Ever wonder how cannabis makes it from the starting plant to our bowls and joints? There’s more going on than simply planting it, cutting it down, and sticking it in a pipe.
Cannabis plants have different sexes, and only one sex can produce the intoxicating effects in the flower we know and love. So, if you’re interested in growing your own cannabis or you’re just curious about how stuff works, it’s essential that you know the difference between the male and female pot plants.
But where to begin? We’ve got you covered. Learn how to identify male and female weed plants, what you can do with excess males, and tips for growing robust and healthy females.
Male vs Female Weed Plants: How to Identify the Differences
The easiest way to tell a male weed plant versus a female one is the appearance of ripe, resinous flowers packed with trichomes bursting with potent cannabinoids and aromatic terpenes. More than anything else, they’re the sure sign you’re looking at a female pot plant.
It can be difficult to tell the differences between male and female pot plants when they’re very young. Baby cannabis plants—known as “starts” or “cuttings”—are almost impossible to assess from a gender perspective. That’s because in the early vegetative state, or the plant’s first few weeks of life, both male and female cannabis plants only develop the most basic structures: The stems and leaves they need for physical support and to photosynthesize sunlight.
However, once marijuana plants mature into the flowering phase, even a layperson can see the differences between males and females. If you have a keen eye, you may notice some small differences at the end of the vegetative phase, which typically comes about six weeks into the growing cycle. This is when female plants begin producing tiny structures known as pistils, while male plants will produce small pollen sacs.
Male vs Female Cannabis Flowers
First and foremost, only female plants develop flowers. Since flowers are the only part of the cannabis plant that develops a high amount of THC, female plants are most desirable in a cultivation garden or grow room. At first, the flowers appear in the form of pistils, or tiny white hair-like structures. As the plant develops further into the flowering stage, these pistils often change color, typically turning yellow, orange, or brown.
In contrast, male cannabis plants don’t produce flowers, which is one reason why they barely develop any THC. You can choose to keep them around for their aesthetic, but in terms of productivity, they’ll waste precious space, light, and nutrients. If that wasn’t already bad enough, it gets even worse.
Instead of developing flowers, male cannabis plants grow tiny ball-shaped structures known as pollen sacs, which contain the genetic material needed to fertilize the females. Eventually, those sacs burst open, sending the pollen flying around on gusts of air as they seek out female plants. Once the pollen reaches a female plant, it lands on her flowers, and the two mix their DNA to reproduce.
What to Do with Male Plants and Female Cannabis Flowers
If you’re just starting out with growing cannabis, what can you do with all of your female plants? That’s easy: Care for them well throughout the growing cycle so that they produce the biggest, stickiest, most abundant flowers possible, then dry and cure them carefully. Trust us: there’s nothing quite like sparking up your own homegrown flower at the end of a long day.
If you discover male plants in your garden, your choices are more limited. The first thing you want to do is get it out of your grow area ASAP. If a male plant succeeds in releasing its pollen, any female cannabis plants it fertilizes will redirect their energies away from producing THC. Instead, they’ll start developing seeds with a new genetic code—this is great for breeding but terrible for smoking!
If you’re not going to breed cannabis plants, we recommend you remove any male plants in your grow. However, if you’re interested in doing your own experiments with cannabis breeding, you can breed the males with female plants to produce your own seeds with a brand new genetic line.
What Are Hermaphrodite Plants?
In some cases, a plant can be both male and female. This is fairly common in the plant kingdom, though not typically the norm when it comes to cannabis. It only tends to happen with weed when the plant is … well, a bit hard up.
In the wild, it’s in the plant’s best interest to pollinate and reproduce, thus propagating the species. But, when the plant is experiencing stress due to poor growing conditions or other environmental factors, good lovin’ can be hard to find. That’s why nature programmed a special feature into the cannabis plant: It can develop both male and female sex organs to fertilize itself.
Tips for Growing Healthy Female Plants
Becoming an expert cannabis cultivator can be a long and arduous process, involving many crops and, thus, many opportunities to sample. But there are a few basic variables to be aware of. First, when it comes to the sticky problem of weeding out male plants, you can skip the headache altogether and opt to grow feminized seeds.
Feminized seeds are produced from cannabis plants that have undergone a proprietary process—there are several out there, with varying success rates. The goal is to produce a batch of seeds for planting that are almost totally female. And while no grower can guarantee that 100% of the seeds they sell are guaranteed to be female, the better ones boast feminization rates in the >99% range.
That said, what are some other crucial factors when growing cannabis? Here are a few tips to get your wheels turning:
Temperature
There’s a reason why cannabis plants don’t grow in nature in the winter months: It needs it to be reasonably hot outside for the plant to thrive. In the vegetative stage—roughly 3 to 16 weeks—you’ll want to keep your plants between 70°F and 85°F, whether you’re growing them indoors or you live in a warmer climate. As the plant moves into its flowering stage, 65°F to 80°F is considered ideal for promoting flower development and producing resin and terpenes.
Nutrients
Just like us, cannabis plants need food. In gardening, the chief nutrients are N-P-K: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen is most closely associated with leaf and stem growth. Phosphorus helps support root development and flowering, while potassium enhances resistance to disease and the plant’s overall health. Different cannabis cultivars have different nutrient needs.
Humidity
This is a major one. Ambient humidity helps control the young cannabis plant’s uptake of nutrients, transpiration—the process by which it releases water vapor—and overall health. In the early vegetative stage, humidity between 50% and 70% is considered ideal. Later, in the flowering stage, this is typically cut back to the 40% – 50% range to deter the growth of mildew or mold.
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If you’re planning on growing weed yourself, it’s essential to know how to identify male vs female weed plants. If not, you may find that your precious grow can go up in smoke (and not in a good way). Not to mention the soil, nutrients, water, and utility costs of light and water that go into farming cannabis. But once you know what to look for, you’ll be on your way to smoking your very own fine cannabis.
Can’t wait till your plant’s ready for harvest? We’ve got your back. Start by choosing the Mission dispensary closest to you, where you’ll find a huge selection of fresh flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, and much more.
Ready to take your cannabis knowledge to the next level? Just as important as growing cannabis, it’s crucial that once it’s harvested, you keep it fresh for as long as possible. Start with our guide on maintaining and saving your weed, and find expert tips on making your stash last longer.
