To get the best harvest possible, it is important to understand marijuana’s gender and reproduction. It can be confusing. It is important to understand what feminized cannabis seeds are, and how to identify the gender of your marijuana plant. This guide will cover these topics as well as important basics such as hermies and sinsemilla. We will also share some tips and ideas.How to make a male flower female.
Reproduction of cannabis plants
Let’s first talk about gender. Cannabis plants are dioecious. This means that there is a separate male plant and a female plant. It’s similar to human beings. Each plant has two pairs of sexchromosomes: X-chromosomes (male) and Y-chromosomes (female). Male plants have XY and female plants haveXX chromosomes. Like humans, the natural 50/50 split of males and women is also observed.
However, there is a marked difference in the gender of marijuana and humans.
Because a marijuana plant can also have hermaphroditic. This means that a single marijuana plant can have both male genitalia and female genitalia (a stamen and pistil).
A cannabis plant’s gender is not determined by their genes, but also the environment. This is why it is important to be aware of the differences between male and female marijuana plants when you grow them. Each gender can have unique characteristics that you may want to include in your garden.
Identifying the Sex of Cannabis
It is crucial to be knowledgeable How to identify male and female plants. It can be tricky, however, because cannabis plants don’t start with a gender. They won’t reveal their gender until they have received 12 hours of darkness each 24 hours. Sometimes, this is too much to wait.
This is the simple reason:
Males can distract females from THC production. You want to know the sex so the males don’t fertilize the females.
Let me explain:
Sinsemilla, which are females that have no seeds (sinsemilla), has higher levels of THC than males. To ensure the highest quality buds, it is best to prevent pollination.
What to look out for
The difference between the males and females is easy to identify. Males have flowers while females have pistils. Males are also taller.
All marijuana plants contain flowers at one point. If you are unable to distinguish males from females based on their height, flowers and pistils can be used as indicators.
Although it may sound simple, it can be difficult to identify the sex of cannabis plants.
Because marijuana plants aren’t able to reveal their gender until they reach maturity, You may not be able to tell until your plants are nearly ready for pollination. It’s likely that you won’t be able to identify the sex of your marijuana plant until it is almost ready to start pollination .
Female Plants
Many female plants can be easily identified. Both males and women can produce flowers. However, female flowers usually bloom after male flowers. Female flowers will look similar to sacs with two stigmas, which can look a lot like feathers.
These are the two main characteristics of females:
- They eventually open and produce little yellow, cream, or white flowers.
- They are covered in hairy, whitish pistils which trap male pollen.
The stigmas are located in the node area of the main stalk. This is the area where a branch can grow from the main stalk or another branch.
Male Plants
Rapid maturity is the best way to determine if a male has been born. Males mature quicker than females. They will grow faster and be taller two weeks earlier than a female plant. They can also drop pollen on female plants. They can flower up to a month earlier than females, which gives growers time to identify them.
Contrary to what you might have heard, male cannabis plants can be useful. If you’re growing cannabis for sale or smoking, you will need females. The male plants are better for hemp production. They produce a softer fiber that can be used to make clothing. You will need more plants if you want to grow male plants.
These are some of the most recognizable features of males.
- They grow straighter, and produce fewer flowers than the females.
- The flowers are usually located at the top of a plant.
- Male flowers, unlike the female flowers, are tightly arranged green clusters.
A central portion of the male flower looks almost like a petal-shaped object. Five of these objects are found inside the sex organs. They look tiny and almost like a banana bunch to the untrained eye. Sometimes, male flowers are called “falsebuds” because they actually contain pollen sacs. The clusters open slowly until a stamen appears, which is ready to pollinate females.
Pre-Flowers
It can be difficult to determine the sex of cannabis plants based only on their flowers. Because there is only a short time between the flowers appearing and the fertilization, this is why it is so difficult to identify cannabis plants.
Expert growers use this method to determine sex.
