decrease the chance of having all males using math

[SecondNut]

Let's say you've got a small grow space and can only flower two plants. So you plant 3 seedlings instead of 2 hoping to increase your chances of having 2 females. Common sense, right?

But by how much exactly did you increase your chances?

If you only have 2 seedlings, assuming you don't have feminized seeds and ignoring environmental factors which might affect sex, you've only got a 1-in-4 chance (25%) that both are female. But there's also a 1-in-4 chance that both are males. There's a 50% chance one is female and the other male. So 75% of the time, you won't have two females:
MM
MF
FM
FF

However, if you have 3 seedlings instead of 2, you've got a 50% chance that at least two are female, a 37.5% chance that only 1 is female, and a 12.5% chance that all 3 will be male:
MMM
MMF
MFM
MFF
FMM
FMF
FFM
FFF

So, by adding one more seedling, you've doubled the odds of having at least 2 females (from 25% to 50%), and cut in half the chance of having no females (from 25% to 12.5%).

In fact, each seedling you add will cut in half the chance of having no females. So having 4 seedlings, even though you've only got room for two to flower, your chance of having all males is only 6.25%, and your chance of having at least 2 females is now 68.75%.

I knew Sesame Street would come in handy one day!

SecondNut Reviewed by SecondNut on 11-07-2007. decrease the chance of having all males using math Let's say you've got a small grow space and can only flower two plants. So you plant 3 seedlings instead of 2 hoping to increase your chances of having 2 females. Common sense, right? But by how much exactly did you increase your chances? If you only have 2 seedlings, assuming you don't have feminized seeds and ignoring environmental factors which might affect sex, you've only got a 1-in-4 chance (25%) that both are female. But there's also a 1-in-4 chance that both are males. There's a Rating: 5

[Twentyinches]

ok my head hurts after reading that.... math sucks!..I think you're better off just :jointsmile: and hoping you get females. I'm not so sure it would work that way.... more seeds better odds ide say, but prolly depends on genetics and treatment to the plant and how sensitive the strain to stress etc..

[SecondNut]

ok my head hurts after reading that.... math sucks!..I think you're better off just :jointsmile: and hoping you get females. I'm not so sure it would work that way.... more seeds better odds ide say, but prolly depends on genetics and treatment to the plant and how sensitive the strain to stress etc..

...or you could just double-cross your fingers, spin three times, and tap your heels. :wtf:

I was trying to quantify what you refer to as "more seeds better odds". Of course if you buy feminized seeds you have a much higher chance of getting all females. And there are environmental factors as well, which I mentioned, but which are very hard to control.

But what you can control is how many seedlings you start with. And you can figure out how much each added seedling will affect your odds, everything else being equal.

Anyway, that was the point of my post. :rasta:

[Twentyinches]

I guess what i mean with more seeds better odds is if you want 3 females, i wouldn't start with 3 seeds... ide prolly plant at least 6-7...then hopfully get the 3 you wanted. And if lucky get more then the 3.. but i'm basing that off 50/50 odds...
which all this said is basically what you said in your last line...but I get your point, i just refuse to think math applies to everything lol

[Opie Yutts]

I just psychically will my plants to be female. I don't have to do math or plant extra seeds that way, and it always works. For only $25 per plant, I will psychically will anybodies plants to be female.

[rek4385]

Nice I like it. The mathmatics and the little bit of genetics your threw in there

[hippiemommaida]

yea math sucks. I read it, now I am gonna get baked and figure it out.

[NaturalALiasClifford]

Reasonable thinking SecondNut. i agree with your rationality.

[nuggrower]

So basically its like this, the more seeds you start of with the better the chance of getting 1 or more females. But with that said, check this out. im on my third grow and for my first 2 grows I started with 4 seeds and both times only got 1 female, so this time im going to try to start it off with 6 seeds and maybe ill get 2-3 females. GOD I LOVE GROWING MARIJUANA, NOT JUST BECAUSE ITS WEED BUT ITS MY WEED THAT I GROW THAT I CARE AND HAVE FEELINGS FOR AND AND AND yeah you get the point.

[DurbanStone]

^^uhh, taker easy dude.

Well, personally I want at least 10 females. I'm going to soak 40 seeds, weed out the straglers, and if I end up with more than 10, great, if not, that's some bad luck.