Yeh, I like to use bags in the process, kinda limited in space so not much choice really. Not really done the two in a bag routine until today so I hope it works....will tell you how long, etc hopefully soon. There was loads of pollen coming off the male so I imagine it will. Won't take too long really, the calyx swells quickly and the stigma crinkles back. In another few days I will repeat the process as the male will start to open more of its sacs.
Generally I stick the male in a big bag and give it a good shake. This gives you plenty to play around with. I have put the DPQ male back and will do that again before I chuck it. With the bag I then portioned off some polen into a sandwich bag and then tied that off. I then use the little baggies on branches, just stick the top of the branch you want to polinate into the bag and tie off and then shake it baby! I left it for a doob to settle and then carefully removed the bag.
With the male if I want to keep it I remove it from the room of course. If it looks decent I don't really care what sort of light it's going to get so I put them in a spare room the other side of the house. My grow room is outside of the house anyway so not a biggie, but I don't want it somewhere that I am walking past, any sort of breeze and the pollen gets everywhere. I have only done a few males but as soon as I feel there are enough sacs I start to ignore it and no longer water. This seems to get those flowers opening up and if you leave it over night you will see a very dusty plant in the morning (not a big problem as you can just stick it in a bag and shake anyway.)
I have some mango pollen from a while back that I have kept in the freezer, I may also give that a go, will let everyone know if it works naturally....
My method is for limited production for a few seeds, to maximise you would obviously grow the male out more and treat it with a bit more respect to get a bigger plant, and have the plants share the space to maximise pollination.
cheers, DST
doing what plants in bags do....
