Hermaphrodite Females and Seeds

[malester]

I buy female seeds when I want a new strain, this current batch are female Kush plants. I guess when you leave the plants growing for longer than supposed to the plant will turn hermaphrodite and begin to produce seeds. Theres maybe 10 seeds that I have noticed out of a pound so not a big deal at all. I was wondering is that how they get female seeds? Makes sense to me, if not how do they know they are female seeds?

Thanx

 

[data]

uhm.. im not exactly sure what you are talking about

 

[zero33]

To produce feminized seeds, the breeder takes a female plant and forces it to turn hermaphrodite through some environmental or hormonal method. The plant is self-pollinated, and the resultant seeds express a strong female bias.

This article shows a study done on Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle).

 

[Gimme The Spliffff]

is it cheaper or less work just to buy female seeds and just keep growing them or is it cheaper/easy to clone the plants?

 

[malester]

Thanx Zero, thats exactly what I thought, its the only thing that makes sense.

*Gimme The Spliffff*
Yes, Buying normal seeds the ratio to male to female is 50/50. You cant tell what a plant is till you begin flowering and by that time you have already put a lot of effort into growing them. Some will cut small clones after a few weeks of growing and flower those clones to see which are male/female then kill off the male plants once you know, then cut female clones. Personally its more trouble than its worth, I gladly pay the extra 10% for female seeds to know what I am growing are definitely females then cut clones just before flowering so no need to buy more seeds.

 

[Gimme The Spliffff]

Thanx Zero, thats exactly what I thought, its the only thing that makes sense.

*Gimme The Spliffff*
Yes, Buying normal seeds the ratio to male to female is 50/50. You cant tell what a plant is till you begin flowering and by that time you have already put a lot of effort into growing them. Some will cut small clones after a few weeks of growing and flower those clones to see which are male/female then kill off the male plants once you know, then cut female clones. Personally its more trouble than its worth, I gladly pay the extra 10% for female seeds to know what I am growing are definitely females then cut clones just before flowering so no need to buy more seeds.

mmm

 

[NoDrama]

is it cheaper or less work just to buy female seeds and just keep growing them or is it cheaper/easy to clone the plants?

I take clones myself, since i need to take 40 each month it would be cost prohibitive to use feminized seed. There is a bit more work involved cutting and prepping , but they grow fast as hell, 3 weeks from cuttings and they are a foot tall, 1 more week and they are 24" and go into flowering. I use Hydro FWIW. Its certainly cheaper, the only cost is the cloning gel, which lasts for a couple years.

 

[malester]

Absolutely its better to clone, to start off tho go with female seeds so u can clone before flowering and know they r female clones, then of coarse u know they are females when u begin to flower. I had a mix a few crops ago of male/female, we cought the males within a few a weeks but that was long enough to pollinate the females and there was a ton of seeds, the pot was still good but seedy.

 

[zero33]

Cloning is better because there's less risk of non-germination and damping off of seedlings. Also, even when using 'feminized' seeds, there's still the chance of germinating a male plant -- not the case when you're cloning a female.

Feminized seeds are a good bet for someone like myself who just wants to grow a plant or two outside without having to clone plants to figure out their sex.