You're admiring your cannabis plant as it progresses slowly towards the late flowering stage. But — horror of horrors! — you notice a seed peeking out.
You carefully extract it; the next thing you know, you have several seeds in the buds. Now, there are two possibilities — you either feel happy because you got free seeds or you're dejected knowing that your buds won't be so potent. After all, there's a reason people grow sensimilla seeds.
So, what do you do? Can you grow these seeds or do you discard them? You're buzzing with questions, so let's take a look at what happens if you grow these seeds and everything else you need to know about cannabis hermaphrodites.
What are Cannabis Hermaphrodites?
Hermaphrodite cannabis seeds, also known as "hermies " refer to plants that grow both female parts. Different from regular plants that are either male or female, hermaphrodites have the unique ability to produce both pollen and pistils which are essential for bud formation.
Growers typically grow cannabis for its buds sans the seeds and remove male plants to avoid pollination because it leads to seed production instead of flower growth. However, there are instances where a female plant may grow flowers causing self-pollination and seed production even without a male plant. This unique ability is a defining trait of hermaphrodite cannabis plants.
Cannabis plants can turn hermies naturally due to various factors like stress, light leaks, temperature changes, or physical harm. Hermies can induce panic in growers as it can impact other plants as well.
Hermaphroditism can exist in two ways:
True Hermaphrodites: These plants develop both male and female flowers simultaneously on the same plant, resulting in the plant self-pollinating itself. Eventually, this process produces lots of seeds so you won't have the seedless buds you love so much.
Bananas: Bananas are essentially pollen sacs that emerge from buds. Unlike hermaphrodites, bananas (sometimes referred to as "nanners") appear as single pollen sacs protruding from buds and can release pollen directly onto nearby buds.
Growers usually don't like hermies as they can impact the quality and reduce yields too. But, in contrast, for breeders, this opens up a world of opportunities as they can create feminized seeds.
Causes of Hermaphroditism in Cannabis and How to Prevent it
Hermaphroditism in cannabis can occur due to a mix of factors but it's usually due to stress. Of course, genetics plays a huge role as well. Let's take a look at some of these causes:
Some strains are more likely to become hermies due to their genetic composition. These genetic elements can be inherited from parent plants, especially if those plants have a history of hermaphroditism. Landrace strains, which are varieties that have naturally evolved in the wild, often show an inclination towards hermaphroditism as a means of survival. In their natural habitats where conditions can be unpredictable, the ability to self-pollinate ensures the species continues when male plants are scarce.
Good breeders rigorously test their seeds and only release them to the public after they are stable. You're likely to grow healthy plants this way. Also, make sure you choose strains that are reputed to handle stress. Some strains will be specifically bred to tolerate sudden changes without turning hermaphroditic.
But, sometimes, despite the breeders' efforts to reduce these tendencies, some genetic traits still pose risks, particularly in unstable hybrid varieties or seeds from unregulated sources. Therefore, choose a good seed bank and purchase only when you're sure that they are authentic as it's the easiest way to prevent hermies.
If you don't want seeds in your buds at all, you shouldn't try growing hermie seeds, or bag seeds, for that matter. Avoid using bag seeds that come from buds in harvests as they typically come from plants that may be accidentally pollinated so they are likely to produce more hermie plants.
That said, remember that not all cannabis strains are alike, so while some are more susceptible to hermaphroditism, others may turn out okay. Nevertheless, you should only purchase seeds from good breeders.
Assuming that your cannabis seeds aren't likely to turn hermies due to genetics, you should focus on avoiding stress as even stable plants can become hermies if you stress them too much.
Environmental stress serves as a catalyst for triggering hermaphroditism in plants. This means that your beautiful female plant that was sprouting buds may eventually develop hermie traits when exposed to unfavorable growing conditions. Some typical stressors include:
Light leaks: Cannabis plants, especially photoperiod strains, rely on light and dark cycles during the flowering phase. Interruptions during the dark period like leaks can be stressful, forcing the plant to develop male pollen sacs on female plants. So, during the flowering period, the plants should get 12 hours of light and 12 hours of interrupted darkness every day without fail.
Extreme Temperatures: Drastic temperature changes during the flowering phase can stress the plant too, which means that the plants don't appreciate extreme cold or heat as it can increase the chances of hermaphroditism. Aim for temperatures ranging between 70-85°F (21 29°C) and humidity levels between 40-60% throughout the flowering phase.
Physical damage: Whether the plant gets damaged accidentally or you do it by training it extensively, such actions can stress the plant again and trigger hermaphroditism. As a response to the injury, the plant may produce male flowers that will produce pollen when they mature.
