Feminization is the method to ensure that marijuana seeds are guaranteed to be female which is the sex of the plant that produces bud which naturally contains more Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) than male plants. 

Male marijuana plants will naturally fertilize the female but can significantly reduce your harvest by resulting in almost 70% male plants aside from the male plants having lesser THC. This will also accidentally fertilize the female plants which will greatly reduce their production resin that contains THC. Only the unfertilized flowers contain the most THC in a marijuana plant. 

Here are the best ways to feminize Marijuana seeds which will inevitably ensure increase harvest when done properly. All of these methods will produce feminized seeds within 3-6 weeks.

The Silver Thiosulfate Method

Silver Thiosulfate Solution method or STS is one of the most common methods of feminizing marijuana seeds. 

The Silver Thiosulfate method is done by preparing a solution made by combining two water solutions, one containing silver nitrate and the other containing sodium thiosulfate. To make a 0.02% silver nitrate solution, add 0.1 gram of silver nitrate in 0.5 liters of distilled water. Add 2.5 Grams of Sodium Thiosulfate Anhydrous or 3.9 grams of Sodium Thiosulfate Pentahydrate to 0.5 liters of distilled water. By mixing these two solutions, you will get a silver thiosulfate solution. Separately, these two chemicals could last up to 6 months but once mixed, the solution will only last for a month. 

Silver thiosulfate could also be purchased as salt in granular form which could be dissolved in water. It is important that the solution is diluted into the distilled water properly, otherwise, it will burn the plants. If plants show any sign of burning, further dilution must be done. Keep the solution off your skin and always wear protective gear such as gloves, masks, and goggles. Although not known for toxicity, Silver Thiosulfate is an irritant.

Apply the Silver Thiosulfate solution by spraying it on the marijuana plant once every five days for thirty days. Saturate the area between the main stem and the branches which are called nodes with. Do not spray the roots.  

Spray STS to the plant only after turning off the lights and run the lights in a 12-hour flowering cycle. Silver Thiosulfate is very sensitive to light so be careful of light leaks after spraying the plants. Light leaks are known to cause plants to have hermaphrodite traits or having male and female traits that would definitely pass on to the next generation of marijuana plants. 

This solution will result in hormonal response to stress found in the marijuana plant which will trigger a gender change. Silver Thiosulfate stops the production of ethylene and male flower growth will become apparent in a couple of weeks and ripen a few weeks later. Reversing a female plant with STS will produce stable feminized pollen. The leaves will droop for a day or more after spraying but will soon resume turgidity during the process. 

Spray only one plant from the bunch of the same strain and batch after isolating it from the rest. Allow the plant to dry during the gender change process. If the pollen sacs become visible carefully return it to the same batch where it came from where while making sure that it is set amidst the other female plants. Having it in their midst will pollinate the female plants around it. 

The Colloidal Silver Method

The colloidal silver method also incorporates spraying the marijuana plant with a chemical solution. For this method, you will need a very small amount of colloidal silver or simply pure silver in distilled water. Colloidal silver solution is also available for purchase online. 

You may create your own colloidal silver solution yourself. You will need a 9-volt battery, a connector, 2 alligator clips, a silver coin or jewelry and a tub of distilled water. 

You need to connect 2 alligator clips to a 9-volt battery through a connector in its each of its red and black wires. Connect the alligator clips to a silver coin or jewelry and let the silver touch the distilled water but not the alligator clips. This will cause the silver ions to float on the distilled water. It is advised to leave this for seven hours, no more no less, or there will be much less ion or too much particle buildup in your water. Some growers even claim that the colloidal silver solutions prepared this way is more potent than the commercial variety. 

Once ready, apply this mixture by spray onto the female plants while they are flowering. Spray them every day, once or twice, which will take less than two weeks or 10-18 days, depending on the different varieties of plants and their growing conditions. 

The silver ion inhibits the ethylene production needed by the plant to produce female flowers just like the silver thiosulfate method. This process will force the plants to form pollen sacs instead which are seen in male plants. This pollen contains female genetic material making it highly probable that the seed the plant produces will be female. 

Because female plants have zero male chromosomes, the pollen produced is female. After all these, you may proceed to normally fertilize your plant. Once male sacs developed, it will take some time for it to open and produce yellowish pollen which will take 2-3 weeks. You may manually harvest the pollen from sacs that do not open naturally by breaking it open and collecting it for pollinating the female plants or for storage. 

It is important to note however to not consume any part of the plant that was sprayed with the colloidal silver solution.

