What to do with 2 males

[User43]

So im a first time grower. My first crop went into flower about a week ago, 2/3 showed to be male a couple days ago and i took them out
and planted them in the backyard where nobody can see them. They were grown in DWC but seem to have taken to the dirt pretty well.


So my question is, being bagseed to begin with, Should i even be growing these males for the seeds? Are their seeds more likely to produce males?

Dumb questions are my thing, sorry.

 

[The Phantom]

Are you planning on taking the pollen from the outdoor male plants to pollenate some of the females you have inside? Using a male plant to pollenate a female plant gives you roughly a 50/50 ratio of males to females. Your case (the seeds you splurged) it favored a little more towards them being males but this won’t affect the ratio of future seeds made with the pollen from these male plants. It will still be an approximate 50/50 ratio of males to female when it comes to the seeds you would produce.

You may anger some of your neighbors that may also be growing outdoors with all your males shooting pollen everywhere.

 

[013]

Hey User43

Ok ever see a rooster lay an egg? Nope the hen does that, but rooster fertilizes her eggs.

Male plants can pollinate the girls, pollinated girls grow out the seeds. In your case you would have to help the pollination by harvesting the male pollen outdoors and carrying it to the female indoors.

 

[User43]

Hey User43

Ok ever see a rooster lay an egg? Nope the hen does that, but rooster fertilizes her eggs.

Male plants can pollinate the girls, pollinated girls grow out the seeds. In your case you would have to help the pollination by harvesting the male pollen outdoors and carrying it to the female indoors.

Man i paused then chuckled at the rooster line... That sounds like a lot more work than i expected... Plus ive only got the 1 female plant, and im guessing you dont pollinate the plants you plan to smoke?

 

[1ne eye]

Kick those Johns to the curb.

 

[CanadianJim]

You can pollinate just one branch with any pollen you collect, get seeds and bud.

 

[013]

Hey User43

Trying to add some humor! No it’s no work at all, it’s much easier to do with a plant than say a 2K pound longhorn bull. He gets a little sensitive if you mess with his pollen sac...

look for pollen sacs to appear on male plant, wait for them to open up exposing the pollen, snip a few open sacs into plastic baggie and tie that baggie over a female branch loaded with pistils.

Done and dusted.

Yes on what CanadianJim said! Just pollinate one branch - not all of them!

You could also pollinate 4 different branches on the same female plant using 4 different males. Each branch on the female would produce seeds from only the one male that pollinated said branch. Crazy stuff....

 

[User43]

Hey User43

Trying to add some humor! No it’s no work at all, it’s much easier to do with a plant than say a 2K pound longhorn bull. He gets a little sensitive if you mess with his pollen sac...

look for pollen sacs to appear on male plant, wait for them to open up exposing the pollen, snip a few open sacs into plastic baggie and tie that baggie over a female branch loaded with pistils.

Done and dusted.

Yes on what CanadianJim said! Just pollinate one branch - not all of them!

You could also pollinate 4 different branches on the same female plant using 4 different males. Each branch on the female would produce seeds from only the one male that pollinated said branch. Crazy stuff....

Well that sounds easy enough for me. Im going to try turning the entire male plants into some edibles as well.

Ive only got 1 female, but i like the idea of pollinating 2 branches. 1 with each of the males in my backyard.

Are you planning on taking the pollen from the outdoor male plants to pollenate some of the females you have inside? Using a male plant to pollenate a female plant gives you roughly a 50/50 ratio of males to females. Your case (the seeds you splurged) it favored a little more towards them being males but this won’t affect the ratio of future seeds made with the pollen from these male plants. It will still be an approximate 50/50 ratio of males to female when it comes to the seeds you would produce.

You may anger some of your neighbors that may also be growing outdoors with all your males shooting pollen everywhere.

So how far do these bad boys blow their load??

Ive got nearly 2 acres and theyre planted more than halfway to the river at the rear of my property.
I would say they are roughly a football field away from any house, and also they are at the bottom of a hilly
area so nobody could see them from anywhere.... Theyre probably close enough to smell them soon though.

 

[Stunned]

Kick those Johns to the curb.

That's funny!

 

[The Phantom]

So how far do these bad boys blow their load??

I’m actually really glad you asked because I wasn’t sure so I did some digging and came across a very interesting article by Michigan State University.

It went on to state,
“Industry experts recommend a minimum distance of 10 miles between outdoor cannabis fields. Research has shown that pollen can travel much further than 10 miles, but the amount of pollen transported decreases logarithmically with increasing distance from the source. Therefore, the risk of pollination should be negligible beyond ten miles from a pollen source.“

Something else I found interesting,
“A study by Stokes et al., conducted in 2000, years before hemp and marijuana were legalized, found that cannabis pollen comprised up to 36% of total airborne pollen counts in Midwest states during the month of August. This pollen likely came from wild hemp or illicit marijuana fields where male plants were not controlled, minor sources that could be greatly compounded by legal hemp production.”

