When Are Your Seeds Ready to Harvest

[Muddy]

Great write up Nelson. It's a subject I've wanted to write about for awhile. Even took a picture to post. Glad you beat me to it as you've done a lot more in this area.

I do the brush method and also mist my plants to remove excess pollen and render the rest unusable. I just started that recently after seeing TBM mention it and it does work very well.

I think a lot of growers make the mistake of harvesting their seeds too soon. They end up cutting their seeded branches the same time they cut the rest of the plant. I usually end up leaving my seeded branches for about 2 weeks after I harvest the rest of the plant. I just cut off the branches and main cola and leave the seeded branch.

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[Nelson]

Gee Muddy do the seeds ever just drop off waiting that long? I don't do single branches but I didn't know about the mist thing so I end up more knowledgable about seed harvesting than I started out. Bobbles Bangels Bright Shiny Seeds.

Great write up Nelson. It's a subject I've wanted to write about for awhile. Even took a picture to post. Glad you beat me to it as you've done a lot more in this area.

I do the brush method and also mist my plants to remove excess pollen and render the rest unusable. I just started that recently after seeing TBM mention it and it does work very well.

I think a lot of growers make the mistake of harvesting their seeds too soon. They end up cutting their seeded branches the same time they cut the rest of the plant. I usually end up leaving my seeded branches for about 2 weeks after I harvest the rest of the plant. I just cut off the branches and main cola and leave the seeded branch.

View attachment 71161

 

[Nelson]

I have the same problem and thought of growing the seed female through a funnel. The big problem is I usually grow a few of the same kind of female and pick the best one to seed out.

Unfortunately I have lost some seeds from them dropping before I get a chance to collect. Not a huge issue if you polleninated the whole plant but if you just did a single branch then it's a little more important to capture as many seeds as possible. I guess you could put a dropcloth around plant to try & catch 'em

 

[Dopey Jim]

Muddy that's what I do, after harvesting several hundred immature seeds I thought it was worth giving another method a try!
I harvested most of my Auto assassin in week 9 and the seeded branch left on the plant was then moved to the greenhouse to do it's thing, it's now week 12 and the pods are splitting so I'll harvest it pretty soon.
Despite it only being a small branch it looks like there are plenty of seeds, It's a cross between Dr Feelgood and Auto Assassin so it will be interesting to see what properties it displays.

 

[Muddy]

No, but I may be waiting a little longer than you before I'm dusting them. I hate getting green seeds so tend to leave them go a little longer just to make sure they are all ripe. Last batch I did, the Pakistani Ryder and the Bad Betty, I got almost 100% grade A seeds. About 70 on one and 120 on the other from single branches of each.

Gee Muddy do the seeds ever just drop off waiting that long? I don't do single branches but I didn't know about the mist thing so I end up more knowledgable about seed harvesting than I started out. Bobbles Bangels Bright Shiny Seeds.

 

[Nelson]

I'm thinking the next plant I harvest I will leave the plant longer. I like that advice as I too get too many immature seeds that I just squish and throw out. Has anyone hung the plant upside down over a stainless steel bowl to catch the droppers?

 

[sativalover]

i have mentioned it on other boards but bend over the plant at its base after harvesting what you want and then put a white trash bag to allow light or a dark one to block out light(we have still been debating between light allowed or light blocked to induce final finish push from seeds) i believe either way plant tries to adapt to change in environment and pushes to finish off faster
point is all the seeds fall into the bag
and another tip is if you know the plant is intended to be for seed and not so much for smoke...then don't final flush to ensure the maximum amount of nutrients for the hungry seeds this will ensure less stress on the next generation
even uprooted to leave roots and left plant root in bowl of water in a cabinet to give alittle extra time of branches on plant to help mature seeds caught the falling seeds on news paper
if none of these are satisfactory then stake down some plastic around plant as it final matures to catch falling finishing seeds

 

[JM]

i, too, find i have to "let em ride" for aanother wqeek or 2 over the 3 I used to go by... now I go three... check maturity a bit... and usually let it ride at least another week... much better reulst for mature seeds...

 

[Nelson]

I kind of like a combination of what has been suggested. My next seed try I am going to leave the plant and let the seeds just fall out. I'm gonna put it into a big stainless steel bowl. I will make a cone reflector so the seeds dont fall into the soil out of a piece of plastic and duct tape (the Canadians secret weapon) and just leave it for a long time after the male has left maybe a month or so and see if I can improve my mature to imature seed ratio without dropping all the mature seeds onto the floor. I will water it fairly lightly to keep water run off down to zero cause I don't want a puddle in the stainless bowl just the seeds.

thanks guys for all your input. I think I have learned something.

 

[Muddy]

You Canadians haven't cornered the market on using duct tape. Round here we call it Alabama chrome!