How to check if your Cannabis Plants are Male or Female?

When you are new to growing Cannabis plants there are lots of things you need to know, for instance how to sex them.

Being new to anything is hard. Usually, you can find information all around you for anything but with Cannabis growing it can be a little more daunting. From the start, you will need to choose a trusted seed merchant to purchase your seeds from. We have all the seeds you need to get started on your new project right here at SeedMasters.

You can easily use google to find information on how to grow cannabis plants but, you may find that when you do come across these information sites/forums that the people know exactly what they're doing. For example, you might see the word SCROG, this is a method used in growing cannabis (See the SCROG BLOG on our BLOG page for info on that!) and there are many other methods which you may come across and not understand.

Before you get to that point you need to know the basics, and one of the most important things to know when you are growing is what the difference between male and female plants are.

The only way that you can grow some good usable buds is to figure out whether you have male plants or female plants. So this helpful guide will provide you with all the information you will need to perfect this marijuana growing fundamental.

Why do you need to know?

Male & Female Plants

There is only one massive reason to why you need to know if your plants are Male or Female. The Male plants will mostly be providing the pollen instead of the delectable buds which people use for smoking. It is the Female plants which are the ones that provide those huge, fat, sticky, lush buds you are looking for.
 

As you begin to grow your cannabis plants you will need to make sure that you are only growing the feminized plants. If you have any of the Male plants mixed in with your Female plants then not only will your Male plants not give you any buds but, they will also ruin your Female plants completely , rendering the whole process pointless unless of course, you need shit loads of seeds!
 

The reason for this is because, if there are some mature feminized plants and males growing right next to them, then the males will pollinate the females, and if that happens then you will just end up with no buds but just heaps of seeds!!
 

If you want to maximise your yummy buds then you will need to coax the plants into producing you some nice fat and seed free flowers. Then you have to very carefully begin to identify what sex the plants are. When this has been done you will need to take away all of the male plant's so that they can't pollinate your females.
 

How to tell the sex of your Cannabis Plants 

Once your plants have reached the age of 6 weeks, it is time to take a careful look at your plants and work out what sex they are. To do this you will  need to take a look at all the joints where the stems & branches connect. This is where you will start to see the 1st telltale signs.
 

If your plant is male you will start to notice there will be some little balls, these can be found at the joints, between the branches. As they get bigger they will begin to look like little clusters of grapes and these are called the pollen sacs. If you allow the plant to reach the flowering period then these little sacs will begin to open up and then the pollen will spread everywhere. If that pollen lands on one of the feminized plants it will fertilise the flowers and instead of producing that sticky bud they will start producing you tons of seeds.
 

If there are no little balls, then you have a female plant. Keep a look out for some white and wispy little hairs which will show up around the joints of the branches. Those little wispy type hairs are the plant's pistils and they will eventually begin to pave the way for your female plant to produce some of those lovely buds you have been waiting for.
 

Now and again you may find that a plant has grown both the female pistils aswell as the male pollen sacs. If this happens then you will need to remove the plant away from all the other females because once the pollen sacs open up they will pollinate themselves, and they will also pollinate all the other females around it.
 

Isolating the feminized plants

When you have done all of the sexing, you will then need to isolate the ladies. If you are only trying to grow yourself some usable buds then females are all you should be growing.
 

Just remove all of the male plants and any of the plants which have both the pollen sacs & the pistils. By now your grow operation should be looking pretty healthy with some beautiful strong females.
 

So now it's just a case of keeping your plants well looked after by feeding and watering them regularly. Then when they enter the flowering phase they will begin to produce some stunning crystal-encrusted flowers. 
 

Buying feminized seeds

SeedMasters.com can help you here, we are a trusted, & reputable seed merchant, ordering with us has never been so easy and so secure and we have the green bar to prove it!

Make sure you only purchase the feminized seeds if you are only looking to grow some buds. Still be vigilant through your growing, be sure to check them well at 6 weeks because Mother Nature can be unpredictable sometimes and it isn't uncommon for the odd male to slip his way in!

Do you have any tips for first-time growers? If so, let us know. We would all love to hear them!