The Truth about Hermaphrodites

Guitar Man said:

So, is a stress induced Herm more likely to put out more pollen (balls/nanners) than a strain induced Herm? Or, are they the same? I guess the amount of stress would be the gauge.

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Guitar Man said:

So, is a stress induced Herm more likely to put out more pollen (balls/nanners) than a strain induced Herm? Or, are they the same? I guess the amount of stress would be the gauge.

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Guitar Man said:

What is interesting about this grow, the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] plant in the pictures only produced nanners in the buds; I haven’t found 1 ball on the plant. The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] plant has only produced balls, and I haven’t found 1 nanner in the buds. Any comments or opinions about this?

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Guitar Man said:

So a stressed induced Herm is better candidate for seeds than a strain induced Herm, all because the seeds will all be feminine with no strain trait? Very interesting.

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kryptoniteglo said:

I think it's all a matter of perspective. Back in the day, all the weed had seeds in it! I remember my older brother teaching me how to roll -- a kitchen sieve was mandatory. That and Bamboo papers.

So then I don't smoke for 30 years, and I come back to it and I read that people are offended by seeds! Who knew?

I'm on my second grow but no harvest yet (two males the first time). If these girls get to harvest without trying to self-polinate, then this will be the first time in my life I've knowingly smoked seedless bud! What a novel idea.

And if one or both does hermie, I'll try to pick the nanners off that I can see and get to easily just to reduce the amount of prepping I'd have to do. But I'm not going to stress about it. UNLESS someone has a peer-reviewed study indicating that seedless bud is "better" I think it's just cosmetic, and I don't have a lot of time to waste on things that are cosmetic and without genuine merit.

Any studies????

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RetiredMatthebrute said:

well its not just cosmetic, its people growing for weight and money. people arent paying 50 bucks an 1/8th these days for a bag with 1/2 a gram of seed sin it. each seed produced is a loss of yeild. me personally i got no problem with seeds but when i buy a bag of bud and i crack open a nug and see 20 seeds fall out im a little annoyed since i am paying by the weight and i sure as shit cant smoke the seeds.

to the OP, yeah people do hate on hermies, most of them are growing for profit and you will find most growers growing for thier own personal use could care less about them, its all in what your doing with the final product.

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Trousers said:

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If you spray one branch with colloidal silver, only that branch will put out pollen. If you spray the whole plant, the whole plant will go male (without a Y chromosome).


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I have no idea. I have heard of a clone throwing bananas next to the exact clone that didn't. micro environment within your environment? phenos? hard to say



If you clone a plant twice then stress one and pollinate the other, you will get seeds that produce plants very similar to the original plant you took clones from. If that plant has a tendency to throw bananas under certain conditions, the seeds will too.

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RetiredMatthebrute said:

well its not just cosmetic, its people growing for weight and money. people arent paying 50 bucks an 1/8th these days for a bag with 1/2 a gram of seed sin it. each seed produced is a loss of yeild. me personally i got no problem with seeds but when i buy a bag of bud and i crack open a nug and see 20 seeds fall out im a little annoyed since i am paying by the weight and i sure as shit cant smoke the seeds.

to the OP, yeah people do hate on hermies, most of them are growing for profit and you will find most growers growing for thier own personal use could care less about them, its all in what your doing with the final product.

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Guitar Man said:

IMO, dealing with Hermaphrodites is good experience for anyone who wants to become a serious grower. I’ve done 2 grows with Hermies and my knowledge and expertise grew ten-fold during this time. Some don’t consider Hermies a problem like others do, and they take complete advantage of the situation, which is exactly what I did.

First, dealing with your Hermaphrodite will cause you to become VERY familiar with your plant, via a magnifying glass, flashlight, tweezers, and online research. I looked my plants up and down so many times, I know every node, every flaw, and practically EVERY leaf on my plant(s). This will teach people the finest details that go into a solid grow far sooner than another grower who is learning the ropes. I simply yanked any “Balls” off the nodes where they came up, and pulled the “Nanners” out of the buds with sterilized tweezers. Yes this was tedious, but like I said, this caused me to watch my plants for any sign of disease, deficiency (light, ferts, temps), and growth production problems.

Second, don’t listen to ANYONE who says Hermaphrodites don’t produce dank bud!!!!!! My weed was so fucking good, my good friends who grow for Dispensaries in busy California couldn’t believe how solid and sweet my finished product was! Taste, affect, and harvest were ALL good. In my research, experienced growers feel the Hermaphrodite plant is actually more potent than a standard Female because the Hermie is a SURVIVOR. They are a strong, resilient plant, which leads to greater potency.

Third, ANY seeds you acquire will be Feminine. Yes, they will have the Hermie trait, but keeping your grow room “stress free” can help draw down the chance of the plant producing any pollen. And, you won’t have to buy any seeds for your next grow if you happen to get super good weed from your Hermie that you want MORE of.

