Why do i always get Hermies?

[Irael]

Hey guys, this is my third crop in a row which hermied on me. On the first on there were only a few Nanners in the End-Stage of flowering, nothing serious.
But last time they hermied straight after about 3 weeks into flower, first some dying hairs appeared on some buds, which is definitely not normal in week 3.

Soon after that they stopped growing nice Buds and started to delevop more and more nanners and brown hairs.
I grew it to the end but it was not really potent and nice smoke.

So this time it happenend again, at exact the same stage of the flowering cycle the pistils start to die off like this:



Soon after that the first Nanner was found:



The pictures are a week ago, look completely the same today only with more bananas .. there is no budding anymore.
I'd like to cut it all off right now and on it .... I'm really completely pissed off.

What i did before that grow to avoid hermied Plants in the future:

-Cleaned and desinfected the Growbox 2 times
-Cleaned and desinfected all that was in there (reflector, fans, cables, Pots)
-Bought a new active carbon filter because i thought maybe there were some Pollen stuck in the old one...
-i even washed the watering can and all the nutrient bottles
-The room in where the box stands was washed and dried out
-Every time before I enter the box have put on hairnet, put off everything exepct my underpants and washed my hands to the elbow so that I do not get anything in there.
-bought a new Timer for the lightnings and blocked the window completely..its dark in the room!

As you can see it did not help at all...i am really mad at this point.

What i cannot understand is that people who want to pollinate their Girls apply lots of Pollen with a Brush directly on the sitgmas and i know people who do not clean their box at all,
smoke in it and let their cats in it and they have never got hermies at all

I have no idea from where the pollen comes or do you think they just self pollinate themselves? But then also why do they do that?

They dont have much stress or anything..temperature is great, they are feeded well, dont get over or underwatered, lights are not too close..this is not my first grow.
Funny is that this only happens since a few grows..the 5 or 6 before in the same box with the same setup never hermied.

Maybe you have some ideas what could cause this on my last indoor gows?


Greetz

 

[bigbadbiddy]

I had some nanners on lower buds through several grows as well.

I was convinced the room was completely dark but through the air intake, some light leaked out and the timers of the 2 flowering rooms were staggered by maybe 5 minutes or so.

The result must have been that the lower buds in the one flower room just always got enough light disturbance for just long enough to throw nanners.

I am making light-traps now for my air intakes of each chamber and will check again if everything is sealed and definitely doesn't leak light.

The doors are another common weak spot...


Another theory I have is that almost all breeders old and new have a preference to grow scrog style and thus aggressively and thoroughly defoliate/lollypop the bottom of their plants leaving only the top buds so the plant will put all its energy into that.

I believe that due to continuous growing in this manner, most strains from most breeders will be vulnerable to hermies if the lower parts of the plants are not defoliated/lollypopped.

Just a theory though. I will more aggressively defoliate the lower parts of my plants going forward and see how they react.


So aside from light leaks, an idea would be to make sure that the plant only has foliage in the top third or so and carefully remove all other foliage.

 

[jammie]

hey Irael, that sucks. light leaks, poor genetics, environmental issues are the main cause. go into your grow room 1hour after lights out and 4-5 hrs into lights out to check for light leaks. you must check 2-3 times during lights out to exclude light as issue. you can try dutchmasters "reverse" or "optic" but i'd use them soon.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Main reasons for hermie is usually genetics, light leaks or stress. Usually in that order.

Sounds like you are cloning the same strain over and over. If you are (and they have the hermie gene), each successive crop will be worse. At least that has been my experience. Start fresh with a new seed.

Light leaks. Stand inside your room with lights off. It should be 100% black. Patch any light leaks.

That's 2 out of 3 of the main causes.

 

[maimunji]

Nug with burning pistils you show is just from fan leaves touching pistils. Find stable genetic and work with clones.

 

[ganjygav]

Is this with fem seeds at all? I had load of herms last year all from fem seeds. Dropped pollen and everything and ruined the crops.
People kept telling me it was lite leaks even though I know the room my tent is in is completely dark.
So inside the tent is even darker.

Anyway last 2 grows I've used clones only and not seen any balls with any of the 3 strains of clone I used.

Im not blaming the seeds but would love to know why I can't grow fem seeds without herms in the same tent I can grow clones no problems ��

 

[geneva_sativa]

can you tell us more about your grow ?

especially what kind of light you using

 

[Budley Doright]

Here is the sad truth.... its very rare for a cutting that came from a plant that showed no hermie flowers to hermie after cloning....

The number 1 .... the number 2 and number 3 reason is genetics....

 

[MrBungle]

Yep check for light leaks... like above.... sit in your flower room with lights out and eyes closed for at least 5 minutes this will give you optimal night vision... when you open your eyes the light source will be obvious...

also check timer to see if there is any schedule disruptions....

if all of that is in check, and you're still getting hermies its your genetics... I would try something different anyways if you can...

 

[Scrappy-doo]

^^^ Spot on Mr Bungle!

 

[VerdantGreen]

pollen does not cause hermies, dirt doesnt cause hermies.

as said, check for light leaks, and double checl your light cycle, make sure it goes off and on when you think it is, make sure lights arent coming on during dark cycle.

get some clones or stable genetics that you know are unlikely to hermie.

VG

 

[geneva_sativa]

I have also encountered some LED's that caused issues too

 

[944s2]

light leaks,,genetics,,and enviroment,,,,,,s2

 

[iTarzan]

IMHO

1.If a plant makes good smoke then a few male flowers like you have is not a reason to quit that clone. There is no better example than Chem D. I have been cloning Chem D for years and it hasn't increased the herm rate And there isn't any "get better genetics". It is the better genetics because it will get you very stoned.

2. Seeds do not make buds less potent.

 

[Patmando22]

When the plant begins to seed it takes a tremendous amount of energy from the plant to create the seeds, energy that could have been used for bud development. I do believe that bud that has seeded is not going to be as strong as the same strain seedless.

 

[Budley Doright]

Yep check for light leaks... like above.... sit in your flower room with lights out and eyes closed for at least 5 minutes this will give you optimal night vision... when you open your eyes the light source will be obvious...

also check timer to see if there is any schedule disruptions....

if all of that is in check, and you're still getting hermies its your genetics... I would try something different anyways if you can...

I have light leaks all the time and I cant recall the last time I had a hermie....... clones that didnt hermie before their first flowering dont hermie due to a little light leak.....

Light leaks are way down the list compared to genetics....

If the theory of light leaks is true....then clones could be just as reactive as seed plants.... not even close.....

 

[meadowman]

i have a 1/2" gap at top of my door and a 10x10" metal register cover over vent and have no issues.

 

[Ringodoggie]

I have on very rare occasions through the years found people who claimed to have light leaks and never have hermies.

This thread has more posts from people claiming light leaks than all I have ever seen.

Light leaks have been a known cause of hermies since Ed wrote his first Ask Ed.

On the other hand, we have also spent half our civilization's existence 'knowing' the world was flat. LOL

Perhaps this is just one of those old wive's tales that get passed down but have no basis. Or, maybe not. LOL

Might be worth a poll to see who's room are leak free and who's are not.

 

[troutman]

Maybe try a new strain from another breeder.

Also stick with regular seeds.

 

[starke]

I'll take the sucky genetics bet.