increasing odds of female seeds

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
i think people worry too much about stress. you "really" need to screw up to stress your plant to the point of turning hermie. if you have a stable strain, chances are pretty good nothing will happen from things like trimming/lst etc. (of course, excluding femmed beans) you know, it's no cake walk out in the wild. outdoor plants probably encounter stressful situations repeatedly, every day.
 

tafbang

Well-Known Member
so why dont you get a 100% success rate ? if the enviroment was infact controlling the sex of the seed then you would get 100% females , you cant say the enviroment is having an effect on the sex whilst some seeds grown in the exact same way are turning out male , its a complete contradiction . unless you could then look at the seeds that wernt affected by the enviroment , and find out what is different with those seeds .

It's just like having human hermes or gay kids. sometimes the genetics just aren't alpha. You brought a good argument, though. Rep me I'm new. If they have rep. I'm 2weeks in on my 1st grow. wish me luck <3
 

TaoWolf

Active Member
It's just like having human hermes or gay kids. sometimes the genetics just aren't alpha. You brought a good argument, though. Rep me I'm new. If they have rep. I'm 2weeks in on my 1st grow. wish me luck <3
It's just like having human hermes or gay kids. sometimes the genetics just aren't alpha. You brought a good argument, though. Rep me I'm new. If they have rep. I'm 2weeks in on my 1st grow. wish me luck <3
Human hermaphrodites are still genetically male or female and won't have two functioning sex organs - it's one or the other or neither as far as functionality goes (i.e. hermaphroditism is a 'condition' and not a 'gender'). Homosexuals prefer the same gender as that of their own but they are still male or female. In all cases actual gender is controlled by the presence or absence of Y sex chromosomes at the genetic level and Y chromosomes can only come from a male parent. The same deal holds for dioecious plants like cannabis. X and Y chromosomes have been marked in lab settings specifically on cannabis plants.

Hermaphroditism in female cannabis occurs naturally through autosomal genetic information that can be impacted by external factors and can result in both male and female sex organs that are viable. But again, hermaphroditism is a condition and not a gender nor a 'gender change'. Female hermaphroditic cannabis plants are still 'female' and as such can only produce and pass on XX sex chromosomes.

So while it may be true to say environment can impact hermaphroditism, it is genetically impossible to impact actual gender. Actual gender and the ability to produce offspring of either gender is genetically predetermined at the time seeds are produced by the presence or absence of Y sex chromosomes donated from a male plant - if there. If no male was involved, there are no Y sex chromosomes in the seeds and so the seeds will invariably only have XX sex chromosomes (feminized).
 

|3laze

Member
Good info TaoWolf, it always amazes me how many people still believe they myth that environment influences the sex of seedlings.
 

TaoWolf

Active Member
Yes:

Chromosomes determine gender. An X chromosome and a Y chromosome equals a male (it's actually the Y chromosome that has the genetic information that makes an organism 'male'). Two X chromosomes equals a female (no Y chromosome... no male). Chromosomes are set at creation (seed formation) and *are not* impacted by environment later.

Autosomes determine the expression of hermaphroditism and are also inherited genetic information like chromosomes. However, autosomes contain genetic information that can be switched on or off as a plant grows. Often autosomes instruct a plant on how to grow and live in response to variables that will be in a changing environment.

When talking about cannabis, hermaphroditism isn't really a disease or something they suffer from, it's just an autosomal trait that's successful in survival. And the expression of traits can be minimized (or encouraged) through generations of selective breeding...

Even though it's often claimed that breeders producing feminized seeds are responsible whenever a plant shows a hermaphroditic trait or tendency, the opposite is actual true. Breeders of commercial strains have actually suppressed the common expression of hermaphroditism as a trait in cannabis grown for medical/drug purposes through selective breeding. Commercial hemp and non-cultivated cannabis plants naturally exhibit hermaphroditism more often than what we see with purchased seeds.
 
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