A New York grower offers expert breeding tips.
 
The Messiah lives in western New York and has been growing for 10 years. A few years back, he felt that Canadian pot was getting far too much adulation from HIGH TIMES. In response, he created the Battle at the Bridge Cup, an annual showdown between American and Canadian growers. Over the course of five contests, the Messiah and his network of growers, crushed the Canadian entries, while the Messiah himself won the top prize for outstanding strain three times.
 
The Messiah is also a seed breeder extraordinaire, responsible for PK Ripper (Las Vegas Purple Kush x Jack the Ripper from Subcool) and Bubbadential (DNA's L.A. Confidential x Bubble Gum from Serious Seeds). Bubbadential was snapped up by Ontario Seed Bank of Toronto and sold out instantly. Here's what the Messiah has to say about successful breeding:
 
"You can't just take any male and some pollen and - presto! - make a smokeable cross with it. Growers who do that, we call 'pollen chuckers.'
 
"You need that special male; it's key to everything. Both male and female should be high-quality parents. You might not get a good male out of a 10- or 20-pack of seeds that you've purchased. It may take years before you find it. But when you see it, you'll know. But it takes experience. Grow first, for as long as you possibly can, before trying to breed. Experience will teach you what to keep an eye out for.
 
"I got lucky. The Jack the Ripper male that I chose to make my two latest crosses - the PK Ripper and my Guava Chem x Jack the Ripper - was producing resin in the second week of flowering. That's when you know something's special. Males usually don't produce resin. I knew I had a keeper male. But you won't see that on a regular basis.
 
"In order to breed, you have to isolate a couple of plants so you don't pollinate the entire garden. I try to catch some pollen before it escapes from the plant. I collect it, discard the male and then repaint a few of the female's branches with the pollen. That limits how many seeds that I'll get. It's not an open-air pollination where you leave a male plant in the garden and let him have at it. This way, you may get a few tips on a couple plants next to the ones you painted, but nothing major. I put twist-ties on the branches, so they don't get lost in the shuffle at harvest.
 
"When you paint, a little goes a long way, believe it or not. By painting one or two branches on one plant, I've harvested well over 300 seeds. When I made the Bubbadential seeds, I just left the male in the room and produced over 10,000 seeds. Some growers say that after a few days, you should get a little spray bottle and mist the branches that you pollinated in order to deaden the pollen out so it won't pollinate anything else, once you've turned your fans back on. On branches close to those you pollinated, you may find a few odd seeds, but nothing much. If you're able to isolate the plants, that's the way to go. Nowadays, it's easier because you have access to superb grow tents."