If a grower is careful and patient, you can keep seed production to a minimum, or almost none. This happened on my first grow (minimal seeds were found): 2 of the plants in my grow room right now are from my last grow seed production. My second grow, which has had some Hermie activity, I have ripped every part (Nanners/Balls) I could find away from the plant, and so far (based on my last experience) I should have only a few (if any) seeds.

Keep in mind, I feel that ANY bag seed (for the most part) will have the Hermaphrodite strain. No one grows with a male plant in their garden ON PURPOSE, unless they are a breeder or are just plain ignorant. It is possible if people are growing outdoors, if someone isn’t paying attention to their garden, a male plant that wasn’t discovered could blow pollen all over the neighborhood, scoring some “pussy” on the weed you found a seed in.

Feel free to critique my personal analysis of this controversial subject. I would like to hear about those who bought seeds from a valid source, only to find their plant went Hermaphrodite. Stress, Strain, and other unknown causes could be the reason, and, a sheer disappointment to those who considered the seeds to be a Non-Herm Female.

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SpectatorFernFirm said:

I just realized I DID have bananas but was too late to pluck them. I know cause I'm highly allergic to pollen and well... I can't fukn breath when I walk in their room. GGRRRRR. So question is will my buds STOP growing now and just go to making seeds? Are they gunna stay same size ? Also will they keep maturing or might as well clip them now? I don't mind the seeds as I just want to medicate as frequent as I want without foreclosing my home lol. Only 3 plants, one which is JUST starting so might clip that one as it'll probably be infested with seeds and I no likey them. I deal with a few but rather not. I am going to try another round with them to see if I can avoid hermying as I believe my horrible climate and feedings made this happen. Both plants Hermi'd on me and they are two different strains so Strongly feel my freaking 95*F destroyed my beautiful babies.
My deal is they are too far from me so I can't visit enough and my helper SUCKS and can careless about them so had to cut him off. My next attempt will be more supervised so I think I might have a chance. My Hermi'd didn't come about until about half way thru flower. Today is day 30 and bananas blew up and spewed on my girls so idk exactly when Hermi'd as i didnt notice till too late. So that's another issue because idk if it's stress endured or strain trait...
Some help with any of my Q's would be freaking spectacular. Especially with the "will they stop growing" Q. Thanks for all of your anticipated replies. So far every mistake I've made has been rectified with all of you guys help. Really appreciate that Ty!!!

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Guitar Man said:

In case you are growing a Hermaphrodite, here is a tip for finding nanners in the buds. Use a flashlight, even while under your grow lamps. The light will expose the nanners way easier so you can pluck the bastard.

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Alexander Supertramp said:

Yep. Or take some pics with the flash on even under the lights. Those nanners will show up a pretty vivid lime green in the picture even though they look very similar in color with the naked eye...

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Guitar Man said:

First, I would take the plant(s) all the way to the end (don't chop early). Even if she does show signs of shutting down early, your trichomes are what you need to watch. Depending on the affect you want, that will determine when to harvest and the color of your trics are one of the keys to a successful grow.

Others have suggested that when a Herm goes to seed they will mature faster. This does make sense, but I have yet to see proof of this theory. My first grow appeared to go the distance, but every plant is different. Right now, I have 2 Herms growing and 1 is showing its colors for harvest. This is the plant that has had the most activity with nanners (I didn’t find any balls), and I do see a couple of seeds in the buds, but nothing that would indicate the plant is reaching the finish line because of this. Total flower time of this plant is over 8 weeks.

The other plant where I only found balls on the nodes, she isn’t even close to being finished yet. Unless things change drastically in the next week or so, I would say I’m still another 4 weeks with this girl. I haven’t found 1 seed in this one, so this may validate the argument that a seeded Herm does go early. I think it depends on the amount of seeds.

In my experience with Herm’s, nanners aren’t as bad as balls when it comes to infecting other plants with pollen. Nanners are harder to control once they show up, but Balls are lower on the plant and located at the nodes, where they burst and shoot pollen freely into the air. Nanners are stuck inside of the bud and many times keep the pollen localized to that bud.

Nanners become more affective in reaching other plants or buds when they stick out, and by that time they are very obvious and can be plucked easily before they burst. If you don’t have daily access to your plants, Hermaphrodites won’t be a good experience unless you just want to learn what happens. To bring a Herm to awesome MJ with only a few seeds, a grower must be committed to the finer details of their plants.

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donkeykongintheclutch said:

This is one of the best conversations I've seen since becoming a member. A gr8 wealth of knowledge as well as a good exchange of ideas and perspectives. GUD shit Guitar Man!

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Guitar Man said:

View attachment 2450284

Here is a bud from last years grow. For anyone who is wondering what or how "Nanners" look, open up this picture.

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