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Identifying Male Cannabis Plants
by
Erowid

Cannabis plants are either male or female. The male plants produce
pollen which pollenates the flowers of the female plant, which once
pollenized, produce seeds. If the female plant isn't pollenized (if there
are no male plants nearby producing pollen), the flower/buds continue to
develop and produce THC. Female plants which are not pollenized are
referred to as sensemilla (without seeds).

Usually 40-50% of the plants are male.

D. Removing Males: (From Outdoor
Marijuana Cultivation)

Outdoor male plants will begin to produce their flowers and pollen as
early as mid July for varieties acclimated to this climate. Varieties from
more southern climates, may not start until mid September. This difference
depends on the budding cycle of your variety, some plants start to bud
earlier than others, so the exact time to cut the males will vary with the
strain. If you are using a variety of different seeds it may be necessary
to visit once a week from July 21 through September 15. The timely
identification of a male plant is crucial to the success of the harvest.
If the weather is exceptional during the time a male starts producing its
flowers and you missed seeing the first signs during your last visit, you
could wind up with a lot of seeds and little of the fine herb. A female
can either generate a large seedless bud, a large bud with a few seeds, or
a large bud that is almost totally seeds. The first case is achieved by
removing all the male plants before any of their flowers open. The second
case occurs when a few male flowers have opened but you remove them before
any more open. The third case occurs when you miss-time the flowering of
the male. This can be devastating if you have big female plants because
you could loose 90% of the smokable herb to seed production. This last
scenario may not always be bad though. If you are short on seeds for the
next growing season, it may be prudent to let one or two males stand and
fertilize a portion of the females. Good seeds are hard to come by, so if
you have a strain you like, make sure to plan ahead and have at least a
few hundred seeds for the future. The spotting of males is one of the most
difficult of things to explain to a person that's never grown since it
really takes careful attention to how the tops of male plants look at this
stage of development. Even experienced growers will be unsure at times and
will have to wait till the next visit to be sure. When a male enters the
stage of flower development, the tips of the branches where a bud would
develop will start to grow what looks like a little bud (little balls) but
it will have no white hairs coming out of it.

Females will have no balls and will have small white hairs. All of the
images on this page are of male plants

Males are often, but not always, tall with stout stems, sporadic
branching, and few leaves. Males are usually harvested except those used
for breeding, after their sex has been determined, but before the pollen
is shed. When harvesting, especially if close to females, cut the plant
off at the base, taking care to shake the male as little as possible. This
helps prevent any accidental pollination by an unnoticed, open male
flower.

Last Modified - Tue, Feb 5,
2002

Created by
Erowid

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