You can check out my thread in breeding for a pic of what the anthers with pollen look like up close. It really is a dust. Pretty cool looking up close cuz the anthers look like pea pods and the pollen like tiny tiny peas
Aerogarden CS Sex Change
- Thread starter nben
- Start date
Well, here's a shot of what I have been doing. I can't tell if it's working or not.
The plant is aging and some of the original pistils are starting to die off. Been doing it every day for 3 days now. I would think more of the hairs would have changed by now if it is working. There are a few that have definitely changed however.
Edit: Just really checked the flowers from the pollination sites. From what I can tell they do look different than the other ones on the plant at that height. Not ready to put money on it but I think there might be something happening here. I guess I will keep trying to see what they do and if there are any seed pods starting to swell over the next week. It's hard to see the base of the hairs since the crumbled male flowers are all over the sites.
I also just tried simply crushing the flowers until there was a powdery residue on my fingertips and just rubbing my fingers on the flowers. I of course washed my hands first.
The plant is aging and some of the original pistils are starting to die off. Been doing it every day for 3 days now. I would think more of the hairs would have changed by now if it is working. There are a few that have definitely changed however.
Edit: Just really checked the flowers from the pollination sites. From what I can tell they do look different than the other ones on the plant at that height. Not ready to put money on it but I think there might be something happening here. I guess I will keep trying to see what they do and if there are any seed pods starting to swell over the next week. It's hard to see the base of the hairs since the crumbled male flowers are all over the sites.
I also just tried simply crushing the flowers until there was a powdery residue on my fingertips and just rubbing my fingers on the flowers. I of course washed my hands first.
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Update
Fairly certain the flowers that I dusted with the crushed pollen pods have indeed been pollinated. The pistils on these parts of the plant are changing rapidly while the others at the same height are still bright white and reaching. There is also some swelling at the base of a few pistils already, telling me that some seed formation has started.
I am thinking I may scrub the plan to make selfed seeds. Been busy at work, and researching STS changing. This has left little ambition to keep the aerogarden up and running especially now that I am fairly certain pollination has taken place on the mother plant.
Fairly certain the flowers that I dusted with the crushed pollen pods have indeed been pollinated. The pistils on these parts of the plant are changing rapidly while the others at the same height are still bright white and reaching. There is also some swelling at the base of a few pistils already, telling me that some seed formation has started.
I am thinking I may scrub the plan to make selfed seeds. Been busy at work, and researching STS changing. This has left little ambition to keep the aerogarden up and running especially now that I am fairly certain pollination has taken place on the mother plant.
Still don't quite know about STS... Read this thread. From what I see there are a few glaring negatives... Dies your hands (and as Bob said gets in your blood stream), and then you have to order the stuff. Apparently the feds are on to people using this for fem seed production. In the end the OP of the thread never got any pollen anyways!
I was just thinking that it would be easier to only spray a couple times and get pollen sacs but I guess if you run the risk of it not working, or more likely producing sacs like I just did which only need to be crushed it isn't worth the risk. And I can make CS at will, something you can't do with chemicals.
Daily spraying is a chore, but I think the grower has the lesser of the two evils here. I wouldn't want to have to go through the stress of changing my sex organs... And, if the pollen sacs have to be crushed to pollinate I guess we can look on the bright side and say selective pollination is very easily accomplished with this method, with little chance of accidental pollination of plants or parts of a plant that you didn't want to pollinate.
At the very least I now know that you can just crush those pods and get some seeds, which is a very good thing "Bailers Booya"
I was just thinking that it would be easier to only spray a couple times and get pollen sacs but I guess if you run the risk of it not working, or more likely producing sacs like I just did which only need to be crushed it isn't worth the risk. And I can make CS at will, something you can't do with chemicals.
Daily spraying is a chore, but I think the grower has the lesser of the two evils here. I wouldn't want to have to go through the stress of changing my sex organs... And, if the pollen sacs have to be crushed to pollinate I guess we can look on the bright side and say selective pollination is very easily accomplished with this method, with little chance of accidental pollination of plants or parts of a plant that you didn't want to pollinate.
At the very least I now know that you can just crush those pods and get some seeds, which is a very good thing "Bailers Booya"
Well, I took the reversed plant down today. I decided I wouldn't let the death of it go totally in vain however.
