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here are some Q's i got about hermies :rastasmoke:
-when you hermie a female plant does the pollen from it spread to other female plants?
-Are hermie seeds really %90 female or are they unstable and produce more hermie plants than it would male or female plants?
-Is it just more worth it to grow a huge plant and just take female clones from that rather than bothering with hermieing?
1. yes
2. yes they are unstable and will produce more hermies.
3. not sure exactly what you are asking.
Try this old thread.....should have some good info on hermies.
http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...confirmed.html
1. Yes. Pollen is capable of staying airborne for quite some time, and one grain of pollen can make one seed.
2. IMHO (and experience) a female throwing-out male nanners is a defensive genetic response to stress, no matter what the strain. If the strain you want to hermie has been a stable strain before you stressed her for the pollen, the seeds should be no more unstable than the parent. Going hermie is a genetic response you'll find in all strains, (even the stable ones) but some strains require more stress to trigger the event.
I have femmed a few strains, (C-99, Potent Purple, Sweet Tooth, Swazi, BubbleGum, Shishka Skunk, Pokerface, Inca Spirit...) and none of the seeds have grown to be a hermie. Zero, zilch, nada. Unless you consider the few 'femmed' beans out of a hundred, that show male preflowers. (not female parts) These I eliminate immediatelly, but are few-and-far between.
Having said that, I do not cross-feminize. (using the femmed pollen from one strain to polinate a different strain.) I also do not fem plants from femmed seeds.
Also, femming seeds isn't something I do out of necessity. It's more like a hobby. It's something to do while praying for my ladies to mature faster. Before femming any strain, I always make sure to have plenty of regular seeds, in the unlikely event of failure.
Most of the time, I'm willing to bet, it's beginners error that triggers the plants genetic response to stress, not the occatioinal weak strain.
3. If you have the space in your veg room, a mother plant or two will give you a head start with the clones, but if something were to happen to your veg room (lights fallin on 'em, bugs, unseen light leaks, mildew, mold, vacation...) and you have no seeds as back-up...you risk losing the strain.
Morning Rusty! Just out of curiosity, what is the average female-to-male ratio of the seeds from plants you've purposefully feminized? I've never grown fem seeds, so I'm a little curious about the hype surrounding them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty Trichome
Thanks! :jointsmile:
interesting thread....i cross feminized to make my cross....my jack herer got nads on here, went hermie, and i used her balls to pollinate my bubbleberry....growing out the F1s now....seem to be great, still had 5 males though...not sure how that worked, maybe they were the few bag seeds and parent leftovers.....
whiskeytango
I never really gave much thought into percentages, but out of every few grows, (12 seeds per grow) I'll get one which shows male pre flowers. A couple of times, I let the 'male' grow out a bit, and it stayed male, with no signs of hermaphrodism. I don't know about it's effects on offspring, tho, because I've never used a 'femmed' male to breed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Clandestine
But arbitrarily putting a percentage on results is folly. Every strain, every femming technique and even the gardener's schedules, I'm sure, can alter the numbers.
Yes, I could plant 12 'regular' seeds, wait for the males, and keep the left-over females. But with femmed seeds, I already know they will likely be female, and can select the strongest (or best looking representatives of that strain) to continue growing. Slow-growers and strain variants not allowed, lol.
The hype is that if you have room for 12 plants in flower, and only have room to start 12 seeds in your veg closet/room, you chance 50% males, possibly resulting in only 5 to 7 females left to flower. (give or take, but still not an optimal result) Even if the femmed seeds only produce 95% females, you should still expect 11-12 healthy female plants. The clones from the femmed ladies have never had any problems, either. I guess it all comes down to saving time, usable growspace, and effort.
Advantage: growing 3 or 4 different strains at the same time, without much worry about males.
If you have found you have a stable strain, I think it's worth it. If the strains you use are not particularly stable, and you get an occational hermie...likely not a good candidate for femming. Having said all that, I never let myself run out of seeds produced using the traditional male/female method.
I may be gutsy...but I'm not stupid. :thumbsup:
You sure the JH was a she? Had you grown a male in the same room, recently?Quote:
Originally Posted by SnSstealth
The thing with femmed pollen (pollen from a female) is that technically, there should be no male chromosomes present, and thusly, no male seeds.
Haha! Thanks for your feedback, very insightful as always.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty Trichome
Yeah, I keep a small arsenal of seeds from quality strains I've collected over the ... however, I don't think I've grown one particular strain or crossbreed consecutively enough to know how stable it might be. I've got the room now to flower in two different areas, so it looks like I'll soon have an experiment on my hands...:weedpoke:
Still, it's going to be a little weird keeping my fingers crossed hoping that a female's gonna go hermie on me! Thanks again. :jointsmile:
Mr C if you screw around with your 12/12 lighting enough your plant SHOULD go hermie for you. That'd be my best bet.