How to Test Cannabis Seedlings for Gender and Possible Potency

Gender and Possible Potency Test For Cannabis Seedlings

Testing Cannabis’ gender and potency is very important to us as growers. It plays an important role since there are specific purposes and reasons why we need to do these tests. When we talk about Cannabis potency, it refers to how effective our Cannabis is and how is its performance. Basically, whatever purpose we have in growing Cannabis, potency is our main concern. On the other side, we also need to know the sex of our grown Cannabis. Many often ask especially those who are starters, why we need to know the gender. Determining sex should be done because of the fact that only female Cannabis will produce potent buds or flowers. The male Cannabis produces non-potent pollen sacs where these pollen sacs are where the female would grow buds. Lastly, you need to know the gender of your Cannabis plant in order for you to be aware which plant to fertilize to ensure sinsemilla buds.

Now that we knew the importance of potency and gender testing, it is now time to know on how to test the gender and potency of our cannabis seedlings.

When is the time where you can start determining Cannabis gender?

During vegetative stage, there is this we called as “pre-flowers” or the smaller version of adult flowers. In this time, you can start to identify the gender of your Cannabis plant. For male plants, pre-flower will occur as early as 3-4 weeks from germination while for female Cannabis is 4-6 weeks from germination. These pre-flowers will reveal the gender of the plants.

What are the physical indicators of Female Cannabis?

• Female Cannabis plants have fuller body of leaves than males

This is the easiest indicator in sexing Cannabis plant. Female plants have many bush but shorter and there are many leaves near the top.

• Check the joints of the stalk

Another effective indicator is to check the stalks. Check the stalk and if you will see the pistols then your Cannabis plant is female. Pistols are small and have translucent hairs.

Other tests to identify Cannabis gender

There are also other ways to test the gender of your Cannabis plants. These are the following:

• Chemical test
• Leaf test
• THC and CBD ratios

Tips in determining Cannabis gender

• Observe the growth patterns
• Remember the fact that males mature faster than females
• Males produces flowers while females produce pistils
• It would be better to clone your Cannabis plant to determine sex
• Make an identification where the plant have sprouted during the time of germination
• Remember that sometimes in your Cannabis plants you will have hermaphrodites.

Another point to discuss in this article is about the potency of our Cannabis plants. Few of the reasons why we need to test the buds is to know its potency/effectiveness and to know whether our Cannabis plants are now ready to be harvested. Testing the Cannabis potency can be done through the following:

• Testing through the use of Gas Chromatography
• Using high pressure liquid chromatography

Enough knowledge in determining the potency and sex is very important. For beginners it would be better if you’ll seek some pieces of advice from the experts or read and research about it. Happy testing!