Feminizing Lowryder Seeds...With Bananas. Take 1.

[Anne_Fetamine]

My last attempt to grow a Lowryder #2 went great considering it was my first real grow. But it turned out to be male. Sadly I had to kill it yesterday as the balls were becoming more abundant every day. I had no clue you could influence the sex of your plant in the first 3 weeks of growth or even before germination & did almost everything wrong. Lesson learned.

I have two more unsexed seeds that I'm now desperately trying to push towards the female side of the spectrum. So with nothing to lose, I'm trying the "ripe banana" method. I've put a bunch of green bananas in a plastic bag (unsealed) with my two seeds where they can soak up all the ethylene. All of this is in a closed drawer in my room.

I don't eat fruit so I don't know anything about how bananas work, so please chime in if I'm ripening them wrong. Maybe I should crack the drawer or something? I know to check them regularly to avoid mold & other probs. My mom wants them back when they're ripe, lol.

Anyway, I'll definitely report back with the results. I plan to try all the other things that promote females, such as higher humidity, no heat stress & lots of blue light, so we'll never know which of those things affected the plants...if any. This certainly isn't meant as a "study" or anything scientific, lol. I just can't find much online about people who tried this & had luck with it. It seems kinda, uh, crazy. But harmless crazy.

And yes, next time I'll just buy feminized seeds.

 

[aridbud]

If you have a stable environment, chances of hermie or more males decreases. Although I've heard of banana Ethylene, it's too laborious.

We often get 80% females with regular seeds due to optimal warmth, damp soil and adequate light. I know if I start seeds outside too early, overwhelmingly more male plants.

Good luck with your experiment.

 

[Anne_Fetamine]

Thanks! I stressed my last plant by keeping the LEDs too close, not watering often enough & low general humidity. The leaves were even "taco'ing" up by the end. Basically everything it says NOT to do to support feminization, haha. Of course it could've just naturally been a dude anyway but maybe this time will be better. Yay bananaz!

 

[Natural high]

Surely this is a joke? It is not the first of April yet is it..

You can't influence the sex of a plant following fertilization. The seed either is either female (two X chromosomes) or male (one X and a Y) and nothing you do will change that fact.

I hope this helps.

P.S. Your mom called, she wants her bananas back.. lol


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[aridbud]

We have customers that are growing outside already, in warmer, more temperate climates. I just know from years of experience, you can persuade a male due to cold, damp weather vs. awaiting till soil is 55-60F. The ratio between M:F is higher in not-so-optimal environment. The more comfy the environment, the higher ratio of females.

Too, Anne Fem, Low Ryder isn't the best producing auto, but if you like it, grow with it....there's far better autos out there.

 

[foo dog]

Hey Anne, do you have any links to the info you're talking about? -How to influence sex after germination, I'd really like to read up on this as much as possible. Cheers!

 

[foo dog]

Also , what role do nutrients play in determination?