Now that everything is pollinated the waiting game begins . During this time , the white hairs will begin to turn red or orange and little seeds will begin to form . If the hairs do not turn color this may mean the pollen was not viable . Every calyx that has been pollinated will start to form seeds . Seeds will begin to get bigger and the outside husk may begin to split . A mature seed should be dark brown with brown stripes . If the husk holding the seed is still green hold off on harvesting . I would suggest you wait until the entire husk is brown and fragile . Doing so allows for all the sugars to be absorbed and ensure the seeds are higher quality .
Seed Removal
Now for the messy part : removing the seeds from the flowers . There are different procedures to remove the seeds , each one very time consuming . First , cut your plants down . It doesn ’ t really matter how you cut your plants . I usually cut the entire plant as it allows me to control the drying process . At this step I do not do any trimming . Now remember , when those seed pods split any trimming can let the seeds fall out . The sugar leaves and fan leaves will create a protective shell around those seeds , preventing them from falling out . As they dry , I like to use nylon silk screen mesh to wrap around the plant . The mesh catches any seeds that fall during the drying process . After drying , branches can be cut off . At this point you can pick the seeds out one by one with tweezers or gloved hands . This procedure takes a long time but saves time on the sorting process . Alternatively , you can rub the flowers together and let everything fall into a container . My go-to method is rubbing the flowers on a nylon screen and let everything fall into a bin . The seeds will stay above the screen with all plant material falling into the bin . Other mechanical methods exist which make the process much quicker . Drum machines shred the flowers and separate the seeds automatically . If you can afford the machine this is the way to go . It will sort plant material , inviable seeds , small seeds , and larger seeds into separate bins .
Seed Sorting
The seeds are now ready to be sorted . Various methods are available for this step . For small batches , a tray and a small fan can be used . Put all the material on one side of the tray and tilt it slightly . Begin to shake the material slowly down the tray and let the fan blow the plant material off the good seeds . Next you can remove inviable seeds by hand . A faster method is to buy or build a zig-zag blower . This box uses a vacuum and angled ledges to separate the seeds by weight . This machine does work well but extra separating is needed . Another machine that can be built or bought is a shaker table . The shaker has different sized mesh screens . The screen separates seeds by size making sorting quick and easy . Other more advanced machines use the same concept but have a computerized system that helps sort by seed size and color . If the seeds do not meet a standard they are rejected .
“ Breeding can improve flavor , cannabinoids , shape , yields , or many different properties .”
72 Maximum Yield