How To Feminize Cannabis Seeds

If you’re a home grower who grows your cannabis from seed, you need those to be female seeds. In this article, we’ll explain why and also how to feminize cannabis seeds.

What Are Feminized Cannabis Seeds?

Cannabis plants are dioecious beasts, meaning they can be male or female. Although they look the same in the early part of their life cycle, there are marked differences between the two. Male cannabis plants produce male seeds and pollen sacs and have much lower potency than females. For that reason, most people involved in cannabis cultivation want to grow female cannabis plants. Females produce the much sought-after buds that cannabis is harvested for. They’re high in cannabinoids and terpenes and have all the trichomes and other components you need for medical or recreational cannabis use.

Why Make Feminized Cannabis Seeds?

As opposed to regular cannabis seeds, which produce female plants approximately half of the time, feminized seeds only produce females. That means every plant grown from feminized cannabis seeds will be a female, bud-bearing beauty.

Growing cannabis plants from feminized marijuana seeds takes the guesswork out of the gender game and guarantees your plants will be female.

Nowadays, almost all strains of cannabis are available in feminized seed form. This is because seed banks understand that most people buying seeds are more interested in producing cannabis flower. As such, the option to do so is available – although, if you’re a breeder and want to create a breeding programme, these seed banks also sell regular seeds of many popular strains.

How Do You Make Feminized Cannabis Seeds?

The general idea of the feminization process involves forcing female plants to produce pollen. That pollen is used to pollinate other female cannabis plants, resulting in feminized seeds.

There are two main ways to achieve this:

1. Chemically-induced pollen feminization

2. Rodelization

Of these two options, it’s far better to go chemically-induced. This method is used by professionals and has a significantly higher success rate. It also has a much lower frustration rate than the latter method. Rodelization creates feminized seeds through stress and, as such, can be a risky endeavour that increases the likelihood of hermaphrodite plants – and you don’t want hermie plants.

So how do you feminize cannabis seeds with chemicals? There are several techniques and chemicals that you can use. The main ones are Colloidal silver, silver nitrate, silver thiosulphate, benzothiadiazole, and gibberellic acid. Of these options, colloidal silver is the easiest to get a hold of, but you can also make it yourself without too much difficulty.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver is a solution comprising tiny – microscopic particles of silver suspended in distilled water. It’s sometimes used as a dietary supplement, meaning it’s reasonably easy to get a hold of. You can buy it on Amazon or from health shops. Disclaimer: Never ingest colloidal silver as a dietary supplement without speaking to your doctor beforehand.

Colloidal silver has other uses in horticulture, including as a means of fungal control. In creating feminized cannabis seeds, colloidal silver works by inhibiting the production of ethylene, a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas. Ethylene is a hormone needed to produce female flowers, so we use colloidal silver to prevent ethylene from effectively making plants female. The result is that the male hormones dominate, producing male flowers. Afterwards, you collect the pollen from the plant and use it for pollinating other plants, producing feminized seeds. Colloidal silver guarantees you consistently get feminized seeds.

The Colloidal Silver Method: Step by Step

• Begin by acquiring the right strength of colloidal silver, preferably 30ppm (ppm meaning parts per million). It’s available in other concentrations, and 30ppm seems to be the best for the job. Lower than 15ppm will result in male sacs with next to no viable pollen, so go with a higher concentration.
• Select a plant that has the traits you wish to preserve. Put it into a small pot away from your grow room and give it a day or two to adapt, then put it on a 12/12 light cycle as soon as possible. If using a clone, you’re good, but if you’re growing a plant from seed, wait until the plant has sexed before treating it with colloidal silver. You need to make sure it’s female!
• Once it begins the flowering stage, spray the plant, or plants, three times a day with colloidal silver, giving them a good soaking. Repeat this process over two weeks, and then leave them to grow as usual.
• When sexing begins, your plant will develop sex organs – look for male pollen sacs on the bud sites rather than the calyxes and pistils seen in female plants. Look for little green balls appearing first at the top and then lower down the plant. Viable pollen appears within three to four weeks once the plant has been sexed. Collect the pollen and use it to pollinate other female plants. These plants will then yield feminized seeds.
• Keep your treated plant isolated well away from females. If a pollen sac should burst, it will release millions of spores, and you don’t want them near your girls.

As soon as you’ve collected the pollen, discard the plants. Do not smoke them, and do not be tempted to try and rinse the colloidal silver off. Silver is a toxic metal, so never smoke the plant. Colloidal silver is absorbed into the plant’s foliage, and that plant is no longer fit for consumption. Toss it in the trash immediately.

