Feminized Seeds: Let’s separate fact from fiction

Feminized seeds are now commonplace. You can grow marijuana for many years without ever touching any other plants. As if marijuana was a single-sex plant (female)it’s not true. You need to know the meaning and expectations of feminized seeds. These questions have real practical value and aren’t just theoretical.

What exactly is a Feminized Weed Seed?

This is a brief and simple definition of feminized seed. Feminized cannabis seeds are those that can turn into male plants only. They can also turn male or female, which is why they are different from regular seeds. Let’s now discuss it in detail. Have two distinct sexes, as you may have guessed. Sow a few seeds taken from plants that you have grown naturally. Some will become male plants, while others will turn into female plants. This will result in a 50/50 ratio. These natural seeds are called regular by growers.

Regular seeds were the only option for weed growers for a while. In the early 1990s, the first small batches of seeds that we’re able to be called ‘feminized” began to appear in Amsterdam. They were first offered by Dutch Passion, the founder. Dutch Passion today is one of the oldest commercial seed banks that still exist. This new type of seed had the unique feature that it grew into female plants in more than 95% of cases. It was closer to 100%. Bud growers saw this as God’s gift. They no longer had to throw out half their plants at the start of flowering. They knew there would only be females in their garden, and they would harvest every seed they had sown.

Are Feminized Seeds Always Female?

They should, at least, in theory. However, serious breeders will go to great lengths for all their feminized seeds to become female. In reality, they rarely are. It is not 100%. Even the best-feminized seeds can sometimes produce males. These occasions are rare. Statistically speaking, it is unlikely that you will see a male intruder among all-girl teams if you have more than 100 plants. Can feminized seeds become male? They can. However, it is highly unlikely that you will have this issue on your first attempt.

What makes a fertilized seed?

We haven’t explained how breeders manipulate beans to produce only females. In other words, cannabis plants can alter their sexual behavior in response to stress or exposure to certain chemicals. This means that cannabis plants can transform into males, producing pollen sacks as well as flowers.

This phenomenon has been recognized by growers for years. This is hermaphroditism. It’s a problem in any garden. You want buds that don’t produce seeds. The ‘female pollen’ will cause all your buds to go to seed, destroying your entire crop.

The “hermies” were a problem that growers had been trying to eradicate for years, but they didn’t realize that the seeds they got from female pollen would turn into female plants. To be precise hermaphrodites this means that they tend to produce mostly female buds but may also produce pollen sacks when they are under too much stress. This is how the Dutch Passion’s first batches of feminized seeds were produced in the early 1990s. The plants suffered so much stress that they were harmed, and then the hermie-prone seeds were harvested. It’s no surprise that initial barbaric methods caused feminized beans to have a bad reputation. Some purists still use regular beans. In a separate article, you can learn more about the feminized seeds and regular controversy.

Feminized Seeds without Hermies are the New Normal

It is long past the time when ‘fems’ and ‘hermies were almost synonymous. Breeders now produce feminized cannabis seeds Dublin in a completely different manner. These chemicals are used by special chemical companies. It could be gibberellic Acid, Silver Thiosulfate, or a simpler solution such as colloidal water that is made using a homemade 9V battery-feminization kit. These methods do not cause stress. This means that the seeds are not more susceptible to hermies than their regular counterparts. A special method is available to ensure that the plant you select for feminized seeds doesn’t have any hermitian genes.

How to Choose a Feminized Tree That Will Not Hermie?

It works this way: Take a few regular seeds and grow plants. Once they have revealed their sex, you can discard the males. You wait until the females start to bloom and then stress them. The ones that remain female despite the stress are the best keepers. They are the best choice for feminized seed production.

Do Feminized Seeds Produce Different Phenotypes?

There are two distinct things when it comes to making seeds that turn female or making seeds that look uniform. A breeder cannot guarantee that you will have only one pheno with a feminized seed. As with regular seeds, the phenotypic variation can be just as large. If you are looking for feminized seeds with the same phenotypes as regular seeds, ensure that the breeder or reviewers have described the strain as stable. We tried our best to explain what feminized means. Let’s now dispel some common misconceptions about feminized marijuana seeds.

Feminized vs. Auto-flowering

When they decide on a strain to grow, some people wonder if they should buy feminized seeds or auto-flowering. As though these terms were incompatiblethey are not. This confusion is understandable. Seed shops sell seeds in two categories.

• Feminized auto-flowering seed -> often abbreviated to auto-flowering seed.
• Feminized photos seeds are usually abbreviated to feminized.

This confusion is because words not in bold are often omitted. Although there are regular auto-flowering and regular photoperiod varieties, neither is very well-known. Many newbies won’t see these seeds when they shop for seeds. They only see the words “feminized” and “auto-flowering”, and feel that they must choose one. You can have both. Auto-flowering feminized seed produces only girls and all of them start to bloom automatically. We have a separate post on the pros and cons of Auto-flowering vs. non-auto-flowering.

How to tell if a seed is feminized or not

Another myth is that feminized seed looks different from other types of seeds. It is not true. A seed is just that: a seed. A seed can look small or large or mature or immature. You can’t tell much about the genetics of a seed by simply looking at it. It could be medical cannabis, hemp, Sativa, Indica, an auto or photoperiod strain, or a high or low THC variety. All of them will be the same. If you want to know what kind of seeds you have, feminized or non-feminized, the only way is to wait until they flower.

Are Feminized Plants able to Produce Seeds?

Feminized seeds can produce seeds if they catch enough pollen. They are not castrated, but feminized. People get a seed-free harvest from feminized seeds because there are no males in the grow space and no male pollen. Your plants will be pollinated if there is some pollen in your space, whether it’s from outside or hermies. If you have feminized a plant from fems but not fems, it is worth looking for the source of pollen.

How to Grow Feminized seeds

A whole host of questions are asked by novice growers about germination, planting feminized seed, their light cycle, grow time, flower time, phenotypes, and other things. We already stated that feminized seeds are the same as non-feminized ones. They also grow the same way and should be treated the same as regular seeds. The only difference is that you don’t need to kill the males if your plants show sex. There may be another difference. The seeds are more likely to become hermaphrodites if the breeder isn’t doing his job correctly and the fem seed genetics are not stable. This is a reason to take extra care to not stress your feminized seeds at any stage of their life cycle. You’ll be fine if you take good care of them.