Methods to encourage seeds to turn female?

1

17khgp

Member
That is my basic question. Are seeds' sex already determined and unchangable? Or are there some of you who know a way and have better than 50% random seeds turn female?

I have ten plants growing that are in their flower 12/12 stage and have yet to show sex. This is my first grow and I'm using some decent(to me) bag weed. The only difference the plants have shown so far into 5 days of flowering is a firm spike about a third of an inch long and at about a 60 degree angle from the nodes. All of them have this though so it must not be a way to differentiate. Right now I'm consumed with how many will be female (please at least one!) and what I can do to control this. I have read the info on how to determine the sex. I have also read that stressed out plants are more likely to be male or hermaphrodite.

Thanks for your help, KB
 
nickyp

nickyp

Well-Known Member
I tried it all. 60% RH during sprouting stages, 14/10 instead of 24/0, deep pots (suppossedly a 4in+ deep tap root ensures a much higher rate of female/male) and a handfull of other trucks. No dice. Still wound up around 50/50
 
1

17khgp

Member
After the 10th night 5 are male and cut down. Not sure about the others. I have room for exactly ten so now what? I only have one grow space (two sets of 4 feet Philips Alto Deluxe, 2325 lumens, 6500K , 84 CRI flourescent.) I will wait a couple more days to make sure the remaining are female then I have to decide. Clone 5 more and put back on veg or just finish w/ these 5. 5 to 7 weeks longer for 5 more or double the plants. I'm growing in 1.5 gallon containers in an apartment with an apartment above me and a very nosy landlord who comes in every month to spray for bugs and to check the fire alarm. I have bought a Honeywell 50250 air purifier w/ permanent HEPA filter and carbon prefilter and the smell seems to be much more under control (but the buds haven't even started yet.) If I get caught I'm completely screwed. But I have nobody decent to buy from. I usually buy maybe 2 eighths a year and have a hard time getting that. I really want this pot so bad I'm risking everything. I saved some seed from some weed that I stayed high on for a month - it burned slow and gave as good a high after a month as to begin with (almost.) A high that was strong but didn't ever make me stoned. The plants look like an indica. So the extra say 7 weeks are dangerous as well as hard to wait on.

I have tried growing pot twice outside. 1st time I got all seeds with pot so weak I didn't get high once. The second time I removed the males but only left me w/ 2 plants. The one that was done was stolen and the other I took down way before it was mature to keep it from getting stolen. So just having a successful grow would be great. If I clone first go back on 24 hour light a day. After 2 weeks or so the plants should be switched back to veg. Take clones and another two weeks for them to get roots. Then let them grow for 2-3 weeks. Then 12/12 lighting and after 2 weeks they are where they are now. So it could be 9 weeks longer. Do I have my #s right? Then 7-9 weeks of flowering, 1 week of drying, and 2 weeks of curing. So I could have 5 plants worth of bud in 10-12 weeks if the remaining are all female or 19-21 weeks for a bit more than double the bud. 5 frigging months or 2.75 months still to go. Wow and I was impressed with myself for growing tomato (20 big beef and 5 sun gold this year) from seed to harvest the last 2 years lol. If all 5 are female I'll probably take the short route.
 
DawgMountain

DawgMountain

Active Member
Since the subject is how to makes seeds favor being female... How is it that seed banks can sell "feminized" seeds? How do they do that and how reliable are those seeds?
 
whiteflour

whiteflour

Well-Known Member
You can't determine sex by the seed. Feminized seeds are made through process of self-pollination without a male, usually caused by hormones or stress. They still look the same. Don't mix them up with your others. ;)
 
1

17khgp

Member
Very interesting article newbieharvester. Exactly what I was looking for. I used 7-9-5 fertilizer w/ macro & micro nutrients so the potassium and phosphorus were too high for ideal. Next time...
 
cowboylogic

cowboylogic

Well-Known Member
newbieharvester said:
Not so...., and Cowboy, I´ve always read your answers/posts with interest, but this is not the entire truth. With respect....
Click to expand...
Just finished reading the link. Interesting and rings very true too me. A seed is disposed (better chance to go one way than the other, m/f) in its infancy. Yet it is not written in stone. And as a young seedling, moisture stress and too much nitrogen are big culprits in my book. Good chance it will be a boy. Awesome Blossoms, 2-11-11, is what I use for seedlings/newly rooted clones. Then after a few weeks make the switch to a veg feeding. P and K are both very important in cell division, nutrient transportation and root devolopment. Also a well balanced micro diet is apreciated at this time. Then once they are actually vegging. Then feed them the N. And thanks for calling me out. You are correct and great link. You should go to Riddleme's Maximum Harvest thread and post it there. Fits right in with what he is talking about. Edit: not sure if you can push them to fem. Nature has her own way. But you can def increase your odds with good, solid gardening practices.
 
G

Ganga farmer Joe

Member
The Bannana thing sounds like voodoo, unless you are trying to increase the potassium level, in which case it is circumstatial on the seeds genetics to decide what to do with the excess K. I believe it is out of the growers hands as to whether they turn male or female pre germination. It's ultimately up to the genetics inherited by the parent plant or plants.
 
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