My first hermie

[Gabby987]

This is my first hermie. Do I throw it out or remove the pollen sacks?
I use only feminized seeds, but I guess it can still happen.
I have several plants in the flower room, is it worth the risk?
Lemon diesel in soil. Week 2 in flower.
What would you do?

 

[013]

I vote shitcan. Sorry doll it’s a tough life but dudes just wanna spray pollen and I bet you might have a fan or 3 cranking air in your space.

I mean you can separate shim and pluck ’em but better not miss… so umm yeah - See above!

another option might be to move it outdoors if that’s possible?

 

[SmokingWings]

This is my first hermie. Do I throw it out or remove the pollen sacks?

Plant in the photo looks like it is doing good. "Waste not, want not" or some proverb like that. I would cut, pinch or do what ever needed and get the 'balls' off the plant and write a note with the date they were removed. Then keep watching and see if they come back and how soon. Sometimes I have had to remove the male flowering parts twice, a few weeks apart. If it is just a few like that then the situation is easy to handle. If they come back and there are a lot then you might have to consider tossing the one plant.

I use only feminized seeds, but I guess it can still happen.

I have read several msgs on this message board where members figure that there is a 1 to 5 % chance that a feminized seed will either start to show male flowers mixed in and if memory serves every now and then a seed will produce an all male plant.

One breeder even had on their web page that 99% of their feminized seeds will be female so 1% is male. They do not mention that 1% being part female and part male or a true hermaphrodite.

I have several plants in the flower room, is it worth the risk?

There is always a risk. It becomes a matter of whether you, as the grower, feel that getting a few seeds at harvest is better than throwing away everything now and starting over. I do know that if I were in the same situation and if I toss everything now then I will have no seeds to sift out but also nothing to smoke.

 

[Gabby987]

I vote shitcan. Sorry doll it’s a tough life but dudes just wanna spray pollen and I bet you might have a fan or 3 cranking air in your space.

I mean you can separate shim and pluck ’em but better not miss… so umm yeah - See above!

another option might be to move outdoors if that’s possible?

Thank you, and yes,, I have 3 fans in there.. It broke my heart, but I bagged and tossed.
Moving outdoors was too risky.

 

[Gabby987]

Plant in the photo looks like it is doing good. "Waste not, want not" or some proverb like that. I would cut, pinch or do what ever needed and get the 'balls' off the plant and write a note with the date they were removed. Then keep watching and see if they come back and how soon. Sometimes I have had to remove the male flowering parts twice, a few weeks apart. If it is just a few like that then the situation is easy to handle. If they come back and there are a lot then you might have to consider tossing the one plant.


I have read several msgs on this message board where members figure that there is a 1 to 5 % chance that a feminized seed will either start to show male flowers mixed in and if memory serves every now and then a seed will produce an all male plant.

One breeder even had on their web page that 99% of their feminized seeds will be female so 1% is male. They do not mention that 1% being part female and part male or a true hermaphrodite.


There is always a risk. It becomes a matter of whether you, as the grower, feel that getting a few seeds at harvest is better than throwing away everything now and starting over. I do know that if I were in the same situation and if I toss everything now then I will have no seeds to sift out but also nothing to smoke.

Thank you so much for your reply. I removed it from the room and started plucking, but I realized there were a lot more than I thought.
I have only been growing for 1 year and felt I was not experienced enough to deal with it correctly.
I also don't have a setup for quaranteening one plant.
I have 16 other plants in flower, the risk was too great.
I also have clones of this plant, should I monitor them, or cut my losses now?
I also hate wasting, that's why this was hard.

 

[SmokingWings]

You did the best thing if there were more there than you realized and more than the occasional one or two like the photo suggested. It becomes a matter of what you are comfortable with.

I also have clones of this plant, should I monitor them, or cut my losses now?

If they are in flower definitely monitor them. Clones are the same as the plant they were cut from so if the growth of the male flowers is genetic then the clones will have the same problem. Otherwise, if the growing of the male flowers was because of something that happened to the mother plant that you tossed then the clones might not produce as many.

Most likely the clones will show some male flowers. We do not know how many though until you put them into a flowering schedule.

 

[Gabby987]

You did the best thing if there were more there than you realized and more than the occasional one or two like the photo suggested. It becomes a matter of what you are comfortable with.


If they are in flower definitely monitor them. Clones are the same as the plant they were cut from so if the growth of the male flowers is genetic then the clones will have the same problem. Otherwise, if the growing of the male flowers was because of something that happened to the mother plant that you tossed then the clones might not produce as many.

Most likely the clones will show some male flowers. We do not know how many though until you put them into a flowering schedule.

