FEMALE DOMINATION... inducing femininity in cannabis seedlings

Subtitled:
"The various factors and techniques that will help encourage female development in young Cannabis plants."

Quotation is from the "Dutch Passion Seed Company" website;

...From literature and our own findings it appears that the growth of a male or female plant from seed, except for the predisposition in the gender chromosomes, also depends on various environmental factors. The environmental factors that influence gender are:

1. a higher nitrogen concentration will give more females.

2. a higher potassium concentration will give more males.

3. a higher humidity will give more females.

4. a lower temperature will give more females.

5. more blue light will give more females.

6. Fewer hours of light will give more females.

It is important to start these changes at the three-pairs-of-leaves stage and continue for two or three weeks, before reverting to standard conditions."...

Click to expand...

I've also read BOG's comments as to soil depth being a critical factor in encouraging high female percentages.

Any commentary?

what was the recommended soil depth?

a lot is up for discussion...

the only soil depth theory i've heard is allowing the taproot ample space to delve downwards or it could hinder females... but seeing as the general consensus is that sex isn't determined inside the plant until about the third week, i don't think the theory holds much water but who knows. i don't like germing in pellets or anything small anyways, restricting roots is bad in general mmkay, no reason to stress the plant so early on.

as in the nitrogen concentrations etc, this finding seems to be based on the levels of nitrogen found in females and males. they would find more nitrogen "leftovers" in males or whatever and consider that females were eating more nitrogen therefore feeding more nitrogen early on would force the plant to use it and lean towards female.... hogwash. think that through, the only rational conclusion there is the plant is past predisposition and is using whatever nitrogen it feels like, females obviously storing more for the long flower ahead, so you can't manipulate it by simply cramming more nitrogen in.

the only tip therein aside from the nutrient hogwash that's not related to simply minizing stress, is the blue light theory. fewer hours of light means less stress from the flowering switch of course, but more blue light is something i'd like to know the botanical answer to. of course the plant does well with more of that side of the spectrum during veg, but what does it activate in the plant to manipulate it towards being female? or is it just another case of making the plant as happy as possible. if so, then again it would show there is no way to manipulate sex of the plant without chemical intervention.

bottom line is it's still a mystery. the genders of the cannabis plant are an incredible feat of nature and maybe if it wasn't outlawed answers could have been found by now. just keep the plants as happy as you possible can. use all the great tips for growing, not just those guidlines, to eliminate stress. a stress free pretty plant likes to shine n show you flowers.

does this mean that the sex of seeds are NOT predetermined? interesting...

You always seem to come up with interesting info Boggled.

I wonder how DP arrived at thier conclusions.Random observations over time or an actual side-by-side test?It seems like the latter would be the only way to find out for sure.

The sceptic in me believes that manipulating sex is not that easy but I was half watching a show on alligators the other night and they said that the temp of the nest determined the sex of the hatchlings.Seeds and eggs are worlds apart but it would appear that it is possible,at least in the animal world.


JLP

I took DP's obsevations to indicate to provide a stress-free environment and allow the plant to make it's natural sexual selection to the best interest of the environment, if that makes any sense at all.

Perhaps females thrive in teh plant environment more easily stress-free than male plants.

With regards to light color/frequency,paerhaps that has some effect on the plants natural sexual orientation due to the phase of growth of the plant.

Just my .02 worth and a sckoch of experience.

Avid

Before I put any stock in the idea I would ask 3 questions:
How old is the information?
Has it ever been verified by other growers?
Is DP still producing feminised seed from stress induced hermie pollen???

Perhaps females thrive in teh plant environment more easily stress-free than male plants.

Click to expand...

i forgot to add why such an assumption makes perfect sense. we all are aware the plants communicate in patches, somehow. it stands to reason when conditions are ideal they will find need for fewer males since pollen is copious and favor higher numbers of potential seedbearing mothers to carry on the species.

that is course the most stretched and unscientifically based assumption of all here :wink:

i'm pretty sure DP released these assumptions years n years ago, but never really followed it up. so it's nice to see healthy discussion on it. we see people's ratios all over the place really. i personally made some feminized seeds and came out with 26 out of 27 being female on the first run.

keep em happy and they'll return the favor in the end

very interesting info , I.M.boggled . here is the thing for me ..... often when i germ a bunch of seed i end up with a dispropotionate # of fems to males usually 7or 8 fems out of 10 beans, other times ,though not nearly as often as often i end up with more males. herein lies the mystery; are these results just the genetic coding of the seed or do enviornmental factors play a major part?..........i have also read that keeping the medium more on the wetter side promotes female sprouts. who knows ? perhaps from now on when germing seeds i should keep tab on things like soil temp , humidity , fert use and so on................but i doubt that i will

This issue always interested me: from the depth of the pots to the DP study i was fascinated when i found out we could 'control' or at least contribute in a way that will give more fems. Here's more thing's i 'discovered'..

Ethylene along with auxins and giberelins is a hormone that exists naturally in the plant. Plants release ethylene when they are dying (acts as a dying cell trigger) and so do fruits when they are turning ripe or mature - that's why putting some extra mature bananas along with other fruit they will ripe faster.

Some plants/fruits produce more ethylene than others and some are more sensitive to it then others - i remember searching and finding out that avocados are the fruits that release more ethylene while maturing - bananas are stored in big containers pumped with an ethylene supressor in order to decrease/control the rate of maturation, or else they would arrive all rotten to the destination.