They are focused on the preflowers. These are found at the tips of the branches and on the main stem. These are the first mature flowers to be called preflowers.
It works basically like this:
A male plant is likely to have a raised calyx located on a small stalk or stem. If the calyx is not raised, it’s most likely a female plant.
It’s really that easy. Although it can be difficult to spot the difference initially, growers become better over time.
There are other methods to identify the sex of your plants
Sometimes you need other options. You might need to know more quickly, or you may prefer to try different methods. These are some other methods to determine the sex of your plants.
Take a look at the growth patterns
Every plant starts to thrive during vegetative growth. You will notice subtle changes in the size of your plants as they age. Some growers of marijuana have noticed signs that help to determine the quality of sex.
As they move from the seedling stage into the vegetative stage, females have more complicated branching. On the other hand, males tend to be taller and less leafy..
This method isn’t foolproof and shouldn’t be used as a reason for throwing out plants. You don’t want to pull out plants at this stage.
However, there are good reasons to do it. This can give you an idea of what plants to look out for. This works best for outdoor plants, as plants grown indoors in artificial light are less likely to show these tendencies.
Identify the location where the plant sprouted after germination
Do you need to know the answer as quickly as possible? A method that identifies the sex of marijuana plants is used by some marijuana growers. It works right after they germination. Their theory states that if the sprout emerges from the seed’s top or bottom, it is usually a female. Side sprouts on the other side are usually male.
Although this has not been scientifically proven, growers who have tried it report a 90% success rate.
This anecdotal evidence should not be taken as absolute fact. Allow the plants to grow for a while and look out for any distinct male or female signs. You shouldn’t throw out the marijuana seeds just because they sprouted from the sides. Keep track of the predictions to make informed decisions later.
You can Clone your Cannabis Plants.
This is the only way to be certain that the sex will occur before the plants reach maturity.
This technique is simple. Simply take a cut from one of the plants.
Cannabis-Cloning in 3 Steps
- A small portion of the mother plant can be taken away
- Put the cut in potting soil, and allow it to grow.
- After a few days, force flowering with 12hr darkness/12hrs sunlight
- You will need to keep your clones apart from their host plants in order to identify their sex.
Because they share the same DNA, this method is effective. It will be easy for clones to enter the flowering stage and determine their sex with their hosts. Keep track of which clone was from which host to avoid confusion.
It is possible to force the flowering of regular plants (not clones) and then put them back in veg once you have determined that they are female. This can be more trouble than it’s worth. Although it is effective in speeding up the reveal process, this can cause unnecessary stress to a plant that is still developing.
Reproduction and flowering
Flower formation by females
A large cluster of buds appears on a female marijuana plant. The cola is a large cluster of buds that is made up of several sub-units. There are many pistils within the cola that regulate the female reproduction process. Stigmas are found in every pistil and interact with male pollen.
A cola prepares for reproduction during the flowering process. The plant develops and stretches its bud sites. These sites contain groups of marijuana plants that are looking to be fertilized. These subunits are home to new flowers, as well as small stigmas that emerge from the pistils. This is often why you can recognize these thin structures by their white hair.
Even if they’re not white, they can still be pollinated.
Stigmas can sometimes become unrecognizable, especially after wind or heavy rains. They will dry out and turn from brown to red. However, this does not necessarily mean that pollination is impossible. It can still receive pollen, even if the stigma is of this color instead of white.
Other hairs are also found on the female flower – glandular trichomes. These “hairs”, which are responsible for the production of resin on flowers and leaves nearby, are also called glandular trichomes. The resin appears like a small ball with a tiny neck. The resin’s shape is an indicator of their fragility. Some of the trichomes may break if you treat the buds too rough. The stipule is a smaller leaf that lies beneath the pistol. This is noticeable even before the flowers form.
Waiting for pollination
The male cannabis plant releases pollen when it matures and seeks out female stigmas. The pollen travels to the egg cells inside the pistil and produces a seed. The female flower will change if this does not occur.