The Rodelization Method

The third method, the Rodelization method involves the natural response of female plants when they are under stress. Female plants experience stress, by being unable to sustain life by being pulled off the roots and not having enough water or sunlight. Rodelization is a totally natural process of feminizing marijuana seeds without the use of chemicals but could be quite risky of not entirely pollination the female plants. But despite the risk of some seeds not really getting feminized, this method is preferred by organic growers who wish to naturally feminize their seed without chemicals. 

The goal of Rodelization is to make the flowering plant remain in its flowering phase longer than the normal. In Rodelization, the plant is allowed to grow 10-14 days more, way past their harvest date.

This stress will trigger a biological response that will make the female plant grow pollen sacs even without any male fertilization in order to continue their breed. Because of this, there is a higher probability that the seed produced is female. This literal ‘panic mode’ makes the plant enter self-pollination mode. 

The flowers are hanged to dry and are being carefully being taken off the drying lines to remove male bananas. Once the male bananas or pollen sacs emerge, you can harvest it naturally and choose which bud and cola that you wish to glaze with this pollen. These male bananas could also be kept in a sealed bag and may remain potent for two months when kept in a fridge. 

Rodelization requires another batch of younger and unpollinated female marijuana plants that are two and a half weeks into flowering. This batch will be pollinated by the male bananas you previously collected. You may pollinate your plants by simply turning the fans on to high mode in order for the pollen to fly around your greenhouse just like nature does.

GENERAL TIPS

In order to maximize yield using any feminization method, one must make sure of the following: 

• Select the best looking female plant for this process to ensure premium genetics.
• Make sure to separate and isolate the plant once sacs are formed away from flowering plants in order to avoid accidental pollination.
• Be ready to pollinate any flowering female plant with the feminized pollen once these pollens are developed. You may tap the sacs using smooth surface such as aluminum foil, parchment paper or even a Q-tip in order to expedite the collection of pollen. You may use this pollen right away to pollinate your flowers or keep it in a container inside a freezer. 
• Be careful in handling chemicals. 
• Be aware of every factor that will affect your marijuana plants such as lighting, ventilation, unplanned pollination, and others in order to secure a good harvest. 
• Great care must be taken by choosing the marijuana plants wisely. Female plants should be taken from a single cannabis strain that is almost mature. Avoid any plant that has hermaphrodite traits.

Feminization is the method to ensure that marijuana seeds are guaranteed to be female which is the sex of the plant that produces bud which naturally contains more Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) than male plants. 

Male marijuana plants will naturally fertilize the female but can significantly reduce your harvest by resulting in almost 70% male plants aside from the male plants having lesser THC. This will also accidentally fertilize the female plants which will greatly reduce their production resin that contains THC. Only the unfertilized flowers contain the most THC in a marijuana plant. 

Here are the best ways to feminize Marijuana seeds which will inevitably ensure increase harvest when done properly. All of these methods will produce feminized seeds within 3-6 weeks.

The Silver Thiosulfate Method

Silver Thiosulfate Solution method or STS is one of the most common methods of feminizing marijuana seeds. 

The Silver Thiosulfate method is done by preparing a solution made by combining two water solutions, one containing silver nitrate and the other containing sodium thiosulfate. To make a 0.02% silver nitrate solution, add 0.1 gram of silver nitrate in 0.5 liters of distilled water. Add 2.5 Grams of Sodium Thiosulfate Anhydrous or 3.9 grams of Sodium Thiosulfate Pentahydrate to 0.5 liters of distilled water. By mixing these two solutions, you will get a silver thiosulfate solution. Separately, these two chemicals could last up to 6 months but once mixed, the solution will only last for a month. 

Silver thiosulfate could also be purchased as salt in granular form which could be dissolved in water. It is important that the solution is diluted into the distilled water properly, otherwise, it will burn the plants. If plants show any sign of burning, further dilution must be done. Keep the solution off your skin and always wear protective gear such as gloves, masks, and goggles. Although not known for toxicity, Silver Thiosulfate is an irritant.

Apply the Silver Thiosulfate solution by spraying it on the marijuana plant once every five days for thirty days. Saturate the area between the main stem and the branches which are called nodes with. Do not spray the roots.  

Spray STS to the plant only after turning off the lights and run the lights in a 12-hour flowering cycle. Silver Thiosulfate is very sensitive to light so be careful of light leaks after spraying the plants. Light leaks are known to cause plants to have hermaphrodite traits or having male and female traits that would definitely pass on to the next generation of marijuana plants. 

This solution will result in hormonal response to stress found in the marijuana plant which will trigger a gender change. Silver Thiosulfate stops the production of ethylene and male flower growth will become apparent in a couple of weeks and ripen a few weeks later. Reversing a female plant with STS will produce stable feminized pollen. The leaves will droop for a day or more after spraying but will soon resume turgidity during the process. 

