feminized seeds:Are they legit?

Hi I was wondering if anyone can tell me if feminzed seeds that I have been seeing for sale on the internet, do they really work? Does it guarantee you a female? and if so why wouldn't everyone use them? why would anyone need a male unless they wanted seeds?

Info on "Feminized Seeds"
In an experiment done in 1999 we grew 15 varieties of "feminized" seeds. We started with 30 seeds per variety. The goals were: 1) to determine the percentages of female, male, and hermaphroditic plants. 2) to compare the uniformity (homogeneity) among plants from "feminized" seeds with those grown from "regular" seeds. 1. The results were excellent. Nine out of fifteen varieties had 100% female offspring. Percentages of female plants from the other 6 varieties were between 80 and 90%. These plants were all hermaphrodites, producing their male flowers at the end of their lifecycle. Seed-setting hardly took place. No males were found. 2. Approximately 70% of the plants of varieties grown from "feminized" seeds were far more uniform than plants grown from "regular" seeds of the same variety. About 20% of the varieties were a little more uniform, while in 10% of the varieties no difference in uniformity was seen. From literature and our own findings it appears that the growth of a male or female plant from seed, except for the predisposition in the gender chromosomes, also depends on various environmental factors. The environmental factors that influence gender are: a higher nitrogen concentration will give more females. a higher potassium concentration will give more males. a higher humidity will give more females. a lower temperature will give more females. more blue light will give more females. Fewer hours of light will give more females. It is important to start these changes at the three-pairs-of-leaves stage and continue for two or three weeks, before reverting to standard conditions. To produce our feminized seeds, we start with selected female clones. Under standard conditions these female clones do not produce any male flowers. By the method we found, we are able to have these female clones produce abundant male flowers and pollen (see photos). The pollen thus produced we use for the production of our "feminized" seeds

Borrowed from Seedbotique.

Ther as legit as 2 grannys talkin hick slang bout ther motorcycles they jus purchased. I'm sure one probably hermeid but interestingly jus happn to not get documented. Don't take my word 4 it

Jus like of me to yap b4 reading. But err I've read douch passion had 100%

It's a breeding process that inclueds stressing the plants on perpose and breeding the ones that resist the hermies the most.
If your making selfed seeds. Your going to have a slight chance of hermies.
Because in order to make female selfed seeds.
You have to turn a female male or hermie. With either chemicals or stress.

The key is to grpow them in a good environment.
Don't stress them and you most likely will get 100 % female.
If you don't top it, give it plenty of root space.
And Don't let your grow room get hotter then 80-85 degrees.

I have some Oger's Kush S2's that I will be giving a try soon.

I purchased white widow femenized seeds, and had no males in what I grew, and I topped the hell out of them, and kept the grow room consistently at about 85 fwiw.

Submitted by: Lord Of The Strains
Contributed on: 02-20-2004

How can I get my plants to produce femenized seeds?

There are two methods that I am familiar with; Light-Poisoning, and Gibberellic Acid Treatment, both forcing female plants to produce male flowers and pollinate themselves. I have employed both methods, and both have yielded satisfactory results.

NOTE: YOU MUST START WITH FEMALE SEEDS/CLONES TO ENSURE THAT THERE WILL BE NO MALE CHROMOSOMES PRESENT.


LIGHT-POISONING METHOD: During the first three weeks of flowering, turn the lights on for an hour during the middle of the dark period. That is, 12 hrs. on, 5.5 hrs. off, 1 hr. on, 5.5 hrs. off, and repeat for the first 3 weeks, after which you may return to the normal 12/12 light cycle. This causes a plant to go "hermie" and pollinate itself, as well as any other female in the room. You must use plants originating only from female seeds or clones to ensure that no male chromosomes are present. The resulting seeds will produce NO MALE PLANTS!


GIBBERELLIC ACID TREATMENT: Select your favorite female plant and spray it from approx. two feet away (first under the leaves, then on top). This must be done 2 weeks before the plant is put into the flowering light cycle, thus the need to start with female seeds/clones. DO NOT SMOKE BUD TREATED WITH GIBBERELLIC ACID! Spray the plant again after 2 weeks have passed, and place it under 12/12 lighting. This plant will "hermie" and pollinate itself and other females present. It will not produce as much pollen as a pure male, thus less seeds. However, these seeds will be 100% female.

CONCLUSION:
Now, femenized seeds have also been known to produce hermaphrodites. This is just an evolutionary safety precaution to ensure the survival of the species in the event of environmental catastrophe. All seeds have the potential to hermie. Variables such as pH levels, lighting scenarios, fertilizer problems, etc. will also be factors in the outcome of the plant's sex. Just keep 'em healthy, and give them your tender, loving care, and you should be fine.