Cannabis plants are intended to pollinate.
The pollen of a male cannabis plant can survive for several days while it attempts to reach a woman, which increases the chances of survival. You can keep pollen on fabrics and in air ducts. You can also store it for fertilization.
Female plants are also very responsive to fertilization. Fertilized plants tend to grow bigger. They have a better chance of finding pollen.
This effect doesn’t last forever. The stigmas will stop growing after the pistils reach full maturity and cannot be fertilized. The resin production will stop or slow down at this point and the trichomes begin to fall apart.
The plant’s last chance to fertilize marks the start of its death. However, it is not an immediate death. Growers have plenty of time to harvest because pistil maturation does not occur in one go.
Autoflowering Cannabis Strains
Standard marijuana plants begin to flower around the end of the summer, as the days get shorter and the light levels drop. Normal plants know that they must start maturing before winter sets in, but autoflowering plants are a different story. Even if they get 24 hours of sunlight, they will reach the flowering stage.
A autoflowering strain can automate your flowering time, which is ideal for plants that are growing in areas with unusual growing years or when you want to harvest twice in one growing season. These plants will not flower if there is a decrease of daylight hours, which is usually triggered by the changing seasons.
Feminized autoflowering seed have the double benefit of quick harvesting and no need to identify plant sexes.
Autoflowering marijuana seeds produce small plants, which are ideal for outdoor growing. These seeds can be planted in a single area, so you can grow one for every square foot. They are easy to grow and take only 10 weeks to harvest. However, they are less productive and have lower quality than seeds that bloom regularly.
Autoflowering plants: What are their characteristics?
- The average height is between 12 and 23 inches (30 to 60 cm).
- Ideal for outdoor growth
- After 3 weeks, flowers begin to bloom automatically
- You can expect to get between 0.5 and 2 ounces, depending on how much you are out in the sun.
- In 9-10 weeks, the plant goes from seed to harvest
Autoflowering seeds can yield 50 to 500 grams per m2, depending on how well they are cared for.
Avoid fertilization by using feminized plants
Many growers prefer to grow cannabis that has not been pollinated or contains seeds. Sinsemilla is Spanish for “without seed”. These plants do not produce seeds so they tend to have higher trichome production , and greater potency.
Feminized seeds prevent fertilization. They ensure that your seeds become female plants. Your female plant won’t form seeds if there aren’t any male plants around.
Many growers attempt to stop pollination. This is why you should grow sensimilla from feminized seed.
Reserve the energy for the buds
Pollination is when plants use their precious energy to produce seeds instead of flowers. Natural selection has allowed this to evolve. The trait is passed down because a plant with more seeds is more likely than others to reproduce. This is a good trait for marijuana’s survival but it is not what most smokers want in a weed plant.
If female plants reach maturity without being fertilized by male pollen, they will usually produce more resinous buds. Because there are no seeds that can take over valuable flowering areas, this is why they don’t produce any.
Sinsemilla can be difficult to grow
Sinsemilla is weed that is very expensive. This is not because it is of high quality. It is also difficult to prevent pollination. Male plants can pollinate your female plants up to a mile away. It’s possible to identify the sex incorrectly, or wait until it is too late to separate males from the rest.
Don’t panic if you make a mistake.
Despite the fact that seeds may not always be desired, accidental pollination is quite common. You can check for swelling calyx rings under the stigmas if you’re concerned about accidental pollination. Unintentional pollination can be prevented by removing a few seeds from the harvest.
It may only be one bloom, but your plant can have hundreds. You have two options: either remove the seeds or keep it alone.
Some seeds are fine
Even though you may not want them, it is okay to plant a few seeds. You want to have a few plants that produce one particular crop, if it is exceptionally delicious or potent. These seeds should be stored correctly. You will need to label them so you can later identify which seeds gave you the best results. Next, you can use the seeds with the desired traits for a future season.
Let’s now look at the roles of the flowering stages in marijuana reproduction.
