How can you tell whether a cannabis seed is male or female? – Growing cannabis from seeds has several significant advantages over cloning. One of the greatest benefits of growing cannabis from seeds is the availability of a wide variety of high-quality feminized seeds at the touch of a button.
Approximately fifty percent of unfertilized cannabis plants will be male, but with a little bit of preparation, this number can be reduced to about five percent. Even though sexing cannabis seeds is 100% accurate in determining whether a seedling is male or female, the hermaphrodite gene of the plant makes it impossible to completely eliminate males from the harvest.
When sexing cannabis seeds, a magnifying glass and tweezers can be extremely useful. Female seeds have a bottom that resembles a near-perfect round volcano. The depression resembling a volcano is where the seed was attached to the plant. If the depression is football-shaped or anything other than a circle, the seedling may be male or hermaphrodite.
- There is a widespread misconception among new growers that cannabis seeds can be determined to be male or female based solely on their size and color pattern.
- Years of growing experience have led me to the conclusion that this is not the case; size or color have no bearing on the sex.
- However, there is a correlation between the shape of the seedling and its gender.
Male seeds are typically football-shaped and difficult to roll across a table. In contrast, the female seedling is spherical and rolls easily over a flat surface.
How can one determine whether a seed is male or female?
Determining the Gender of a Cannabis Seed – The simple answer is that if you have a handful of unmarked seeds, it is nearly impossible to determine which ones are male or female. The only accurate way to determine a plant’s gender is to plant a seed and observe its development.
Several weeks later, the plant will begin to pre-flower, or form a small bud at the branch’s node. One of the first indications that your cannabis plant is female is the appearance of wispy, generally white pistillates. Male plants will produce pollen sacs that resemble a miniature crab claw and are spherical with distinct longitudinal slits.
Growers typically look for these structures to determine a plant’s sexuality. Female (left) and male (right) cannabis plants at an early stage. If you’re looking for more precise, scientifically-based methods to determine your plant’s gender, there are a number of labs that can sex your plant immediately after germination, eliminating the lengthy (usually around six-week) wait to determine its gender. 
What do autoflowering phenotypes entail? – Autoflowering cannabis seeds also exhibit distinct phenotypes, similar to feminized cannabis seeds. When autoflowering seeds are cultivated, a variety of weed phenotypes can be anticipated. It is important to note that autoflower seeds have a predetermined life cycle.
How can you identify a female plant?
How can you determine whether a plant is female before it blooms? – In the pre-flowering phase, a female plant is distinguished by the protrusion of fine, white hairs known as stigmas from tiny, teardrop-shaped buds. The stigmas, or female reproductive organs, are located at the nodes where the branches meet the central stalk.
- In the pre-flowering phase, a female plant is distinguished by the protrusion of fine, white hairs known as stigmas from tiny, teardrop-shaped buds.
- Photograph taken by: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps The female stigma’s wispy, white hairs become visible approximately four to six weeks after germination and gradually darken over time.
Pistils and stigmas are more likely to develop near the plant’s light source near the plant’s crown, but they can also develop in the lower regions.