Are Feminized Seeds Worth It?

kremnon said:

i always make fem seeds (since 2000) and never have a problem with a hermie because i use this thechnique to make em. peace

RODELIZATION: SOMA'S WAY TO FEMALE SEEDS

Here’s an easy, environmentally friendly method for breeding feminized seeds
by SOMA
Wed, Jul 30, 2003 12:00 am
more: grow articles, soma, breeding, seed company, strains


Story by Soma

Creating feminized cannabis seeds is an art. Just like art, there are a few different methods of application. I have written about some of my different methods of making seeds in previous HIGH TIMES articles. I have used gibberellic acid, pH stress, light stress, and fertilizer stress to force my female plants to make seeds. All of these methods are harsh on the plants, and some, like the gibberellic acid, are not organic. In my search for cleaner, more earth-friendly ways of working with the cannabis plant, I have found a new way to make feminized seeds. Feminized seeds occur as a result of stress, rather than genetics. All cannabis plants can and will make male flowers under stress. Certain strains like a higher pH, some a lower one. Some like a lot of food, some like much less. There is quite a lot of variety in marijuana genetics, and you can’t treat every plant the same way.

It takes many harvests before you really get to know a particular strain. Just like getting to know human friends, it takes time. I have grown the same strains for close to a decade, and am truly getting to know every nuance the different plants exhibit. I can recognize them from a distance. I must say that I get a lot of help from my friends, both in making seeds and in learning new and better ways of working with this sacred plant.

I named this new method "Rodelization," after a friend who helped me realize and make use of this way of creating female seeds. After growing crop after crop of the same plants in the same conditions, I noticed that if I flowered the plants 10-14 days longer than usual, they would develop male "bananas." A male banana is a very slight male flower on a female marijuana plant that is formed because of stress. Usually they do not let out any pollen early enough to make seeds, but they sometimes do. They are a built-in safety factor so that in case of severe conditions, the plant can make sure the species is furthered.

To me, a male banana is quite a beautiful thing. It has the potential of making all female seeds. Many growers out there have male-banana phobia. They see one and have heart palpitations, they want to cut down the entire crop, or at the very least take tweezers and pluck the little yellow emergency devices out. I call them "emergency devices" because they emerge at times of stress.

In the Rodelization method, the male banana is very valuable. After growing your female plants 10-14 days longer than usual, hang them up to dry, then carefully take them off the drying lines and inspect for bananas. Each and every banana should be removed, and placed in a small bag labeled very accurately. These sealed bags can be placed in the fridge for one or two months and still remain potent.

For the next phase, you need to have a separate crop that’s already 2 1/2 weeks into flowering. Take your sealed bags of pollen out of the fridge, and proceed to impregnate your new crop of females. To do this, you must first match the female plant and the pollen from the same strain in the previous crop. Shut all the fans in the growroom down. Then take a very fine paintbrush, dip it in the bag of pollen, and paint it on the female flower. Do this to each different strain you have growing together. I have done it with up to 10 different kinds in the same room with great success.

I use the lower flowers to make seeds, leaving the top colas seedless for smoking. This method takes time (two crops), but is completely organic, and lets you have great-quality smoke at the same time you make your female seeds. If you’re one of those growers who’s never grown seeds for fear of not having something good to smoke, you will love this method.

You can also use this pollen to make new female crosses by cross-pollinating. The older females with the male bananas can be brought into the room with the younger, unpollinated females after they are three weeks into flowering. Turn all of the circulation fans on high, and the little bits of pollen will proceed to make it around the room. Do this for several days. Six to seven weeks later, you will have ripe 100% feminized seeds; not nearly as many as a male plant would make, but enough to start over somewhere else with the same genetics.

As a farmer who has been forced to move his genetics far away from where they started, I know very well the value of seeds. My friend Adam from ThSeeds in Amsterdam has a motto that I love to borrow these days: Drop seeds not bombs.

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MrIntricate said:

I am planning my second grow. Unfortunately during my first grow I had a disappointing amount of females. To avoid this bummer in the future, would feminized seeds be the solution? I've heard that feminized seeds often turn out herm. and that yield is decreased. Can anybody shed light on these rumors for me?

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VirginHarvester said:

Weed is supposed to be pretty hearty by nature. "Plant and forget" is probably not exactly what I mean. With good soil that I prepare in advance and enough water I am hoping that the plants do well on their own. I don't want to go to the outdoor grow site twice a week to water because I will give the site away. When they start to bud I would get out there more and water with some nutes if that will help. But otherwise I really cannot manage them on a daily basis and have to be careful visiting even once a week. Even then I will do so in the cover of darkness for the most part.

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babygro said:

Oh that's great. Then you'd get male or hermaphrodite seeds - nice thinking.

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odbsmydog said:

can i cut all the buds off my skunk #1 and leave a couple on and let it flower another month to make it go hermie naturally? cause i would love to pollinate my purple kush clone and bubblegum clone and get some feminized bubbleskunk and purple skunk. then i could have a grip and save them and give a bunch to the club here. would that work?

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SupraSPL said:

The first fem I ever grew was Durban Poison by G13 Labs. It was a very femsssive plant and 100% female. It would not hermy no matter the level of stress. Most of my keepers are from fems. I have started to suspect that breeders do a better job making elite fem crosses because it is easy to select winners for crossing and simple to test. When selecting males it requires a lot of guessing and testing.

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SupraSPL said:

The first fem I ever grew was Durban Poison by G13 Labs. It was a very impressive plant and 100% female. It would not hermy no matter the level of stress. Most of my keepers are from fems. I have started to suspect that breeders do a better job making elite fem crosses because it is easy to select winners for crossing and simple to test. When selecting males it requires a lot of guessing and testing.

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tampee said:

It is much easier too find good females anyone can but good males takes a lot more skill and time mostly why I don't buy fems . Also cause of like the third post Dutch Passion states " If you are looking too breed these are not for you" I even seen Franco say it as well as Shantibaba and a few other reputable breeders but of course the forum warriors with no or very little experience breeding say otherwise.

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tampee said:

It is much easier too find good females anyone can but good males takes a lot more skill and time mostly why I don't buy fems . Also cause of like the third post Dutch Passion states " If you are looking too breed these are not for you" I even seen Franco say it as well as Shantibaba and a few other reputable breeders but of course the forum warriors with no or very little experience breeding say otherwise.

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althor said:

I took that as meaning they aren't good for breeding because you will have no males to produce pollen to breed with. Not that feminized females are unworthy to accept pollen. If you want to breed you need regular seeds that will have both male and females so you can collect pollen.

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OGEvilgenius said:

People with actual degrees in genetics will tell you they are dead wrong. You can't explain why, they can't explain why. They just say "because". Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

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no clue said:

A bunch of people quoting others and reposting articles. Relatively few have grown any number of femmed seeds. Here is truth; Pay attention to things like light leaks and other fuck -ups that stress your plants and buy femmed seeds from a reputable breeder of them and you won't see much for hermies. Femmed seeds IMO are the best way to grow some dank in a smaller set up.

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tampee said:

Yeah a bit like GMO's we know their bad but the experts say they are good..... Why oh why would someone ever lie for money? Cause it don't matter if you hustle the street corner or Wall Street they are hustling.

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