Tips on picking males?

LOL, it’s not what you think — it’s not Old Mrs. Weedstein feeling lonely for male attention.

Seriously, though, what are some tips for choosing males in a DIY breeding project? I was planning on just picking whichever ones look the biggest and healthiest, but figured I’d ask if there are some other factors to consider.

Getting them to flower and then revegging isn’t an option, by the way. I grow outdoors and that just sounds like a monumental pain in the ass to dig them up and have them inside all winter and shit.

Also, it’s too early to post any photos as they haven’t preflowered yet, but I expect to see some in the next week or two.

Structure is a big factor in picking males. They will produce scents and resin as well. So if you are looking for a specific terpene profile, that could also be a factor.

you have to find one that drops to largest load... lol

Marijuanamitch said:

Structure is a big factor in picking males. They will produce scents and resin as well. So if you are looking for a specific terpene profile, that could also be a factor.

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Do I evaluate based on the preflowers then?

use Thin Layer Chromatography on young seedlings just a few weeks old to find those with interesting or desirable cannabinoid profiles.
See both links in my sig

Use a 50x jewelers lens and evaluate the pollen.

Don_Sequitor said:

Use a 50x jewelers lens and evaluate the pollen.

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Evaluate it for what, tho?

PhenoMenal said:

use Thin Layer Chromatography on young seedlings just a few weeks old to find those with interesting or desirable cannabinoid profiles.
See both links in my sig

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I’m not seeing anything in your signature? Also, chromatography sounds like it may require more sophisticated equipment than my pots and pans.

Mrs. Weedstein said:

I’m not seeing anything in your signature?

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There are two links in my sig ...

Mrs. Weedstein said:

Also, chromatography sounds like it may require more sophisticated equipment than my pots and pans.

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Maybe, maybe not, but it is something you can do from home, quite quickly and relatively easily, and with no prior experience. Alternatively you can also send samples to labs for them to do analysis such as TLC or HPTLC etc

No bra

Scent, structure, and flower clusters is the easiest things to look for. And how much pollen comes from those clusters. I avoid males that grow pistils
To find THE best male, would require testing of the progeny. That takes time. I just gather 2 or 3 males, get the pollen in a small bag and pollinate a branch.

Budzbuddha said:

No bra

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Not sure what this is referring to.

T macc said:

Scent, structure, and flower clusters is the easiest things to look for. And how much pollen comes from those clusters. I avoid males that grow pistils
To find THE best male, would require testing of the progeny. That takes time. I just gather 2 or 3 males, get the pollen in a small bag and pollinate a branch.

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Yea, I might do that eventually, but outdoors this would be a yearslong process — longer than I’d want to keep a bunch of males alive, waiting for the results. Might be worth it, though. Is there much that can be learned from their preflowers, though?

Mrs. Weedstein said:

Is there much that can be learned from their preflowers, though?

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See my "CBD Blitz" thread. You don't need preflowers, you simply need a tiny leaf finger which you can get from about 15 days or so after germination. The cannabinoid profile is established in the genetics within the seed, so you can take a "sneak peak" at it very early on just by analysing one of its early leaves.

PhenoMenal said:

See my "CBD Blitz" thread. You don't need preflowers, you simply need a tiny leaf finger which you can get from about 15 days or so after germination. The cannabinoid profile is established in the genetics within the seed, so you can take a "sneak peak" at it very early on just by analysing one of its early leaves.

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I read over your previous links and the Beam’s test seems like something I could pull off. I might try the chromatography eventually, but it would require ordering materials, etc., that might take some time to arrive given the state of things. But this is super helpful!

Whats important about males is the genes they throw. So until you breed it with various different females to see what common characteristics it throws you don't know. Think of a human parent thats short fat and balding and his wife is average at best but his daughter is super hot. It's not so much about the genes that are displayed in the males growth, it's more about the quality of it's pollen and offspring.

Renfro said:

Whats important about males is the genes they throw. So until you breed it with various different females to see what common characteristics it throws you don't know. Think of a human parent thats short fat and balding and his wife is average at best but his daughter is super hot. It's not so much about the genes that are displayed in the males growth, it's more about the quality of it's pollen and offspring.

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Well my pollen is pretty good, and I probably should have spread it around a little more. I have a couple kids that I know about that are benefiting, but I should've had more for humanities sake, lol.

Somebody getting more stimulus money ....

Mrs. Weedstein said:

Do I evaluate based on the preflowers then?

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Typically a pheno hunt on males or females would be the same scenario. You take cuts of your males and flower them fully to decide which one is the best keeper. Throw out the rest and when you're rest to pollinate, you already know which young guy to throw in there with your lady

I’ve heard certain color pollen from the male is important too, like if your plant throws white pollen and yellow pollen, or if some pollen is brighter than the rest, so maybe keep the colored pollen separate and test them individually

but like I said “I heard”