HELP!-Male Dropping Balls-LR2-Pics

Ok i am i the process of converting my grow to "Full auto". So i bought some LR2 seeds and i'm in the process of doing a seeded run so i will have enough seeds to keep going for awhile. I have 3 females and one male. I plan to polinate as much as possible as i don't care much about yeild on this run i just want a shit load of seeds.

I also have so other plants finishing up in the same space so the lighting is still on 12/12 i will be "Full Auto" next round and will be switching to 18/6 but 400 hps 12/12 should be more then enough to make seeds i figure.

I realize that my other [MangoXBigbud] plants will also be pollinated by the LR2 male but that is a sacrafice i am willing to make. I had moved the male to an isolated spot away from the females but the lighting sucked ass and it stretched like i have neve seen before, so i moved it back into the cab at about 25 days old, They are currently 37-39 days and seem to be doing ok.

Now heres my concern, Due to increasing heat lately [NO AC] I have turned the oscillating fan turned up inside and it's a very windy enviroment, And my male has yet to show me one "burst" pollen sac, just green balls everywhere, and now i noticed tonight that some of them have fallen off, there still small, about the size of small seeds really, and still very green. I am worried that the wind/heat is causing my male to drop his balls before they pop, Is that normal? I know that the male had to of been stunted in the week he was out of the cab but what can i do to make sure i get pollen flying in time for the ladies? Also i have read a few how to pollinate articles/posts and many of them say to kill the fans and use a brush etc, But In this small of a space do i really need to worry about that, I'm thinking the pollen should just go everywhere on it's own right? I do have a sort of cone made at the bottom of the plant of black plastic in an effort to collect some pollen but i have yet to see/collect any pollen, I assume the wind is partially to blame even if pollen was dropping i don'tthink it would collect on the cone. What can i do to make this work people, I cannot afford to blow this seed run as i have no other seeds to work with. Thanks for the help.

P@ssw0rd

Heres some pics of my setup, the pollen balls that fell off, and the lr2's in question, Also i had to splint my male [thats the blue wire wrapped around him] because his main stem has a cracked/weak spot, probably due to my own carelessness but it looks to be ok.

Please give me your thoughts.

P@ssw0rd

Also i realize this isn't normally the place for such a question but in my last pic you can see that there is some much lighter growth towards the top that seems to be showing up in the veins and the middle of the leaves, and the leaf tips/edges seem to curl up, From my reading it sounded like "praying for MG" so I gave it some epsom salts last watering at 1 tea spoon per gallon and i think it helped but i'm a noob so if anyone has any suggestions i am very open to input.

Thanks again
P@ssw0rd

Hmmm... REally not sure about the first part.......... oh wait this is an old tread sheeit!!!

Not old dude started tonight, please go on

- I'm only a week into my first lowryder grow, so I dont know about the first part. I've never heard of a plant being 'castrated' by a hot day, but most anything is possible.

- The reason that they pollinate like that is to try and just pollinate one bud with one specific kind of pollen. a useful tactic if you have a great milf in flower and a few good males around, you can get several different hybrids from one mother and it helps keep pollen from spreading. In your case tho, it doesn't sound like you will be needing to use a brush. the fan should pollinate every inch of every plant, just about. I hope you are serious when you say you dont mind seeding the mango x big buds, because they are gonna be so full of seeds it will be difficult to find a bowl without like 5 seeds in it. just making sure you know that a fully seeded cannabis plant can be 50% seed by weight. thats hundreds and hundreds of seeds in most cases

P@ssw0rd said:

Not old dude started tonight, please go on

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yeah, i realized immediately..... little too stoned right now. thats a valid excuse on here, right?
And honestly I'm sorry I can't help you more. In about 2 months I'll be done with my diesel ryders and (Auto Ak X Auto Afghan Kush), and then I might know a thing or two about autos... Until then I'm gonna see what happens to yours and see what you learn from your grow (and also if I can learn anything).

If you were at all worried about trying to keep your regular plants unpollinated sp ypu have something nice to smoke, u could take the male out somewhere, outside and low-profile, about when you think he's gonna blow(it's easier to guess with autos since they are on a clock), for just a couple days. Stretching doesn't matter too much as long as he stays alive. When he starts dropping pollen bring the desired soon to be seed-bearers outside and rub them really good with pollen. Once they are pollinated, u really dont need the male so do whatever u want with it. anyway let them sit there for a night to get impregnated, then the next day shake off any excess pollen, and wipe down the buds with a wet cloth to get anything unused that shaking didn't get. then you can put them back and while there is still the possibility of some seeds appearing on your mango x big bud you may get a decent stash of sensimilla as well as plenty of LR2 seeds!

i've only grown for seed once, on my last grow. i didnt want to pollinate all of my plants, so i put the male by a window in another room right before the first pollen sack burst... wasnt worried about the light, as it was going to be killed in about a week anyway. cut a slit in a paper plate and slip around the base of the male in a wind-free area, and just wait a week. then pollinated one bud on each plant with a qtip. had plenty of seeds, and evidently, no pollen strayed.

in the pics it looks like the male pollen sacs should open up within a couple days but it is kind of hard to tell with those pictures.

gogrow said:

i've only grown for seed once, on my last grow. i didnt want to pollinate all of my plants, so i put the male by a window in another room right before the first pollen sack burst... wasnt worried about the light, as it was going to be killed in about a week anyway. cut a slit in a paper plate and slip around the base of the male in a wind-free area, and just wait a week. then pollinated one bud on each plant with a qtip. had plenty of seeds, and evidently, no pollen strayed.

Click to expand...

That's a very good method for collection. And like he said, it doesn't matter if your male stretches a bit, its not something that would be passed on genetically. He will still give you what you need

Remove the male from the room. Cover the male with a brown paper bag, shake the whole plant really well once a day for 5 days , pollinate just a few nodes with a small paintbrush or makeup applicator. Destroy the male, and enjoy seeds AND Sensimilla on the very same plant.

Ok thanks for the tips, but i really need input on why my male is dropping its balls before they pop, I put a pic of them up so you can see what they look like, What can i do to make it stop? If i collect and dry the balls can i break them open and find pollen at there size? they seem to small to contain much of anything.

As for the tips on a partialy seeded plant, thanks but i am fine with seeding the whole crop, I'm sure i can make use of 100's of LR2 seeds, and as far as the others go i understand that they will be bastard children but with there genetics i'm sure I will find SOMETHING to do with them,

Thanks
P@ssw0rd