Your Guide to Sexing Marijuana Plants

While cannabis is increasingly growing its demand, so does the production should and have to increase their supply. As the cultivation of cannabis seems to be rampant, a lot of methods and processes should be regarded to be able to properly meet the quality and perfection of each marijuana product. 

One of the ways in dealing with the supply and diversity of varieties and strains is by sexing marijuana plants. Sexing marijuana plants occurs by pollinating two or more cannabis plants together. As soon as cross-pollination transpires, seeds start to generate. The main goal for this method is for new genetics and varied strains to be produced. 

But not only that new genetics and strains are generated but cannabis cultivators’ other purpose is to achieve high-quality buds by removing the male marijuana plants from the rest of females. By getting rid of the male marijuana plants, cannabis growers will be able to obtain a weed with smokeable, highly-potent, and seedless in quality. 

On the other hand, marijuana with seeds often offers harsh smoke and unpleasant flavor. When a cannabis aficionado sees marijuana with seeds, fast enough that it can be considered as low of quality. 

In this article, we will give you some tips and a complete guide in perfectly sexing marijuana plants. 

What you need to know in Sexing Marijuana Plants

1. The Determination of the Gender

The first thing you should understand before sexing marijuana plants is how to determine the gender. However, as the reproduction of humans versus plants is different, so is the way they grow. 

If you have ever bumped into the term hermaphrodite, these are marijuana plants that include both sexes; female, and male. In simple terms, two flowers grow in the same plant with both different genders. 

In this section, we will help you understand how you can knowledgeably determine gender. 

2. How to Determine Male Marijuana Plants?

You will be able to determine if the marijuana plant is male is during its growth process. Male plants are those who produce pollen sacs. You will be able to identify this through the nodes. In between the nodes, if marijuana plants are male, they will eventually produce pollen sacs. 

3. How to Determine Female Marijuana Plants?

Female marijuana plants are the ones who produce pistils or what they also call stigma. These are tiny hair-like parts of the plants. One role of pistils is to catch the pollen that will eventually be released by the male plant as soon as it matures. 

4. How to Determine Hermaphrodite Marijuana Plants?

Hermaphrodite marijuana as mentioned earlier is the type of marijuana plant that both have male and female sexes. These are the cannabis plants that both show pollen sacs and pistils. 

Typically, this happens when a cannabis plant is exposed to extreme stress caused by many factors such as intense light and temperature. In the determination of hermaphrodite marijuana plants, it is plain and simple, just as how to determine male and female plants, they would show both visual parts. 

If this happens, you should immediately remove it from the rest of the plants to prevent your female plants from having some issues during the sexing process. 

5. When Will you be able to See the Gender?

Typically, the pollen sacs and pistils start to grow during the 4th week. The determination of gender is typically visual and clear as soon as they reached their 6th week. 

The process

Once you know how to determine the gender of your cannabis plants, you will be able to immediately grasp the sexing process. The sexing process starts as soon as your marijuana plants enter their pre-flowering stage. 

As mentioned earlier, the pollen sacs and pistils or what we also call stigma; which is the main part of your cannabis plants that do a big role in reproduction start to appear during their 4th week. As soon as you determine their gender on their pre-flowering stage, you will be able to pair them together so it will make your job a lot easier during the flowering stage. 

What you need to know during the process

• Male plants grow a lot laggier than female cannabis plants
• Female cannabis plants are bushier than the male ones
• Removing the male plants near the female plants typically needs to happen once the female plants’ pistils turn two white hairs
• The best time to understand your cannabis plant’s requirements of nutrients, temperature and lighting typically happens during the flowering stage

What are the tips in Sexing Marijuana Plants?

1. Be Watchful During the Pre-flowering Stage or Even Early than that

Though you are already aware as to how to determine the gender of the plants, you also should have an idea about their physical appearances. Normally, female plants are bushier than the male ones and male cannabis plants are much taller but with lesser leaves. With this, you will be able to watch out and would have an idea of which is male or female to prepare you in the sexing process

2. Female Plants Grow Slower than the Male plants

Being observant is the key as you are battling through time. As male cannabis plants grow faster than the female ones, males can be already mature and would eventually drop their pollen from the sacs earlier than expected. 

What About the Male Plants after Pollination?

Male cannabis plants are typically considered useless as soon as they already served their purpose. Once male plants are already removed from the garden, some cannabis growers just discard them. But little you know, they can also be very useful even after they were used in reproduction. 

1. Breeding

You may be surprised about this but as their main role is providing pollen for reproduction, males cannabis plants can still be used for breeding. 

2. Fiber products

If you are thinking this is impossible, then you are wrong. Male cannabis plants can be used for hemp fiber. Their soft parts can also be made as clothes, paper, and other fiber materials if you have a lot of time in the world to do the process. 

3. Extract

Though male cannabis plants are not as potent and do not include notable cannabinoid compositions, they still have a little. These cannabinoid particles are typically found in their sacs, leaves, and even stems where you can produce various extracts from. 

Conclusion

Though sexing marijuana takes a lot of time during the process, understanding how to properly do it can save you a lot of money if your main intention is to produce new genetics. Hopefully, the above guides and tips will be able to help you in the process. 

While knowing sexing cannabis plants is a plus, being knowledgeable at every particular is much better.