How to alter the % of females

[Mutt]

I don't use or will EVER use femd seeds. I don't wanna get into this debate again tho. This was on all the seeds i've grown bagseed and known lineage. but I AM NOT saying that i think enviro factors will "change sex" unless envrio stress causing hermies.
I do think that plant with both XY that the enviro could sorta help dictate which way it may lean.
I just tried both and seen what happened on more than 4-5 ocasions and medium/nutrients/and spectrum by following the "suggestions" they made i can't say there concept isn't too far out there.

 

[papabeach1]

I think if someone is willing to use a pack of feminized seeds and do a converse experiment, the results can add a lot of value to this question. The feminized seeds are "XX" due to how they are made. They are not super females, just guarateed to have been passed the "XX" chromosomes. The test seeds must be from a reputable feminizer who uses GA3 and not hermies. If, by using all the "wrong" environmental factors you can get a significant amount of males out of this pack of seeds, this should prove the point that environment can change sex. Anyone have the space and the wherewithal to take this on ?

well.. mutt has used bag seeds which is not feminized seeds..

how can you explain it? its bag of X and Y maybe XY therefore should we keep male around to get other plants to recognize themselves as female?

 

[THCPezDispenser]

I didn't suggest or imply Mutt had used anything, Papa. I said if someone out there tried using feminized seeds and doing some environmental experiments to get males, it would add value to this discussion. This has nothing to do with a feminization discussion, simply knowing what the sex of the seeds should be before you start an experiment to see if you can get them to turn into something else.

 

[papabeach1]

I have 10 mothers... I do not want them to "feel" the urges to be hermie!

how do I avoid to get that happen? any good suggestion ? I have use "boot camp" of lights, it works.. what else to prevent them to go as hermie...as far I do not see any nuts/balls while white pistols is showing but I ain't smiling yet cuz I'm tired see hermies!

 

[darksideofoz]

How effective is ethylene stored next to seeds to create a higher % of female?
(i.e green bananas placed next to seeds a minimum of 2 weeks before germination.)

and does this affect the germination rates?

 

[Mutt]

- Another idea is to interrupt the night cycle with about one hour of light, This gives you more females.

:holysheep::bolt:
just say no to hermies.

but no i haven't tried all the wierd stuff they recommend.
this is what i did and got more females with standard seeds (and used a mix of 280K and 650K Flos)

* 24/0 lighting seems to give me more males, which is why I no longer use it.

* 18/6 lighting seems to give me more females.

* Using 12/12 from sprout doesn't seem to give any higher of a concentration of females than 18/6.

* Constant temps between 65-75f seems to produce more females, while any constant above 80 gives me a higher concentration of males.

* A humidity above 40% seems to produce more females, while a humidity below 25% somehow has shown more males to develop.

 

[DomsChron]

- a higher potassium concentration will give more males (at the three-pairs-of-leaves stage and continue for two or three weeks).

Potassium (usually high in alot of bloom formulas) is recommended in light doses by good breeders like DJ short in the seedling stage.

Sixteen hours of light per day seems to be the best combination, beyond this makes little or no appreciable difference in the plant quality.

I read from many sources 18/6 if anything. This is because the plant takes in total exactly 18 hrs. of sunlight max. So giving this, AND a whole 6 hrs dark seems fine for root growth.

- Another idea is to interrupt the night cycle with about one hour of light, This gives you more females.

As mutt says, JUST SAY NO TO HERMIES
I say this only because literally ANY light will be sensed by plants in the dark cycle and will halt the dark processes to start photosynthesizing. Then it needs to revert BACK to doing the dark processes. I just guess it's diffrent with outdoor plants, because there is constantly light from the moon right?

Dissolve a birth control pill in water and soak the seeds overnight in the solution. After the initial soaking, continue to treat the seeds by sprouting them on a paper towel soaked in the solution.

I'm sorry but that would just be plain dumb to try!

- To achieve 100% female plants is to expose young seedlings for several hours to an atmosphere of Carbon Monoxide. It doesn't hurt the plants, but it could kill you.

:holysheep:

Thats a little harsh. LOL!

Hmm, yea I guess I'll take a human sacrifice to acheive a full female harvest.

P.s. Not tryin to argue you know that hippy I'm just sayin. I don't want anyone to read this and pass it on. Someone might get hurt :hubba:

well.. mutt has used bag seeds which is not feminized seeds..

how can you explain it? its bag of X and Y maybe XY therefore should we keep male around to get other plants to recognize themselves as female?

LOLOL P.s. PapaBeach brother. Unless you don't want sesamilla (seedless weed),I recommend still killing the males. It wont help the fem ratio, it'll only allow pollen sacks to mature and pop spreadin pollen in your grow room. You love males don't you haha hate killin em' wanna grow em' out.

 

[papabeach1]

so its best way to deal with only females only..

and to make feminized seeds is by using the GA3 , spraying on every branches to get the female to have male pollens and breed with female
POSSIBLE keep mothers and have plenty of clones.. correct?

