Selecting a male?

[pacificdunes74]

I have been growing weed for 18 years and the males have always been killed the second they showed there self. I have a 30 Females of Alien Bubba and 15 Alien OG. I have 7 males of Alien Bubba and 3 of the Alien OG. I am thinking of crossing the Alien OG with Alien Bubba and vice versa. What makes a good male. None are showing pollen yet and all are very healthy and all are just about the same size and all are the same age. Everything was popped at the same time. How do I choose the males to use? I have created a air tight room to pollinate but just don't know when or what plants to use? Thanks for any help I can get.

 

[Natural]

Hey Dunes..you won't know this handle I'm using, but good to see your posts..are you still kicking around SC?
Strong smells...sometimes crystal formation. Traits of the parent(s) you are trying to select for. I usually go for the med size that have good branching and stature. DJShort says there is something to hollow stems and potency.
If you are trying to have a good seed stock from which to choose..using several males and perhaps several females will ensure no bottle-necking of the genes and give you wider pheno expression to choose from.

 

[MtGrownCanna]

I don't work too hard to find a male for breeding. I use the one that sticks out like an extra stanky, fluorescent green thumb! You've been growing for 18 years so you know when you see a plant and you're like, "holy shit!!".......those are the plants I like to breed with. Worry about choosing the best females, more.

good luck and keep us posted..

-MG

 

[We Solidarity]

I have always used the smelliest/biggest/frostiest depending on what I was looking for in the cross, but I only recommend single-male selection if you're planning on just making f1 seeds. If you actually want to start a lineage that you can keep breeding forever you want to use all your males and have as much genetic representation as possible out of the cross.

 

[MtGrownCanna]

One thing to keep in mind, is to throw out the males that show sex first. I've heard over and over from other breeders and online, that early males will produce weaker offspring than late flowering males. I've never personally compared offspring of a late male to an early male of the same seed batch.....so take it as here say. IME, the nicer males are usually not the first to show.

Word of advice....if you can't grow 1000's of seeds, don't open pollinate. Collect the pollen in a separate room and dust a few lower and inside nugs on each plant. You can still end up with mostly killer sensi buds, and a few 100 seeds..

 

[caveman4.20]

Everything sounds great the only thing I doubt is early male flowering being bad...maybe bad for indoor cultivation but seems to be a good sign for outdoor cultivation... IME

 

[Wavegem]

I wonder about early flowering males too. I just selected an early stud and used it in some crosses. So far I have noticed faster flowering times, but out of 30 or so seeds only a couple stood out.

 

[caveman4.20]

Im looking for the best autos I can find thats the b3st I can think of to shorten up harvest time....

 

[caveman4.20]

I have been growing weed for 18 years and the males have always been killed the second they showed there self. I have a 3 Females of Alien Bubba and 15 Alien OG. I have 7 males of Alien Bubba and 3 of the Alien OG. I am thinking of crossing the Alien OG with Alien Bubba and vice versa. What makes a good male. None are showing pollen yet and all are very healthy and all are just about the same size and all are the same age. Everything was popped at the same time. How do I choose the males to use? I have created a air tight room to pollinate but just don't know when or what plants to use? Thanks for any help I can get.

There are some great threads on breeding here at the farm! I just recently pheno searched for males with my desired veg needs and for smell and flower structure...then next round ill add flowering time and internode space

 

[Burning Bush]

Right onto it C420,but ya can jump ahead by say;mixing all differing males,from each strain,and pollinate with the mixture,because in ALL plants are hidden traits,and true breeding in the wild,won't select,and take away,it will use all and sundry,at the critical time of conception.Some smaller males might hold higher concerntrations,stringier males might have high resiliance to molds...etc,etc,etc.
When breeding for personal,bottle necking is ok for small ops like my perso set up,but,for mountain growing,ya need a diverse,but,centrally themed bunch of seeds to be able to come out with the better traits for each season.
For instance,the Bhutanese girls are no relation to Bubba or Og,yet,side by side the two phenos could represent either,in a photo,and no one would know.Next to the Watchdawg male,
they look like relatives for sure,in smell,structure and shape,but,I know that the male comes from Stardawg Guava/Grapefruit crossing.So I will pollinate both females to make two seperate yet related lines,then choose males from one line to cross females from the other line,to make a fresh new line with all the genes of the differing mothers,intact.Making a more versatile,true expression of the original genes.
Get it?

