Breeding Cannabis Seeds

You will want to begin by choosing parents for breeding cannabis seeds. Selecting female plants for breeding is much easier than selecting male plants.

Breeders focus on plant characteristics such as potency, flavor, yield, smell, resistance to pests, color, growth stature, and other characteristics when choosing a female to breed cannabis seeds.

Choosing male plants is not easy since males don’t reveal their characteristics as females do. Some breeders will rub their fingers on the male plant’s stem to be able to better smell their resinous odor. The best way to test for male characteristics is through a progeny test where the male pollen is harvested and placed on certain plants.

These plants will create seeds and the next season those seeds are planted and then grow up to show off their characteristics. Once a male plant is selected for breeding the other male plants are then cut down and destroyed.

Step #2 Is Collecting Pollen

You will collect pollen from the male plant that you have chosen and strip away all extra male branches to guard against random pollination then isolate the male as soon as anthers show. Before the anther opens, you will place a plastic bag over the branch and tie it to prevent it from falling.

You will keep the bag over the branch for several days to collect pollen then carefully remove the branch and bag so pollen does not escape from the bag.

Step #3 Storing Cannabis Seeds’ Pollen

You can now either store the male pollen indoors since pollen in a natural condition in the wild will not last for long. Be sure that the storage container that the pollen is stored at low temperatures and moisture since high temperatures, as well as humidity, will destroy pollen very quickly.

Pollen that is harvested can be stored for several months when it is stored in a freezer. To store pollen in the freezer you will first need to use a fine screen to filter out the plant leaf matter from the anthers that may have fallen into the bag.

If these are not removed they can contaminate the pollen and cause it to spoil. Before you filter the plant material you will want to lay down some wax paper or place a plate that is clean to capture the falling pollen.

You can then place the pollen in a sterile container, tube, or sealed bag to make sure that the pollen for cannabis seeds is clean and hygienic. When you are freezing the harvested pollen you will not want to continually freeze and thaw it out since this will diminish the viability of the pollen. Use only what is needed and leave the rest frozen.

Step #4 Using Pollen For Cannabis Seeds

Pollination occurs when male pollen comes into contact with the female pistil. Depending on which plant variety you choose to breed the female flowers will be ready to be pollinated within two (2) to twelve (12) weeks after the flowering cycle has been introduced to the plants.

The more pistils that are visible when pollinating the more cannabis seeds will be created. Female pistils that are turgid and most often white or off-white are the best to be pollinated.

Any pistils that are rust- or brown-color are beyond the point that you can fertilize. To pollinate a female plant, you will first cover the female branch with a pollen-filled bag then briefly shake the bag to make sure the pollen makes contact with the female pistils.

You can leave the bag over the branch for two (2) days to ensure pollination occurs. Many times cannabis breeders will contain the male pollen and pollinated-female plants in a separate room to prevent other cannabis plants from being fertilized.

After a few days in the pollination room, the female plant is sprayed with water to destroy the pollen that remains on the plant before the female plant is moved back into the flowering room. This is to prevent any remaining pollen from fertilizing other plants.

Also, be sure to spray any room that you have allowed for pollination to occur. Another way to pollinate a female plant is to use a small paintbrush to ‘paint’ pollen onto the pistils for cannabis seeds. You will simply dip the paintbrush into a container of pollen and gently brush the pollen onto a female plant’s flowers.

Ensure all fans are off to prevent the pollen from being blown around the room. This method is perfect for growers who want to have cannabis seeds created on only a few branches and leave the rest of the female flowers in the sinsemilla.

After a plant is fertilized the cannabis seeds will be ripe in about six (6) weeks but could be ready earlier. When seeds are mature they will split the calyxes open and make the cannabis seeds visible.

The ripest seeds are seeds that have a dark brown or grey color and are well-mottled (tiger striped) and will set loosely within the calyx. Seeds that are not viable and immature will be green, yellow, or white in color as well as will be in sealed calyxes.

If you have seeds that are not mature by the end of the plant’s life cycle then you can eat the immature cannabis seeds. Sativa-dominant plants tend to allow seeds to fall from their small, lightly packed buds and while indica-dominant plant seeds tend to stay within the large, densely packed buds.

Seeds are harvested from buds by either manually finger-picking each of the seeds out or by crushing the buds to separate the bud from all seeds. Seeds are often tested for their viability with a simple press between your thumb and index finger to test the seed’s firmness.

If the seed splits open with this test it means that the seed is not viable or immature. If the seed is very firm then those cannabis seeds will tend to be viable.

Once seeds have broken the calyx then they are ready to plant immediately, if you choose to do so. Otherwise, the seeds may fall off the plant and germinate below the plant.

These ideas and methods are only a guideline for small-scale cannabis seed production. If you plan on producing massive amounts of seeds you will need to adjust what is done to be effective.

Many breeders will clone a male plant so they have multiple males within a very large room that can pollinate many, many females. It all depends on what you plan on doing.

Let us know what you think.