These days it is easy to buy feminized seeds so that you can be sure 100% of the seeds you plant will p
roduce female plants (which produce buds) rather than male plants (which produce pollen). However, if you are interested in cultivating weed that you can personally bread to improve its potency, flavor, resin production or yields, then male plants still have a lot to bring to the table. Here we explore how to spot the genders and the merits both have to offer weed cultivation.
To help you out, here are the best seed bank that work in any country.
Female seeds are best for…
- THC, CBN & CBD – all the major reasons most people grow their weed
- People growing cannabis for medical use
- Beginners, or people who just want to ensure every plant produces buds
Male seeds are best for…
- People with an interest in breeding their own strains
- People who think utopias are important (ie. people who want to use breeding to make something great even better)
- Connoisseurs and enthusiasts with a good understanding of the growing process
How can you tell a male vs female cannabis plant?
If you are using mixed seeds you will actually only be able to tell if your plant is male or female once the ‘vegetative’ stage is complete and the ‘flowering’ stage has begun. This varies with different strains, but usually, you’ll see tell-tale pre-flowers when your plant is about 6 weeks old.
Male pre-flowers have a shape similar to that of the Spade on the playing card, whereas female pre-flowers are longer and shaped like a flickering flame. If you’re not confident about your diagnosis, you can easily tell once you’ve switched the light schedule to 12-12 and flowering has really begun in earnest as the male plants produce pollen sacs, whereas the females will reveal little white hairs, or ‘pistils’.
Female plants will reveal themselves more slowly than their male counterparts, but you can be sure you’ve got a female plant if wispy white hairs are forming close to where branches connect to the stem. Male plants will produce green shoots in the same area before the tell-tale pollen balls develop. However, one issue that makes things a little bit more complicated is the fact that all cannabis plants can potentially be hermaphrodites.
How can I spot a hermaphrodite cannabis plant?
One complication with even feminized seeds is that weed plants are not gender neutral and can turn hermaphrodite (both male and female) when under stress. This means if you don’t learn how to spot a hermaphrodite as well, you could see all your plants contaminated when one of its pollen sacks bursts. You can spot one as it will have produced both flower types. If you find seeds in any of your buds, you’ll also know you’ve got a hermaphrodite plant.
What causes cannabis plants to become hermaphrodites?
Whilst most feminized seeds will not turn hermaphrodite, it is possible if you put your plant in stressful situations and is more common with smaller setups. The main causes will be: excess heat (above 86 degrees Fahrenheit) which can be an unwanted by-product from cheap lighting setups; too many lumens per square meter (should be no more than 40,000); too much red light, and; not enough watering.
What are female cannabis seeds good for?
Ultimately, female seeds provide the fruit that is the main reason anyone is going to be growing cannabis since it is them that provide the buds packed with THC and other beneficial cannabinoids such as CBD and CBN. So if you are growing weed for medical use, or just growing it because you love to get high, then you’re going to want to ensure as much of your time and effort goes into raising female plants as much as possible.
What are male cannabis seeds good for?
Having read what female seeds are good for, many people will think “What’s the point in male seeds” and only ever opting to buy feminized seeds and treating them with tender love and affection. However, if you don’t delve into it any further you might just find you’ve thrown the baby out with the bath water as male plants can be of great interest to true cannabis enthusiasts and more advanced growers who may wish to give birth to very own cannabis baby.
With male seeds, growers are able to just growing the same weed derived from clones or purchased seeds and can, in fact, grow your own strains. If that doesn’t excite you enough, maybe knowing that male plants could allow you to create more resinous plants would, or that you could make more flavorsome buds or bigger yields with a better high for your tastes will turn your head? Male seeds are much maligned, but they have a lot to offer to those who want to be able to breed weed tailored to their own refined experiences.
#1 Best Value Male Seeds: Double Kush Regular Seeds
Unlike with female seeds, most retailers don’t usually sell single-sex male seeds. However, since 50% of non-feminized seeds should be male, this regular pack should in all probability provide you with at least 2 male seeds to get you started with breeding your own tasty, high yielding strain. These seeds produce a plant great for bringing higher yields to other strains that you might want to breed.