If you really want to pursue pollination, head over to the Pollen chuckers paradise thread and ask how they would proceed. I believe some of them just take a branch from the male plant that is starting to sac up and keep it in a glass of water on the windowsill like a regular bouquet of flowers until the pollen sacs start to open in order to minimize spreading pollen everywhere.

 

[User43]

I’m actually really glad you asked because I wasn’t sure so I did some digging and came across a very interesting article by Michigan State University.

It went on to state,
“Industry experts recommend a minimum distance of 10 miles between outdoor cannabis fields. Research has shown that pollen can travel much further than 10 miles, but the amount of pollen transported decreases logarithmically with increasing distance from the source. Therefore, the risk of pollination should be negligible beyond ten miles from a pollen source.“

Something else I found interesting,
“A study by Stokes et al., conducted in 2000, years before hemp and marijuana were legalized, found that cannabis pollen comprised up to 36% of total airborne pollen counts in Midwest states during the month of August. This pollen likely came from wild hemp or illicit marijuana fields where male plants were not controlled, minor sources that could be greatly compounded by legal hemp production.”

If you really want to pursue pollination, head over to the Pollen chuckers paradise thread and ask how they would proceed. I believe some of them just take a branch from the male plant that is starting to sac up and keep it in a glass of water on the windowsill like a regular bouquet of flowers until the pollen sacs start to open in order to minimize spreading pollen everywhere.

...... Facking mind blown 10 miles.....

Can they live the next 6-8 weeks in a vase of water>??

I wonder what kind of circumstances would cut that 10 miles down, because where mine are planted is
a very wooded area, and they are kind of in a valley sunken down 15-20 feet lower than the surrounding area's.
I was actually concerned they wouldnt get enough light.... Maybe i should just go cut them down

 

[The Phantom]

I think the ten miles is quite a stretch, especially for two plants. I would think it is more or less considering a commercial hemp farm with massive amounts of pollen that would only show up as detectable at that distance.

6-8 weeks that cutting would probably be growing roots in that glass of water on the windowsill. I’d swing over the the thread I mentioned and ask them what they would do. That group of growers know what they are doing and would be a big help for you.

 

[CBD BudMan]

Well that sounds easy enough for me. Im going to try turning the entire male plants into some edibles as well.

Ive only got 1 female, but i like the idea of pollinating 2 branches. 1 with each of the males in my backyard.

So how far do these bad boys blow their load??

Ive got nearly 2 acres and theyre planted more than halfway to the river at the rear of my property.
I would say they are roughly a football field away from any house, and also they are at the bottom of a hilly
area so nobody could see them from anywhere.... Theyre probably close enough to smell them soon though.

May I respectfully ask you to NOT do this? Please do not deliberately place males outside. It is irresponsible for anyone to ruin the seasonal crop of other outdoor growers that are within 5 to 10 miles of your location. If you choose to keep the male plants, please do so, but keep them inside. This helps EVERYone, yourself included. Inside, you have the ability to orchestrate what happens every step along the way, enabling you to get everything that you want AND protecting the outdoor growers from unwanted pollen that would easily spoil their crop. What if the tables were turned and you had thousands of dollars into an outdoor grow for buds? I don't believe that you'd like it if someone else, a few miles away, had male plants that were knowingly placed outdoors, spreading their pollen in unwanted places.

Please understand that I'm not trying to be rude here... I have chosen to speak rather directly so as to get your attention, not to spark any ill will. I hope this helps...

 

[User43]

May I respectfully ask you to NOT do this? Please do not deliberately place males outside. It is irresponsible for anyone to ruin the seasonal crop of other outdoor growers that are within 5 to 10 miles of your location. If you choose to keep the male plants, please do so, but keep them inside. This helps EVERYone, yourself included. Inside, you have the ability to orchestrate what happens every step along the way, enabling you to get everything that you want AND protecting the outdoor growers from unwanted pollen that would easily spoil their crop. What if the tables were turned and you had thousands of dollars into an outdoor grow for buds? I don't believe that you'd like it if someone else, a few miles away, had male plants that were knowingly placed outdoors, spreading their pollen in unwanted places.

Please understand that I'm not trying to be rude here... I have chosen to speak rather directly so as to get your attention, not to spark any ill will. I hope this helps...

They are at the bottom of a bowl shaped section of a heavily wooded area, that has to cut down the distance pollen can travel. I was even worried they wouldnt get enough sunlight to begin with.

its also legal to grow up to 12 plants in my state, in my opinion that makes the outdoor grows less likely.
especially since to be perfectly legal growing outside it must be in a greenhouse. (im aware that means my males arent but im comfortable with their location)

Plus if you ask me its not irresponsible to plant males outside. It is irresponsible to plant females outside, without a greenhouse, if you arent certain they wont get pollinated.

 

[TorturedSoul]

In your case you would have to help the pollination by harvesting the male pollen outdoors and carrying it to the female indoors.

