Feminized Seeds

When tackling a homegrow project for the first time, it can be a little tricky to figure out what seeds will work best for your setup. Feminized is a word you’ll often see when browsing for cannabis seeds. Alongside regular seeds and autoflowering seeds, feminized seeds are one of the most common types available on the market today. But what are feminized seeds? And how do they differ from the other types? We've put together a guide that will get you clued-up about feminized cannabis seeds in no time.

What Are Feminized Seeds?

Feminized seeds are a specially bred type of cannabis seed that is modified to remove the male chromosome (Y chromosome). This allows for exclusively female plants, which are the types most home-growers are looking for. Female plants produce more THC and CBD compared to their male counterparts, making for more potent and higher-quality bud. However, if you're looking to produce seeds, feminized plants won't be viable without initially being pollinated by a male plant.

While feminized seeds are guaranteed to produce female plants, there is a separate term known as "photoperiod" that is often lumped into the "feminized" description as well. See, photoperiod simply denotes cannabis plants that bloom according to the light cycle, rather than age. This is as opposed to "autoflowering" varieties. So, when you hear someone speak about feminized seeds, it's likely they're automatically including photoperiod within that description as well. From here on out, our description of feminized seeds will also include the photoperiod designation.

Feminized cannabis seeds, no matter which ones you choose, are usually straightforward to cultivate, produce high-quality buds, and can be grown indoors or outside, making them ideal for first-time growers and the more experienced alike.

Do Feminized Seeds Ever Produce Male Plants?

Feminized seeds should not produce male cannabis plants. However, “herming” can take place if plants feel stressed during the vegetative stage. Herming is a fascinating trait that cannabis plants can exhibit when under pressure. They can grow into hermaphrodites—developing both male and female reproductive organs. Cannabis plants do this when they sense they are in a poor environment. They do it because, by being both male and female, they can breed with themselves, or with a limited number of neighbours. This is useful in poor environments, as is advantageous to species-wide survival.

If you look after a plant properly, this shouldn’t happen. It’s important to do so, because, if this does happen, and your female plant becomes pollinated, you will end up with a whole lot of seeds and a lot less bud.

How Are Feminized Seeds Made?

By default, regular cannabis seeds will produce both male and female plants. For the longest time, it really came down to luck as to whether your seeds sprouted more females or males. It wasn't until the 1990s that new methods for cultivating solely feminized seeds were created.

Rodelization

Feminized seeds are produced using one of two methods. The first involves stressing the female plant during its flowering cycle. Known as Rodelization, it can be achieved by extending the time a plant takes to flower, usually via disruption of its light cycle.

As a rule of thumb, flowering cannabis plants should receive 12 hours of sunlight and 12 of darkness. Decreasing or increasing the light cycle will inflict stress on the plant, causing it to grow pollen sacs and self-pollinate in a final act to fertilise itself. This stress is harmless to the plant overall, and ultimately increases the chances of producing feminized seeds.

Although Rodelization is seen as the most natural way to produce feminized seeds, it is not always the most reliable method, at times resulting in a mixture of male and female seeds. While the chances are higher using the Rodelization method compared to letting the plant flower naturally without interruption, there is another, more reliable way of producing feminized seeds.

Colloidal Silver

This method of creating feminized seeds involves spraying the flowering plant with colloidal silver. Colloidal silver is a combination of pure silver and distilled water. This concoction offers a safe and stable way of producing feminized seeds without any untoward genetic modification. While this has become the industry standard, many have taken to using this method on their home-grown plants.

This is achieved by simply applying the spray to the plant for a few days during the flowering cycle. Much like the Rodelization method, the plant will begin to form pollen sacs which will contain all-female pollen, giving her a near 100% chance of the resulting seeds being female. It is important to note that once the plant has been sprayed with colloidal silver, it should not be used. Dispose of it once the seeds have been harvested.

How Can You Tell if a Seed Is Feminized?

There’s really no easy way to tell if you have a feminized cannabis seed in your hand. For the average grower, you will have to wait until the vegetative stage is up and the flowering stage begins. At this point, either flowers or pollen sacs will begin to appear where the branches meet the stem. Pistils mean a female plant, while pollen sacs mean a male plant. At this stage, be very observant if you don’t want your plants to breed, as you will have to quickly remove the males as they appear.

If you’re really serious about figuring it out early on, there are techniques to discover the chromosomal make-up of plants using prints from their embryonic leaves. Though, as you can imagine, this is difficult and expensive—and not worth it for most people. It’s usually easier just to wait for them to begin flowering.

The Advantages of Feminized Cannabis Seeds

As mentioned, feminized seeds are often highly sought-after by novice growers and the more experienced alike. There are many advantages to feminized seeds compared to regular or autoflowering.

