Why you should know the difference?
If you have planted yourself some regular cannabis seeds, then you should expect some male plants. Unlike feminized seeds, regular seeds can turn out to be male or female plants. Whereas feminized seeds have a 99% likelihood of being female. If it’s good bud you are after, then it’s the female plants that you want. They the produce flower which contains all the cannabinoids we love. Male plants, on the other hand, produce pollen sacs instead of buds. Unless you are looking to do some breeding, male plants are pretty useless. Male plants are often pulled and disposed of by growers as soon as they figure out their sex. They do this in order to prevent the pollination of their growth and others around them. It is common grower’s etiquette to do so because a seeded crop reduces the quality of the bud produced.
How to tell the sex of your cannabis plant?
The most common way to spot a male plant is to look at what ‘’parts’’ it has. You will only be able to check this around 4 weeks into the vegetive phase when plants start to mature. This is why many growers tend to go the feminized seed route. Since it saves them from wasting time, space, and money on male plants that they will just end up getting rid of.
Telling the difference between a male and female plant is simple if you know what to look for. Once your plant is starting to mature, pay attention to what is happening at the base of the inter-nodal spaces. Early signs of a female plant will be a small bulb-like growth forming at the base of the inter-nodal spaces called a calyx. Two thin white hairs will then appear. These hairs are called pistils and are the female reproductive organs. Early signs of a male plant will be a small spade-shaped (or banana-shaped) growth that forms at the base of the inter-nodal spaces. These will then produce tiny balls which will eventually form pollen sacs, which indicate that the plant is male.