The major pros of these seeds are that: they produce 550 grams per square meter; they produce flavorsome weed; they often strong pain relief, and; they don’t need to grow too big to bring you their high yields. One of the cons of this set of seeds is that the pack is small and with only 5 seeds you can’t guarantee you’ll get a male. They also take up to 10 weeks to flower, but the beauty of breeding your own is that you can cross it with a short flowering seed to bring that grow time down.
#Male_Seeds #Regular_Seeds #Breeding #Yields #Cannabis
#2 Best Strain Pack Male Cannabis Seeds: Super Strong Pack
As with the above seed packet, these seeds cannot be guaranteed to contain male seeds. However, with this multi-pack, you’re almost certain to get some as you get a whopping 30 seeds for your money. Not only that but you get 3 different strains to play with, all offering strong weed with high THC content but plenty of differences that would be interesting in combinations you yourself can bring to the table.
The major pros of this pack are that: you get so many seeds; you get a variety of strains, perfect for getting you started breeding your own, and; they are all strong strains! The well known white widow brings 20% THC to the mixer, whilst the Crystal is covered in crystals and sticky buds and the Ice seeds are packed with skunky citrus flavors. The downside of this variety pack is perhaps that they are all such strong strains with a heavy stone.
#Male_Seeds #Regular_Seeds #Breeding #Skunk #Strong_Strains
#3 Best Autoflowering Female Cannabis Seeds: Lambs Breath Auto Flower Marijuana Seeds
[cropking seed_link=”https://420bigbud.com/best-seed-banks/cks/autoflowering/lambs-breath-marijuana-seeds/” seed_img=”https://420bigbud.com/wp-content/uploads/Lambs-Breath-Autoflower-Marijuana-Strains-340×338.png” ]
If breeding is not your thing and just want a set of guaranteed female seeds that will get you high of your product quickly, then this tasty auto-flowering “Lamb’s Breath” will treat you right. This is an easy-grow as you don’t even have to worry about changing the light schedule of these feminized seeds that will be ready for harvest from as little as 7 weeks.
The major pros of these seeds are that: they are easy and quick to grow; they are high in THC content and have a decent CBD content too, and; they are suitable for indoor and outdoor grows. However, on the downside, they don’t have particularly high yields so you’ll need to grow a fair few plants if you love the cerebral and energetic high you get from this plant’s bud.
#Feminized_Seeds #Auto_Flowering #Energetic_High #Lambs_Breath #Sativa
#4 Best Feminized Seeds for CBD: CB Dutch Treat Feminized CBD Marijuana Seeds
[cropking seed_link=”https://420bigbud.com/best-seed-banks/cks/high-cbd/cb-dutch-treat-marijuana-seeds/” seed_img=”https://420bigbud.com/wp-content/uploads/cb-dutch-treat-feminized-e1594574780222.jpg” ]
If you’re after a weed plant with a super high CBD content to help ease anxiety, seizures and/or provide pain relief, then these seeds are hard to beat. If you love the flavor or the sensations this weed produces then they’re also a great choice to breed with strains that grow quickly as you’ll be able to enjoy the 500 grams of bud you get per square meter sooner. The low THC content might also incline you to breed these seeds with stronger strains.
The major pros of this weed are that: if you are using the weed for medical reasons, and you don’t want to get stoned, you’ll get the anxiety and pain relief without getting high; you won’t find many strains with a higher CBD content, and the CBN content is decent too, and; you get good yields. The downside of these seeds is that the THC content is low and they are relatively slow to flower.
#Feminized_Seeds #CBD #Cannabis_Seeds #Low_THC #CBN
Conclusion
It’s clear that female seeds are where it is at when it comes to growing the buds that will bring you the most pleasure. However, if you get into growing and want to design your own strain that will give you the perfect high for your needs, then male seeds still bring a lot to the table as they give you a level of adaptive control that cloning just cannot achieve.