Spray only one plant from the bunch of the same strain and batch after isolating it from the rest. Allow the plant to dry during the gender change process. If the pollen sacs become visible carefully return it to the same batch where it came from where while making sure that it is set amidst the other female plants. Having it in their midst will pollinate the female plants around it. 

The Colloidal Silver Method

The colloidal silver method also incorporates spraying the marijuana plant with a chemical solution. For this method, you will need a very small amount of colloidal silver or simply pure silver in distilled water. Colloidal silver solution is also available for purchase online. 

You may create your own colloidal silver solution yourself. You will need a 9-volt battery, a connector, 2 alligator clips, a silver coin or jewelry and a tub of distilled water. 

You need to connect 2 alligator clips to a 9-volt battery through a connector in its each of its red and black wires. Connect the alligator clips to a silver coin or jewelry and let the silver touch the distilled water but not the alligator clips. This will cause the silver ions to float on the distilled water. It is advised to leave this for seven hours, no more no less, or there will be much less ion or too much particle buildup in your water. Some growers even claim that the colloidal silver solutions prepared this way is more potent than the commercial variety. 

Once ready, apply this mixture by spray onto the female plants while they are flowering. Spray them every day, once or twice, which will take less than two weeks or 10-18 days, depending on the different varieties of plants and their growing conditions. 

The silver ion inhibits the ethylene production needed by the plant to produce female flowers just like the silver thiosulfate method. This process will force the plants to form pollen sacs instead which are seen in male plants. This pollen contains female genetic material making it highly probable that the seed the plant produces will be female. 

Because female plants have zero male chromosomes, the pollen produced is female. After all these, you may proceed to normally fertilize your plant. Once male sacs developed, it will take some time for it to open and produce yellowish pollen which will take 2-3 weeks. You may manually harvest the pollen from sacs that do not open naturally by breaking it open and collecting it for pollinating the female plants or for storage. 

It is important to note however to not consume any part of the plant that was sprayed with the colloidal silver solution.

The Rodelization Method

The third method, the Rodelization method involves the natural response of female plants when they are under stress. Female plants experience stress, by being unable to sustain life by being pulled off the roots and not having enough water or sunlight. Rodelization is a totally natural process of feminizing marijuana seeds without the use of chemicals but could be quite risky of not entirely pollination the female plants. But despite the risk of some seeds not really getting feminized, this method is preferred by organic growers who wish to naturally feminize their seed without chemicals. 

The goal of Rodelization is to make the flowering plant remain in its flowering phase longer than the normal. In Rodelization, the plant is allowed to grow 10-14 days more, way past their harvest date.

This stress will trigger a biological response that will make the female plant grow pollen sacs even without any male fertilization in order to continue their breed. Because of this, there is a higher probability that the seed produced is female. This literal ‘panic mode’ makes the plant enter self-pollination mode. 

The flowers are hanged to dry and are being carefully being taken off the drying lines to remove male bananas. Once the male bananas or pollen sacs emerge, you can harvest it naturally and choose which bud and cola that you wish to glaze with this pollen. These male bananas could also be kept in a sealed bag and may remain potent for two months when kept in a fridge. 

Rodelization requires another batch of younger and unpollinated female marijuana plants that are two and a half weeks into flowering. This batch will be pollinated by the male bananas you previously collected. You may pollinate your plants by simply turning the fans on to high mode in order for the pollen to fly around your greenhouse just like nature does.

GENERAL TIPS

In order to maximize yield using any feminization method, one must make sure of the following: 

• Select the best looking female plant for this process to ensure premium genetics.
• Make sure to separate and isolate the plant once sacs are formed away from flowering plants in order to avoid accidental pollination.
• Be ready to pollinate any flowering female plant with the feminized pollen once these pollens are developed. You may tap the sacs using smooth surface such as aluminum foil, parchment paper or even a Q-tip in order to expedite the collection of pollen. You may use this pollen right away to pollinate your flowers or keep it in a container inside a freezer. 
• Be careful in handling chemicals. 
• Be aware of every factor that will affect your marijuana plants such as lighting, ventilation, unplanned pollination, and others in order to secure a good harvest. 
• Great care must be taken by choosing the marijuana plants wisely. Female plants should be taken from a single cannabis strain that is almost mature. Avoid any plant that has hermaphrodite traits.

Cannabis plants naturally produce either male plants that produce pollen or female plants that produce buds but hermaphroditism occurs too. Hermaphroditism occurs when plants both have the characteristics of both male and female plants. Feminized cannabis strains are even observed to be more subjected to hermaphroditism than regular strain ones. 