Oft times, unintentionally . Plants follow their own schedule - and pollen seems to stick to everything (including pets).

You may anger some of your neighbors that may also be growing outdoors with all your males shooting pollen everywhere.

Lol. They probably won't burn your house down over it, though. Er... Unless they were growing to sell. Still, though, having a neighbor get really angry with you can lead to long term problems. Even if the person in question happens to be the kind of cantankerous old @sshole who goes around looking for feuds, doesn't have a wife to divorce him when she becomes absolutely convinced that he is screwing around on her (which, while not the easiest thing in the world to set up, is probably somewhere in the top ten, and well within the capability of even a twelve-year old) or, alternatively, because she is tired of the embarrassment.

Good neighbor relations are kind of important, and can make one's life much smoother/easier.

 

[User43]

Oft times, unintentionally . Plants follow their own schedule - and pollen seems to stick to everything (including pets).



Lol. They probably won't burn your house down over it, though. Er... Unless they were growing to sell. Still, though, having a neighbor get really angry with you can lead to long term problems. Even if the person in question happens to be the kind of cantankerous old @sshole who goes around looking for feuds, doesn't have a wife to divorce him when she becomes absolutely convinced that he is screwing around on her (which, while not the easiest thing in the world to set up, is probably somewhere in the top ten, and well within the capability of even a twelve-year old) or, alternatively, because she is tired of the embarrassment.

Good neighbor relations are kind of important, and can make one's life much smoother/easier.

lol i started chucklin at cantankerous.

For anyone to see or even smell it they would have to be on my land, and would be on camera doing so.

Crazier things have certainly happened, but this isnt the type of area you go on other's property. Lots of guns.

 

[The Phantom]

They probably won't burn your house down over it,

Heck if it was of quality breeding stock you may get thanked.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Heck if it was of quality breeding stock you may get thanked.

How would you personally thank someone that turned your $2,500 a pound crop into a $400 a pound if you are lucky to even get that much crop?

 

[TorturedSoul]

Oh, man. I no longer answer questions like that. But three completely safe (for the prankster, I mean) possibilities came to mind in less time than it took to stop laughing and begin typing. And if you don't mind a little risk, well...

Back to the OP, and the thread: In the late '80s / early '90s, a few of us did a little growing/dealing as a group, and we'd keep a male plant in the same patch of woods. We came to the conclusion that ¼-mile was pretty safe, and ½-mile was virtually guaranteed to be. These were relatively thick woods. Passable, for sure, but definitely not open farmland. The kind of terrain... I guess, if your idea of "the boonies" is Brooklyn, lol, it might have been a little daunting, but a hillbilly wouldn't have even torn his shirt. Modify that distance according to your local conditions, I suppose, and then add a bit for safety and all that.

It's not so much that it doesn't travel on the wind - it does, no doubt about that. But, again, it sticks to stuff. When the wind blows it towards your fence, some of it is going to stop traveling, because it'll have "painted" the fence. And so on. From a reasonable distance, the odds of any particular grain of pollen making it all the way to one of your female plants' flowers... it's a pretty small likelihood.

On the other hand, there is enough pollen in one staminate flower to pollinate every pistillate (female) flower on every cannabis plant in even a relatively large grow room IF they could somehow all connect. I forget the number, something like 50,000 to 70,000 grains. And an "untamed" male cannabis plant has lots of flowers, lol. That's what increases the odds for seed production. And you - most likely - do not need so many grains of pollen that the number is best written using scientific notation . So do yourself and everyone around you a favor, and keep that male plant trimmed.

Personally, I wouldn't collect "unknown" pollen, anyway, since I can still order hundreds (at least) of "non-feminized" seeds and produce my own from known strains. Even if the pollen came from a seed that came from the best bud I've ever smoked... More than likely, it'd be like getting a really tasty tomato from a grocery store (assuming that is even possible), saving the seeds from it, and growing them out. The fruit those plants produced wouldn't be the same as the fruit the seeds came from. And if I just wanted to produce a bunch of seeds (as opposed to actually using pollen for breeding projects), even female plants will suffice. Silver thiosulfate works great, and colloidal silver works pretty good, too. Rifleman treated a little Dark Devil Auto, left it in the same space as a... I forget, but it was another autoflowering plant... and ended up with something like 2,000 seeds on one plant and 4,000 seeds on the other one. So I don't see a need to produce and collect "bag seed pollen."

But that's just me. Use your own judgment. Speaking of which, if you have a dog, you might not want to let it outside when the male plant is releasing pollen. . . .

 

[User43]

But that's just me. Use your own judgment. Speaking of which, if you have a dog, you might not want to let it outside when the male plant is releasing pollen. . . .

I dont have a dog, but theres plenty of wildlife roaming my land. Deer and woodchucks traverse the area they are in, and one of them has discovered the new tasty plant lol. They only have 50% of their fan leaves remaining