Just noticed the mistake. It should read "it is for regular seeds and not for feminized seeds".
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
I am doing some experiments with sexing seeds. Yes I have read both sides of the argument and understand that it is just a theory. I love experimenting and making a strong effort to see if I can get to at least a 95% rate of success. I have a Celestron Microscope and it really helps when looking at the seed head.
This is a suspected Female seed from this years grow:
This is a suspected Male seed from this years grow:
Even though it has the typical volcanic crater, It is not as symmetrical as the Female above. My best clue however, is in the plant it's self. The Female seed it growing nice branches on every node. The male plant has very stunted branches and is looking less full. I assume this because last years grow was the same way. All the males did not produce significant branching.
This is a suspected Female seed from this years grow:
This is a suspected Male seed from this years grow:
Even though it has the typical volcanic crater, It is not as symmetrical as the Female above. My best clue however, is in the plant it's self. The Female seed it growing nice branches on every node. The male plant has very stunted branches and is looking less full. I assume this because last years grow was the same way. All the males did not produce significant branching.
GrasshopperLimps
420 Member
We can experiment with it if you have time and space. Label them and sprout it. Lets see if the theory hold true.Something I found today while doing research for my first hypothetical grow:
So, I laid out my hypothetical bag seeds that I plan to use for my first hypothetical grow (ramping up, will start a journal at the appropriate time):
If I am reading this right, the top row are all female. The first two in the bottom row I believe are male. The last two in that row I do not believe are even viable. They look a little crushed or malformed. These seeds came from reggie/brickweed.
Does this sound about right? Comments?
I'm curious to try this one in future.
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
That is what I started to do this year. My results are not going to be very accurate though. I had a lot of issues with my starts. I have my area ready to start framing my hoop hose and can do a better control in the hoop house. I will be taking note on all that come to term this year. So far out of 24 seeds started I have had 12 that did not make it to flower because of late freeze frost. I started new sprouts to replace them, but then lost five of those. Started 5 new ones.... So this year is kind of a lost for the true stats. Out of the 12 I have now, 1 for sure male maybe 2. I will say this that I just find it fun to test out, expecting it be just be a fun experiment.
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
I have given up on the sexing seed testing, I will still have some fun with it but, My plan is now to just start working on feminizing seeds instead. I just think it is the best way to go. Yes I could still get a male or hurmie, and that's ok. I will have better odds on just getting the female seeds without worrying about it.
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
Well I have done all I'm going to do on this. I have surprising results for some and disappointing results for others. Lets just say it only took 1 experiment with this for me to call it. To understand what you looking at below you need to understand the concept.
It is said that seeds with a strikingly round center with a volcano type ridge are Female
Seeds with an irregular dip and no volcano like ridge are Male.
Take a look at these seeds below and decide for yourself if this concept is valid or BS. Use the chart below as the "Baseline" to show what the results should be and compare to seeds I used in this experiment.
Standard Chart for sexing your seeds:
These are the seeds I planted this year to see if this can be even close to being possible. All seeds are known to be male or female after growing to maturity.
Seeds That Grew Into Female Plants:
NOTE: These were all the same strain. So far Looking like there may be something here. Lets continue though.
Continued in next post...
It is said that seeds with a strikingly round center with a volcano type ridge are Female
Seeds with an irregular dip and no volcano like ridge are Male.
Take a look at these seeds below and decide for yourself if this concept is valid or BS. Use the chart below as the "Baseline" to show what the results should be and compare to seeds I used in this experiment.
Standard Chart for sexing your seeds:
These are the seeds I planted this year to see if this can be even close to being possible. All seeds are known to be male or female after growing to maturity.
Seeds That Grew Into Female Plants:
NOTE: These were all the same strain. So far Looking like there may be something here. Lets continue though.
Continued in next post...
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
Female Seed Continued...
These Seed Are a Different Strain Than Above And Also Grew To Be Female:
Hummm These do not follow the "Baseline" that should be. Three of these should have been Male by the baseline!
These next seeds are the known male, notice that they do not follow the "Baseline" either. These all came from the same strain shown in the first post.
From the Baseline Image these should have all been Female.
In conclusion, I say this is a load of BS and don't waste your time with it. Get yourself some Colloidal Silver and just Fem your seeds.
These Seed Are a Different Strain Than Above And Also Grew To Be Female:
Hummm These do not follow the "Baseline" that should be. Three of these should have been Male by the baseline!
These next seeds are the known male, notice that they do not follow the "Baseline" either. These all came from the same strain shown in the first post.