Nutritional Imbalances: Both overfeeding and underfeeding can stress a plant, potentially leading to hermaphroditism. Therefore, you must provide the right amount and not go overboard or underfeed the plants. Make sure to follow a proper feeding schedule for the strain you're growing and adjust it as needed based on how the plant reacts.
Water stress: Just like nutrients, you have to be careful with watering as both overwatering and underwatering can cause issues and force the plant to turn into a hermie.
In essence, you should maintain the environmental conditions carefully to ensure that the plants grow without issues. Too much of anything is bad but the plants won't like it if you don't water them or feed them adequately either. Also, choose strains that suit your climate even if you're growing indoors. For instance, if you live in a hot climate, strains that can adjust to hotter temperatures are preferable. This way, you won't have to change anything indoors drastically and can go with the flow.
Benefits of Cultivating Hermaphrodite Cannabis Seeds
One advantage of cultivating cannabis seeds is that you can have heaps of free seeds, depending on the number of pollinated buds. When a cannabis plant becomes a hermie, it develops both female and male reproductive organs, so the chances of self-pollination are high, unless it happens in the late-flowering stage and you harvest the buds immediately. This self-pollination process produces lots of seeds. If you're looking to expand your stock of seeds, this is one way to generate seeds from your favorite plant. However, it's not all good news, and we will talk about it in the next section.
Cultivating hermaphrodite cannabis seeds can help develop a very diverse genetic pool. As a hermaphroditic plant undergoes self-pollination, the resulting offspring will have natural variations with new traits.
The genetic variation found in hermaphrodite seeds can lead to a range of traits offering different expressions in terms of plant size, bud structure, taste, and cannabinoid composition. For growers keen on experimenting with various attributes, hermaphrodite seeds present an opportunity to uncover potentially beneficial characteristics. Breeders also love the possibility of creating something spectacular. Many classic seeds have been a result of accidental pollination, so you never know when you'll get to develop that beautiful plant you've been waiting for.
Nonetheless, this genetic diversity may also pose challenges as it could introduce features like a predisposition to hermaphroditism or reduced potency.
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Potential to Create Feminized Seeds
Hermaphrodite cannabis plants provide a great chance for breeders or home growers looking to develop feminized seeds. The plants are inherently female but may start producing male flowers due to stress. So, the pollen may carry female genetics predominantly, which means that buds pollinated using this pollen may also produce female seeds.
In other words, as both the ovule and pollen come from the female, the likelihood of these seeds turning female is higher as well. Make no mistake — some seeds may still produce hermaphrodite plants and even male plants, but there will be many female plants as well. Although you're not doing it as professionally as breeders, you still have the opportunity to grow female plants free of cost.
Breeders also use various techniques where they stress the female plants just enough to produce male flowers. For instance, spraying the buds with colloidal silver stresses the plants and if you do it properly, the female plant will produce male flowers. With time, the pollen sacs will open and the pollen is released to pollinate the buds.
If you can replicate this at home, you save lots of money as you're creating feminized seeds and it also helps you preserve the genetics of your favorite plant. Whether you pollinate the plants yourself or the plants do it themselves, it facilitates the production of seeds carrying the desired characteristics establishing a lineage of plants with those traits.
To sum up, although cultivating hermaphrodite cannabis seeds presents various challenges, it's probably worth a try if you're feeling adventurous as there's an increased seed yield, genetic variety, and breeding possibilities. If you're looking to expand your seed collection, this presents various opportunities.
Drawbacks of Cultivating Hermaphrodite Cannabis Seeds
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Reduced Yield and Quality
A significant disadvantage of growing these seeds is that the yields could be way less than you expect. In addition, the quality might not be top-notch either, thanks to all those seeds. This is because when a plant turns hermaphroditic, it shifts its focus from producing buds to generating seeds, resulting in smaller, less resinous flowers with a lower concentration of cannabinoids like THC and CBD.
Moreover, the presence of seeds in the buds affects your smoking experience by making it harsh and there's a peculiar taste of those seeds you probably won't appreciate. Also, since sensimilla buds are valuable for their potency, these buds are not in demand from consumers, making them less appealing to commercial producers too. So, if you're trying to grow sensimilla buds, hermaphroditic plants can pose a significant setback.
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Risk of Pollination and Seed Formation
Hermaphrodite cannabis plants can pollinate your entire batch of plants, meaning it's a huge risk to grow them. All it takes is one single plant with a little bit of pollen to drain your hard work. Male flowers produced by hermaphrodite plants release pollen and fertilize plants. This process ultimately leads to seed development within the buds, significantly diminishing their quality, strength, and yield.
