Femenized Cannabis Seeds

What are feminized seeds and how are they produced?

We get this question a lot here at ECG and I wanted to take some time to shed a little light on the process of making feminized seeds. Feminizing seeds or "Selfing" is the process of forcing female plants to produce male plant sex organs (pollen sacks in buds pictured above) to self pollinate. The end result are seeds that are between 96% and 99% female, making it easier on growers to skip removing male plants from your crop, which with regular seeds can be up to 60% of your stand in the field. In both Hemp and Marijuana applications (same plant different cannabinoid profiles) growers seek feminized seeds to create mother plants in large indoor operations and keep a low male population in large commercial outdoor operations.

Our process is done indoors to control every aspect of the plant life cycle including temperature, humidity, light intensity and to prevent any other pollen from infiltrating our grow. We grow our selected clones in vegetative growth for 2 months (60 days) before putting them in the flower room under the flower (12/12) light cycle. Using the STS method (Sodium thiosulfate and silver nitrate combination which can be purchased online) we make a mixture in distilled water and spray it on the plants we wish to reverse with a standard pump up sprayer. Make sure you do not allow light into your sprayer by painting it black or wrapping it in a black trash bag. Spray only selected pollen donor plants which only need to be 10% (5 plants in a 50 plant room etc.) of your plant total in the room or less. This process MUST be done at night to reduce the burning that can take place if done during the day or (lights on). Plants are soaked until dripping with a pump up sprayer and let to sit in the dark over night. The first application must be done 5 days prior to inducing the flower cycle (12/12).

Every 5 days from then on we spray the mixture on the plants until day 30 of the flower cycle. The STS in this process acts as an ethylene (plant testosterone or estrogen) blocker inside the plant to stop the production of female hormones and induces stress that forces the plant to produce pollen sacks that will then pollinate the entire room. Since this pollen is coming from a female plant it will be female pollen. Soon the sprayed hemp plants become swollen with pollen and release over the entire room for the remainder of the flower cycle (60-75 days).

Once the plants are done at about 65 or 70 days we cut and hang them for a week or more to dry out completely. After hand shucking the dried bud from the sticks, we then run the seeded flower through a blender. The ground material is ready for a pass through our home made seed cleaner that removes the chaff from the seed. Let these seeds cure in the open air for two weeks and they are ready to plant or store in the freezer for a later date. Seeds can remain viable in the freezer for years if stored properly. Flower material that was sprayed with the STS solution is not fit to smoke or to process into oil, but other plants that were not sprayed are fine for use.

Once seeds are obtained they are ready for use. The next stage of seed exploration is my favorite; phenotype variation. In any plat cross you will have progeny that favors the mother (25%) and others that favor the father or "donor plant" (25%). Then there will be 50% that are often wild variations of the two plants and their unique characteristics mixed together. Seed stability and predictability can be achieved by continuing to self pollinate a population which become S2 and S# and so on each generation until a more uniform crop comes from continued selfing, a desirable trait for growers and farmers alike. This is when you may discover exotic outliers that are unique to the world and can contain all sorts of new terpene and cannabinoid combinations. Plant structure, resistance to certain pests or unique climate resistant strengths, flower look and smell, commercial use and medical potential all reside in these new combinations of genes in this magical plant!

Much more detailed information on exact quantities of STS chemicals can be found all over the internet, but if you follow the steps correctly and have some patience you too can produce your own viable feminized seeds and explore the ever expanding world of strain hunting!

Zach Mountford

East Coast Genetics

Ecgenetics.com