Autoflower seed run

[southerndank]

Gday everyone as fate would have it this season i have a perfect spot for some auto's to compliment the photo crop. Seed prices are absurd so with a little help from 2 great threads on this site i am now educated in making female pollen and am the proud owner of a diy colloidal silver generator.
I will be starting 10 feminised blue mammoth autos for this seed run.what i cant decide is how many to use for pollen production and how many to stay all female with the goal being maximum seed production. I was thinking along the lines of spraying 3 to make pollen and the other 7 to make the seeds. what ratio would you ladies and gentlemen go for?
Thanks in advane

 

[jojo677]

I would hate to see this go unanswered, so I'll throw in my 2 cents. I've copied a post I made to another FAQ the other day below.

Depending on how large you expect these plants, I would feminize 1-3 of them. The pollen goes a long way, especially if you collect it when it's viable and for a few weeks. I'd recommend starting the feminized plants 2-3 weeks ahead of the female plants, so you can pollinate at the proper time. I didn't do that, and I paid for it.

Well, I just finished my first colloidal silver experiment, and it was interesting, nonetheless. If you're interested, you can see my progress in my journal, with relevant information starting on page 3, and seed harvest this week (pictures later today).
JoJo's Hempy SCROG Bucket C99 Grow Journal - 2015

Some things I learned - The 'nanners' or male flowers form inside the female calyxes (I believe) and when they start to dry out, the 'nanners' hang down by tiny strings, dry out, and then release pollen. I had trouble getting mine to release much pollen, but you probably have a better setup. I didn't get a very successful seed harvest, but I was successful in creating 3 strains (I believe), with a total of 54 seeds. Not all seeds had time to properly mature, and I got many fewer than I thought I would. It also seems that not all the pollen I took was viable, as some of the branches didn't produce any seeds.

That said, I would say that when you notice her start dropping pollen, place an oscillating fan near it, to spread it around the room. Or collect it, painstakingly like I did, and selectively pollinate branches of each plant.

Hopefully some of that was useful, and not just rambling!

Edit:
Also, check out this old journal I found during my research, with some more good info:
Producing Feminized Seeds Using Colloidal Silver

 

[southerndank]

Thanks for the great reply seems like timing the plants right is key. Ill be sure to start a journal to keep everyone updated.

 

[intogrow]

I am going thru the same as You at the moment, I can definatly share the frustrations encountered in this process.I was able to get just over 100 seeds by using a blueberry kush crossed with a Jock Horror, I will soon try these new seeds to see how viable they are. I also have another Jock with some pollen, almost ready.
Collecting the pollen is very frustrating, must be a better way, it is not the same as collecting from a male.
As things progress, I will chime in.