It’s one of the questions every seed bank worldwide encounters on a daily basis:
What’s the difference between female and male weed seeds? Or more importantly, is there any physically identifiable difference between female and male weed seeds?
Whether out to grow therapeutic medical pot or super skunk marijuana purely for fun, sex matters. Getting to grips with male and female cannabis types is the first thing the cultivation newcomer needs to do. As you’ll probably be aware by now, it’s the female cannabis plants that produce those all-important buds.
There may be trace amounts of THC and CBD in male cannabis plants, but not nearly enough to justify the time and effort it takes to grow them.
Still, by the time you’ve identified which of your cannabis plants are male or female, you’ve already made an investment in them. Hence, discover half (or more) of your entire crop is male isn’t exactly a pleasant realisation.
But is there any realistic way of knowing the sex of your plants, before you get to grips growing them? Can you determine whether a cannabis seed is male or female, simply by examining it?
A Common Misconception
Unfortunately, the short answer to this longstanding question is simple…no. There’s no way of separating male cannabis seeds from female cannabis seeds. If you have a batch of standard cannabis seeds, you’ll be looking at a pretty even split of male and female seeds. Assuming they’re already mixed, it’s impossible to sort them into two separate batches of male and female seeds.
The only thing you can do is germinate them, plant them and wait for the tell-tale signs of their gender to materialise.
On the plus side, this doesn’t mean you’re necessarily doomed to wasting your time on male cannabis plants. If you’re looking to grow female plants exclusively, there’s an easy and affordable way of making it happen. Rather than buying standard cannabis seeds, it’s simply a case of sticking with feminised cannabis seeds from a reputable supplier.
What Are Feminized Seeds?
Over recent years in particular, the feminisation of cannabis seeds has become an increasingly popular technique. A seed production method that’s made it possible to purchase batches of seeds that produce female cannabis plants.
Put simply, selective breeding methods are used to produce special cannabis seeds that develop into female plants. It’s not uncommon for one or two hermaphrodite plants to appear from each batch, but male cannabis plants are pretty much out of the equation. Some of the better breeders are confident enough to guarantee 100% female plants, but results vary significantly from one producer to the next.
The feminizing process itself is somewhat complex, initially resulting in somewhat overpriced seeds. Not to mention, unreliable results. These days, premium feminised cannabis seeds are far more affordable. If you don’t want to go through the process of setting your plants manually and eliminating males, feminizing seeds are the way to go.
Male Cannabis Plants: Not Without Their Value
Of course, it’s not to say that male cannabis plants are entirely redundant. If you plan to cross-breed your own weird and wonderful hybrids, you’re going to need males to get the job done. Males play a key role in breeding and strain engineering – they simply don’t produce flowers like their female counterparts.
Once again, the importance of buying seeds from an established and reputable source cannot be overstated. All the time, effort and commitment in the world cannot compensate for substandard genetics. Irrespective of the sex of the plant, quality is everything when selecting seeds.
