Ghetto odor control for the poor gardener

hamsammich · Feb 18, 2007

Ok so seeing as carbon scrubbers are really expensive, and I have no money, I set out to find a way to mask sweet mary jane's musk. On another board I post at I found this method, and although it sounds dumb this works GREAT.

1) Get a bucket ($1)
2) Get an airstone ($2-3)
3) Get some pine sol ($3)

Mix 3 parts water to 1 part pinesol in the bucket and place the airstone in this concoction, the put this in your grow. The bubbling effect releases the pinesol smell, and this seriously masks the worst of smells. I have 5 AK47's in flower this very moment, and even when I open the closet I can smell nothing but lemon-goodness.

skullkidnate · Feb 18, 2007

pretty sweet might try this if i decide to grow indoors

hamsammich · Feb 18, 2007

Also consider that I'm sure this will only work for really small personal grows like mine (I just grow to smoke for myself for free). If you have a lot of plants then don't fuck around with this and get a legit air purification system.

mr.greenxxx · Feb 18, 2007

hamsammich, im growing a bunch lowriders right now, i have a rvk 100 fan exausting the air out the window, do u think there will be any need for odour controll once in budding. and is northern lights a smelly strain, because im thinking of it or maybe northern lights x haze for my next grow

mr.greenxxx · Feb 18, 2007

and once i find the males, would it be possible to make seeds on 1 or 2 buds, or just 1 plant the most and leave the rest as sinsemilla?

hamsammich · Feb 18, 2007

Not sure how much the LRs stink, but you really should have some way to stop the smell. Depends alot where you live. If you live in the same house as people who wouldn't want you to grow then yeah you need it. In an apartment you would too. It's better to be safe than sorry, and this little setup I have going now is so cheap that there's no reason not to do it.

Collection and Storage of Pollen
One of the keys to producing viable seeds is the proper collection of, and if needed, storage of pollen. I try to make sure the pollen I use is viable. I am going to discuss how I go through the whole process. Pollen can stay viable for at least a week or two outside of the refrigerator. I don't recommend waiting this long because it is important that pollen be as fresh as possible. This will prolong its viability during storage. Using pollen that is older is still better than nothing, if that is all you have to work with. Pollen that has become inviable does no good and wastes time and energy.
Male plants produce the pollen and females produce the seeds. ... tap the top of the cone slightly with my finger to see if the pollen falls out of the cone. If it is a very small cone, it is best to put a piece of paper under the cone to catch any pollen that may fall out. If ANY pollen falls from the cone, it is ready to harvest. ... You will notice that some of the pollen sacs are ruptured when you see that pollen has fallen out. If you don't catch the male cone on its first day releasing pollen, it is best to see how many of the pollen sacs have ruptured. If all the pollen sacs have ruptured, it may be hard to determine when the pollen has been released, and therefore may be inviable. ... Extremely high temperatures will reduce the viability of pollen. Pollen will continue to shed for approximately five days. I collect the pollen every two days and place it in paper packets I make by folding small pieces of notebook paper and sealing the side and ends with tape. It is important to make sure that the tape covers as little of the surface as possible so that the paper packet can breathe. ...
In order to store pollen for long periods of time, it is important to remove as much of the water content in the pollen as possible. Store the pollen in a glass jar or vial, avoiding plastic bags, which can breathe and are not the best for long-term storage. To reduce the water content in the pollen, place some desiccant in the bottom of the container. I use an indicating desiccant. When dry this material is blue, and as it absorbs moisture, it turns pink. By using an indicating desiccant, you can tell when it has absorbed all the moisture it can. It is impossible to tell whether regular desiccant is still dry just by looking at it. Once indicating desiccant has absorbed all the moisture possible, it turns pink. Place it in the oven and bake it until it turns blue again. This desiccant can be used over and over again. The amount of desiccant you use depends on the amount of pollen you are trying to dry out. I have found that 1/2 - 1" in the bottom of the container works well. The paper packets are then placed on top of the desiccant. By using paper packets, which can breathe, the desiccant can do its job. Instead of using one big packet for all of your pollen, place the pollen in small packets so one packet can be removed quickly without disturbing the unused pollen. ... Write the species name and date stored on both sides of the packet so you can tell later on how old the pollen is.

Once I cap the vial, I place it in the refrigerator for two days. I do not place it directly in the freezer because the pollen's moisture content is too high; water expansion can rupture the pollen and render it inviable. Once the pollen has been in the vial for at least two days, and as long as the paper packet has had enough breathable area, moisture content will be reduced enough for you to put the vial in the freezer. Once the vial is in the freezer, the pollen should be good for years. I have found that pollen will stay very fresh for at least three years. I know one person who used pollen that had been stored for six years and got a good seed set. I have been told that if pollen were to be stored in liquid nitrogen, it would stay viable forever. Of course this method is not practical for most people. If you collect pollen on separate occasions, but eventually want to keep the pollen in the same container, it is best to store the newer pollen in a different vial and go through the same process in the refrigerator. Once the new pollen is desiccated, the newer packets can be quickly placed in the original container.
When removing packets for use, it is important to minimize the time that the vial is open because the pollen and packets can reabsorb moisture. This is another reason to use several packets instead of removing a small amount of pollen each time from one larger packet. Once you remove a packet, use the pollen as soon as possible.
Pollen loses viability quickly at room temperature and even faster at higher temperatures. Pollen can stay viable at room temperature for several days, but I attempt to maximize its viability so that more good seed is produced in the long run. Just because an entire cone is pollinated does not mean all of the seeds will germinate. Quality of the pollen has a great deal to do with how many seeds in each cone are viable. Another reason to keep moisture content low in pollen is to lessen the chance for fungus to grow on and kill the pollen. When I send pollen to someone who lives far away, I send it in a vial containing desiccant. This will keep the viability high. If the shipping time will be longer than one week, I add a cold pack to the box, which seems to help. I have been thinking about making a shipping container that would have two compartments. The inner middle compartment could hold the vial, and the outside compartment could hold ice to keep the vial cooler while shipping. If dry ice were used in the outer compartment, pollen most likely could be shipped anywhere in the world without loss of viability.
...
I hope this information helps everyone store pollen correctly to insure its viability. This is especially important for those who are mailing pollen to others. More and more people are propagating cycads every day, and they are also coordinating their efforts with others by sending pollen to people who do not have male plants. I hope this article will help everyone produce more seeds and, eventually, more cycads.
Click to expand...

That's how you collect pollen (and mail it too, I just copied this from another board so it's not my work.)

I'm not sure as to how you go about pollination just one branch, or if you even can as I've never made f2's.

Orsino2 · Feb 18, 2007

Everyone tells me this is a better method than an expensive carbon scrubber so I'll probably try it sometime soon, when I start flowering.

mr.greenxxx · Feb 18, 2007

is there anything i can use apart from pinesol, i live in the UK see, and i believe theres no such thing hear

hamsammich · Feb 19, 2007

Well I would think that you would have some cleaner that is just like pine sol over there. It's an all purpose cleaner that smells good, I would think that there are plenty of those in Europe (well, maybe not in France, lol)

Orsino2 · Feb 19, 2007

I always hear things about Ozium... but that's just a freshener.

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Ghetto odor control for the poor gardener

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Ghetto odor control for the poor gardener

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