Ok, so back to the subjet - one thing that was suggested in the past was that if you provided ethylene when your seeds are crackin' the odds of them turning out female would eventually be bigger - there was a product called sensi soak that claimed that if you soaked your seeds with it the female ratio would rise.

I never tried this product and neither got to make any experiments with ethylene but a few days ago it kinda struck me - isn't the regular medicine alcohol 'ethylene' or a direct derivate?


ATTENTION - Ethylene is HIGHLY FLAMMABLE!!!
Don't jerk around or you might end up like freddy krugger...

i tried this and i came out with more male than female i dont no if i done something wrong but i got it out of gorges rx and had no luck
ntg

i ment to say jorges rx he said that if you give seedlings 14 on and 10 off and when you get three sets of true leaves further increase the amount of females by keeping n high and the k low for the first two weeks of growth keep temps below 70f and humidity between 70-80% and a warm with lamp with more blue but i still got more males
ntg

KingRalph said:

. but seeing as the general consensus is that sex isn't determined inside the plant until about the third week,

Click to expand...

I wouldnt agree with that. If you put seeds right to 12/12 (zero veg time), they will show you sex faster than 3 weeks. I did that before.

Agnes

I don't know what I'm talking about, but that's not gonna stop me chipping in here.
It seems to me, that the sex of a seed has a predetermined probability of being either male or female. This is expressed most clearly in the G.M. seeds (feminised). The vast majority of which will turn out female it seems, but males do still get found. Plants do seem to carry the ability to become either sex though, as in chemically getting a female to produce male flowers (chemicals aren't always necessary). Whether probability is the only factor in determining sex, and environmental conditions alter the probabilities, or encourage an active choice within the plant, I doubt anyone knows. Rumours of blue v red , or long light v short light or deep v shallow or random v asprin (I fell for that for a couple of hours) are still just rumours until we start collecting info together, if only to say forget them all. I am interested in the subject, but have never heard of anyway to tip the balance one way or another without seriously damaging the usefullness of the seed in any future breeding program.
Basically, you plant your seed and cross your fingers for what you want. The rest, at best, is up to chance,

Ethylene is a plant hormone that differs from other plant hormones in being a gas.

Ethylene is a plant hormone that differs from other plant hormones in being a gas.

.

It has the molecular structure:
H2C=CH2

As they approach maturity, many fruits (e.g., apples, oranges, avocados) release ethylene.

Ethylene then promotes the ripening of the fruit.
Commercial fruit growers can buy equipment to generate ethylene so that their harvest ripens quickly and uniformly.

The presence of ethylene is detected by transmembrane receptors in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of the cells.
Binding of ethylene to these receptors unleashes a signaling cascade that leads to activation of transcription factors and the turning on of gene transcription.

The ill-fated FlavrSavr tomato contains an antisense transgene that interferes with the synthesis of ethylene and hence slows ripening.
Ethylene also affects many other plant functions such as:

* abscission of leaves, fruits, and flower petals;
* drooping of leaves;
* sprouting of potatos;
* seed germination;
* flower formation in some species.

one thing that was suggested in the past was that if you provided ethylene when your seeds are crackin' the odds of them turning out female would eventually be bigger....&...avocados are the fruits that release more ethylene while maturing

Click to expand...

Sounds like I need to put Avacodos in the seed sprouting container to easily utilize the added benefits of ethylene when sprouting. Interesting concept and guacamole too, yum.
I wonder if it would produce noticeable results..
That and perhaps Jorge C3evates' suggestions as briefly conveyed above.
Tests are called for. A Science Lab project anybody?

Sensi Soak ?
I have always wondered what was in "sensi Soak" as an active ingredient.

Being ethylene is a gas, thats not it I reckon. I've never used Sensi Soak but it's been on the market at least 20+ years now, so somebody must be buying the stuff. The second Sensi Soak question is, is it the repeat customers with positive results sustaining the company or do they just rip the newbies and stay in business that way?

Inquiring minds want to know.

?

Any other comments on this theory of :

"Micro-Control Of The Various Enviromental, Hormonal and Nutritional Factors As A Means To Influence Female Development From Cannabis Seeds."

Awsome info as always imboggled. PeAcE

I've thought of this some time, and explored some possibilities in my mind..
After looking for some ethylene releasing values i found out that avocados output the most but bananas or peaches are good too.

_________ lid closed? light / no light? think light is best
AVOCADOS or the fruit to be used goes here
|_._._._._|
|
|_._._._._| <- dots are holes
|
|_o_o_o_| <- seeds go here

Ethylene is heavier than air so it is realeased by the fruit and it falls to the recipient where the seeds are cracking, simple.
Now someone try it, i don't have a grow room right now...

ATTENTION- ETHYLENE IS A HIGHLY FLAMMABLE GAS, DONT MESS WITH IT!!!

this is very interesting to me.....more research should be done.....thanks for all the ethylene info....-gp

Ed rosenthal and mel frank did some research on ethylene by using apple peels. Dunno what they found out, they probably just got high

at0mic said:

does this mean that the sex of seeds are NOT predetermined? interesting...

Click to expand...

The question is still out, but even human sex is not predetermined at conception per se. For example, the reason men have nipples is because at the time a fetus develops nipples sex has not been determined, or at least expressed.

Another example is with hatching chicken's. Chicken farmers will incubate the eggs at a temperature that assures them a high level of female chickens. Eggs aren't much different than seeds really. Ones animal and ones plant. maybe these are bad examples. My 2 cents.

GreatLakes THC