. Chris I think I had to go to Sensible seeds for the Mr Nice genetics. I also have Greenhouse and Dinafem's versions of SSH. Only because I could never get this one. This is pretty much a bucket list strain for me. I hope it all goes well.

Well tomorrow ended up today. I took the minute to take pictures. I wanted to see how they came out so bad I put everything else off for a while lol. I got what I wanted so lets take a look at them.

The strain I cut my teeth on was called Trailer Trash Betty. Along those lines I have named the 2 males Billy and Bob. Sorry for all the pictures but you guys have lots to catch up on. I made them as small as I could to save on loading time.

I took both a top and a side view. We will start with Billy.

Billy.jpg

• Jackalope
• Jan 24, 2020

Billy profile.jpg

• Jackalope
• Jan 24, 2020

Billy has been my favorite plant since the start. It has great structure tight internodes and great branching. I almost didn't care what it became because of this. Male plants always seem to be the best early on for some reason. I am going to need to keep that in mind as we go along. I also learned that vigorous males may put more energy into the woody production then they do resin. It does have nice sturdy branches which is a good thing. Not sure what is the case here yet. It is not really bigger just fuller. The bend in the plant will explain why my sativa is growing bushy like a indica lol. I'm sure this would look like a Christmas tree if I let it. As of now, for the reasons I mentioned This is the top contender.

Bob is not a bad looking plant either.

Bob.jpg

• Jackalope
• Jan 24, 2020

Bob profile.jpg

• Jackalope
• Jan 24, 2020

I mentioned indica. Not that there is much LOL. This plant still has a bit thicker leaf. It is not much but it is a difference. Internodes are good. It is not quite as bushy. This could be a good thing as it looks like more light might get to the lower branches. The branches don't seem to be as strong on this plant. It is also a bit wilty today as it will be watered tomorrow. That may have something to do with it.

So there you have the contenders. Almost like that stupid TV show about picking husbands LMAO.

Here are a couple pictures of what I am seeing at the crotch of the branches. They are on Billy only. It is not a male pod yet but it doesn't have a hair coming out of it either. Pretty sure in a few days this will look more like the male pods we expect. Every time I have seen this before I was worried. Now I want them to be male. Funny shit.

Billy's nub.jpg

• Jackalope
• Jan 24, 2020

Nub closeup.jpg

• Jackalope
• Jan 24, 2020

 

[Jackalope]

I got really luck with a Jacks Cleaner 2 project from the looks of it. Out of the 5 seeds I ended up with 2 healthy plants and a sick one. Both healthy plants were male. Because of this I flowered them for pollen. While I was told by TGA which plant was the more Jacks Cleaner dominate and to use it. One male showed a few tiny trichomes. It was also more Jack the Ripper leaning. I have grown it before and noticed lots of JTR traits. I used it and the hybrid with Tangilope came out really special. It was one of my most favorite plants last grow. We are still looking at the rest of the hybrids.

 

[Momma's Kitchen]

I'm in... sounds like fun

Love experiments

 

[Stunger]

Sounds great Jackalope, look forward to watching along.

Of the close ups of 'Billy', the node looks a little indistinct but it looks like a male 'crabclaw' type shuck on the preflower. I have been looking closely at a few thousand pics that I have been taking of my regular plants to identify the males so in future seasons I can separate them out as early as possible. It looks like good news for your purposes as Billy appears to be a boy from what I can see.

 

[Jackalope]

LMAO. I have posted pictures and have now I have all you guys sitting around and waiting with me. Something I normally have to do all by myself lol. While we wait I will discuss a little of the what we are going to do with the male when we find one.

First off we "will" find a male. I know this is not the right process but it still teaches me things anyway. We are going to choose the best male and pollinate what females I like. I have a bunch more of these seeds for a major project if I like what I see from the Mr Nice SSH. We don't know what we are going to see yet. We may find something great right from the start. There is a chance my dream strain is not to my liking.

The strains I am growing that could be pollinated by the SSH are the following.