Perfectly Suited for Indoor Growers

Feminized seeds are often best suited for, and most popular among, indoor growers. Knowing that each plant is guaranteed to produce buds is a huge benefit, as it allows growers to set up their grow room to maximise health and output. This makes for little to no wasted space, and no failed attempts at germinating.

Moreover, through the use of a consistent lighting setup, growers have complete control over how long their feminized plants stay in the vegetative stage. Plants require at least 13 hours of light each day to stay in veg. Allowing the plant to stay in this stage longer will increase its size, and potentially its production later on. Unlike the time-based autoflowering varieties, by decreasing the light cycle to 12 hours on and 12 hours off, feminized (photoperiod) plants will enter the flowering stage.

Couple that with the fact that most feminized varieties are hardy and low-maintenance, and it’s plain to see why growing feminized seeds is the most obvious choice for the budding indoor cultivator.

Suited for Applying Training Methods

As feminized seeds don't automatically progress into bloom (without a change in seasons outdoors or grower interference indoors), many growers choose these specimens to test out training methods. After all, feminized seeds have time to recover from any stress before moving into the flowering phase.

Plus, rather than wasting time defoliating and super cropping plants that may end up turning out male, feminized seeds allow growers to dedicate all the time and energy they can to maximising the results of their female plants.

There are many tried and tested techniques available, as well as some newer techniques. All methods have the end goal of producing the highest quality and quantity of buds possible.

An elevated form of LST (low-stress training) is known as ScrOG (screen of green). This technique involves weaving branches through a mesh screen to control the height and development of the plant. ScrOG allows the plant to grow laterally with more branches and potentially more/bigger buds. Given the energy needed to execute a successful ScrOG, you don’t want to waste your time with anything but feminized seeds.

There are also HST (high-stress training) methods you can use on female plants. These include topping and super cropping. Both methods involve “damaging” the plant to some degree, either by removing part of the plant entirely (as with topping), or by bending and breaking the inside of branches (super cropping). The goal of topping is ultimately to create two main branches to support more buds, as well as general height management. Super cropping is often combined with other training methods, and encourages the plant to grow bushier and, hopefully, bear more buds.

Relatively Large Yields Are Possible

Large yields are entirely possible with feminized strains, especially when you consider there are no male plants to deal with. The fact that growers can keep feminized strains in veg for an extended period doesn't hurt either. The correct use of any of the above training methods will undoubtedly provide a much higher return than plants left to grow as normal. However, yield potential depends on the experience and circumstances of the grower, as well as genetics. For example, a restricted grow space will automatically limit the amount each plant can produce.

That said, picking the right feminized seeds can help you make up for any limitations. Find strains that are naturally predisposed to churning out massive hauls. Or, if you really can’t accommodate super-productive plants, choose some highly potent strains instead. That way, you’ll get more bang for your buck.

High-Quality Cannabis as a Result

Feminized seeds have the potential to offer up increased potency. With consistently higher levels of THC and CBD than autoflowers, seeds are available in a wide variety of strains. High-quality cannabis is surely in the cards. Similar to a plant’s yield potential, its exact potency is determined not only by genetics, but by the grower’s ability, environment, and experience. Still, thanks to innovative breeding efforts, high-quality feminized seeds should ultimately deliver reasonably potent and flavourful buds regardless of the grower’s experience level.

Are Feminized Seeds Better Than Regular Seeds?

This really comes down to you, as a grower. If you’re after a bumper crop, then fem seeds are the way to go. However, if you want to take your finest specimens and crossbreed them into some new super-strain, choose a regular seed variety. The obvious benefit of regular cannabis seeds is having both male and female plants, which allows for breeding.

Unless you want unregulated breeding and small crops, you will need to separate the males into a different grow space as soon as they begin to show their sex. This requires much more effort and space. For the casual grower, it is not recommended. The upshot of regular weed seeds is that they have not been genetically modified, and this means they are much more stable. As a result, if you want to take clones, they are far more reliable than feminized seeds.

Can Feminized Seeds Produce Seeds?

In theory: yes, but it's not likely. About 1 feminized seed in 1,000 will bear seeds once mature. So, clearly, using feminized seeds to produce more seeds is not viable. Also, if you plan to take cuttings from the best plants and make clones, regular seeds are more suited to this. While it is possible with feminized plants, their genetic instability makes them far less likely to take.

How to Grow Feminized Cannabis Seeds

While growing cannabis isn't always a walk in the park, feminized seeds are completely on your side to make the job easier. With marijuana seeds that are guaranteed to produce female plants, half the battle is already won. With no wasted plants, it's just a matter of choosing whether to grow the plant indoors or outdoors. If you're a little stuck on which option might be best for you, we've put together a little guide to help you make sense of the choices available.

Indoors

Feminized seeds have soared in popularity due to their ability to be grown at home with relative ease. Whether you're looking at a simple home setup, hydroponics, or thinking of trying the training methods mentioned above, these seeds give you the freedom to do what you will. Plus, since you don't have to rely upon the weather, you can grow cannabis at any time of the year!

