feminized strain performance

[thunderbunny]

Hello everyone...

I am about to take the leap to using feminized seeds. Been growing for 30 years and have never used these things!

I am ordering feminized Shiva Skunk (NL5 x SK1) from Sensi Seeds thru Attitude website, and i was wondering what percentage of females I can expect from a feminized strain like this. I am assuming that there is never 100% female results, but i could be wrong on that one. What kind of male vs female percentages have you guys/girls had in your experiences with these feminized strains?

Thank you in advance....thunderbunny

 

[smilley]

100% is my experience, but I've only grown a couple of packs. For the price, you should expect 100%. Now germination rate is a different topic but much more imortant, regular or fem.

 

[thunderbunny]

Hey there Smilley...

thanks for the reply and the info...I was hoping/praying for 100% female, but was thinking that was too good to be true! All the seeds that I have ever ordered from Sensi Seeds have been very high quality, so I am expecting a very high germination rate.

 

[OldSSSCGuy]

I've worked with fem strains for many years. Never gotten a male - but have gotten herms maybe 20%-30% of the time.

 

[smilley]

The fems are great because you don't have to plant twice as many as needed like with regs. The downside is no males to make f2's with. The last couple of seasons, I've planted half fems and half regs so I can have a male for breeding purposes. It's all good.....

 

[thunderbunny]

Hey OldSSSCGuy .... Super Sativa Seed Club...ordered much Williams Wonder from them back in the day...some of the best I ever tried

Have you seen hermis in all your feminized crops? or is it just every now and then that you see one? I want to do a room full of these and a hermi would not be good!

Also, can I re-vegetate one of these females (using 24 hr light) after I bud her out, and find a winner, or do they just continue budding and never return to veg state like the auto-flowering plants do?

 

[Holdin']

Yeah, you can re-veg a plant that came from feminized seeds. But, the surefire way of keeping a pheno is to take cuttings of each, label them accordingly, and toss the cuttings of the phenos that you don't want to keep.

If plant #'s are a concern, then I guess re-veg, but it isn't always 100%, fems or regs. Which btw, females produced from fem seeds are basically no different than females produced from regs - minus the fact that fems have a higher hermie rate.

 

[roach]

Just a note on sensi seeds, i grew their feminized silver haze, i grew the regulair version years ago and loved it, but the feminized version was utter crap, shitty taste, no potency and lots of maleflowers, the yield was okay, but overall i was so disapointed im never growing anything feminized from sensi again

 

[RonSmooth]

Feminized seeds are just as likely to show male flowers as regular seeds. It depends on the stock used to make the seeds. The are not any less potent or vigorous than their regular counterparts. Again, the parent plant and the breeding methods are what determines the quality.

In general you will see less variation in female seeds. So you might not get the phenotype you desire whereas with regular seeds, you would have more variation to choose from.

At least that is how I understand it.

 

[ydijadoit]

All of my grows have been fem beans, except for one. Nirvana Aurora indica was from a regular pack of ten. I got two keepers, a couple that threw pollen, and a couple turds. Regular seeds are no guarantee. I have never had a male from fem seeds.
If I had the space, or the need, I'd love to play with more advanced growing, and even breeding (After a lot more learning). That said, I stick with feminized, and it's worked wonders for me.
Regards

 

[Holdin']

Feminized seeds are just as likely to show male flowers as regular seeds. It depends on the stock used to make the seeds. The are not any less potent or vigorous than their regular counterparts. Again, the parent plant and the breeding methods are what determines the quality.

Which, IMO is what makes fems have a higher rate of herms... the fact that a lot of breeding practices in the fem world are questionable or even untested. Same goes for regs of course, but the convenience to some of making S1's takes a little craftsmanship out of it.

You are absolutely right though, comes down to the parent(s) and the breeder's practices.

And of course, a grower's hand

 

[thunderbunny]

OK...thanks to everyone for the information...think I will take the longer route and start from regular seeds, grow them out, get rid of males, take cuts from remaining females, and then bud out the plants in order to select a keeper or keepers for a mama plant. I drive for a living, so the plants are on their own (with automated grow room) for about a week at a time, so I cannot take a chance on even one hermie ejaculating pollen onto my babies. My way will take a bit longer, but in the end it is always worth it. Figure a couple of good mama plants should keep me going for a couple of years at least. Thanks again to everyone!