While it's a huge threat outdoors, it's equally problematic indoors as it's a controlled environment where you're growing several plants with the intent to cultivate only seedless buds.
You may face many challenges when trying to cultivate hermaphrodite seeds. Unless you're okay with growing buds with seeds, you'll have to be on your toes constantly and check the plants every day to see if they have developed bananas or pollen sacs. If you miss this, your entire grow room of plants can be pollinated.
Needless to say, you'll have to have some experience and precision to figure out when it's time to cull the plants. Even experienced cultivators may find it stressful to manage hermaphrodite plants, especially when they have too many plants.
If you're a beginner, your best bet is to purchase feminized seeds and cultivate them rather than experimenting with hermies.
If you're growing bag seeds and haven't intentionally pollinated the plants to produce feminized seeds, an additional challenge of cultivating these seeds lies in the ambiguity surrounding their genetic makeup. You can never be sure of their background.
This lack of information means that you're in the dark about what you're growing and what to expect in terms of growth traits, potency, taste, and overall plant performance. As you can understand, it will be challenging to anticipate how the plants will develop, how they will react to growing conditions, and what yield and quality they will ultimately yield. This uncertainty can be frustrating if you prefer working with strains that have known characteristics.
Thus, although hermaphrodite cannabis seeds may seem cost-effective, their drawbacks such as yield and quality, the risk of pollination, cultivation challenges, and uncertain genetics make many growers hesitant to grow them. If you still decide to grow these seeds, you must be ready to tackle and overcome these obstacles to ensure a good harvest.
How to Identify Hermaphrodites
Detecting hermies early is essential to manage them properly. This way, you can prevent undesired pollination that could compromise the entire crop's quality. As mentioned earlier, these plants will have both male and female parts so you'll have to have a good understanding of the cannabis plant anatomy to recognize them.
Physical Indicators of Hermaphroditism
Hermaphrodite cannabis plants usually exhibit both pollen sacs and pistils on the plant. Key signs of hermaphroditism include:
- Pollen Sacs (Male Flowers): These resemble ball-shaped structures that form at the nodes where branches connect with the stem. Initially, they look just like calyxes, which can be a bit confusing. Calyxes form a part of the buds and support pistils. However, pollen sacs are more rounded and do not have hair-like pistils that usually grow on female flowers. Once mature, they begin releasing pollen that can fertilize flowers and produce seeds.
- Bananas: Sometimes hermaphrodite plants produce what growers also call "bananas." These elongated yellowish structures bear a resemblance to the shape of a banana, but unlike pollen sacs that are enveloped in sacs, they release pollen directly. Bananas can sprout quickly and you can see them within just a few days, indicating the plant's hermaphroditic nature.
- Mixed Flowers: Hermaphrodite plants may also develop a cluster of both male and female flowers, thereby making it more challenging to identify them since the male organs might be concealed with the pistils.
You must also be aware that hermaphroditic characteristics are most likely to manifest during the flowering phase when the plant's reproductive parts are mature. So, you must inspect your plants every day during this stage. Pay attention to the nodes as this is where pollen sacs commonly form. But, sometimes, male flowers could also emerge lower on the plant. You should check the base and inside the buds too, meaning there has to be a thorough inspection.
Also, it can occur anytime during the flowering phase, whether it's early or late. But it helps to start checking from the early phase too as you'll see some signs at this point if the plant is a hermie. That said, sometimes the plants look normal and can start exhibiting some signs during the later stages. This is good news, though, because it takes time to develop seeds so you can harvest much before it happens. Whatever the case, keep an eye on the plants because you don't want nasty surprises later.
Is it possible to grow hermie seeds?
The answer is yes; however, cultivating hermie seeds comes with risks as the plants can turn out to be hermies as well.
If you're lucky, the hermie seeds you grow may not develop into hermie plants at all. However, they do turn into hermies more often than not. Sure, you will be vigilant and take steps to cull plants with pollen, but if you don't, there's a possibility of your entire crop getting affected. Before long, each and every female plant will have seeds and you'll end up with less potent buds despite all your efforts.
Just make sure that you watch the plants like a hawk during the flowering stage. If you miss it, it might be too late.
Some growers love hermies as they give them free seeds but considering the risks involved, your efforts, resources, and the time you invest, it's not a good idea as the buds may not be potent. Ultimately, it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons and go with what's feasible for you.
What to do if You Find Hermies in Your Cannabis Garden?