 

[pacificdunes74]

Thanks so much for all the great info. I was actually staying away from THC Farmer for a couple years due to rude people who made rude comments but I have been slowly coming back around and everyone seems extra nice and more than happy to help each other. It's great. Thanks for the help.

 

[caveman4.20]

This one I use

 

[symbiote420]

With so many breeders here you'd think these kind of threads would attract atleast a few of them! I'm a smell, structure, and ease of growth 1st kinda guy but I mainly try to pick based on the female and what she could use or is lacking, like denser or longer nodes, earlier flowering, resins, etc!

 

[caveman4.20]

Wit many breeders here you'd think these kind of threads would attract atleast a few of them! I'm a smell, structure, and ease of growth 1st kinda guy but I mainly try to pick based on the female and what she could use or is lacking, like denser or longer nodes, earlier flowering, resins, etc!

Great point the male I chose up top grew along side 5 sisters that displayed desireable traits

 

[baba G]

With so many breeders here you'd think these kind of threads would attract atleast a few of them! I'm a smell, structure, and ease of growth 1st kinda guy but I mainly try to pick based on the female and what she could use or is lacking, like denser or longer nodes, earlier flowering, resins, etc!

The proof is in the pudding, you use a male and you really have no idea how the alleles will mix from the traits the male has and you don't know how HE is dominate or anything until his progeny is grown out to visually witness the results.
You can pick a male by smell, size & structure, coloration, veination, flower time, flower/sex appeal...list goes on. You can't know what the male will truly bring to the children til you grow the children out, imo

Also, fwiw, I've smelled thousands of seedlings and some of the stankiest seedlings have produced average flowers with no real odor and some of the non smelliest plants have produced the best/stinkiest flowers I've seen. So, I feel you can't know and your mainly guessing until you have used the male on multiple female genotypes and seen the result. Picking a male is like asking me to pick your car out; I can tell you what I look for and like but until you drive it you won't have any true first person information on a question your asking...

Flowering multiple males to completion will atleast give you a lil more information to select from and show you some more traits the male is exhibiting.

 

[MEGA956]

//You can always test the males first for thc and other chemicals you want to be expressed I'm the next gen. I think that is the best way to go instead of smell or looks.

 

[baba G]

//You can always test the males first for thc and other chemicals you want to be expressed I'm the next gen. I think that is the best way to go instead of smell or looks.

That's kinda a new age thing but yes, cbd & thc % testing would give you some insight to the prospective male. Just because the male has high cbd doesn't mean it will pass the way you want but it's better than being blind, I agree. It's really new though and all the varieties that we have known have not utilized this testing. The CBD strains I've tried that have utilized this testing through the labs has been a letdown, imo...ac/dc and the like.

 

[baba G]

Not that the testing is the reason I was letdown, but the higher CBD strains have left me unsatisfied overall, imo.
Looks can tell you a lot about a male, and are prob the best way to do it without lab equip.

 

[symbiote420]

The proof is in the pudding, you use a male and you really have no idea how the alleles will mix from the traits the male has and you don't know how HE is dominate or anything until his progeny is grown out to visually witness the results.
You can pick a male by smell, size & structure, coloration, veination, flower time, flower/sex appeal...list goes on. You can't know what the male will truly bring to the children til you grow the children out, imo

Also, fwiw, I've smelled thousands of seedlings and some of the stankiest seedlings have produced average flowers with no real odor and some of the non smelliest plants have produced the best/stinkiest flowers I've seen. So, I feel you can't know and your mainly guessing until you have used the male on multiple female genotypes and seen the result. Picking a male is like asking me to pick your car out; I can tell you what I look for and like but until you drive it you won't have any true first person information on a question your asking...

Flowering multiple males to completion will atleast give you a lil more information to select from and show you some more traits the male is exhibiting.

Thanks baba G, glad you joined the convo homie .....I couldn't have said it any better! 100% the truth! I've breed with multiple males to one plant and kept the seeds separated, I observed sometimes the male without any smell has produced better offspring ....found females that are the same way .....no smell but more potent than her sisters too!

 

[cannarado]

Chuck and duck. Luck o the draw. Pop em and drop em