Banana Sorbet, DNA
Strawberry Lemonade, Barnes Farm
Bag of Oranges, Useful seeds
Cataract Kush, DNA
Clown Royal, Second Generation
Ghost Train Haze, Rare Dankness

As I mentioned before there are lots of good options. It all matters how the females finish. The Bag of Oranges S-1 plants are starting to look similar. I still like one the best. I am a huge fan of orange strains so I will make a attempt and a Orange Haze. Banana Sorbet is another strain that will get pollen for sure.

I am mostly shooting for hybrid type highs. What outcome I get is yet to be seen. That keeps the Banana Sorbet and the Cataract Kush as the top contenders for a hybrid. They both are indica dom. So many people breeding Kush into everything is the only thing keeping me from having Cataract on that for sure list.

As of now the main traits I am looking at are.
Plant structure
Early or late flowering
Internode spacing
Branching
Type of branches
Bud formation
Resin content.

 

[Jackalope]

Stunger. That is my thinking. That little nub showed up about the same time I noticed hairs on the females. At one time this would have given this plant a high rating.

Now I am looking more into the fact that the early males may not be the one to choose. I have heard a couple of times now that later flowering males are stronger. This will be part of the discussions.

 

[Stunger]

Stunger. That is my thinking. That little nub showed up about the same time I noticed hairs on the females. At one time this would have given this plant a high rating.

Now I am looking more into the fact that the early males may not be the one to choose. I have heard a couple of times now that later flowering males are stronger. This will be part of the discussions.

Yes I can see it is all very well to identify the males but once that's done there are so many different potential criteria to influence how you choose. It'll be great to see what thoughts and decision making you do, and of course the input from the gallery!

The 'little nub' visible on Billy in the pic, reminded me of a similar but clearer pic I took of one of mine that was male. Your's is a little 'fuzzy' but to my (failing) eyes it seems to have a similar appearance to this clearer shot of one of the males I had this season, I am guessing if your's was clearer it would look the same, but just my 2 cents.

4-WWG

• Stunger
• Jan 6, 2020

 

[Jackalope]

Ok now that you are done bashing my photography LMAO. You are right. About the plant and the photo LMAO. With my failing eyes that is exactly what I am seeing. I am going to have to work on getting clearer pictures for this also. That same picture wouldn't have been posted if it was a female picture. Great picture by the way. Thank you.

Which brings up one problem I am going to have. The place I live in now is not near as big as I had before. I have plenty of rooms but not the room I would really like for keeping a male. Before my males were on a whole different level of the house. These new males are going to be living in my bedroom. That is as far away as I can get them. It also puts them in with everything I wear clothing wise. I am sure I will get a few volunteers along the way. It just happens when you bred on small scale. No big deal. I don't want lots of volunteers. By the time I grow the males long enough to harvest pollen. There is going to be lots of pollen floating around before then. I am going to have to at least remember to change clothes between looking/watering male and female plants. With watering and pictures I am going to be spending a lot of time with the males.

First thing that is popping up already. TIME. I really would have liked to get the males plants flowering earlier. Most of the females I want to pollinate are not flowering yet. I am going to have to flower them soon though. I really would have liked to have a whole 3 weeks head start for the males. Lots of males produce pollen early. I am not sure a sativa male will put out enough pollen in time to be used this run.

Which brings up another subject we can discuss while we wait for the males to mature. Storing pollen. I tried this before and failed. My own fault I know. While seeds do best in the fridge and not the freezer. Pollen isn't the same. I mistakenly put a vial of pollen with my seeds. It worked fine for the project when it was fresh. After storage in the fridge 3 months later it was bad. Way to much humidity in the fridge. it clumped up really bad.

I did lots of things wrong. No rice with it was probably the biggest one. I wasn't planning on holding it very long and thought it would be fine. In the freezer it may have been. I also stored it in the wrong place which I mentioned. I am not sure what else I screwed up because the first mistakes ruined the project lol.

This pretty much going to be another chance to try and save pollen. The fact that I am not positive how good this pollen is is still there. I still need to look into storing pollen for future projects. I need to know it works when I really need to do it. At some point in time I am going to have a great male. Since I don't have the space to save it indefinitely. I need to try and save its pollen. So as with pollinating I will be saving pollen this run too.

My plan is to harvest it on clean tin foil. I order new sample bottles and have plenty of rice on hand this time. I will be storing pollen in small green bottles with plenty of rice along with it. I will then be storing it in the freezer.

