I've been chopping plants the size of a refrigerator when I find out they're males.
Describe the proces from start till end.Ive used them a few times myself. Twice from Steep Hill and once from Phylos. They were both 100% accurate. I did it to keep my plant count down to four.
Ive used them a few times myself. Twice from Steep Hill and once from Phylos. They were both 100% accurate. I did it to keep my plant count down to four.
I prefer Steep Hill, but lately I just flip the plants to 12/12 for a few days, then resume 18/6. They tend to show pre-flowers a week or so after that.
I went to the companies' websites to check up on things since my memory isn't always correct. The tests check for 'Y' chromosome, females have two 'X', males have an 'X' and a 'Y'. Which means they don't detect hermaphrodites, only males.
They tell you to use the cotyledon and that you can only test young plants a few weeks old. This isn't really true, if you ask them through emails they'll tell you they can test plants of any age. They're leery about sending a leaf that could contain THC through the mail.
You aren't really sending a leaf though, you're sending a 'smear'. I'd recommend sampling early in the morning or right after the lights come on, using plants that are full of water. You'll need to do your test over if you screw up and use a leaf that's too dry. They send you special paper, you smash the leaf onto it squeezing out as much juice as you can onto the paper.
The pricing I found is around $60 for 4, almost $900 for 88. Close to the break even point, I estimate around $5-20 to grow a male. You can switch your light cycles to force early sexing but it's not my favorite method. Besides the money you save on dirt and fertilizer the space under your lights or the sun is the biggest saving.