If you find hermies due to accidental pollination, don't panic. You can still salvage the situation if you take decisive action. Here are some things you can do:
The safest approach is to remove any hermaphroditic plant as soon as you detect it. This ensures that the pollen produced by the hermaphrodite does not fertilize the other plants in your grow room. As you know already, female plants direct their energy towards seed production so you won't have resinous buds. Not only does this reduce the potency, but the yields as well.
By removing the plant, you avoid investing more time, effort, and resources into a plant that may jeopardize your entire crop. This is particularly critical if you have lots of plants or if you're in a commercial facility.
Remember, one plant showing hermaphroditic traits may not seem like a big deal, but if it releases pollen, even your future plants are at risk as it's not easy to get rid of pollen from the grow room. Pollen can easily spread through the air and settle down in your lights, fans, and other equipment. It can stick to your clothes so you'll be spreading it to other plants as well. Therefore, removing the plant can help mitigate this risk.
However, if that's not possible, you can consider isolating the plant. Here are a few things you can do:
- Separate Growing Area: If you have a grow room or tent that's completely separate from your main cultivation space, you can keep your hermies plant there to prevent pollen from affecting your primary grow room while still allowing you to cultivate it for specific purposes.
- Seed Preservation: Isolating hermies can be advantageous if you want to collect seeds to experiment with them. Yes, they carry a risk of producing similar offspring, but they can still be valuable for breeding. For instance, some growers are big into genetic experiments where they manage the pollination process and create genetic traits by crossbreeding it with another strain. However this is an undertaking that demands an understanding of cannabis genetics and breeding methods, so don't attempt this if you're not sure about what you're doing. Also, if you don't mind less potent buds or plants producing less yield, this is a great option for you.
In any case, monitor the plants and make sure that no pollen escapes from this isolated space to your main grow room. In some cases, you'll see that only one plant is affected. Here's what you can do:
If you come across just one or two pollen sacs on an otherwise healthy female cannabis plant, you can carefully remove them. However, you should be precise and careful while doing it because you don't want to release the pollen accidentally.
First, remove the plant from the grow room and take it into another area. Next, grab your trusty sterilized tweezers or a pair of scissors. If you're unsure whether it's a pollen sac or a calyx, use a magnifying tool to be sure. If it's indeed a pollen sac, simply cut off the bud gently to prevent any contact with other parts of the plant as even a slight disruption could lead to pollen sacs bursting and releasing pollen into the air.
After removing the sac, place it immediately in a bag or container to prevent any pollen from escaping. Now, you can either dispose of it or freeze it to use it on other buds later if you want to breed them. Make sure you label the pollen.
Next, evaluate the health of the plant after removing the sacs. If the plant is generally healthy and producing buds, you can place it back in the grow room. However, if there are several sacs, you'll have to isolate the plant or cull it to reduce the risk.
Also, remember that simply plucking the sacs doesn't guarantee that the plant won't produce more. The plant's hermaphroditic characteristics can persist throughout the flowering stage. Thus, you will have to keep a close eye to make sure the plant isn't turning into a full-blown hermie.
If you notice that your plant keeps producing sacs despite your efforts, it could mean that the plant is too stressed or has a genetic predisposition for hermaphroditism. So, again, you have to make some decisions to ensure your other plants are safe.
In these situations, it might be more practical to remove the plant rather than constantly fighting its natural inclination to have both male and female reproductive parts.
Finally, remember that the timing at which hermaphroditic characteristics emerge and their degree of expression are factors that influence your decision.
For instance, if a plant starts displaying some pollen sacs late in the flowering phase and the pollen sacs have not opened yet, you can get away with it as long as the buds are nearing their last stage of maturity. At this point, a few pollen sacs are not a big deal. However, if you notice that they have released pollen, you should harvest the plants as soon as possible and clean the grow room extensively to prevent your future plants from getting pollinated.
Summary: The Effects Of Growing Hermaphrodite Cannabis Seeds
Sometimes, it's possible for your plants to become hermies even if you've done everything possible to prevent it. In such cases, it's probably due to the genetics. If not, you should be very careful and provide exactly what the plant needs.
If you're a home grower, a few seeds in the buds won't really matter a lot. Unless your buds are completely filled with seeds, there's no reason to feel bad. However, if the sacs have released pollen, you need to act quickly and remove the pollen from the grow room entirely as it will persist and pollinate all your females for a long time.
So, while you can grow hermie seeds, you must consider the risks they come with. They may or may not grow into hermies, but you should remove pollen sacs if you spot them.
In any case, you can experiment with the free seeds if you have time.
