Choosing Male Cannabis Plants For Breeding

BadAss BB’s Produced Some Awesome Males For This Cannabis Breeding Grow

When I decided to do this seed run, I knew choosing the best male cannabis plant for breeding would a very important consideration. But this grow made that decision an easy one!

These plants will all be F1’s, and the chance of stray pollen from another grow out there is nil. When one decides to produce cannabis seeds in a grow, one very important task is choosing the male that will father all the seeds produced. Generally when making seed I will just choose the best male I can. But, in this grow I decided to go for a bit of diversity in the F1’s produced.

Here is what AI has to say about choosing the best male for cannabis breeding…

Vigor and Health: Select plants that show fast growth, strong root mass, and high resistance to pests or environmental stress.
Sturdy Structure: Look for short internodal spacing (the space between branches) and a thick, sturdy main stem. Breeders often prefer males with hollow main stems, as this trait frequently correlates with higher cannabinoid production in progeny.
The Stem Rub Test: Lightly rub the main stalk to release aromas. A strong, pleasant terpene profile at an early stage often indicates that the plant will pass rich flavor and resin traits to its descendants.
Trichome Coverage: While not mandatory, visible resin glands (frost/trichomes) on the male’s pre-flower clusters or stems are a positive sign of potential potency.

Flower Onset vs. Yield: Document how early the male begins to show flowers and release pollen. Fast-flowering males help shorten the overall cycle—useful for outdoor growers in cool climates prone to early mold. However, do not cull slower males immediately; letting the entire pool mature often reveals higher-yielding plants that contribute to better harvest sizes in future generations. [1]
Progeny Testing: The most accurate way to find a “keeper” male is to test-cross him with a known female clone, grow out the seeds, and evaluate the resulting daughters for stability, potency, and aroma.

As these plants grew, and began to flower I found 3 males out of the plans growing. Surprisingly I ended up with 3 plants in the grow of the BadAss BB’s strain. And who would have thunk it….they were all males!

This F2 strain was first bred by my brother down in Oregon. He is a master cannabis grower, and always breeds FIRE! The BadAss BB’s strain is no exception. It is a cross of The Black and The Big…two of his favorite strains.

I let them grow a bit, and two began to flower pretty early, and all were very robust. So, what to do….I decided to keep them all. There was one other male…a Tahoe OG, and I culled him.

Keeping all 3 will give a bit more variance to the offspring, and I will guarantee you will grow some awesome plants from their offspring!

Lets take a look at all 3 of the males as they looked just last week…

You always want a male that flowers profusely…heavily…and as you can see all 3 fit the bill. You also want male plants that tend to tower over the females…and these are giving that their best shot. Another thing to note about these male plants is they have all turned purple, I have always loved the purple genetics (and so does everyone else!) and these males will extend that coloration to their offspring. One other point about these males that is a plus…they are all stinky…they all smell. I have found that trait also passes on and their offspring will produce those stinky buds we all love.One must always remember the male plant you choose will be 50% of the genetic material in it’s offspring….their traits will pass on.

Here is the entire garden, even though just one of those males would seed the entire bunch of females, you can see the males are spread throughout the grow, this will ensure they will all have their way with the most females.

I will be offering these seeds at a discount…because I want all my customers to be able to really stock up with some awesome F1’s without breaking the bank. And of course the seeds will be as fresh as seeds get, assuring if stored well you will have viable seeds for many years.

There are I think (I will know for sure when I find all the tags that name the strains at the bottom of each plant) 6 or 7 strains total. I can legally grow 15 plants here in WA and I have 13 plants in this grow. And some are duplicates….just as the 3 BadAss BB’s were.

Here is a vid of the grow from just the other day….

Here we are at the beginning of October, and that means a killing frost is just weeks away up there in the foothills of the Simcoe mountains. So, will the seeds all mature, will the seeds measure up to my criteria for seeds I sell…(I only want to sell seeds that are fully mature…fully viable)…time will tell. One plant that may not make seed at all (damn it!) is the Black Tiger. This has become one of my favorite strains….VERY Indica, and unusually…very long winded. (Indicas tend to be faster finishers) I do have some one attempting to make me some Black Tiger seed, and I hope that works out.

When making seed I have to grind up all the flower, to extract the seed, so I then tend to just dry sieve and make hash from what is left. How much hash do you think I can get from this grow? Tell me in a comment. Maybe I will have a contest and left you all guess.

I will be buying a new pollinator…(or that use to be the name of a dry sieving machine I bought from Canada years ago.) I plant to buy one that will process at lease a few lbs of material at a time.

Conclusion

This grow demonstrates just what is possible from the genetics I offer. Anyone can easily replicate this grow from my seeds. I will continue to do updates regularly on this grow as harvest time approaches…so stay tuned for that.