I have a friend who used to grow a bit of cannabis but it has been decades. Recently he found some (4) cannabis plants in a pot that clearly had popped up out of nowhere and weren't being tendered. So he took them home and began looking after them and now, or a few weeks later, they're thriving. However today he noticed that one of the plants had just turned male. He wouldn't mind some seeds but obviously he doesn't want to jeopardize the other plants being female. So what is the best thing to do in this situation please?
No they're only a matter of months old and still babies. I think one plant has gone male because they were in such poor condition when I found them. So do I not need to worry about until the other plants go one way or the other?
At this time of year they are in flower. Males always show first. Dig up the male and separate him from the rest. A spare bedroom and tent him in a dry clean bag on sticks. Paper plate under him and tap every day for a week after he starts dropping pollen is enough. Toss male. Pollen is like radioactive waste and it'll be everywhere and pollenate everything if you don't take EXTREME care with it. Wash hands, Change clothes, Act like everything is contaminated. Clean off a lower bud site of fan and sugar leafs. Tie ribbon or string on bud so you can find it at harvest. With a very tiny art brush apply some pollen to all sides of your thumb sized "seed" bud. At harvest you'll get 20-50 seeds per bud and not mess up the rest of the plant for smoking and general use. I do this a couple times a year to insure I always have fresh seeds. BNW
One other note of advice let the girls flower for a couple weeks and get some bullets before you pollinate. After you pollinate put A bag over the pollinated buds for a week, this will keep the pollen from getting everywhere until its absorbed . After a week of pollination pull the bag.
I don't think I'll worry about seeds. All this looks a little too complicated for a novice. I'd actually forgotten it's the females that produce the seeds (duh!) it's been that long since I grew. And I think I can get seeds from elsewhere. So the only remaining question is whether I worry about uprooting the male and growing it elsewhere or just biffing it straight away?
If they are in a common pot cut him off at the ground and toss him if you don't want. Root disturbance is the worst thing you can do. They really hate having their roots messed with. I try and make transplants as stress free as possible by letting the plant fill the pot with roots so it slides out with no soil lost and not a root out of place. BNW
Yes I know quite a bit about growing house plants generally. When I first repotted them one of them was like 'bent over' for a few days and I thought it was going to die. So if I cut it down there's a good chance the remaining plants will be female and remain 'seedless?' Or what's it called - sinsemilla or something?
It looks like I've got seeds forming but from what I would describe as a 'runt'. Is it known whether such seeds will be 'representative' of a poor female or will they just be normal and capable of anything? I've still got one good plant that hasn't turned yet but it is clearly going to be female. So I'm wondering now do I rip the male out and go with the seeds from the runt.
Who knows bro, id stash the brown seeds if you get any and try one or two when you get bored and have room
I first noticed the seeds forming probably about six weeks ago and before I started regulating the light to around 7 hours of darkness at night. The seeds are still green but basically the plant has stopped growing since or in more recent weeks in particular. What I'm wondering now is how do I know when those seeds are ready for harvesting and planting? It looks to me like I've reached a point where I might as well pull the plant because nothing seems to be happening anymore.
The plant doesn't actually have well developed buds. It's been a runt. The seeds have basically grown at the base of the stems. I've had a close look at one and peeled the green covering off. It's hard if you squeeze but not black or dark brown like I remember seeds. More something in between. I guess the only real answer is to plant one and see what happens?