Cannabis plants are dioecious plants which means these have distinct male and female species. Growing cannabis requires a careful understanding of the different plant sexes and how to find out whether you have a male or female plant.
So male vs female seeds, which one should you buy?
Female cannabis plants will need male plants to bear seeds. These seeds will grow a new generation of cannabis plants. However, if you have other things in mind like growing delicious weed instead of cultivating plants, it’s a completely different thing.
If you want to harvest marijuana seeds, you should grow female and male plants that come from female and male cannabis seeds. But if you wish to grow weed, you must grow only female plants and hence, use only female seeds.
How to find out if you have male or female cannabis seeds?
The truth is, you can’t really tell which cannabis seeds are male and which ones are female unless you grow them. Female and male seeds are similar in shape, size, color, and weight. In a bag containing 10 regular seeds, there is a possibility that you can get 50% male and 50% female seeds but there are times you may not get any female seeds at all. So if you really need to grow female plants to harvest weed, you can always settle for feminized cannabis seeds.
Characteristics and appearance of female cannabis plants
Female cannabis seeds are called feminized seeds. These seeds will only grow into female plants. Upon closer inspection of these seeds, you’ll find that these are no different from male seeds but when you grow them, you’ll get female cannabis plants.
You can’t immediately tell if you have male or female plants during the first few weeks. Your plants will grow at the same size, height, leaf appearance, and other characteristics. But when your plants enter the flowering stage, the sexes become very obvious.
Female cannabis plants will develop wispy, white flowers known as pistils. These flowers will grow along the junctions between the branch and the main trunk. Usually, a plant will have several pistils. These will catch the pollen released by male plants and soon, will become cannabis seeds.
For growers who wish to cultivate weed, female plants are retained in the growing area. Male plants are removed and sometimes destroyed to avoid pollination.
Characteristics and appearance of male cannabis plants
You won’t find male cannabis seeds sold in seed banks as it’s impossible to tell female and male marijuana seeds apart. The only way to find out if you have male plants is to grow them.
You must also need to wait until your plants reach the flowering stage to find out if you have males. During the pre-flowering stage, male plants will grow tiny green sacs or balls along the junctions between the branches and trunk. These sacs contain pollen which will need to travel to female pistils to develop into seeds.
These male structures will dry up, crack and release the pollen. Wind propels the pollen towards female plants but in cannabis cultivation greenhouses, pollen is manually applied from the sacs to the pistils to ensure pollination. It will take a few more days for the pollinated pistils to grow seeds.
Male plants are allowed to remain inside the growing area to pollinate female plants while male plants are destroyed or removed from the growing site to harvest weed.
Ensuring you’re getting quality cannabis seeds
Whether you’re buying male or female cannabis seeds, you must make sure that you’re getting high-quality seeds, not just any kind of cannabis seed from a bag. Remember, to grow quality, healthy plants, you must use the best seeds.
Buy only from a reputable cannabis seed bank
Cannabis seeds are available from online seed banks and from local ones but regardless of where you buy your supply, check before you pay for your orders. The company must have years of experience with supplying cannabis seeds. It must have a large catalog of seeds available with different strains to choose from.
The company should have the payment method you prefer and should deliver seeds safely using stealth shipping to your location. A reputable seed bank has good reviews and ratings online. Check its official website to find out more about the company. Also, ask around (your friends and family who have ordered/purchased cannabis seeds before) for recommendations.
Use good cannabis genetics
Not all cannabis seed strains are created equally. Some strains are more resilient than others while some require a good hand, expertise, and a lot of patience to grow. If you’re a beginner, it’s best to start with forgiving and resilient strains. These strains must be resistant to molds, pests, changes in climate, and amount of watering.
Use feminized cannabis seeds
If you are focused on growing weed, don’t waste time with regular cannabis strains. Choose feminized seeds so you can save time, effort, and money. Most of the popular cannabis strains have feminized counterparts and thus, it’s easier to cultivate the strain you want.
Avoid using bagged cannabis seeds
You might be tempted to grow the cannabis seeds you found from an unmarked bag or from a pack of unknown seeds. As much as possible, don’t use bagged seeds as you don’t know how to grow these seeds.
And even if you know the type of seeds and the strain, avoid using bagged seeds as these may be old or damaged seeds.
Learn how to distinguish healthy cannabis seeds
Good quality cannabis seeds are round, dark-colored, with a slight taper. These cannabis seeds are hard; you can’t force them open by pressing with your thumb and forefinger. There are no cracks, creases, dents, openings, or holes; healthy seeds are intact and heavy.
Male vs female marijuana seeds, which should you buy? Always remember, use only female seeds to grow female plants which will give you marijuana. Grow male and female cannabis seeds together to cultivate male and female plants to harvest cannabis seeds.