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Identifying Female Seeds

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Hempy McNoodle

Well-known member
Greetings All,


So, I watched this video on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PwwKxUL0AA&t=57s

It did not work. I got the exact opposite results. But I noticed that it was consistent with the gender ratio in the cultivar that I was growing (Ciskei) and started experimentally doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the person in the video did. Ever since, I have had a 100% success rate in identifying female seeds. This has worked for Ciskei, Black Afghani (Kandahar), Sinai, the Greek Landrace from Tropical seeds (athena?), and Durban Poison (70s). So, to re-iterate, I simply used the technique in the video, except reversed. So what he calls male, I call female and vice versa. I don't know if the guy made the video for disinformation purposes or what, but this technique should be shared and given a try. I have always wanted to know if there was some secret way to identify female seeds and now I know it. No more need for phylos. This is potentially disruptive information. Good luck putting it to good use folks!

-Cheers!
 
Chi13

Chi13

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Hempy McNoodle said:
Greetings All,


So, I watched this video on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PwwKxUL0AA&t=57s

It did not work. I got the exact opposite results. But I noticed that it was consistent with the gender ratio in the cultivar that I was growing (Ciskei) and started experimentally doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the person in the video did. Ever since, I have had a 100% success rate in identifying female seeds. This has worked for Ciskei, Black Afghani (Kandahar), Sinai, the Greek Landrace from Tropical seeds (athena?), and Durban Poison (70s). So, to re-iterate, I simply used the technique in the video, except reversed. So what he calls male, I call female and vice versa. I don't know if the guy made the video for disinformation purposes or what, but this technique should be shared and given a try. I have always wanted to know if there was some secret way to identify female seeds and now I know it. No more need for phylos. This is potentially disruptive information. Good luck putting it to good use folks!

-Cheers!
Click to expand...
It does not work. The fact you got the opposite result should tell you that. We were hearing these stoner myths in the 70s. Just misinformation for growers. If this worked seed sellers would be all over it.

Not sure what it has to do with landrace either?
 
H

Hempy McNoodle

Well-known member
Chi13 said:
It does not work. The fact you got the opposite result should tell you that. We were hearing these stoner myths in the 70s. Just misinformation for growers. If this worked seed sellers would be all over it.

Not sure what it has to do with landrace either?
Click to expand...

So, this^ way of thinking is where there lies a possible explanation of why some failed and where I hope to learn. The videos said only the seeds with perfectly circular bases were females. I am finding results that it is actually strain specific. So, anyone who tried this method with a bag of mixed seeds would certainly fail to have consistently good results. Also, anyone who tried the method on a strain which is opposite of the method (i.e. non-perfectly circular female) would not get positive results. This is where my experiments go further.

Seed companies would not want this known.

So far, my results are HIGHLY promising. But, with such a relatively small sample size, that can easily change with these experiments. To really know if it works or not. aperson must run the experiment at least twice on a specific strain lineage. I suspect that very few, if any people have done this, especially after not having positive results the first time (ie they selected all seeds which were perfectly round and ended up with mostly or all males, they would likely determine that the method is bull shit, not realizing that they could try planting the non-perfectly round based seeds and possibly have opposite results). We'll see. I hope there is a benefit to be shown here which would be immensely helpful to growers all over the world (not so great for big seeds companies, tho).

It was originally in the landrace thread because I had good results with some landrace cannabis and it might be a technique specific to landrace seeds (unknown).

Here's what you can do: Look at your seeds and see what the ratio is for each strain (non-perfectly circular basal detachment point vs perfectly circular symmetrical basal detachment point). If you have seed packs of feminized seeds is there any difference in the shape and symmetry of their basal detachment points (within the pack)? This is how I realized that there may be something to it even though, I failed the first time (accidentally planted a bunch of males, but learned how to do the opposite to get females.) by noticing a similar ratio in the basal detachment points within the seed population (w/Ciskei 'landrace' strain).
 
H

Hempy McNoodle

Well-known member
I have 8 Kandahar, Afghani plants in my closet right now. I selected all by picking seeds with non-circular asymmetrical basal detachment points. This worked on a single plant I grew outdoors last year. I'm hoping to get all females, but this crop has me questioning the method, as 7 of the 8 plants are mildly deformed. So, I will also have to see if selecting non-symmetric basal detachment point in some strains may increase the selection of seeds with plant deformities. In the long run, this will also be good to understand. I will have to grow a crop of these kandahars without selecting the seeds to determine the rate of deformity in the population and to learn if I did in fact select deformed plants on accident. I can also try growing a crop of kandahars by selecting circular/symmetric bases). So much to grow, so little time and space...

I hope to learn a lot, but the nay sayers may end up being correct in that there may be nothing to learn other than this method does not work. We shall see. It would be terrific if the nay-sayers are wrong!
 
Chi13

Chi13

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
I hope you do end up with some great flowers and hats off for growing landrace, indoors too. :tiphat:

But you are just repeating stuff that has been tried for probably longer than 50 years, by literally thousands of people. Popping regular seeds is luck of the draw. My last 2 grows were 9 seeds each. 8 from 9 males I got first, followed by 8 females from 9 seeds

There's absolutely no logic in looking at the base of the seed and thinking you can tell sex by the way it was attached to the plant. It is frankly bonkers. Not only that but you will tell nothing from popping 8 seeds. Try hundreds if you want to experiment, then repeat it a few times. That's scientific, not popping 8 seeds and expecting data. That is not going to happen.
 
G

grayeyes

Active member
Chi is correct, the numbers are just too small. And IF this was true don't you think it would be part of the cultivation culture by now? It is not like people have only been growing for 2 or 3 years.
 
H

Hempy McNoodle

Well-known member
Well, I said it first (that the sample size is small and not conclusive). But, this is now on top of a few years of data (a few dozen plants). Still not conclusive, but it's a start. Like I said, this study will knock my percentages way down if the plants do not match my hopes. So, again, you all may be right, but we'll see. As far as people trying these techniques for years,.. well, some swear by it so... The best thing to do is systematic experimentation. So that's what I'm doing. If it works out, seed companies might panic, lol.
 
H

Hempy McNoodle

Well-known member
Remember, 100% failure in an experiment like this could mean that you've 100% succeeded in identifying that it is the opposite. This might be hard to grasp for some. If you have a strain where female seeds bases are asymmetrical, and you planted only symmetrical-base seeds hoping for all females, and you end up with all males, then that should tell you to try all asymmetrical and see what you get..
 
H

Hempy McNoodle

Well-known member
grayeyes said:
Sex? Grow them to about 12 inches and put them on 12/12 for six days. Then you can sex them.
Click to expand...

What if you want to do a long veg? Do you reverse them back into veg schedule? I haven't tried this. I've taken clones and flowered them, but that method is a pain and takes a lot of time and space and clones don't always take. So, if you grow them to a foot and flower them and then identify the gender and then switch back to veg, does that mess with their growth or slow them down? Or, is it a pretty smooth transition? Do they stop flowering all the way? Or, are they stuck in an in-between phase of growth?
 
G

grayeyes

Active member
They don't get stuck. I have had them continue to grow to 4 feet in a 3 gallon container. Probably grow much bigger in the ground.

Has anyone ever mentioned you worry too much?
 
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