The world of cannabis is very similar to ours. A male plant pollinates the female, which reacts by producing seeds that can be either feminine and masculine. (Un)fortunately, when it comes to marijuana breeding, there's no room for equal treatment – breeders always throw out almost all-male seeds.
That's because female plants are the ones that provide precious and beloved cannabinoids. That's right, the next time you order yourself a weed delivery service, the product you're going to smoke will be made entirely from a female plant.
To maximize their harvest, growers get rid of male seeds with a little help from the so-called feminization process. What are its benefits, and how does the process look like? If you're interested in learning more about it, you'll find all the answers you seek in the article below.
What are Feminized Seeds?
Before we get to the main point, let's talk more about what feminized marijuana seeds are and what the main differences between male and female plants are.
The first thing you should know is that during the natural process of pollination, cannabis plants produce roughly the same amount of male and female seeds. Growers who use that method of reproduction have to manually throw out male seeds, which can be a tedious job.
The feminization process helps breeders begin gender selection at the seeds stage, eliminating the need for pollination. With feminized seeds, growers don't have to worry about male plants ruining their harvest.
How to Feminize Cannabis Seeds
Now that you know what feminized seeds are, let's talk more about the whole process. When it was first introduced, the feminization method came with a risk of producing hermaphrodite plants, which is not good news for any grower.
Fortunately, thanks to the more advanced technology, three new methods have been developed in the past few years. Most breeders make their final choice between colloidal silver, silver thiosulfate, and rodelization.
Colloidal Silver
This method requires the use of a small quantity of colloidal silver and distilled water. Once you combine them, you have to spray the mixture on female plants during their flowering.
Thanks to that, you will make your female plants create pollen sacs consisting of original (female) material. By doing so, you will ensure the outcome.
Keep in mind, though, that this method is actually a bit more complicated than it sounds, as you need to get everything exactly right, so doing some research is necessary.
Silver Thiosulfate
Although this particular method hasn't been around for long, it has quickly become very popular among cannabis breeders. It uses the 50/50 mixture of sodium thiosulfate and silver nitrate to cause a plant's hormonal response.
Thanks to that, you can turn a female plant into a male and use it for breeding. What's more, since the plant used to be feminine, it carries only female pollen. And thanks to that, plants will produce only female seeds.
Rodelization
The most popular method among breeders is rodelization. It involves bringing on a natural reaction of female plants that start developing male pollen sacs when under pressure. In short, you stress them out.
The only problem with this method is that even though you enhance the chances of getting only feminized cannabis seeds, there's still a risk that some of them will turn out male.
The advantage? It's simple to implement and doesn't require any special equipment or ingredients. It's also 100% organic.
Many Benefits of Feminized Cannabis Seeds
But how can a breeder benefit from feminizing their plants? Is it worth going the extra mile to make sure there isn't a single male cannabis seed in their hoard? The answer is straightforward – yes, it is, and here's why:
- More profitable harvest, because only female plants produce buds
- You don't have to carefully watch your plants during their pre-flowering stage, which can save you a lot of trouble
- You don't waste valuable space on male plants
- No unwanted pollination
In short, there's not much you can do with male plants, and you don't want them messing with your crops. They're only necessary when you want to develop a new cannabis strain or plan to breed seeds for storage.
The Bottom Line
Although cannabis seeds' feminization hasn't been around for long, it has become viral among breeders. It saves some time and effort, as a grower doesn't have to check whether a plant is feminine or masculine and manually throw away the males.
And since only female cannabis plants provide buds with cannabinoids, growing the male has become pointless. Sure, not so long ago, they were the only option to breed marijuana, but with the development of feminization processes, having them around doesn't make any sense unless you want to grow a new strain.
What's more, with a wide variety of feminization techniques, you can quickly implement them yourself. Well, of course, it will demand at least basic knowledge and some research, but it's the best way to efficiently and cheaply grow only female cannabis plants.