Does anyone here see problems in what I plan to do? Has anyone successfully harvested and stored pollen? Does it matter how cold you keep your freezer? Can you have a pollen library just like seeds? My thoughts are it would be nice to have known pollen on hand to pollinate females as I choose. Can this be done?

 

[Jackalope]

Sorry folks I ramble a lot. For a guy that doesn't talk much. I sure run my fingers a lot here LMAO. Stunger mentioned knowing what goes through my mind as I make my decision. Well there you have it. All kinds of shit run through this mind of mine LMAO.

 

[Jackalope]

At some point in time we are going to look at the females also. This may help with understanding the males. I am noticing 3 basic phenotypes. You can see 2 of them in the 2 males I am looking at. Leaf width and bushiness are the only slight differences. There is one or 2 more phenos in the females. 1 is not as bushy. It doesn't seem to have the same branching and seems to be taller.

So we will also be discussing the fact of basic phenotype. How much do the males with the same phenotype as the females compare as adults?

My thinking. For every great female there is a male counter part that is just as good.

 

[Stunger]

Ok now that you are done bashing my photography LMAO. You are right. About the plant and the photo LMAO. With my failing eyes that is exactly what I am seeing. I am going to have to work on getting clearer pictures for this also. That same picture wouldn't have been posted if it was a female picture. Great picture by the way. Thank you.

Which brings up one problem I am going to have. The place I live in now is not near as big as I had before. I have plenty of rooms but not the room I would really like for keeping a male. Before my males were on a whole different level of the house. These new males are going to be living in my bedroom. That is as far away as I can get them. It also puts them in with everything I wear clothing wise. I am sure I will get a few volunteers along the way. It just happens when you bred on small scale. No big deal. I don't want lots of volunteers. By the time I grow the males long enough to harvest pollen. There is going to be lots of pollen floating around before then. I am going to have to at least remember to change clothes between looking/watering male and female plants. With watering and pictures I am going to be spending a lot of time with the males.

First thing that is popping up already. TIME. I really would have liked to get the males plants flowering earlier. Most of the females I want to pollinate are not flowering yet. I am going to have to flower them soon though. I really would have liked to have a whole 3 weeks head start for the males. Lots of males produce pollen early. I am not sure a sativa male will put out enough pollen in time to be used this run.

Which brings up another subject we can discuss while we wait for the males to mature. Storing pollen. I tried this before and failed. My own fault I know. While seeds do best in the fridge and not the freezer. Pollen isn't the same. I mistakenly put a vial of pollen with my seeds. It worked fine for the project when it was fresh. After storage in the fridge 3 months later it was bad. Way to much humidity in the fridge. it clumped up really bad.

I did lots of things wrong. No rice with it was probably the biggest one. I wasn't planning on holding it very long and thought it would be fine. In the freezer it may have been. I also stored it in the wrong place which I mentioned. I am not sure what else I screwed up because the first mistakes ruined the project lol.

This pretty much going to be another chance to try and save pollen. The fact that I am not positive how good this pollen is is still there. I still need to look into storing pollen for future projects. I need to know it works when I really need to do it. At some point in time I am going to have a great male. Since I don't have the space to save it indefinitely. I need to try and save its pollen. So as with pollinating I will be saving pollen this run too.

My plan is to harvest it on clean tin foil. I order new sample bottles and have plenty of rice on hand this time. I will be storing pollen in small green bottles with plenty of rice along with it. I will then be storing it in the freezer.

Does anyone here see problems in what I plan to do? Has anyone successfully harvested and stored pollen? Does it matter how cold you keep your freezer? Can you have a pollen library just like seeds? My thoughts are it would be nice to have known pollen on hand to pollinate females as I choose. Can this be done?

I guess storing pollen that up ends clumping is going to render it useless from the moisture. So far I have only used fresh pollen for pollination of selective colas. Yet, I have pollen from 2 and 3 years ago stored in the fridge with rice which I imagine is fine (but who knows), and also pollen from last year in a jar sitting in the lounge that I never got around to putting in the fridge, and as far as I know it is still dry and powdery. This year I have already got rid of the males so I have no fresh pollen but my thoughts are to used the jar of white widow pollen sitting high out of direct light that's been in the lounge for almost a year, I have read of others posting they've done similar with non fridge stored pollen altho I know the general advice is that it wont last long like that. However, I will probably try that year old room stored pollen in about 5 weeks time and if it makes seeds then great, otherwise no worries I've learnt something.