You did the best thing if there were more there than you realized and more than the occasional one or two like the photo suggested. It becomes a matter of what you are comfortable with.


If they are in flower definitely monitor them. Clones are the same as the plant they were cut from so if the growth of the male flowers is genetic then the clones will have the same problem. Otherwise, if the growing of the male flowers was because of something that happened to the mother plant that you tossed then the clones might not produce as many.

Most likely the clones will show some male flowers. We do not know how many though until you put them into a flowering schedule.

I will keep a close eye on them.
This might be a stupid question but, do the pollen sacks contain viable pollen from when they first emerge, or do they need to mature?

 

[Sueet]

I will keep a close eye on them.
This might be a stupid question but, do the pollen sacks contain viable pollen from when they first emerge, or do they need to mature?

They do need to mature, but it doesn't take all that long.

 

[HayStack]

Have you though of segregating it and letting it self pollinate? It should make you a nice bag of feminized seeds.

 

[bluter]

my friend ruined three grows around him plus his own letting 2 hermies finish outside.
he figured they wouldn't produce as much pollen like a male.

the pollen made it in to everyone's indoor spaces just from the outside air exchange. both neighbour grows on either side and one behind all seeded. lots of unease between them now.

 

[Sueet]

my friend ruined three grows around him plus his own letting 2 hermies finish outside.
he figured they wouldn't produce as much pollen like a male.

the pollen made it in to everyone's indoor spaces just from the outside air exchange. both neighbour grows on either side and one behind all seeded. lots of unease between them now.

Oh man, talk about strained relationships. Ouch! Good to know tho...

 

[Justin Goody]

Have you though of segregating it and letting it self pollinate? It should make you a nice bag of feminized seeds.

That’s unfortunately not how that works. If you reverse the sex yourself and self pollinate, yes you’ll get feminized seeds.
A herm that pollinates itself (or other plants) will be all herms. That pollen is trash, kill it with fire.

If it were just one berry I’d say wait and see and pluck it off. But that plant is toast, put it in a bag and seal it and throw it out. That pollen can haunt you for years if you let it get airborne. As well as your neighbors grows..
Not worth it

 

[bluter]

That pollen can haunt you for years if you let it get airborne. As well as your neighbors grows..
Not worth it

it's going on to the third yr now and all 4 grows are still having issues. not nearly as bad as it was the first two though.
some of the seed got planted and that made sure to prolong the hassel for another couple yrs to come too.

 

[Gabby987]

Have you though of segregating it and letting it self pollinate? It should make you a nice bag of feminized seeds.

They do need to mature, but it doesn't take all that

They do need to mature, but it doesn't take all that long.

Thank you. The reason I asked is because I worry I might have released some pollen when I removed a few. Maybe I'm a little overthinking it.

 

[Gabby987]

Have you though of segregating it and letting it self pollinate? It should make you a nice bag of feminized seeds.

If I had the space I would attempt it, but everything is full.

 

[Gabby987]

That’s unfortunately not how that works. If you reverse the sex yourself and self pollinate, yes you’ll get feminized seeds.
A herm that pollinates itself (or other plants) will be all herms. That pollen is trash, kill it with fire.

If it were just one berry I’d say wait and see and pluck it off. But that plant is toast, put it in a bag and seal it and throw it out. That pollen can haunt you for years if you let it get airborne. As well as your neighbors grows..
Not worth it

Sealed and dumped 20 miles away.
Call me paranoid.

 

[Gabby987]

my friend ruined three grows around him plus his own letting 2 hermies finish outside.
he figured they wouldn't produce as much pollen like a male.

the pollen made it in to everyone's indoor spaces just from the outside air exchange. both neighbour grows on either side and one behind all seeded. lots of unease between them now.

Ouch. That hurts.
Growing will be legal by next year in NY. Everyone with some bag seeds is throwing them in the ground outside.
Who knows how much pollen will be floating around here.
I'm keeping them indoors and showering after going outside.

 

[Justin Goody]

Sealed and dumped 20 miles away.
Call me paranoid.

Very smart!
And it’s good you know we aren’t trying to rain on your parade, just trying to help you start without that handicap.
Some growers don’t want to accept that their cute little plant could be capable of harm, and want to wait til it’s too late. You have chosen wisely
Tomorrow is another day, try another seed!

 

[bluter]

Have you though of segregating it and letting it self pollinate? It should make you a nice bag of feminized seeds.

that is exactly what the dumbass was thinking. then the one neighbour.
now everyone lives with shitty grows for a half decade.

 

[013]

yeah started to mention pollinate a few square miles deal but what I meant was move it out and keep plucking & inspecting for more but yes let’s face it stray weed pollen is only gonna increase