Five Best Feminized Cannabis Seeds For Sale

Blue Dream

We’ve never made any secret that Blue Dream is one of the finest elite strains we offer. By crossing Blueberry Ice with a Haze, you get a high-yielding 70% photoperiod sativa strain of superb quality.

It’s a fairly easy strain to grow and performs well indoors or out. Blue Dream can yield as much as gm/m2 indoors, whereas outdoor cultivators can expect up to 850 gm/plant. Blue Dream is a high-THC strain that produces up to 20% THC on its sparkling, resin-covered crystals.

As a sativa, it’s a tall plant that tops out around 350cm in height when grown outdoors, and with a flowering time of around 10 weeks, you won’t have too long to wait for this wonder weed.

Blue Dream is high in alpha-pinene, a monoterpene with therapeutic benefits. Benefits include relief from anxiety, depression, arthritis, inflammation, nausea and pain. The aroma and taste of Blue Dream are lemon-citrus, with berry and Haze notes. The effect of this strain is a powerful and uplifting cerebral one, mentally stimulating but bodily relaxing at the same time.

Buy Blue Dream Feminized Seeds from Seedsman today

Purple Ghost Candy

Purple Ghost Candy from Seedsman is an absolute must if you’re looking for the highest of the high THC strains. This is another high-quality strain that delivers a knockout punch like few others.

Purple Ghost Candy is an easy-to-grow cannabis strain, so much so that it’s recommended even for beginners. Make no mistake, though – this is genuinely connoisseur cannabis. It’s another mostly-sativa strain, but it packs an incredible 27% THC!

The aromas and taste of Purple Ghost Candy are every bit as sumptuous as its appearance. Fuel-like in its scent, but the flavours are decidedly fruitier – let those lemon and peachy tones dance on your palate, with earthy mint notes in support. This is an absolute taste sensation.

Purple Ghost Candy’s very high THC content makes for a potent effect. Expect physical relaxation balanced well with cerebral stimulation. The 12-week maximum flowering time of Purple Ghost Candy is longer, but it is most certainly worth waiting for this absolute champ!

Purple Ghost Candy Feminized Seeds are available now at Seedsman.com

Peyote WiFi CBD 2:1

In sharp contrast to the high-THC madness of Purple Ghost Candy, Seedsman proudly presents a unique cannabis strain – Peyote WiFi CBD 2:1. This is an intriguing cross-breed of Peyote Purple, WiFi OG, and Seedsman CBD#2. The result is a high CBD cannabis strain with the power to soothe and relieve for medical consumers.

Peyote WiFi CBD 2:1 is an indica/sativa hybrid with a THC percentage between 5-10%. CBD is between 12-14%, meaning the therapeutic benefits of this strain are free to enjoy without THC’s debilitating psychoactive effects.

Peyote WiFi CBD 2:1 is a hardy and resilient plant that grows well in most climates and has a flowering time of around 65 days. Its benefits include relief from pain, depression, anxiety, and loss of appetite. This unique medical cannabis grows well in all environments.

Pick up Peyote WiFi CBD 2:1 Feminized Seeds at Seedsman.com

Strawberry Cheesecake Auto

One of our most in-demand strains, Strawberry Cheesecake Auto is a fast-finishing strain that will automatically begin flowering regardless of light. This strain consistently delights growers thanks to its high yields and big, dense buds.

Coming in at under 200cm, Strawberry Cheesecake is pretty compact, making it ideal for growing in confined spaces. Don’t let the size fool you, though – what it may lack in stature, it more than makes up for in flavour!

Skunky with fruity lemon notes, this strain is an absolute treat on the palate. THC content is around 15%, and its mostly indica nature means the effect is quite physically relaxing but mentally stimulating at the same time. Strawberry Cheesecake Auto is ideal for relaxing daytime use without serious impairment.

Pick up Strawberry Cheesecake Auto Feminized Seeds from Seedsman now

Jack Herer FAST

To include something for everyone, Seedsman presents Jack Herer FAST. What better than a legendary old-school strain that’s ready in just seven weeks if you need weed in a hurry?

This speed demon of a plant combines the classic Jack Herer cannabis strain with FAST genetics, reducing the waiting time and bringing top-notch buds to you quicker than ever. Jack Herer FAST is another easy-to-grow strain suitable for beginners and will yield a respectable 400 gm/m2 of high THC (20%) resinous buds.

Jack Herer FAST is a squat plant and will have a limited stretch to just over 100cm. It maintains the sweet peppery taste of the original and is every bit as potent as you’d hope.

Jack Herer FAST Fem Seeds are available at Seedsman.com