I took the buds that were still full of sacs off and placed them in the paper bowl and put them on top of the lights to dry. It is still very humid here so the bottom heat is a must. I am hoping to dry them to the point of being able to powder them by crushing. Then I will store them whole and try to pollinate future plants. Think leaving them whole like this will help to maintain the pollen. This would be an ideal storage solution if it indeed works. Maybe adding some raw rice to the mason jar will help to keep it dry too. I tried my best to not include the resin covered new flowers that would have added moisture and prevented the powdering.
I humbly ask those with more knowledge if they have any opinions on if they think this is worth all the trouble or not
Edit: I have no proof if this is true or not but always heard that they have found live yeasts and pollen grains in the pyramids. I figure this is in some way the same, minus the pyramid of course... Seems like it would work. I dunno
I took the buds that were still full of sacs off and placed them in the paper bowl and put them on top of the lights to dry. It is still very humid here so the bottom heat is a must. I am hoping to dry them to the point of being able to powder them by crushing. Then I will store them whole and try to pollinate future plants. Think leaving them whole like this will help to maintain the pollen. This would be an ideal storage solution if it indeed works. Maybe adding some raw rice to the mason jar will help to keep it dry too. I tried my best to not include the resin covered new flowers that would have added moisture and prevented the powdering.
I humbly ask those with more knowledge if they have any opinions on if they think this is worth all the trouble or not
Edit: I have no proof if this is true or not but always heard that they have found live yeasts and pollen grains in the pyramids. I figure this is in some way the same, minus the pyramid of course... Seems like it would work. I dunno
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E
Epic Genetics
Guest
Well, I took the reversed plant down today. I decided I wouldn't let the death of it go totally in vain however.
I took the buds that were still full of sacs off and placed them in the paper bowl and put them on top of the lights to dry. It is still very humid here so the bottom heat is a must. I am hoping to dry them to the point of being able to powder them by crushing. Then I will store them whole and try to pollinate future plants. Think leaving them whole like this will help to maintain the pollen. This would be an ideal storage solution if it indeed works. Maybe adding some raw rice to the mason jar will help to keep it dry too. I tried my best to not include the resin covered new flowers that would have added moisture and prevented the powdering.
I humbly ask those with more knowledge if they have any opinions on if they think this is worth all the trouble or not
Edit: I have no proof if this is true or not but always heard that they have found live yeasts and pollen grains in the pyramids. I figure this is in some way the same, minus the pyramid of course... Seems like it would work. I dunno
its worth a try , but id carefully snip off the pollen sacks , will dry faster on their own
peace
Thanks Bob. I was originally going to do as you suggest, but when I got down to it the thought made me go insane. There are literally thousands of sacs on the buds. I am hoping there is a chance the they will fall out as the buds dry.
I'll keep updating. Thinking I could be on to an easier pollen collection method if things go well... At least for reversed plants.
Or not, my luck isn't the best most of the time haha
I'll keep updating. Thinking I could be on to an easier pollen collection method if things go well... At least for reversed plants.
Or not, my luck isn't the best most of the time haha
For what it's worth... The buds are doing exactly what I had hoped they would. All the anthers are falling off as well as the petals and pods. I am still not seeing any pollen but hopefully these crushed on female flowers will have some effect. I do notice a powder on my fingertips when I run them through it. Hopefully this is the dust I am after.
These pods and anthers simply fell right out of the well dried bud by just being shaken in the paper bowl. There was no effort at all to get them to release from the buds.
Edit: If these anthers actually do work to pollinate plants, they may just be worth more than saffron anthers hahaha! Our wait is not too long however, I am getting some Spliff Seeds White Widow soon, I will try to pollinate a bottom branch and see what happens. I will of course keep everybody updated. Will this offspring then be Blue Widow?? I suppose in my small growing hobby finding a perfect mix will be close to impossible
These pods and anthers simply fell right out of the well dried bud by just being shaken in the paper bowl. There was no effort at all to get them to release from the buds.
Edit: If these anthers actually do work to pollinate plants, they may just be worth more than saffron anthers hahaha! Our wait is not too long however, I am getting some Spliff Seeds White Widow soon, I will try to pollinate a bottom branch and see what happens. I will of course keep everybody updated. Will this offspring then be Blue Widow?? I suppose in my small growing hobby finding a perfect mix will be close to impossible
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Still no definitive on if there are seeds or not on the blueberry. Started harvesting some branches off, have 8 more to go. Slowly harvesting the plant branch by branch hoping these two will have seeds when I get down to them. I can't see any now but I have swore I had barren buds before only to be surprised!