 

[darksideofoz]

Potassium (usually high in alot of bloom formulas) is recommended in light doses by good breeders like DJ short in the seedling stage.

not sure about this, what works is P during early growth is a 10-52-10 for example then follow through with the veg formulas...


As mutt says, JUST SAY NO TO HERMIES
I say this only because literally ANY light will be sensed by plants in the dark cycle and will halt the dark processes to start photosynthesizing. Then it needs to revert BACK to doing the dark processes. I just guess it's diffrent with outdoor plants, because there is constantly light from the moon right?

The moon only produces 0.02 light candles which is nothing. The sun will produce 10,000 during its peak times. Most of the time when outdoor plants reveg it is because of bad weather or lack of sunlight. My climate here was **** this year, colas were forming in june and it reverted back to veg in july/august...didn't start to flower until beginning of september @45 latitude. The plants require a certain amount of sun or else they will begin to flower even in june/july, doesn't matter lol.

my 2cents

 

[jrobertson]

getting tired of having to kill male plants, very small operation, more or less two old folks medicine, out of 6 plants 3 went bally, chopped them down, second grow Plants only a month old and there is one with two little sacks, must chop...Meanwhile we think femine seeds, any input on who has good female seeds. Anyone that has grown good female seeds? thanks jr

 

[docfishwrinkle]

getting tired of having to kill male plants, very small operation, more or less two old folks medicine, out of 6 plants 3 went bally, chopped them down, second grow Plants only a month old and there is one with two little sacks, must chop...Meanwhile we think femine seeds, any input on who has good female seeds. Anyone that has grown good female seeds? thanks jr

id just germ normal seeds & weed out males. feminized are not a gaurantee & you only get 5 for price of 10 normally...jmo though. it does suck but why don't you find your fav. strain & keep best fem for mother.

 

[Hick]

The moon only produces 0.02 light candles which is nothing. The sun will produce 10,000 during its peak times. Most of the time when outdoor plants reveg it is because of bad weather or lack of sunlight. My climate here was **** this year, colas were forming in june and it reverted back to veg in july/august...didn't start to flower until beginning of september @45 latitude. The plants require a certain amount of sun or else they will begin to flower even in june/july, doesn't matter lol.

I'm with you up to the"The plants require a certain amount of sun or else they will begin to flower even in june/july, doesn't matter " comment. Darkness is what triggers flowering, not a lack of light intensity.
Let me take a guess at this .
You started your plants early, indoors? Under 18 hours or more of light, then placed them outdoors after the fear of frost?? .."45 N".. about the final week of May maybe?

 

[darksideofoz]

hick: I wasn't refering to light intensity. I was refering to the amount of sun recieved by plants. So for example, if you put a plant out in the middle of a field and then move it into a forest, it will probably start to flower and reveg later. Another contributing factor is the weather conditions. If you have several weeks of rainy, cloudy and overcast then it will slow down the veg growth a bit.

Fairly accurate hypothesis. They were started late march and vegged until mid june. As the plant grew older, the flowering kicked in slowly even though it was on 19/5 for a while and eased down to 17/7 before putting outdoor. Couldn't place outdoor early because of **** pre-summer weather. The strain was the church, it ended up flowering about a week after it was hardened off. I had to clear cut brush a bit to help it reveg, certainly helped alot. The only thing I regret is chosing that strain. Not very good for this latitude at all, only good thing was the mold resistance. Greenhouseseeds listed it as beginning of october above equator so I must have assumed that was northern hemisphere (wrong.)

hick u have anything to add?

 

[Hick]

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8937

 

[DomsChron]

Hick is THE super moderator
I remember reading this thread a while back. I explained it to my Dad and he was psyched!

Nice new avatar by the way.

 

[Hick]

Nice new avatar by the way.

Somebody was telling me that I was "representing".., but really, I just had a runny nose lately..

 

[DomsChron]

Somebody was telling me that I was "representing".., but really, I just had a runny nose lately..

Hahaha! Representing? Like a "G" homie? :holysheep:

 

[darksideofoz]

if you used peat pellets and soaked them in a light nutrient solution of 10-52-10 (5-15% recommended dose) do you think this would increase females among the seedlings?

 

[ozman]

Well that would explain my current dilema,as I think I have 5 males out of 5 seeds.I used 24 hour light,kept them at room temps,bummer I think I was doing everything wrong.No wonder I have a male problem,well live and learn,now to start more seeds following this thread.I already put a timer on my seedlings hoping it isnt to late,which it prolly is but we will see, Good Post hope it helps me :watchplant:

 

[docfishwrinkle]

oz what kind of seeds did you use to get 5/5 males? bagseed? my current grow i ran 24/0 and had temps even hit mid nineties for almost a week. ran 24/0 til showed sex then went 18/6 & guess what 6/8 female! had multiple probs in veg b/c running no ac in a homemade tent. ended up transplanting 3-4 times in there also w/ ph shock & nute burn. now though everything is going better than expected. so im still hung in the balance.