The Difference Between Male and Female Weed Plants
Male and Female weed plants
Cannabis plants have evolved enormously over the past couple of decades, mainly thanks to human kind. We’ve spent years combining different species from all over the planet. Every strain has its own specific characteristics, such as structure, type of buds, flavor and effects. When you combine male and female weed plants that are different strains, the new creation takes on characteristics from both, allowing us to create totally new plants.
One of the biggest evolutions has been the appearance of feminized plants; after years and years of work, cannabis plants can be created to have a 99% chance to be female. You need to know how to tell male from female plants when growing regular seeds, as you’ll only get actual psychoactive weed from the female flowers. Male plants pollinate female plants, which fills their flowers up with seeds so if you’re looking to make the most of your plants you’ll want to keep them away from each other. Hopefully we can help you to tell the difference between male and female weed plants by the end of this article; it’s not that hard, but if it’s not explained correctly it can be a bit confusing.
What’s the difference between male and female weed plants?
Male Cannabis
Male plants essentially produce pollen which is needed for cannabis plants to naturally reproduce; seeds occur when there are male plants in the mix. If you want to make your own seeds you will need a male plant However, if you’re growing regular plants and want to harvest flowers, we recommend getting rid of any males as soon as possible. You won’t be able to tell them apart until they begin to flower, which is when plants begin to show their sex. Male weed plants grow “balls” that open up to let their pollen out, ending up looking like a small bunch of flowers. You’ll need to get rid of them way before this happens. If they manage to release their pollen it’ll be too late. They can take up to three weeks to burst. If you’re still not sure how to tell them apart, male flowers do not have any pistils on them at all.
Female Cannabis
Female plants are basically what everyone is after when growing cannabis, as these are the ones that make buds, which is the part of the plant that contains the most THC. With just one male plant and a miniscule amount of pollen, your plants might end up filling their flowers with seeds. If you have male and female plants in the same growing area, the buds grown there will only produce seeds so you won’t be able to smoke any of it. You can tell females apart due to the fact that their flowers don’t fully close, they’re actually quite open and they produce little hairs called pistils. They’re incredibly easy to recognize, as the first thing they produce are their pistils, which male plants do not have at all.
Hermaphrodite Cannabis
Hermaphrodites are a type of plant that contains both male and female flowers, so they will produce buds but they will also pollinate those buds and the rest of your plants. Plants may naturally become hermaphrodites or be turned into one due to stress. Both female and male plants can turn. Thai strains are more genetically inclined to become hermaphrodites, although any strain can turn when stressed enough. There are many factors that can stress out your plants and end up turning them, such as extra light when they’re supposed to be in the night cycle, too much or not enough water, certain insects or pathogens, watering with cold water, or even a badly done transplant. Hermaphrodites aren’t the best type of plants to keep around, as they can produce buds but it’s definitely a risk because they might pollinate the rest of your plants. We recommend getting rid of them; it’s not worth it just for a little bit more weed.
It may seem confusing, but it really isn’t hard to tell male and female weed plants apart; they are quite different. Planting regular seeds has its benefits, as well as feminized has its inconveniences; you can get much larger yields with feminized plants as you’re guaranteed no male plants. Although, keep in mind that feminized seeds haven’t been through a 100% natural process to become female, which may affect the quality of your weed. This is why many cannabis connoisseurs haven’t made the leap from regular to feminized yet; they prefer to harvest slightly less yield that’s more potent and delicious.
Jade Chasteen
02/11/2019This was really informational for me! Thank you to whoever wrote this!
Saazi
08/03/2020The article is amazing! Learnt Allot, I’ve been having trouble with hermaphrodite plants, even though it was the 1st time seeing it, I knew what to call it.. Thanks
Josh
02/11/2020Hello! Good information put on here, can I get to know more ?
moira
09/05/2020thank you so much – very informative. I am a chronic pain sufferer and know nothing about growing cannabis from scratch. so – from what I can gather – I should be buying feminised seeds because the female seed is what gets used for the THC effect to control pain – am i correct ? – any useful advice will be greatly appreciated – thank you
Ciara
Autor del post 21/05/2020Hi Moira!
