One lone male marijuana plant left unattended in a grow room will ruin a whole cannabis crop by pollinating your female marijuana plants. Instead of amazing cannabis buds, the broken-hearted cannabis grower is harvesting marijuana seeds. Thus spotting and removing male marijuana plants before they seed or pollinate your female weed plants is extremely important. The goal is to remove male pot plants before pollination.
If your marijuana growing goal is creating plenty of cannabis seeds then male marijuana plants are needed. However, since most marijuana growers are doing sinsemilla style, that’s seed-free, ripping male marijuana plants before pollination is extremely important.
For an inexperienced marijuana grower, extra attention needs to be heeded in spotting male and female cannabis plants. Review numerous marijuana photos constantly of male and female cannabis plants to help in guiding you in weeding out the un-useable male plants. Generally, a cannabis grower does not have to worry about their marijuana plants showing their sex during the vegetative (18/6) growth phase.
Showing their sex
Marijuana plants begin to show their sex during the flowering phase (12/12). Some Sativa marijuana types may require even less light to determine their sex. Marijuana plants do not show their sex (male or female) during the vegetative period, but regular male and female plant inspection should be done as a precaution. And part of a good marijuana grower routine.
The best way to learn how to spot a male marijuana plant is that it will develop ‘balls’, ‘testicles,’ ‘nut sack.’ These little balls of pollen will be spotted between branch and leaf, also known as the internode. Once a male cannabis plant is confirmed in your grow space, immediate termination is necessary. Safe removal is important to avoid spreading even undeveloped male pot pollen in your grow room. It’s best to remove male pot plants from a grow room before cutting them. Carefully chop down the male marijuana plant near the base of the plant. Do not shake the cannabis plant as this may release pollen. Even outside a grow room pollen can travel into a grow space. Pollen can travel many miles before settling
Female Cannabis Plant Characteristics
Female marijuana plants will develop white hairs or pistils at the internodes of cannabis plants. A magnifying glass is an ideal aid to spot the tiny little white hairs. Do not disturb these white pistils as they will develop into marijuana buds. Any damage, however slight, will cause less potency.
Between three and six out of every ten cannabis seeds will become male marijuana plants. Many marijuana growers purchase feminized marijuana seeds or use cannabis clones to ensure every cannabis plant they’re growing is going to produce marijuana buds.
The extra expense of feminized cannabis seeds is worthy of the price tag as every seed will become a female marijuana plant. However regular marijuana plant sex inspection should still be completed. Feminized marijuana seeds can become hermaphrodites’ or turn male if the marijuana plants are poorly treated.
Final Thoughts on Cannabis sexing
Proper care will always reward the marijuana grower with more female than male marijuana plants.
Cannabis seeds were common until the mid-70s when marijuana growers began removing male marijuana plants. In 1976, a coffee-table book called Sinsemilla Marijuana Flowers, by Jim Richardson and Arik Woods revolutionized marijuana growing in North America.
This first marijuana grow book extolled the virtues of removing male marijuana plants to create potent powerful cannabis buds. Sinsemilla Marijuana Flowers described the stages of marijuana growth with advice (and marijuana photos) on creating a tasty head stash.
The grow book also suggested breeding cannabis plants is possible by mixing two different types of marijuana from the opposite sex to create a new weed strain via cannabis seeds offspring.
Their early suggestions began a trend amongst marijuana growers to breed their own marijuana strains by mixing selected male marijuana plants with female marijuana plants. Leading to today’s current crop of great cannabis genetics available in regular marijuana seed form or via feminized cannabis seeds.
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