Nature vs Nurture

[hamstring]

Hello guerrilla growers

I seem to learn something new every year. As always after soaking my seeds for 24hrs i head out into the bush to start them in cold frame. This year I felt very lucky because right after I put them in the frame I had a whole week of hot humid weather. Perfect for starting seeds. I had almost 100% germination. I had some many seedlings i had to revise how many holes i dug.

I went back this week to cull males and low and behold I had way more males than i have ever had before. So many it couldn't be a coincidence. All my holes have at least two plants some 3. I had 4 holes with nothing but males. I still have some plants yet to be sexed. In 20 plus years of growing I have never had this ration of male to female.

I read somewhere that seeds germinated in hot humid conditions tend to be more males has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Guyute54]

Never heard that before.

I was under the impression sex is already pre determined in the seed. I think I read somewhere here on IC that they have a machine out in Cali that could tell you if a seed was going to be male or female. Last I heard the machine was broke though and it was to expensive to fix lol.

 

[ssq.talker]

More light in first days gives you better chance for girs, someone here said that. Dont know if its tru, but possible.

 

[hamstring]

Never ask a question you don't already know the answer too.

I will say I believe there are factors that can influence sex. Wild hemp will hermie if the conditions are right. i.e. no males or no females around to pollinate. Environmental conditions do play a role.

Controversial subject but here are things i have read.

These factors will start to influence the seedling’s sex once it develops 3 pairs of real leaves.

Remember, the seed’s cotyledons are not considered true leaves.

1. Humidity: When the surrounding humidity is high then female plants are more likely to develop. Conversely, a low humidity level increases the chance of developing male plants. Also, if the moisture level of the growing medium is low then male plants are likely to happen. The same condition goes for the seedbed’s moistness.

2. Temperature: If the temperature is low then the grower is more likely to have female plants in his garden. However, if the temperature is high more male marijuana plants will emerge.

3. Nitrogen: To have more females in your cannabis garden, increase nitrogen (N) level. A low nitrogen level will likely create more males.

4. Potassium: Unlike nitrogen, a lower concentration of Potassium (K) will promote the development of female cannabis plants. Oppositely, a higher Potassium level will increase the tendency of having males.

 

[hamstring]

Having posted the above factors I cant say what exactly happened. All I can say is I have been growing outdoors guerrilla style for close to 25 years and I have never seen the amount of males i have this year.

I was looking for others who have had a high ratio of males once in their career to commiserate with.

Thanks and good luck out there fellow guerrillas.

 

[Swamp Thang]

Hello Hamstring, I experienced an equally baffling change in the expected ratio of male to female plants when I planted all the seeds that formed on my crop over a few weeks when I wasn't able to get to the grow spot to cull males as per usual practice.

Not expecting very healthy plants, I just threw a few handfuls of seeds into my swamp tubes after my first harvest, and then was only able to get back there a couple of weeks later, when a mass of seedlings were crowding each planter. At that point the plants were of course too young to determine gender

When I again made it back to the grow spot another month later just the other day, I was completely amazed to see that out of well over 25 surviving plants that were crowded into 5 planters, all but about 5 were FEMALE. I checked again and again for males, and simply could not find any beyond the original tiny number I spotted and removed.

I grow out here just 6 degrees north of the Equator, on a hidden island deep in the watery labyrinth of a tropical rainforest swamp, though I don't know if grow conditions were responsible for my plants producing mostly feminized seeds entirely on their own.

Anyways, I am stoked that an almost 100% female crop just spontaneously formed in my grow spot, though I gotta tell ya I am still scratching my head over the mystery of the "naturally occurring" feminized crop, even as I look forward to a harvest of righteous seedless bud before too long here.

 

[hamstring]

Swamp thang

Thanks for the reply. Hey I'm glad you had the opposite luck. Sounds like you, " Have 99 problems but bitches aint one of them"

Always cool to come back expecting nothing and bam!!! your whole body feels warm when see all the green girls waving back at you. I have been on that side too.