Week 22 of our painful result on the mothers. Reveg. Is full on and the plants are all trying desperately to figure out how to flower again. A couple days ago I was resolved to the fact that this cycle of mothers was not going to be anywhere near our acceptable standards for a high quality bud harvest. We lamented and cried a littleâŠ. Then we got ridiculously high to numb the painâŠ. And then I had a brilliant thought! The whole purpose has been to pollinate clones this whole time. Now that our stable of clones are well into rooting and reveg. We can simply use the mothers for breeding instead and salvage a harvest of high quality buds with the clones! Itâs not an ideal situation and will result in less smokable buds but that said (and as per the outdoor photos), quantity wonât be a problem this year as usualđ. I figure a week or two to see what happens with em and weâll commence the sperm sprayđ.
Weâve also taken some additional steps and commenced with impregnating the Spliff strawberry on a couple of select branches. This plant is proving a beauty as expected - even despite a little fasciation sheâs a monsterđ€©đ€©.
Method
- we placed some pollen into a brown paper bag (both some SOG in one and some 707 in another.
- we marked 2 branches with zip ties to keep track of which pollen is where.
- we wrapped the branches in each bag and twisty tied it closed to the stem base for about 12 hours.
- after remove the bags and to prevent further pollination on the rest of the plant we sprayed down the pollinated branches and then the entire plant with a light mist of water.
When ur outdoors this isnât perfect science and there will be some additional seed that pops out elsewhere. Regardless, itâs a guarantee the 707 is viable but Iâm none too sure about the Skywalker stuff. It may have been subjected to moisture while in storage and could be inert at this point. No telln for a few weeksđ€.
The dutchy system, despite significant time to set up has been better than expected - all the plants are happy, added a Skywalker clone to the mix for flowering as well. They seem to be taking to the Druid nutes just fine. Great system and sheâs pretty much on cruise control right nowđ.
All told - the pollen chuck is not yet a complete failure. Weâre definitely gonna have some cross beans - they only question that remains is how many different strains. Thanks again for hanging with the longest grow everđđ.
Background/Repetitive Nonsense
These plants will be the two mothers this growing season that will be utilized for stage 2 of the pollen chucking project. Weâll be taking clones and stressing the genetics for some fem. pollen using colloidal silver.
Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with landrace genetics, weâre effectively skipping initial hybrid crossing and stabilization, going straight to the polyhybrid mix. I call it the shotgun approach to selective, unvetted and amateur breeding on a micro scaleđ.
These 2 parent strains will form the basis for 8-10 different F1 polyhybrid combinations and a further S1 back cross of each of the mothers. Not only should we be able to preserve the genetics for both mothers in feminized form but weâll also be running an entire family of new hybrids after seeding out clones from each on the initial lineup of this summers photoperiods.
Method is pretty simple here; once weâve got our pollen off the two mothers weâll be clippân clones on 4 select strains that have proven results from various respected breeders. Weâll be using those for pollination purposes in what is expected to be a 10 plant recirculating Dutch bucket hydro system.
***Update***
The feminization process didnât take at all with the strawberry or the Skywalker so itâll be reg. Seed crosses with only Skywalker and some other 707 Headband that we have in the vault.
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Strain details:
Parent strains for self pollination
- Skywalker Kush by Reserva Privada
Classic kush effects and earthy aroma. The strong kush element of this cultivar will compliment any cross.
- Spliffs Strawberry by Spliff Seeds
Incredible mix of flavourful terpenes and hard hitting high THC. Sheâs got some Herer as well as some Diesel in âer so an obvious choice for any cross as well.
***UPDATE***
The strawberry had to come out of this breeding run to wait for a better mother that hasnât been attacked by aphids. Itâs been a tough battle this season and weâve had to make a couple of heartbreaking sacrifices already.
Parent Strains for cross pollination
***UPDATE***
We added another 2 strains to the mix just in case we need to spot swap for some more variety.
- Ghost Train by AMS Seeds
A cross of Alien OG x Ghost Train Haze. Never tried the strain but Iâve heard only good things. This one might be worth mixing with the Strawberry so weâll see how it goes.
***UPDATE***
Sadly - the ghost train turned out to be an auto so cloning her out as part of the breeding project is a no-go. Really disappointed about this but at least we still have a ready backup strain on the lost coast og to take her place.
- Boogie Nights by AMS Seeds
A cross of Kalijah, aka afghani/skunk/diesel/blue heaven X Juanita, aka NYC Diesel/Reina Madre). No idea here so naturally Iâm interestedđ.
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- Lost Coast OG by Emerald Triangle
Pakistani Kush x Lemon Thai x Chemdawg #4. Essentially a classic, west coast combo of landrace kush genetics that Cali is famous for, mixed with hard hitting Chemdawg #4.
***UPDATE***
The Lost Coast is a winner of a plant. Still outdoors and in veg. Looks like itâs recovered from the aphid attack. Might consider trying to take another cut of this and just rooting it in a pot for pollination. At this point, what the hell and if we could salvage anything it would be a positive.
*****
- Spliffs Blueberry by Spliff Seeds
(Chocolate Thai x Afghani #1 x Highland Oaxaca) x Northern Lighhts Special. Only 1 bean of this left and the whole purpose is to blend the best of Spliffs Berry strains as a tribute. Awesome breeder and theyâve been very kind to us over the years.
- Northern Light by Royal Queen Seeds
NL means nuff said. A combo of 11 unknown strains believed to originate from the west coast of North America. This cultivar is a great take on these classic genetics and a perfect compliment to just about any cross. A biased fave of ours.đ
- White Widow by Seedsman
Brazilian Sativa x South Indian Indica. This classic strain has been unluckily elusive for us the last couple years. We know the quality of seedsmans version of this cultivar having grown it in the past. Sadly, a very strong performer that never made it to harvest due to an uncontrollable aphid infestation.
And weâre only at step 1.... still gonna need an assist with pheno hunting all of the crosses so if anyoneâs interested in running the testers (when we finally get to that point) just let me knowđđ.
Gonna be a Dope ass summer project and canât wait to see it in full swingđ€. Thanks for stoppân in yâallđ