Male, Female and Hermaphrodite
There are three general kinds of marijuana seeds that you could possibly encounter: male, female and hermaphrodite. And if you are a beginner in growing marijuana seeds, it is good for you to know which kind of seed to grow when you want to produce buds and harvest good quality weed in the future. But it’s an entirely different story if you want to breed marijuana seeds because this happens by pollination and with this process, female plants need the males who have the pollen in them. Therefore, knowing the gender of your seeds is really helpful because it is a first step to successful harvests.
Only Female Seeds produce Buds
Despite having three kinds of possible seed gender, only female seeds produce buds. However, the female seeds can turn into hermaphrodites during its growth stage, especially when it experiences a lot of stress. A hermaphrodite marijuana plant means that that particular plant is both male and female. When they undergo a lot of stress, its defense mechanism in order to make sure that it survives for propagation is to turn hermaphrodite. By being both male and female, it ensures itself that it can self pollinate and therefore produce offsprings.
Don’t waste time on Male seeds
But if you are a marijuana grower who wants to harvest buds with high THC levels in the future then you should not be wasting your time with the male seeds. However, the problem lies when your marijuana plants are still seeds. It is almost impossible to tell whether the seed is either male or female. Even expert growers have a hit and miss problem on this matter. This means that it would be extremely hard especially when you are a beginner. Therefore it is important to purchase your seeds from a trusted seller or a seed bank, if possible. Doing so will ensure that you have more success and less problems in the future.
Hermaphrodites
As mentioned earlier, female plants can turn into hermaphrodites. This process happens mostly because of environmental stress. These stressors include change in light cycle during the flowering period (if they are not autoflowering), drastic and extreme changes in temperature, extreme dryness and damage to its parts in any physical way. Other factors could be the invasion of bugs and pests. Some pesticides and fungicides could cause conversion of female marijuana plants into hermaphrodites too.
