00110001001001111O Okay, this is the first of two feminized breeding cycles for 2026. I've got 2 MSNL Kush Mints, 2 MSNL Animal Mints and 2 Mountaintop Mints from HSC. All clones were potted up 'today.' I'm giving the seedling 2-3 more days before following suit. It won't be the pollen donator, so this is tenable.
Five days from now I'll select the pollen donator based on plants currently growing in "The Garden 2026-1" diaries. A 2 mM solution of Silver Thiosulfate ("STS") is applied to start flower and then two more applications at FD5 and FD10. The exact plant is not chosen yet, and it will amount to a guess as the 2026-1 crop will only be ~30 days into flower by the time the donator has to be chosen.
The pollen-receivers will head to breeding area seven days later. Every receiver will be pruned down to 2-4 primary colas. The resulting 30-40g plants will predictably produce 1000+ seed, each.
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Why am I doing it in a backward way?
The logistics of maintaining several cloned plants for several months to see outcome of flower, then another 10 weeks to breed them is not a cost or time-sink that I am willing to endure. So, the selection of plants is more of a guess than it should be.
Why do some people have inconsistent results?
First, colloidal silver sucks. Silver thiosulfate is dependable by comparison when done right. In my experience, the main reason for poor outcomes is overdosing them with STS. Full conversion to male pollen sacs is not the goal. Viable pollen is the goal. You'll have better results without full conversion, in my experience.
A thousand or more seed per plant is a reasonable expectation when done correctly. Use distilled water. Use a "milligram" scale (.001g resolution with +/- .003 error) or make a large enough batch relative to your scale's resolution. The latter will waste a lot of STS, if only applying to 1 small plant, but at least it'll be an accurate 2mM concentration.
How much STS per plant?
Three applications is about 100-150mL for a small plant as described. I'm being quite wasteful to ensure the whole surface of plant gets wet. I've got a 100mL spray bottle and typically have to add a little more after 2 applications. Larger plants will obvioulsy need more. The smallest batch a 'milligram" scale can produce accurately is ~250mL. Even with that i am throwing out about half.
Might be able to make 125mL batch, but also might be quit difficult mixing up the individual solutions given the tiny amount of water needed at that point for the first few steps. Some example batches/math are outlined in the "STS Instructions" file.
I bought 10g of silver nitrate a handful of years ago. It'll bee a decade or more before i use it all up == 26USD of silver nitrate and sodium thiosulfate off of ebay will make several gallons of STS. A 5g pack of silver nitrate would last years, too.
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Google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GvDcurah5FpjZaBuJQSKtsyIP3ZFNNS0
If you want to make your own feminized seed, don't buy that overpriced nonsense STS. For the same cost you can make your own and have liters to use over the coming years for the price of 1 marijuana-branded package of STS. Follow the URL to a shared google drive. Click on "STS Instructions." You may download it, but you may not edit it.
Don't pay a 5,000% premium to these unscrupulous characters.
"Sigma Aldritch" is now "Millipore Aldritch" or some shit like that, so the referenced link to the original STS recipe my instructions are based upon may not work, but a google search will get you there if you want to verify the information. That recipe requires a 9:1 dilution, which is explained in my text file.
Three Ingredients:
Distilled water
Silver Nitrate - 2? usd/gram, ebay
anhydrous Sodium Thiosulfate - Cheap, ebay (need 50% more, if not 'anhydrous')
When mixed this stuff has a short shelf life. These marijuana branded STS concoctions often are out of date or otherwise poorly made. Make it yourself. Follow the simple instructions. Dry chemicals can last decades. The intermediary solutions have a 6-month shelf life and STS has about a 1-month shelf life.
