Although when we talk about growing Marijuana plants, we generally talk about the role of the female plants which produce the buds we all know and love, the truth is that male plants have an equally important role in the process because without male plants, there would be no pollen to fertilize the female plants so they can produce seeds.
Nowadays you can simply go to any seed bank and specifically ask for feminized seeds, which are designed to produce only female plants, but if you want to make your own seeds, the process will require you to have male plants as well.
Let’s have a closer look at how the process of making your own seeds goes and what are some of the main factors that determine the quality of the seeds.
The process of making your own Marijuana seeds can be separated into three main parts. We’ll go over each of them one by one so that you can have all the information you need to make your own quality seeds at home.
Pollen Production
This is the first step of the process and focuses on the production of the pollen and getting the male plant ready for production so that you can ensure high quality pollen and therefore high quality seeds.
The most important part of the whole process is to grow out your male plant to full maturity, following a 18-6 cycle, which means 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness.
The male plant should be kept in a separate room or space so that it doesn’t accidentally pollinate other plants that shouldn’t be pollinated.
Depending on the strain, once the plant reaches maturity (typical for Sativas), or once you reduce its light cycle to 12-12 (typical for Indicas) the plant will start to flower and it will start forming pollen sacs.
In a few weeks time, the pollen sacs will fully develop and start to open up. Once most of the sacs open up and start to drop the pollen you can start harvesting it, separate the pollen from the plant, dry it and store it in a dry and cool environment and start preparing the female plant for fertilization.
Prepare the Female Plant
Once again, same as with the male plant, you’ll need to grow the female plant to maturity using the same 18-6 light cycle.
Once you switch its cycle to 12-12 (Indicas), or once the plant matures (Sativas), it will enter the flowering stage and begin to form pistils. This occurs around two weeks after it enters the flowering stage. The plant will be ready to be pollinated in 4-5 weeks, once the pistils are developed enough.
Pollination
Once the female plant is ready for pollination and you’ve gathered your pollen from the male plant, it’s time to start the pollination process so that you can produce your own Marijuana seeds.
You can use a paintbrush to gently transfer the pollen onto the pistils, being careful not to apply too much and burden the plant.
Leave the plant alone for a day and check to see if the pistils have red splotches on them, which is a sign of a successful pollination. If you still don’t see enough splotches then apply some more pollen the following day and check again.
Once the plant is pollinated, wash it down with water to eliminate any loose pollen that’s left on it.
Keep the plant in a 12-12 light cycle and wait for it to produce seeds and for them to mature. Once the Marijuana seeds become large and darker in color, you’ll know they’ve matured and can be harvested.
