Are male plants really worse than NOTHING?

Hi gang, this is my first post, and my first grow since 1968. I started with 10 Shiva Shanti seeds and 20 free, mystery seeds from Amsterdam. Germination went well, ended with 7 Shiva Shanti (SS) seedlings and 5 Free Seeds (FS) seedlings (in Jiffy Pots). After app. 2 weeks I transplanted 5 SS and 3 FS into 3 gallon pots w/ built/in saucers. The eight fit nicely in my 6’ x 2’ closet with sliding doors. Up above hung a reflector with a 400 W Metal Halide bulb I kept about 1 ½-2 feet above the plant tops. Vegetation went very well. Even though the seed seller gave a spec of 50cm-80cm height on the SS, after 28 days all exceeded 80cm and 5 of them exceeded 1 meter! I wrote the seller and they said go-ahead with the switch to flowering light. Fortunately I had bought a switchable ballast, and merely needed to switch bulbs and change the timer to 12 on/12 off to send the signal to the plants to flower.
Within 2 days of the change I began sexing and for a while was fooled into believing I had all females! I was disabused of that notion pretty fast as careful daily examination revealed 3 of the eight (and maybe a fourth) are males. Four of the eight are confirmed females.
Now. All the info up to this point I give because I imagine there are many growers of various skill on this site, and many will gain something from following the successes and failures of other growers. But the REAL reason I am writing is this:
Virtually everybody seems to feel that smoking male plants at any stage for any reason is a mistake, just a pointless waste of time. But what so many seem to not take into consideration is I HAVE NO SMOKE. NONE. I moved to this area a year ago and have no contacts. At all. Which is why I bought seeds and started my “science project.” Now since the plants were about two feet tall I have been pulling off leaves as needed, drying them as best I can, in the air or microwave when necessary, and smoking them in a bong. And while no one will mistake them for sinsemilla buds, they are, without a doubt, BETTER THAN NOTHING!!
Now, tell me, dear friends, in this desperate position I am in, should I just destroy the males as most advise? Or should I at least find a way to get something from the males, just for the next couple of weeks, when the female buds start to ripen? And if so, can I get advise as to what to do? Cut the plant at the base and hang upside down, strip the leaves first, etc.
Thanks fellow growers, and may all your crops be blessed!!

Smoke away if thats all ya have.
Cut all branches off plants and trim leaves and hang to dry for 5 to 7 days.

make oil - your results will vary from male strain to male strain
but you will likely get something
i prefer the simple ethanol extraction method - cheap and easy

I've read that males from a killer strain can be better then females of a crappy strain. So whadaya got to loose?

smoke em if u got em and even separate them and practice cloning with them so u can increase your yield with your females

bennybueno said:

smoke em if u got em and even separate them and practice cloning with them so u can increase your yield with your females

Click to expand...

Make sure to wash your hands after you handle them. Don't want to polinate your ladies.

i make super potent butter, one stick of butter for every 2 males plants. this makes 12 cookies if i only have 2 plants. i eat three and i am high.

I agree with Jact55... I used one medium sized male and made Cannabutter with it. The result was one giant brownie I snacked on throughout the day that got me good and buzzed.

I just did the same a month ago, Had a 3 foot bush of a fully flowering male and made a 1/2 cup of butter from him. The entire batch of brownies was killer, ate 2 or 3 and woke up higher the next morning than the night of consumption... Don't Throw Your Males!!!

Thanks, my brothers! I'm not quite ready to make oil, etc. so I just dried the males normally. It's provided an okay, if weak stash to carry until harvest. Certainly better than having nothing!! I'll look forward to the day when I have enough of my properly cured Shiva Shanti female buds that I can give the males away to charity . . .

Charity wouldn't take a male... I know her... HAHA!!

man-last year i only had male skunk plants.i cured it and it was the best leaf iv ever smoked-so dont give up dude....

The thought of throwing a cannabis plant away is repugnant to me. It seems wasteful and senseless doesn't it? If allowed to mature, a male can be just as potent as a female if not more potent (not that this is always the case, or even 1/2 the time, but it does happen!).

Make sure, like others have said, to wash your hands after you handle the males so you don't contaminate the females... and make sure you have a separate area for the males to mature in.

Keep us up to date on your little experiment, eh? Best of luck to you with your ladies, as well.