Hey Grasscity. After searching around for awhile, I've been coming across alot of misinformation which is leading newer growers in the wrong direction. I would like to clear up a few myths that many people still believe today. So let's have some fun, laugh, and enjoy the ideas of confident growers which are totally wrong. Myth Number One: The quality of the weed that a bagseed comes from is the same quality of weed you will get when growing the bagseed. In other words, this myth states that if you pick up some shitty, dirt weed and grow a seed from it, it will turn out to be shitty, dirt weed. ABSOLUTELY. NOT. TRUE. The quality of the weed you grow is determined by the conditions the plant is subjected to during both vegging, flowering, harvesting, packaging, transplanting, etc. etc. and not purely by the genetics of the seed itself. The genetics of the seed determines whether it is indica or sativa, the exact strain of the marijuana, and other factors such as male to female ratio and plant resistance/growth. However, "You can't turn shitty genetics into dank no matter what soil, nutes, and light you give it". So it goes both ways. Myth Number Two: Putting seeds with banana peels will increase your chance of getting a female. Suprisingly, many adbanced growers practice this technique which is disappointing. People tend to think the banana actually made the seed turned female because their logic is "banana+seed=female plant.... so it must work!" Wrong. Don't waste your time or your bananas on this myth. Reminds me of way back when people tried smoking banana peels for a trippy effect. hahaha Myth Number Three: You need light immediately after planting your seeds for them to sprout. This is not true. Seeds do not require sunlight, but they do require water (preferably at a good PH level) and some sort of medium like soil. Although, it doesn't hurt to keep the lights on when you plant them because after sprouting, the seedlings will need light right away so many growers prefer leaving their lights on after planting the seed, but this is optional. Myth Number Four: Planting several seeds on top of eachother will create one super plant or several healthy plants that save soil and pots. No, No, No..... Planting several seeds on top of eachother will tangle seedlings roots which will either eventually kill the plants or severely stunt their growth and nutritional intake. One seed per pot is the best way to go: More root growth plus more nutritional intake without as much interference. Myth Number Five: Giving seeds fertilizer helps them sprout faster and encourages early seedling growth. You do NOT want to do this. "Baby sprouts come with the "food" they need to get started built in" (toastybiz). Your first fertilization should be around 1 and a half to 2 weeks into vegetative growth to ensure healthy growth on new, fragile roots and leaves. Over/early fertilization can cause nute burn and interfere with root growth. Other Myths: The external appearance of the seed will tell you if it is viable, the strain, if the genetics are good quality, and/or the sex of the seed. There is only a little bit of this that is true -- viable seeds tend to be brown or grey, non-viable seeds are white, black, or green. Also true that seeds likely to be viable do not crackle when you roll them firmly between thumb and forefinger. Other than that, though, the appearance of the seed tells you nothing. Whether a seed is large or small is a genetic trait but doesn't tell you anything about the plant it will grow into. Whether a seed has spots, stripes, both, or neither also tells you nothing about the plant it will grow into or whether or not it is viable (such markings are basically camouflage). Whether the seed has an oval dimple on the end or not does not tell you the sex of the plant that seed will grow into. (ToastyBiz) Seeds in your bud make the bud less potent. This is not necessarily true, often bud with seeds is extremely potent, if the genetics and conditions were good. However, seeds in your bud definitely does give you less smokable bud, because some of that bud volume went into the seeds themselves. (ToastyBiz) Seeds can go bad. They can if stored improperly, but actually seeds can be stored for years if kept in a cool, dark, dry place. A good method is put them in an old film canister with some uncooked rice (to absorb moisture) then put that in the back of your refrigerator. Seeds are designed to last a long time -- archaeologists found seeds in the Egyptian pyramids, stored so that the pharaohs could grow grain in the afterlife, and as an experiment they tried to germinate some, and after thousands of years they still germed right up. Not MJ seeds, but still tells you what Mother Nature is capable of. (ToastyBiz) You can smoke seeds. Hey, I guess you can smoke anything that burns, but you won't get high from smoking seeds, they don't contain THC. (ToastyBiz) Seeds from a hermie are feminized. What kinds of seeds and/or pollen a hermie produces depends on a lot of factors, so you definitely are not guaranteed feminized seeds. First off, males