 

[Jackalope]

I will be interested in hearing the results. When I noticed the clumping of the pollen I knew I was screwed. I did pollinate a plant with it and got one seed. I still need to look at that seed someday. It was a Skunkberry I crossed with Trailer Trash Betty.

My guess is you may be right. As long as pollen is not subjected to a bunch of light and has not clumped up and is still powdery it should work. My fridge project might have been fine with just a bit of rice.

You also mention if it works fine if not you learned. That is exactly where I am. Experimenting and learning.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Which brings up another subject we can discuss while we wait for the males to mature. Storing pollen. I tried this before and failed. My own fault I know. While seeds do best in the fridge and not the freezer. Pollen isn't the same. I mistakenly put a vial of pollen with my seeds. It worked fine for the project when it was fresh. After storage in the fridge 3 months later it was bad. Way to much humidity in the fridge. it clumped up really bad.

I did lots of things wrong. No rice with it was probably the biggest one. I wasn't planning on holding it very long and thought it would be fine. In the freezer it may have been. I also stored it in the wrong place which I mentioned. I am not sure what else I screwed up because the first mistakes ruined the project lol.

This pretty much going to be another chance to try and save pollen. The fact that I am not positive how good this pollen is is still there. I still need to look into storing pollen for future projects. I need to know it works when I really need to do it. At some point in time I am going to have a great male. Since I don't have the space to save it indefinitely. I need to try and save its pollen. So as with pollinating I will be saving pollen this run too.

My plan is to harvest it on clean tin foil. I order new sample bottles and have plenty of rice on hand this time. I will be storing pollen in small green bottles with plenty of rice along with it. I will then be storing it in the freezer.

Does anyone here see problems in what I plan to do? Has anyone successfully harvested and stored pollen? Does it matter how cold you keep your freezer? Can you have a pollen library just like seeds? My thoughts are it would be nice to have known pollen on hand to pollinate females as I choose. Can this be done?

lets nudge @Chris Scorpio back in this thread he posted something in another thread about getting viable pollen from some he stored in the freezer from a year and a half ago. I keep my males in one of my grow boxes in a different room (rest are out in my shed actually) and I tried to remember to fart around with my other plants first for the day and then the males or ones I was mating in the box. Haven't tried keeping any pollen yet, so no good or bad experience here with that yet though so I'm no help.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

lets nudge @Chris Scorpio back in this thread he posted something in another thread about getting viable pollen from some he stored in the freezer from a year and a half ago. I keep my males in one of my grow boxes in a different room (rest are out in my shed actually) and I tried to remember to fart around with my other plants first for the day and then the males or ones I was mating in the box. Haven't tried keeping any pollen yet, so no good or bad experience here with that yet though so I'm no help.

What I do now!!!!!

Lol

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Ahhh the dreaded man spunk


What I do is collect it.... Place it in closable , acrylic I think, test tubes
Add some raw rice... Rice keeps moisture out, and toss it in the freezer

Dwight is right...last week I've been playing GOD and crossing strains, all with 18+ month old pollen... All appear to have taken

 

[Dwight Monk]

What I do now!!!!!

Lol

he was asking for tips on storing pollen, you seem to have that down pretty good (or you making up stories a lot ).

 

[Momma's Kitchen]

When I collected the pollen I stored it in a small pill bottle. I didn't use rice I used 1/4 tsp flour mixed in the pollen. I am storing it in a dark cool room, in a drawer so not light. But that being said I will be putting it in the freezer this week to store.
I'm in the same place my Black Cali Grapes are non fem. I found the ones that don't show sex like most females you can see right away, in my experience they seem to show first. The others unless it's an aggressive male, seem to show later. I'm new to non feminized and just like experimenting. I stored some of my Afghani n Shiva Skunk pollen,1. To learn n wat h the process for fun, 2. Pollenated 3 plants to watch a female change and produce seeds process.

I'm watching ya to see what you do