Hermaphroditism in cannabis plants is either the result of either genetics or the environment.  

GENETIC HERMAPHRODITES

There are certain strains of cannabis that produce more hermaphrodites genetically than the others. Genetically hermaphrodite plants are also called true hermaphrodites because hermaphroditism is in their genes, unlike the environmental hermaphrodites whose hermaphroditism was naturally or artificially induced. A good example of a true hermaphrodite is the Chocolate Thai. 

ENVIRONMENTAL HERMAPHRODITES

Cannabis or marijuana plants are sensitive and some are even more sensitive than the others. That is why cultivators choose to grow them in controlled environments where water, airflow, temperature, sunlight, and other factors are easily controlled and the plants are protected from harsh natural elements. These controlled environments maintain balance in the physical surrounding of the plant that will result in greater yield in the plants’ production of buds and seeds. 

Environmental stresses in cannabis plants could either kill it or turn them into hermaphrodites whenever their internal balance, chemistry, and required nutrients are changed. This is a big concern nowadays due to the popularity of feminized marijuana plants for cultivation. Feminized plants are more at risk of hermaphroditism especially the mother plants, which are kept in a stressed state for a long time by undergoing regular pruning in order to be cloned. 

The male marijuana plant could become female and the female marijuana plant could become hermaphrodite whenever they are subjected to stress. 

A marijuana plant is in stress whenever it is undergoing an event that threatens its survival. Being the off-rooted, dried or sudden change in its environment triggers a hormonal reaction by releasing ethylene. Sometimes this ethylene production gets suppressed and this results in a gender change in a last ditch effort of the plant to propagate its genes. 

This natural reaction of marijuana plants to stress has been taken advantage of by marijuana cultivators with the chemical methods of applying silver thiosulfate or colloidal silver onto the body of a female plant in order for it to become male. Becoming male makes this plant produce pollen instead of buds and since this plant was originally female, there is an absence of the male gene making the seeds 100 percent female that will grow to become female plants. 

ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES

There are positive stresses that affect marijuana plants positively which will result in a stronger and healthier plant. However, these environmental stresses affect marijuana plants negatively and may be easily overlooked despite the modern environmental control on most cannabis greenhouses. The following are negative environmental stresses: 

Excessive heat or cold especially the ambient air and water supply.

Interruptions of any kind during the flowering period even by slightly changing the light cycle is stressful to the plants.  

Allowing cannabis plants to flower for too long and harvesting too late. This is the exact phenomenon that is being taken advantage of by the Rodelization method of feminizing cannabis seeds. 

Pruning, root damage, off-rooting, breaking branches and others. Pruning is usually done on mother plants to be cloned. 

Pests and plant diseases. You must be careful in introducing new plants to your greenhouse by having proper quarantine and inspection procedures. 

Too much or too little moisture being provided at any time. This may be the effect of any changes in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning of your crops. 

Pesticides and other toxic chemicals. One must avoid pesticides as much as possible as it affects the quality of the cannabis especially when it is smoked. 

IS HERMAPHRODITISM BAD? 

We all know very well that in marijuana cultivation, it is most ideal to have more female than male plants in a greenhouse and hermaphrodites are definitely not welcome. 

Hermaphrodites often look like a female because they have flowers and will pollinate your female plants without you knowing and the resulting plants will be most likely hermaphrodites too. This unplanned pollination might pollinate your female plants with other than the plant you want that has the characteristics you want. You might as well start from the beginning if you happen you have your female plants pollinated by a plant that does not give a good yield of plants that will have almost useless seeds. 

If ever you discover a hermaphrodite cannabis plant and they have turned into hermaphrodites near the end of their flowering cycle, you may still harvest as much of the cannabis as possible. 

PREVENTION OF HERMAPHRODITISM

1.   The first thing that you could do is to maintain the best environment for your plants and be ready for any contingencies such as power outages or equipment malfunction in the ventilation and others. 
2.   Ensure water quality and sufficient nutrients for the plants. 
3.   Maintain hygienic conditions to avoid plant diseases.
4.   Select strains or species that are not naturally prone to producing true hermaphrodites.
5.   Inspect your plants carefully as you may unknowingly have a hermaphrodite in the midst of your crop. Discard these immediately to protect your crops.

Feminized plants are getting popular nowadays among growers. There are ways to naturally feminize marijuana plants such as Rodelization and artificial ways by using chemicals where silver thiosulfate and colloidal silver methods are most popular. 

