Caldera based seed sexing

[Seaf0ur]

This is something that a group I belong to is testing. Thus far, with 20-30 growers, at varying levels and sizes.... selecting seed based off the caldera, we have had 80-90% accuracy in selecting the sex of a plant off of visual inspection of the seed alone.

I would like to expand the number of tests performed.

When we originally began... I wanted to call "myth-busted"... but here we are with countless seeds germinated collectively... This one seems to have some real merit....

I encourage anyone who has seeds to germinate, to inspect the caldera, and report back after that seed has shown sex.... This has already proven to be a real time saver.... I cannot call it FACT without much more testing.... I appreciate anyone willing to help out in testing the efficacy of this method of seed selection.

Some quotes on the subject....

The seed chart has been about 90% for me. In fact, the only time it was wrong, so far, was on my last seed of The Black. every single seed was male.

tried the seed chart this round and got 4 for 5 fem.

Can't argue with that.

I think there is some merit in that seed chart. I have definitely seen my female to male ratio favor the female by far.

I've popped 6 seeds using the chart and 5 were female.

Since using charts. Twelve seeds ten fem.

I have two more trays of starts using chart I'll let you know. It's a bigger pool, thirty six seeds. Mix of breeders so a decent variety, twelve strains three seeds each. Let's do science! Yay!

That seed chart holds water. I've dropped a many of beans this way the only males were intentionally grown or from a bean that I couldn't really tell. But perfect round ends 100% of the time ended up female.

I'm sure 90% of growers have fem seeds on hand, go look. I bet all will have perfect round tips

 

[testymctester]

Interesting... I have a few seed starts planned for February. I'm down with tracking my m/f guesses before they go in the ground and reporting what the ratio is a couple months down the road.

 

[Seaf0ur]

Interesting... I have a few seed starts planned for February. I'm down with tracking my m/f guesses before they go in the ground and reporting what the ratio is a couple months down the road.

I appreciate anybody who joins in.... this has proven to be a time saver, and I want any real world testing I can get.

 

[Pomodoro]

Great info/idea! thanks for the info. I pop a lot of seeds. Ill give it a try and report back.

 

[Firebrand]

I'm on board, gonna sort tonight and start germination tomorrow.

 

[Jhhnn]

Interesting if true. OTOH, it's not really much use to those of us who buy seeds 10 at a time if only 10% meet the criteria.

 

[3rdEye]

alright. I'll check seed bottoms out now. What level of magnification seems to be good enough? My 30X handheld should give me enough resolution yes?

following along and hopefully helping.

 

[trichrider]

fascinating !!
i have a lot of seed. should be a very simple proof...

is the roundness of the caldera subjective??? is that why it sits at 90%?

 

[Seaf0ur]

alright. I'll check seed bottoms out now. What level of magnification seems to be good enough? My 30X handheld should give me enough resolution yes?

following along and hopefully helping.

You can tell by eye, 30x will certainly work

Interesting if true. OTOH, it's not really much use to those of us who buy seeds 10 at a time if only 10% meet the criteria.

Except for those who dont want to cull unnecessary males... or breeders looking specifically for males

fascinating !!
i have a lot of seed. should be a very simple proof...

is the roundness of the caldera subjective??? is that why it sits at 90%?

It is somewhat subjective... It sits between 80-90% effective due to the testing that we have done... we have not been "extremely selective" like the graphic would indicate, but we have seen results...
and for some... culling only one or two males from two dozen plants is a real time saver....

 

[wildgrow]

This is the only time Ive wished to have a bunch of shwag seed.

 

[JFlo]

That seed chart holds water. I've dropped a many of beans this way the only males were intentionally grown or from a bean that I couldn't really tell. But perfect round ends 100% of the time ended up female.

I'm sure 90% of growers have fem seeds on hand, go look. I bet all will have perfect round tips

 

[sgapetti]

Tagged! I have been making seeds for 2 years and i will pop a lot of seeds this summer in order to find keepers moms, i make sure i document the results in this 3D, thx for sharing

Peace S

 

[budelight]

Marking this thread so the next time I pop seeds I can document

Thanks for sharing!
BeL

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

I am popping a few seeds tomorrow and want to try your method. I checked out the caldera and some look really rounded, and some looked really ragged almost like more than 1 attachment. Is that the differance I am looking for? I will keep records and fill you in later. Thanks

 

[BatmanX]

Bookmarked, and subscribed - will be testing this theory out myself. Thanks for the info!

 

[Seaf0ur]

I am popping a few seeds tomorrow and want to try your method. I checked out the caldera and some look really rounded, and some looked really ragged almost like more than 1 attachment. Is that the differance I am looking for? I will keep records and fill you in later. Thanks

Yep.... thats it... just pop the round ones and you should be mostly if not all female.

 

[Avinash.miles]

damn,
i just germed seeds, didn't look at them to see....
I'm one of those people that wants to SEE ALL my males and pick the best for a pollen chuck if i want....
BUT,
this still COULD be a good method IF it's accurate, I'll take note and document NEXT time i pop seeds...

 

[SeedsOfFreedom]

Very interesting, I am keeping an eye on this thread. When I start my seeds next (1-2 months), I will separate those seeds visually, and mark them. I will use 20-30 regular seeds for a reliable assessment. Also I will compare the shapes to the feminized seeds I start next to the regular seeds. Then I will grow them out and report how accurate this system was. Like Avi I will still keep my males though!

 

[bugman52]

im poping seeds all the time.so ill look& see.

 

[Dropped Cat]

Good thread.

What about the belief that environment plays an important
role in sexing seedlings?

This thread for example:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=6199278#post6199278.

So, are seeds sex determined by genetics or not?