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On average feminized seeds are more prone to turning hermie but I do not know any statistics so I cannot give you a percentage or a so many out of one hundred or one thousand sort of figure.
There is, at least in nature, such a thing as a true female, a female plant that has absolutely no male genes in it. To test a female you veg it and then put it into flower, if I remember right for two weeks, and then back into veg for the same period of time and then back into flower ... if it does not hermie, it has no male genes and is a perfect candidate for feminized beans.
I don't know if many or if any breeders do that but even if they try I think finding a true 100% female nowadays would be almost impossible unless working with landrace strains. If you look at most modern crosses they have tons of different genetics in them from crosses that were crossed with other crosses that were crossed with a triple cross etc. and I would think that it would be extremely easy for some male genetics to have slipped in there somewhere along the line.
When I first started growing in 1972, and for some years after, a hermie was almost totally unheard of. You almost couldn't make one hermie, now does more than a day or two go by where we don't see a new thread about a hermie problem?
Check out the following strain ... picked totally at random and NOT because I am saying it has a hermie problem .. it is only used as an example of how many different strains and crosses etc. can go into a strain and how at some point along the line some female or females that were a bit heavy with male genetics might have slipped in that some number of crosses later can result in hermie problems.
- Jack the Ripper »»» Jacks Cleaner x Space Queen
- Jacks Cleaner
- »»» {Pluton x Lambsbread x Purple Haze x Northern Lights} x Jack Herer
- Pluton x Lambsbread x Purple Haze x Northern Lights
- Pluton »»» Unknown Strain
- Jack Herer
- »»» Haze x {Northern Lights #5 x Shiva Skunk}
- Northern Lights #5 x Shiva Skunk
- Shiva Skunk
- Northern Lights 5 x Skunk #1 F-1 Hybrid F1
- »»» Northern Lights #5 x Skunk #1 F1
- Northern Lights #5 (specified above)
- Skunk #1
- Skunk #1
- »»» Afghanistan x Mexico x Colombia
- Afghanistan »»» Indica
- Mexico »»» Sativa
- Colombia »»» Sativa
- Skunk #1
- Northern Lights 5 x Skunk #1 F-1 Hybrid F1
- Shiva Skunk
- Haze
- Space Queen
- »»» Romulan x C-99
- Romulan
- C-99
- »»» Princess x Cinderella 88
- Princess
- Jack Herer (specified above)
- Cinderella 88
- »»» Princess x P.75
- Princess (specified above)
- P.75
- »»» Princess x P.50
- Princess (specified above)
- P.50
- »»» Princess x {Shiva Skunk x Jack Herer}
- Shiva Skunk x Jack Herer
- Shiva Skunk (specified above)
- Jack Herer (specified above)
- Princess (specified above)
Super Lemon Haze from Green House Seeds is known to be hermie prone ... check out what all is in it. Not as much as JTR but it is one that IS known to be hermie prone.
- Super Lemon Haze »»» Super Silver Haze x Lemon Skunk
- Super Silver Haze
- Lemon Skunk
- »»» Original Skunk x Citral Probably Pakistan (Chitral)
- Original Skunk
- Skunk #1 (specified above)
- Citral Probably Pakistan (Chitral) »»» Indica
Check out Headband Kush. Again I am NOT saying it is hermie prone, and only using it as an example of how many varied types of genetics can be in a strain, even in one called a Kush that would tend to make many people think it would not be a major mixture and mostly be just an indica or two with maybe a tiny bit of sativa tossed in for spice.
- Headband »»» Sour Diesel x OG Kush Reversed
- Sour Diesel
- »»» Original Diesel x DNL
- Original Diesel
- »»» Chemdawg x {MassSuperSkunk x SensiNL}
- MassSuperSkunk x SensiNL
- SensiNL
- Northern Lights #1 IBL
- Afghanistan »»» Indica
- Northern Lights #1 IBL
- SensiNL
- Chemdawg
- Unknown Indica »»» Indica
- DNL
- »»» {RFK Skunk x Hawaiian} x Northern Lights
- RFK Skunk x Hawaiian
- RFK Skunk
- Unknown Skunk
- Skunk #1
- »»» Afghanistan x Mexico x Colombia
- Afghanistan »»» Indica
- Mexico »»» Sativa
- Colombia »»» Sativa
- Skunk #1
- Unknown Skunk
- RFK Skunk
- Northern Lights
- Afghanistan Indica Probably »»» Indica
- OG Kush Reversed
- »»» Chemdawg x {Lemon Thai x Hindu Kush, Pakistan}
- Lemon Thai x Hindu Kush, Pakistan
- Lemon Thai »»» Sativa
- Chemdawg (specified above)
When you have so many different crosses added up a bit of male can easily slip in somewhere.
Also sometimes it might depend on some of the original stains used. I never knew if it was from crossing them or if it was natural or what but many strains that have Thai strains in them somewhere do have hermie problems. How, when, where and why it started I could not guess but many crosses with Thai strains in them are more hermi prone than others. That might be coincidence and it might not be .. but that is how it is.
When it comes to whose feminized beans are less likely to hermie that is not something I can say with any certainty. It does seem that feminized seeds that are made using the Roedlization method tend to turn more than when made using colloidal silver, but that is only a casual observation and not something I can say is certain.
Basically what it comes down to is feminized seeds tend to turn more easily than regular seeds and you just have to be more cautious about ANY types of stresses. People normally blame a hermie on a light leak but in strains that are more prone to turning virtually any type of stress can be the cause, including a root-bound condition, using pots that are too small.
Using feminized seeds means you have to grow 'wearing kid gloves,' you have to do your best to create and maintain as optimal as possible of growing conditions and growing environment to avoid any and all stress. Not all feminized bean strains need such tender loving care but unless you are familiar with the strain taking extra precautions would not be an injudicious thing to do rather than just going about business as normal and hoping for the best.