Female Cannabis Plant
To reach sexual maturity, female marijuana plants take slightly longer than males. It is easy to spot them once they reach sexual maturity.
The preflowering stage will see the female plant grow a few wispy, white hairs that will become buds. This indicates that the plant will soon be ready to bud. The hairs will be visible along the main stem connecting to the nodes and branches. If you see the hairs, it is a sign that the plant may be a female.
You should ensure that you have female plants
The hairs of female plants can begin before they reach flowering, and after changes in the grow light schedules. However, they can still be fertilized with one male. Many growers want an all-female yard. They won’t have half the plants to remove when they become male. Feminized seeds are a great option.
Feminized seeds increase your chances of growing female plants.
Feminized marijuana seeds only grow female marijuana plants. They aren’t all that make a cannabis plant feminized. Female (and feminized!) seeds can be hermaphrodite plants, and they can also fertilize themselves.
From where female seeds originate
Do you want to know how breeders create female seeds? Here’s an overview.
Methods that work early
Two female marijuana plants were used to make early feminized cannabis seeds. One of the plants would already have hermaphrodite traits, meaning that it is more likely to produce male marijuana flowers if stressed. The intersexually-prone marijuana plant can then be stressed by either light cycle interruption, or pruning. They would then be more likely to produce male marijuana plants under stress.
The pollen from the hermaphrodite plants is then applied to the true’ female. This means that the plant did not display intersexuality easily when stressed. This method has a downside. The female marijuana ‘pollen donors” already had a strong tendency towards becoming intersexual. This tendency was likely to be passed on to the feminized seeds.
Current methods
Hermaphrodites were a concern in the early days of marijuana seeds feminization. But today, hermaphrodites derived from feminized cannabis seeds are very rare. Breeders today use a technique known as rhodelization. This technique uses different types of silver to make male flowers from female plants.
This new technique yields stable and consistent seeds. You can now use female plants that have a slight tendency to become intersexual, as opposed to the hermaphrodite plants.
The best part is that the genes have not been altered so that the seeds are only female.
Even under stressful, irregular or harsh conditions, these female plants remain female. Their offspring are not more likely to become intersexual than a normal female marijuana plants. The parent marijuana plants are actually physically modified by silver and the seeds are naturally produced through pollination.
I Love Growing Marijuana sells feminized marijuana strains that are genetically female. They are produced using the silver method. We are proud to offer a guarantee that our feminized marijuana seed products are as stable and long-lasting as regular marijuana seeds.
Male Cannabis Plant
Although male marijuana plants don’t produce buds, they can produce flowers. These plants mainly contain pollen. These plants are often regarded as annoying or useless, but they can actually be very useful.
Pre-flowering is when male plants begin to show grape-like balls along their stalks. These clusters are called pollen sacs and contain powdery pollens. The flowering stage usually ends after about a week. The pollen sacs will burst and spread pollens all around the plant.
Although it can be difficult to tell the difference between male and female marijuana plants during their growth, it is a good idea not to lose sight of them. Keep an eye out for tiny grape-like balls when you plant marijuana seeds.
How to use Male Cannabis Plants
When your plants reveal their gender, it is one of the most exciting moments for growers. You might be wondering what to do with a male plant that you have discovered among your female plants. It’s possible to be tempted to just toss it.
What’s the point? Male cannabis plants can’t produce the delicious, smokeable buds you want. Do not throw out the plant. Male cannabis plants still have many uses.
Hemp fiber can be used
Hemp fiber can be made from both male and female cannabis plants. The hemp fiber from male cannabis plants, however, is much more flexible and can be used to make clothing, blankets and tablecloths.
The coarser hemp fibers used to make ropes and similar items is what makes female cannabis plants so much more popular. There are many uses of hemp, as we all know. This should be enough to make sure you keep your male plants alive.
You can use them to breed
For breeding, male cannabis plants are essential. You will be more comfortable working with clones when you start out. That’s fine. You don’t have to clone the mother plant in order to achieve consistent good results.