From the Baseline Image these should have all been Female.
In conclusion, I say this is a load of BS and don't waste your time with it. Get yourself some Colloidal Silver and just Fem your seeds.
TysonOG
Well-Known Member
Look up SteepHill or Phylos. They do gender testing on seedling as young as 2 weeks. Just need a little hole punch sized piece of leaf. I've used both and can vouch for them. Around $15 a plant.
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
The
Say I send 12 plants in for testing, 8 come back male. I plant 8 more and 4 come up male.. plant 4 and 3 come back male...See how that can add up?
If you just fem your seeds, you have a grater chance and cost less. Like I said I did this for fun and with an open mind.
Yes there are places that do testing but, I'm cheap and don't want to spend $15-20 per plant on testing for bag seeds. I run 12 plants and if I paid for all at $15 ea it would run $180 per year or more.
Say I send 12 plants in for testing, 8 come back male. I plant 8 more and 4 come up male.. plant 4 and 3 come back male...See how that can add up?
If you just fem your seeds, you have a grater chance and cost less. Like I said I did this for fun and with an open mind.
TysonOG
Well-Known Member
I understand. I only use fem seeds now for that reason. If I were to happen upon some reg seeds that I really wanted, I would have to do the testing because of plant limits, I couldn't afford to wait until they show sex.
Morda Grown
Well-Known Member
I totally agree, I would much rather just put that money into some good fem seeds and let the grow begin.
Having said that:
I have seen this seed sexing thing for a couple years now. Part of me was this is cool if it works, the other part was Ummmm this has got to be BS. The only way to check on that for myself was get some seeds and give it a test. Last years grow was bust except for the seeds I got from it. I had plenty of seeds for testing so why not, the only thing I had to loose was a few males. My goal was testing it and seeing if it some/any validity. I think it has more to do with pure luck than anything else.
I save pollen because I like the breeding aspect of cannabis. When you Fem seeds you loose that breeding ability. This would have been a good way of sorting seeds if it had any validity. Now it is back to the crap shoot and when I get a male it will be killing it or, isolate it and do a pollen grab. I was really hoping for some Bubba Kush pollen this year and it is looking like the seeds (Bag Seed) are all going to be female. LOL Dag Nab It All
I tried this approach too, but I only came out with a 50/50 result for 4 seeds germinated. But afterwards I was told by someone who had more consistent success, that most important in his mind was the overall 'roundness' of the seed, to him the crater was less important. That parallels something I read a long time ago, where someone said to find female seeds out of regular seeds, they should roll them down a slope and the ones that rolled the straightest were deemed to be the most likely to be female. But anyway, I am all for experimentation as it seems there is no loss to have a go. I would try again when I next germinate regular seeds, altho like others, feminized seeds make it easier for me.
Zimbo 63
Well-Known Member
Hey Stunger, I have had good results with this method but my sample is way too small to make any real claims. I am 5 for 5 at the moment 4x female and 1x male.In my current Quadlining Balcony grow using regular seeds, I felt there was nothing to lose in trying this out, so I selected 4 seeds based on this 'crater' theory (closeup pics of the seeds in my current Quadlining balcony grow). I now have 2 confirmed females (pistils developing), and 2 suspected males (I am waiting for multiple balls to develop for absolute confirmation). Possibly the 'crater' seeds I selected were not up to the theory's standard. But anyway, the result looks like only 50/50 from my tiny trial of 4 seeds.
I got some good seed from my last grow, Mulanje x itself and Mulanje x Ace Malawi...
Trying to figure out which combo (only have space for 2x f and 1x m) will give me the best genetic options for future grows but haven't learned anything about genetics since "A" levels many years ago, so my knowledge is primitive at best.
Although not exactly what the OP is suggesting, it does appear as though one can early sex a plant by growing the seedling under 12/12 for the first ten days above ground, then reverting to 18/6 or whatever your normal light schedule is to veg it ou.
Preflowers typically show in 25ish days while still in veg. A few of us have tried it (so very small sample size) and have had consistent success identifying males and females. This obviously doesn't help with selecting which seeds to plant, but can help narrow down the plants you want to grow from regular seeds.
This is a hack coming from The Rev of TLO (True Living Organics).
Preflowers typically show in 25ish days while still in veg. A few of us have tried it (so very small sample size) and have had consistent success identifying males and females. This obviously doesn't help with selecting which seeds to plant, but can help narrow down the plants you want to grow from regular seeds.
This is a hack coming from The Rev of TLO (True Living Organics).