Getting started is simply a case of allocating a grow space. However, there are some initial setup costs that you’ll need to consider to maximise your growing area fully. Investing in pots, a lighting kit, fans, carbon filters, nutrients, and a grow tent will ensure your homegrow is ready to flourish. Additional costs such as electricity will also play a role in the upkeep of your plants.

Now that you have your grow kit, you're ready to begin your venture into growing feminized cannabis seeds. While some cannabis plants just require a little watering and can be left to grow by themselves, other plants will need a bit more of a hands-on approach. While water is essential, light, nutrients, and temperature all play significant roles as well. Getting these variables right will help your plants immeasurably.

Many growers will opt for an 18/6 light cycle during the vegetative growth stage to help maximise growth without spiking the energy bill. This cycle replicates the typical light cycle of the summer and keeps feminized plants in the vegetative stage until the grower is ready to induce flowering. Many use the 18/6 rule for 4–8 weeks before switching to a 12/12 light cycle for flowering.

As the weeks pass, you'll see vast changes in your cannabis plant. Be active with upkeep and maintain the branches with occasional pruning if your strain is prone to growing out. Each strain has its own recommended flowering time, so keep an eye out, and you'll be enjoying those buds in no time at all.

Outdoors

Growing feminized marijuana seeds outdoors could also be a viable option. Many opt to grow inside because it offers more discretion and control over the light cycle; but, if you have the luxury to do so, and the climate and environment to accommodate, it's worth growing outside.

Much like growing indoors, it is crucial to find a suitable space for your plants to develop: somewhere they will get lots of sun, but will also be protected from strong winds and storms. Outdoor growing projects generally require a little less kit than those indoors. Natural light and weather conditions will help your plant flourish, so there's no need for any additional lighting or accessories.

Once you've decided on where you'd like to grow your plants, you're practically good to go. It's time to germinate those seeds. Planting your feminized cannabis seed in nutrient-rich soil will give it the best start possible.

Do be aware that growing feminized plants outdoors gives you less control over when they enter the flowering stage. If you time things right, you can still train your plants during veg and have them recover before they enter bloom, but you ultimately can't control the natural light cycle.

Moreover, factors such as pests can potentially impact the healthy development of your plants. Be extremely vigilant by routinely checking for any wayward looking leaves. Removing them by hand before they affect the entire plant will save you a lot of headaches in the long-run. So, protect your plants, and they'll look after themselves.

Whether you're looking for straightforward growing outside or something more adventurous with training, patience is key when growing feminized cannabis. Just provide some support when your plant needs it, and those sweet buds will be yours before you know it.

How Long Does It Take To Grow Feminized Seeds?

This depends entirely on the strain. Some super-fast autoflowering seeds can be ready in under two months, while some photoperiod strains could keep you waiting up to almost four months. Feminized seeds themselves are neither faster nor slower than regular seeds. This simply comes down to the characteristics of the strain you are trying to grow.

Is It Difficult To Grow Feminized Seeds?

Again, this has less to do with whether the seeds are feminized, and more to do with the strain itself. Some strains are highly resistant and vigorous, aggressively growing no matter what you throw at them. Others are more sensitive, and need a much more careful, experienced hand. The main benefit to growing feminized seeds is that the risk of pollination is (almost totally) reduced. So, in this sense, they are easier to grow, as you will not need to check or remove half the crop.

What Are the Best Feminized Seeds?

This is a very tricky question to answer. Of course, there are some strains that, on the whole, seem to be better than others, but really it comes down to preference. Are you growing indoors or outdoors? Are you after huge yields or the fastest flowering time? Do you have a warehouse to grow in or a cupboard under the stairs? These questions (and many others) will determine what the best feminized seeds for you are. Just like smoking, growing cannabis is a very personal experience, and it’s worth trying out several strains to find which ones you get on best with.

That being said, we recognise that when you’re setting out on your growing adventure, it’s good to have a little guidance. So, here at Zamnesia, we’re continuously creating guides to help you with, well, pretty much everything to do with your psychoactive life.

In terms of growing feminized cannabis seeds, though, have a look at these to get some fresh ideas:

• Top 10 Best Feminized Cannabis Strains
• Top 10 Feminized Cannabis Seeds By Zamnesia
• 10 High-Yielding Feminized Cannabis Strains

Where to Buy Feminized Seeds?

Now that you have the information, where can you pick up your feminized seeds? For an extensive selection of cannabis seeds, head straight to the Zamnesia Seedshop. Here you can find the latest and highest-rated strains of feminized cannabis seeds available. Whether you're after an uplifting sativa hybrid, a relaxing indica, or anything in between, the Zamnesia seed bank has got you covered!