How to Spot a Male Marijuana Plant

Sexing Marijuana Plants

An expert marijuana grower must learn to differentiate between male and female marijuana plants. Female marijuana is the only type that produces buds. It has to be stated that we also have hermaphrodite’s marijuana plant, which develops both male and female flowers.

There is no marijuana plant without gender, but there have been some situations where a female marijuana plant turned hermaphrodite. Whenever a female plant self-pollinates itself due to the stress or anxiety of dying, it starts bearing seeds.

When you’re holding a marijuana seed, you can’t be too certain if it is male or female because there is a 50/50 possibility. Growers prefer to have female marijuana plants because they bear buds.

In contrast, other growers consider male marijuana a waste of time and investment because they only give you seeds. However, some vigorous strains have aromatic smell due to trichomes on their leaves. If you are not a laboratory scientist or researcher trying to experiment, you don’t need a male marijuana plant in your grow room.

Beginners see all marijuana seeds identical; even some veteran growers can’t tell male or female marijuana from seeds. It is advisable to buy yours from a trusted seed bank or a well-known seed dealer. It is much easier to know the gender of marijuana when they start germinating in their early stages.

Learn more: How to Start Cannabis Seeds Right

Marijuana and their Gender

Most female marijuana manifests male characteristics, but males find it hard to emulate females. There are environmental factors that influence female cannabis to self pollinate, female plants will eventually die if they are not fertilized by males or self-pollinate.

Most outdoor marijuana plants under this self-pollination is caused by anxiety, but growers will need to induce self-pollination in a grow room if they want it to happen.

Whenever a female plant in the flowering stage undergoes hours of darkness, lack of water, increased temperature, usage of pesticides, any insect invasion, and other more factors, female marijuana will be stressed and may undergo self-pollination.

Though there are few exceptions to this, some marijuana strains are genetically strong and will remain female no matter the circumstances are. Still, it is generally believed that an excellent female marijuana plant should be a hermaphrodite.

Though some growers get rid of the hermaphrodite marijuana plant, they believe they can pollinate other plants that are primarily female or touch the buds of different plants; then, they will start producing seeds instead of flowers.

So whenever you notice a pollen sac growing on your plant, please clear them out if you don’t want any of your buds pollinated. Though hermaphrodite marijuana is still unusual, they exist.

When Do You Know Marijuana Gender?

Whenever you notice a V shape around the stem of marijuana, it means it is proclaiming its gender. 

You will see the stalk meet the stem while small flowers that are greenish start to sprout, this same sign is evident even if a marijuana plant is cloned. All these signs show it is a female plant.

Hermaphrodite plants also produce flowers, so you need to know the kind of flower the marijuana is producing before you can be sure of the gender. Once you are certain you don’t have a male plant and you come across seeds in your buds, it confirms they are hermaphrodite plants.

Guidelines to Know Marijuana Plant Gender

It is advisable to buy strictly feminized seeds from trusted stores, so you could avoid mix up of male, female, and hermaphrodite marijuana seeds.

Follow these Guidelines Below

It is more convenient to know male marijuana plants during the vegetative stage compared to a female plant. But as soon as they enter the flowering stage, it becomes easier for you to distinguish. In females, you will notice the growth of whitish pistils hair, which eventually develops the buds.

Males are easier to identify because they possess grape-sized pollen sacs, but you can only see the pollen sac when the plant reaches the flowering stage, if you notice male plants around your female plants, you need to be careful because they can pollinate female plants.

Growers that have reliable stores to buy their seeds have little or no problem at all concerning differentiating between male and female marijuana plants. Ask for feminized seeds because they are the only type that gives buds/flowers.

Is Your Female Plant Pollinated?

Pollination of marijuana only lessens stress but hinders the growers from getting good buds; you should stop giving your efforts to a pollinated plant because it won’t provide a high yield. If you are a beginner, please learn to isolate male plants from female plants because pollination can waste your investment.

Instead of female marijuana sprouting flowers, they begin to grow seed, which is not what you want if you’re looking forward to a good harvest in the future. You can prevent all these by doing some simple tasks.

I am pretty sure no one on earth prefers to smoke seedy marijuana rather than fine flowered cannabis. The capability to spot pollinated female marijuana plants right on gives you the privilege to be stress-free and to conserve more time.

Best Way To Be Sure a Female Plant Have Been Pollinated

The part of a female plant called bract becomes larger once it is fertilized, bracts are those tiny leaves like part, which covers female reproductive parts of the marijuana plant. Calyxes and bracts look-alike, they are the part where buds sprout while bracts conceal the female reproductive parts.

Expert Growers can also determine if a marijuana plant has been pollinated through the color of their pistil furs. The fur/hair of pistil usually turns dark once it is pollinated, unlike the usual white color.

How to Prevent Female Marijuana Pollination

There is no pollination in the plant without the male or hermaphrodite plant, but the only male plant produces pollen. If you have hermies (vigorous plants) in your grow room, make sure to eradicate all, this will prevent them from pollinating female plants.

The flowering stage is the best period to determine females and males, especially if you are a beginner. Exterminate male marijuana plants on your farm because they have little or no benefits at all.

Generally, those that grow for commercial purposes don’t need male plants. However, there are still people that like to have a male and female plant; these people should learn to separate the two-gender to prevent accidental plant pollination.

If you are using a grow room, create a different tent or grow room for the males, but if you are using marijuana outdoors, it is advisable to take male plants several margins apart from the female plant to prevent pollination through the wind.

How To Know Male Marijuana Plant

Almost all growers wait patiently until the vegetative or pre-flowering period to determine the gender of the marijuana plant. It is much easier to understand a female marijuana plant before the pre-flowering period because they produce pistils, which is the whitish hair that produces buds.

Besides, you can’t find any whitish hair on male plants; you will only notice balls like small sacs called pollens. These pollen sacs are found in groups while they are scattered, but whenever the pollen starts splitting, it means pollination of your female plants has begun.

What Next After a Male Plant Pollinates the Female?

You should get rid of female plants once they are pollinated because you don’t need them. Early detection is still the best when it comes to the prevention of female plants from male pollination.

Starting a new plantation is the best advice if your female plant has been accidentally pollinated. Uproot both the male and female plants, buy feminized seeds from trusted stores then start again.

In conclusion, growers should pay more attention to their marijuana plants. Once you get your feminized seeds from a trusted store, then you can be 70% sure of getting a female plant, but you still need extensive research for the best strain based on your environment and available resources.

Knowing the exact location the plant sprouted during germination is key to discovering its gender, though this method has not been scientifically proven, over 90% of growers I have met alluded to the fact that it has worked for them.

Any marijuana plant that starts sprouting above or below the seed will give you a female plant, while those that begin growing from the side will end up as a male marijuana plant.

Please don’t use this method to discard your male marijuana plant once you notice it is sprouting sideways. This method has not been proven scientifically though many growers believe it works. Clones most times possess the same gender as their parent plant.

Learn more: How to Clone Cannabis Plants Guide

You can quickly know their gender by allowing them to experience twelve hours of darkness, forcing them to attain the flowering stage. Comment below to share your views about how you spot male marijuana plants.