But I can assure you, cloning is not a boring process. The fun part of growing is the unexpected. This is why breeding is so important. As long as the genes are passed on to their offspring, males can be good fathers.
The production of cannabis seeds is one of the most important uses of male cannabis plants. Producing seeds can seem like a hassle when you want to grow marijuana buds. However, this is not true. These seeds are essential for continued breeding.
Get Some Hash
Contrary to popular belief male cannabis plants have psychoactive properties. Although they contain THC, they are not as potent as the male. They are not as potent as the females, so you shouldn’t smoke them.
You can however use them to make hash or other concentrates. You shouldn’t throw away all those trimmings, leaves and stems.
Protect your garden
Protectants can also be used by male cannabis plants to protect your garden. This applies whether your cannabis crops are for cannabis or your regular vegetable garden. These are the plants you enjoy showing off to your friends and family. Terpenes are still present in male plants, and they can be used for disease prevention . Terpene oils can be made from them, which is a great way to control pests.
Regular Cannabis-Seeds and Male Cannabis-Plants
Regular marijuana seeds are a combination of one male parent and one female parent. They can either produce male or female plants. It is almost impossible to determine if a regular marijuana seed will produce a male or female plant later.
It is easier to identify males and women once you have reached the flowering stage. Females will produce oval-shaped pods, while males will produce round ones.
With feminized seeds, the ratio of male-to-female growth is approximately 1-to-1 (approximately 66% for female). It is best to assume that half of your seeds will be female when you begin growing. You should germinate some additional seeds in order to make up for the males you will discard later during the flowering period.
Should you use feminized cannabis seeds or not?
There are many factors that will determine whether feminized seed is the best choice. These variables include:
- Conditions for the grow
- Space and time available
- The preference of the grower
- The grower’s experiences
Feminized seeds are required in one situation. This is necessary if you want to grow cannabis and make new seeds. You’d need both male plants and female plants to do this, so you would need feminized seed. Feminized seeds are a better option if you don’t have any interest in breeding, but you still want some great bud.
Cannabis plants containing Hermaphrodite
Cannabis plants will do whatever it takes to reproduce. Sometimes, that means using hermaphrodites to pollinate cannabis plants. Cannabis plants can alter their sexual behavior to reproduce. This intersexuality is an evolutionary trait that helps to protect the cannabis species.
What is a hermaphrodite, then?
A hermaphrodite plant is one that has both male and female reproductive capabilities. Marijuana plants are capable of becoming hermaphrodites when they experience stress. This happens because the plant detects that conditions are less favorable for reproduction. This is what it looks like.
A cannabis plant that is not in good health will be less likely to survive for the entire season. They will also respond to the inability to pollinate a plant from the opposite sex.
Although they can be annoying for marijuana growers, hermaphrodites (often called “hermies”) are an important survival mechanism for cannabis species. It is part of the DNA, so all marijuana plants have the potential to become ‘hermies. Some plants are more likely than others to do this.
What Makes a Cannabis Plant a Hermaphrodite?
The most common misconception about marijuana is the one about hermaphrodites. Marijuana is not strictly a flowering plant. It is dioecious, which means it produces separate male and female flowers from different plants.
Growers need to remember that marijuana plants can produce opposite sex flowers under certain conditions. This can happen at any moment. These conditions could be:
- Problems with the light/dark schedule
- Too bright lighting
- Too hot temperatures
- Nutrient deficiencies
- pH problems
- Water shortage
- Genetic problems
- Rhodelization is used to feminize seeds
Rhodelization is less likely than other feminization methods to produce hermaphrodites, but there is still a higher risk of intersexuality. It is therefore not a good idea to clone feminized seed . It will become hermaphrodite if it is exposed to the stress of cloning and its genetics. It is best to select a mother plant that does not show signs of hermaphroditism, even under stress, for breeding purposes.