Feminized plants came from feminized seeds which are produced by inducing gender change in a female plant. This gender change is induced by putting the plants into stress that makes it release ethylene. This ethylene release is then suppressed which triggers the female plant to develop pollen sac which contains pollen that has 100 percent female traits that will result in 100 percent female seeds that will grow into female plants. 

So you may be asking yourself now, why to get into trouble of getting feminized seeds or growing feminized plants instead of the regular variety. Here are the top ten reasons you should grow feminized plants. 

1. Ideal cultivation ratio: Cultivators know that it is most productive to have more female plants in a cannabis greenhouse because a single male plant could pollinate dozens of female plants in any given time. 

1. Cultivation efficiency: Upon finding out that their seeds matured into male plants, most cultivators end up frustrated in removing all the male plants which may account into sometimes more than half of their total crops. 

1. Cultivation certainty: Work-related stress is one of the banes of any endeavor including marijuana cultivation. Since it is impossible to tell whether a seed is male or female, feminized seeds simplify the process of ensuring an all-female crop. This simplifies the process by removing the guesswork in your cultivation. 

1. By using feminized marijuana seeds, you are spared the anxiety of waiting for your seeds to mature only to find out the more than half of your crop is male. Sex determination is impossible simply by looking at the seeds. Usually, it is revealed only in the when the plant is between the transition from vegetative to flowering states, when the pre-flowers start to form. These tiny undergrowths develop into the reproductive organs of the plant. By using a magnifying glass, you’d see the male pre-flowers look like balls while the females form calyxes that are pear-shaped. 

Knowing them will help you identify the male plants and you can remove the males immediately but it is surely most helpful when you don’t have to remove any plant at all by knowing that they are all females. 

1. Less wasted space: Your cultivation may have little space, to begin with, due to budget constraints. You may have opted to have a smaller space because you could not afford to temperature control any larger area. Having male plants unknowingly since they have not matured yet take up space that you could have used when you were sure from the beginning that your plants were female. 

Less wasted capital: We have mentioned stress, time and space being spent or even wasted by not knowing that your crops were male and you were totally clueless.  This is wasted capital. Imagine all the electricity spent every day those male plants were watered and air-conditioned. Imagine all that money that you spent on half your crop that you’re about to throw away because that half turned out to be male. That’s a lot of money you could have spent somewhere else. 

1. Female buds have higher THC and CBD:  Feminization is the method to ensure that marijuana seeds are guaranteed to be female which is the sex of the plant that produces bud which naturally contains more Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is only found in the female buds. THC is an active ingredient and was approved as a botanical drug in the United Kingdom in 2010 as a mouth spray for people with multiple sclerosis to alleviate neuropathic pain, spasticity, overactive bladder, and other symptoms. Nabiximols (as Sativex) another drug derived from marijuana is available as a prescription drug in Canada. 

Cannabidiol (CBD), another chemical found in the marijuana bud is now being used as an alternative medicine for the alleviation of symptoms of epilepsy and is the subject of clinical researches as a cure for anxiety, cognition, movement disorders, and pain.

1. Avoid accidental pollination: No matter how careful you are in inspecting your crop, a male plant or even a hermaphrodite may find its way in the midst of your crop accidentally pollinating the female plants which will greatly reduce their production of the bud that contains THC. Only the unfertilized flowers contain the most THC in a marijuana plant. Male and hermaphrodite plants do not produce buds.

When unchecked, a male pollen sac may burst fully and it will pollinate not one, but all of your female plants. When the bud become flowers after pollination, this flower becomes unusable for recreational use or medicinal purposes because it will eventually produce seeds. Seeds are of no use except to use for your next batch of crops.  

1. Better sales and service to mankind: Marijuana or cannabis is being sold for its recreational and medical use. Every day, people with seizures or chronic pain benefit from the natural remedy found in the THC and CBD in the marijuana buds. More female plants in your crops mean more buds that would not only be sold but would also be of good service to mankind.

1. Mother plants: When you find one specific plant that has the right traits that you like, you make sure that these characteristics get passed on to future plants. Mother plants are female plants that you clone and so it produces plants with the same characteristics that it has. By having feminized plants, you have a chance to look for a plant that you like to do cross-breeding with to develop new strains with good female genetics.

1. Produce more plants: Not only does female plants produce the healing buds for recreation and medicinal use, but they also produce seeds of the generation of plants once pollinated. If you happen to have a cannabis strain that you really liked to grow and is very compatible with your cultivation facilities, these seeds will be very useful in the future. 

CONCLUSION

All these ten reasons all play to your advantage as a marijuana cultivator who is interested in naturally increasing yield or profit by taking advantage of nature’s design of the marijuana plant’s gender and genetic traits.