Hey xtr and the subscribers here,
I'm seeing some nice advanced cannabis talk here; I like it! I thought this info might be helpful to some. disclaimer: I'm not an expert, and I don't have a degree in horticulture. I am speaking here from my own experience, and I welcome anyone to enlighten me if I say anything incorrect. xtr brings up some good info and questions about the "bud bananas". Like xtr was saying, there is not a lot of info available on this.
For those of you who found this thread with a google search... you might be saying, "my plant turned hermie!" Or someone may have told you this. I see it all the time on the forums. No it didn't "turn hermie". Your plant grew male reproductive organs due to stress. Cannabis is dioecious, meaning there are separate males and females, like people
. I'm assuming you already know this, and you know how to sex them (plants, not people), but here is what I have found regarding cannabis plants:
If you really want to call it a "hermie" then so be it. But it's not a true hermaphrodite. A TRUE Hermaphrodite would be a plant that has both male and female organs, right from the time it starts to mature. This would be "by design". It is very rare to find a true Hermaphrodite in cannabis plants (or humans). There is so much incorrect information posted on the forums about Hermaphrodite cannabis plants. Like I said, I'm not an expert, but I'll tell you what I've learned from my experience.
What you've read about light leaks during flowering growth, IS TRUE. When I first started growing, I had light leaks like crazy, due to a poorly set up closet. My female plants would grow pollen sacs on lower branches, due to stress from light leaks, and who knows what other stress I subjected them to. My plants had seeds, but still plenty of smoke-able bud, and no more seeds than a cheap bag of street weed.
If you find male flowers on your plants during the flowering growth stage, don't throw that plant away, unless you have 10 other unaffected, pure females you want to prevent from being pollinated. If you're only growing a few plants, just let them grow. Plus, if you stressed one plant enough to grow male pollen sacs, the others probably have them too. Inspect all your plants every few days, and attempt to remove any male pollen sacs you find, before they open. First, spray them with a water mist (this will prevent pollen from becoming airborne), then use tweezers to remove and dispose of them. Yes, You will have seeds, but still plenty of smoke-able bud. Don't stress! It happens to many of us; your crop is not "ruined".
After a few "con semillas", (with seeds) crops, I got smart. I realized my watering timer came on the middle of the night, had a LED light on it, and lit up the closet. I also accidentally left my digital ppm / ph meter plugged in a few times, which also lit up the room. At one point, my plants in flower literally started to revert to vegetative growth! I made every mistake in the book. I know these seem like newbee blunders, but I have seen many seasoned growers make similar mistakes. When you go into your flower closet, you should wait 5 minutes for your eyes to adjust, and then you should still not be able to see your hand in front of your face. Go in your closet at different times and look around. Right at lights out, again just before lights on... you might notice some light leaking at different times of the lights out period.
Some females (humans and cannabis plants) are hard to please. They require near perfect conditions and even then it seems they are not satisfied. Some females (humans and cannabis plants) will still stab you in the back, even when you provide a perfect environment. The goal of any female (humans and cannabis plants) is to reproduce. It is instinct. When a plant is stressed, it is a natural instinct to try to reproduce. Therefore, it produces it's own male organs in an attempt to produce seeds / babies. I will agree, that some plants have a natural tendency to grow male organs. If this is your case, and you're sure you're not stressing your plants, grow a different strain or different seed.
In order to prevent your females from adopting testicles... there are some other things you can do to keep her happy. Give them a 10 - 15 degree change in temp between day and night and no hotter than 85 in the day. Give them the proper nutrients. Give them a cool growing medium (70F or cooler). Good airflow but not a wind storm. Don't rape your plant by cutting off too many branches or fan leaves in one sitting. Don't yell at your plants. Spend time with them, but don't micro-manage them. I have found that CONSISTENCY is important. Instead of spending more money on additives and co2 generators, get back to basics and make sure you have the environment set up properly. You can shower a woman with jewels and flowers, but if you don't treat them well, the fluff means nothing.
Near the end of flowering, females will have the instinct to grow male flowers, even when conditions are ideal. They do this because they know they are getting ready to die. This is common, especially when a plant is let go too long. If they can't produce seeds, babies won't grow next spring. I have seen this on many plants, particularly the TGA strains I have been growing over the last year (ACE and Agent Orange). They have a few male flowers here and there, but not like the typical pollen sacs you see at lower intersections due to stress. These are embedded in the bud, just like xtr was saying (picture below). I find them when I am trimming, and I cut them out of the buds. When I do this, I don't see any pollen poof out of them, like I do from normal male pollen sacs. When I say "male flowers", I'm referring to the presence of the yellow/lime green banana looking things. On a 14oz plant, I usually find about 1/2 dozen of these.
Here is the kicker... Over the last year or so, I have always had 2-3 large plants in flowering, at different stages. So, there is always a female ready to be pollinated. Upon harvest, I usually find a few of the "bananas" in the bud of almost every plant (not on lower intersections). But I have not produced a seed in two years (sin semilla). So, even with the presence of the male organs embedded in the bud, there is either no pollen, or the pollen that was released is sterile.
If anyone else has had a similar experience, I would like to hear it.
Here is a picture of the male flowers in the buds (frosty!):
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