Different types of hermaphrodites
There are two types of hermaphrodites, and plants can exhibit varying degrees of hermaphroditism. The term can also be used to describe any plant that isn’t distinctly male or feminine.
True hermaphrodites have both male and female characteristics, but they are located on different parts of plants. This is usually due to genetics. This means that the plant acquired the ability to reproduce at birth from a hermaphrodite parent.
True hermaphrodites are not always hermies, even though they may have the genetics. They can be grown into females with expert growth, but they could become hermies if they are subject to even the slightest stress. These plants can be cloned to become hermaphrodites. Even if they do flower, hermaphrodites can’t be as powerful as female plants.
A true hermaphrodite will most likely look like a male plant. It will produce grape-like, pollen-laden balls.
Female Hermaphrodite Cannabis Plants
A hermie is a plant that produces small growths in the flowering stage. These hermies often look like bananas because they form small growths during the flowering stage. However, after some time (usually due to stress), they become hermaphrodites.
It is quite common for female marijuana plants to become male, which is surprising. It is quite common for a female marijuana plant to become male if it goes unpollinated or harvested for too long. In an effort to preserve the species, she will become a hermie and produce seeds.
Although hermaphrodites can also be male to female, male marijuana plants grow pistil flowers. This is less common.
Hermaphroditism levels
There are many levels of hermaphroditism, as a hermaphrodite may have many opposite-sex flowers. How to classify what you have
- Mostly female flowers :You can make the plant function as a male flower by taking out the male flowers
- Equal number of males and females: Most likely, the plant will self-pollinate.
- Most Male Flowers: The plant will act as a male.
Identifying hermaphroditic cannabis plants
It is important to identify the type of hermie so you know what to do.
Banana hermies do not have round pollen sacs like true hermies. They are not pollen sacs. They are actually the elongated stamens inside a pollen sac that look like bananas.
You want to know the mad part?
They can also be yellow and grow in small groups like miniature bananas. They can also be lime green.
The main difference between bananas, and other hermies, is that “bananas” pollen sacs don’t need to be opened to pollinate. They are the male portion of the pollen sac that is exposed and start pollinating immediately they appear.
It could be too late if they are not there yet.
Removal of hermaphrodites
Hermaphrodites that self-pollinat are more likely to produce more females than hermaphrodites. Culling is a good practice to do when you see a ‘hermie” in your all-female gardening. Culling is the removal of plants that have undesirable traits so that your final product doesn’t display these characteristics.
Also, get rid of your hermies.
Bananas are a good example of this. It is important to remove the whole plant immediately before it can produce more. Next, keep an eye out for bananas growing on other plants. Pay attention to it, bananas can grow quickly and cause even more damage. You can harvest the plants that haven’t been fertilized if you see them all and consider yourself lucky.
Some growers were able to save hermaphrodites because they could sometimes still produce good amounts of THC. Some others have attempted to hack the system by creating hermaphrodites from male plants, but with little or no success.
The best thing for hermaphrodites to do is to get rid of them.
Pruning of hermaphroditic cannabis plants
You don’t have to take the entire plant down. Instead, you can just remove the male flower clusters. This will stop the hermaphrodite effect from being triggered and prevent it pollinating other plants nearby. It also restricts its ability to carry on its own lineage of traits.
This method works best for true hermaphrodites where the pollen sacs are removed before they burst. It is important to identify each hermie and get rid of all sacs as soon as possible. This can be difficult because pollen sacs may reappear even after being removed.
Remember that a few bananas isn’t necessarily a problem. You can remove any bananas that are less than a handful.
The problem is that it’s rare for plants to have only “few bananas”.
Reduce your losses and continue growing
You don’t have to do anything extraordinary to save your plants. It doesn’t matter if you have male plants or if they are hermaphrodites. Sometimes the best thing to do is to cut your losses and concentrate on the remaining female plants. You can make sure that your plants have the best yield if you only dedicate a small amount of time to them.