You’re correct there, however CBD can also be used to control pain, and it’s usually a preferred alternative for those that don’t want to get stoned. There are many feminized cannabis plants that have a higher CBD to THC ratio, allowing for pain relief without making you too stoned. I’d recommend trying an autoflowering strain high in CBD to start with if you have never consumed cannabis before. Here’s an example of the type of strain I’m talking about: growbarato.net/sweet-seeds-auto/3617-sweet-nurse-auto-cbd.html
Kind regards,
Ciara
Yuanita Brown
13/05/2020All I can say is WeeeeeHeeeHhhAaa so glade I can say Igo to live long enough to see it happiness!!! It legal
Terry
08/06/2020Do the male plants have the same THC as the females? I make mine into a topical cream and my plant just showed that it is a male, wondering if I can still use it for cream?
Ciara
Autor del post 09/06/2020Hi Terry
Unfortunately, male plants produce incredibly low amounts of THC, although they do contain CBD and other beneficial properties that would surely be a good fit for a medicinal topical cream.
Kind regards,
Leonard R Tapia
10/06/2020What does a pistol look like
Ciara
Autor del post 10/06/2020Hi Leonard
There are some explanatory pictures above; pistils look like little white hairs that begin to sprout from leaf nodes on your plants, turning into fully blown flowers over time.
Kind regards!
Leonard R Tapia
10/06/2020Female produce no seeds and males produce the female seeds
Desiree
08/07/2020Hi please can someone help where I can get a plant or 2 female please, hubby and I suffer from a lot of pain and I can not afford to pay for the oil. Please I sleep very badly without it.
Ciara
Autor del post 08/07/2020Hi Desiree,
We don’t sell plants, we do sell a wide variety of seeds and growing material that can help you to get started, you can check it all out here https://www.growbarato.net/en/
Kind regards!
Rick
17/07/2020I crossed Fire OG and Girl Scout Cookie Hindu Kush plants 2 years ago and finally started growing the seeds. I’m running into a big problem. The female was my Fire OG. Now I have 5 plants going to bud and all 5 have either come up Male or Hermied. Are Hybrid strains more susceptible to hermie? This isn’t the first time I’ve had this problem with these seeds. Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening?
Ciara
Autor del post 17/07/2020Hi Rick
It might have something to do with the fact that first-generation hybrids tend to be quite unstable, producing many different phenotypes. Breeders generally cross two strains and then go through a vigorous process of choosing the phenotypes they would like to maintain from the resulting seeds, and then back-crossing them with the parents again in order to solidify their characteristics. Keep in mind that some strains are more prone to hermie out, too.
However, you may have had a spot of bad luck with the males. While the sex is determined by genetics, there is also an environmental factor to take into account. There are certain things you can do when they’re still saplings to increase the chance of them showing as female. For example, higher nitrogen levels during the rooting process have been proven to produce more females, as well as lower potassium levels, with the opposite being true for males. Blue light spectrums are more likely to produce female plants. Lower temperatures are also more likely to contribute to females than higher temperatures. Anything that can stress the plant out during the first three weeks (lack of moisture, high humidity) is going to contribute to it becoming male.
I hope this could help!
michael
24/08/2020ive been researching how to grow a cannabis does it require a heat lamp
Ciara
Autor del post 25/08/2020Hi Michael
Growing cannabis indoors requires grow lights, you’d only ever need a heater if you’re growing in cold conditions or during the winter and the heat from the grow lights isn’t enough for your plants, or maybe in a greenhouse.
Kind regards
jose marcano
15/09/2020Weed
lisa varenne
21/09/2020is there someone i can send a pic to and let me know if this plant is a female
It is showing some signs, but I am not 100% sure.
thanks
Lisa
Ciara
Autor del post 21/09/2020Hi Lisa
You can shoot us a pic using this form & we’ll be back to you as soon as possible.
https://www.growbarato.net/en/formulario-de-contacto
Regards,
Jim
22/09/2020I bought cbd pot, it has seeds in it?
Do male plants have seeds?
Ciara
Autor del post 22/09/2020Hi Jim
Cannabis flowers are not obtained from male plants – CBD flowers are obtained from female plants with high CBD content and usually less than 0.2% THC, although the THC content is usually only trustworthy if acquired in a dispensary. Male plants don’t produce seeds or flowers, they produce the pollen that fertilizes female flowers. Your bud may come from a hermaphrodite plant wuich pollenated itself due to stress or a female plant that was too close to a male.
Kind regards,