Talk to me about hermies, please

[vespers]

I had 4 plants (3 satori, one safari mix that looks very Sativa dominant), growing in a 4X5 space in soil (FF OF soil) under a 400 w HPS.

These plants have been in 12 12 for over 70 days, and while the trichs are beginning to go opaque, none are yet amber. I am guessing another week before the chop.

One of the Satori grew a couple of bananas in the buds, so yesterday that plant was chopped. It looks like some of the buds on that plant have immature seeds, but none of the other plants seem to be seeded, even though they are in the same room with a fan going.

Do some hermie plants make seeds without even being pollinated, or did I miss a nanner somewhere that spewed pollen all over my whole crop?

If the latter is true, and the whole crop is going to have seeds, should I just chop them all now, so that the plant doesn't have time to form the seeds? Will there be any bud weight or potency increase if I wait, or will the plants just put all their energy into making seeds.

I guess the most important question is if a hermie plant will make seeds without any actual pollen being released.

Thanks!

 

[limey]

Ok, before anyone jumps up and down yelling and pointing fingers and calling me rude things (there are some very rude people on this site)... I am just guessing here so I may be wrong but:

I dont think it is possible for plants to produce seeds without pollen, period. having said that, it only takes (in theory) one grain of pollen to produce a seed so you would have to be very sure that no pollen has been released if you wanted to guarantee absolutely 100% sensi bud.

I think you have done absolutely the right thing removing this hermie plant but if you cant spot any seed growth in the others and they are still not ripe, personally, I'd leave them and take the risk. Even if they dont put on more bud weight, the smoke will benefit from the ripening, surely? Sounds like you are so close to harvest I cant see how it would make a significant negative difference.

Hope it works out for you

 

[vespers]

Thanks for the reply, Limey.

I too thought pollen was required to produce a seed, but I don't KNOW if that is true or not. The fact that the other plants aren't showing seeds, when they are all in the same room, with a fan, has me stumped.

Perhaps a hermie can produce a sterile or hollow, unfinished seed without any pollen?

 

[Erestese]

Perhaps you have had hermies or males in the past and did not clean your flowering chamber as well as you should have and the fans just pulled some pollen off the wall to propagate the ladies in the room.

 

[vespers]

I suppose that MAY be possible, but I only ever grew one other time, and that was 5 years ago. I also put up new poly, so I doubt that's the issue.

I also remove all clothing and only check the plants when I am buck naked, and I don't even know anyone else who grows (AFAIK anyway).

I am wondering if a hermie can make seeds all by itself, with no pollen. These are landrace genetics, if that makes a difference.

 

[CDM]

Yes, a hermie can make seeds all on its own.. but it sounds like you got in under control..

I would have just cut the hermie bud, and kept going.. keeping an eye on em.

 

[vespers]

So when a hermie makes seeds on its own, can it do it without spreading pollen to other plants in the same room? That's what I think happened, but I'm not sure.

I suppose I could have just plucked the nanners and let her go, but I have 3 other plants in the same room, and I don't want them to risk getting pollinated (assuming that they haven't already).

Also, these plants SEEM like they're getting close, after 74 days of 12 1-12, with most of their leaves turning yellow as the plants mature. I'm just waiting on trichomes now.

With the early harvest of the hermie plant, I'll have some 'uppity' smoke. I'll probably let one of them get nearly over ripe too, so that I have different smoke for different uses.

 

[Haps]

OK, banana girls are not really hermi, it is just a survival trait that can pop up in any genetics, it happens because they sense there is no male in the room. If they occur late in bloom they do no harm, nor do they make many seeds most of the time. If they give you a seed or two, consider your grow blessed.

A hermi will switch at the beginning of bloom, in the first month usually, and they make full male flowers, not nanners. And if they release pollen you are gonna be unhappy. They should be killed unless you are growing only one plant and just want some weed to smoke. Early bananas signal a plant to watch carefully.
H

 

[FreezerBoy]

If you only had one or three nanners, there's only so much damage they can do. Especially when resin is available to trap what pollen is released. I had an outdoor plant yield well over a key and, in all that, there was one cola mildly seeded.

While pulling the plant may be slightly paranoid, I'd have done it too! Wash the garden and equipment in a 5% bleach solution and rinse down well before your next grow because being paranoid isn't synonymous with being wrong.

 

[smokeymacpot]

if u have seeds, there was pollen around. the odd nana doesnt usually polinate everything, usually just the bud it came from, unless a fan is blowing directly on it.
DONT chop them early, what is the point in that???

 

[gramsci.antonio]

it's normal to see a few seeds, you can't get all nanners once. They hide TOO well.

Don't be warried, few nanner will produce just very few seeds.


Anyhow, Satori is from DP?

 

[vespers]

Thanks for the responses. I checked the remaining three last night and found very small nanners on 2 of them (one plant's nanners were so small I had to use the magnifyer to verify what I was seeing). These plants are very, very close to being finished. The calyxes are swollen, the pistils are turning brown, and many of the fan leaves have yellowed and fallen off. I'm just waiting to see some amber trichs before I chop. The buds are so heavy that I have had to tie up the plants to keep the individual stalks from bending over and breaking/kinking.

I'll try to throw up some pics once I chop.

Edit: Satori is from Mandala.

 

[FreezerBoy]

The buds are so heavy that I have had to tie up the plants

EEK! Do NOT chop this girl early. Put down the cropper and step away from the plant.

 

[JohnnyToke]

if you see a nanner, just pick it off with some tweezers. no need to chop the whole plant early.

JT

 

[vespers]

HA HA. No worries, Lads. I'm not going to chop these ladies until I see about 10% amber trichs (though after 75 days of 12-12, I hope to see some amber trichs soon!). I may even let one of the plants get to 30% amber trichs to give me some variety.