can hermie, resulting in pollen and even pistils that are a mix of some X chromosome and some Y chromosome. Also, some plants hermie because of genetic defects; such plants may not be truly male or female, and any seeds produced from them most likely will pass along these screwed-up genetics. Finally, some otherwise normal female plants can be induced to hermie through stress. Sometimes this results in normal feminized seeds, but usually the stress also messes up the chemistry of the genetics and so the offspring are likely to go hermie as well. Drug dogs can't smell seeds. Potentially they can. Dogs' noses are thousands of times more sensitive than ours. For example, dogs are better at sniffing out explosives than the most sophisticated devices technology can produce for that specific purpose. Dogs now are being trained to smell if someone has colorectal cancer. They can smell a seed if trained properly. You can get your supplies and setup in order after you have germinated your seeds. Germination is like starting a clock that cannot be stopped. A germinated seed is like a newborn infant -- coming home from the hospital with a newborn baby is way too late to first start thinking about shopping for baby bottles and diapers and a crib, the baby has immediate and very sensitive needs that can't wait for you to figure it out. Neither can a baby MJ plant. That is why you should never, ever, ever, EVER germinate a seed until you have your supplies in hand and your setup ready. Germinating is the last thing you do to start your grow, not the first. If you have any other myths concerning seeds that you would like to share, please post them here and I will be sure to add them Let's work together to clear up the constant misinformation that is flooding grasscity's forums and teach new growers how to properly begin their own cultivations. -Conway
have u ever heard of chrushing up a birth control pill to mix with water ? I guess the female hormones in the pill affect the sex of the plant.
^^ I've heard that as well, though as a kid back in the mid 90's. I'm pretty sure the source was from an article in high times.
yes I believe it was ...although I never tried it I wwuld love to know if its true. but I have another question too reguarding myth#1 although u do state genetics is not the sole factor of your product it it in fact the most important factor. unless we r being tricked by all these seedbanks ? a seed that has the potential to give off a 15% THC content will never give u 15.1% although it may give u 5% if you treat it wrong. however the seeds from that 5% THC weed will infact still have the genetic possibility of producing 15% THC if it is grown right the second time.
bump! Im happy you all are enjoying the thread. Please add any myths that you've come across so I can keep the thread going!
I think the seedbanks are giving you the highest "possible" thc level that a certain strain can produce. But, if you get a strain with a 21% thc content and you grow the plant incorrectly, without optimal lighting and soil conditions (also PH levels, fertilizer, etc. etc.), the harvest can come out very shotty and produce low thc content buds. It's all about how its grown in my personal opinion.
seed banks use professional growers..multiple 1000watt hps....best nutes...all conditions perfect..so if your achive 66% of their claimed yeild your doin great...on flower times and total days to finish ..they fudge the numbers to make it seem like they will finish faster..i always add a week to flower time for my target date...but go by trich's...their tryin' ta sell beans...its advertising....marketing...check grow journals and strain reports...smoke reports...what other growers of your skill level are sayin' about strains...and stick ta good breeders and genetics...it pays off
Good info, thanks for posting, but some of this needs clarification: Myth #1: You've actually taken a myth and turned it too far in the other direction. Not true that "The quality of the weed you grow is determined by the conditions the plant is subjected to during both vegging, flowering, harvesting, packaging, transplanting, etc." and that "the genetics of the seed determines whether it is indica or sativa, the exact strain of the marijuana, and other factors such as male to female ratio and plant resistance/growth." What you have said boils down to "environment determines quality, genetics do not." That's not true. But also not true, as you stated, that genetics alone determine quality. It is the interaction of both genetics and environment that determines the final quality. You can't turn shitty genetics into dank no matter what soil, nutes, and light you give it. Myth #2: I agree this does not work. It is, however, rooted in some real science. Unlike MJ, many plants can change sex or have sex determined by environmental factors. One factor that does influence sex on such plants (again not on MJ) is ethylene gas, which ripening bananas give off in abundance. So there are certain kinds of seeds that you can put with banana peels and in fact change the sex, just not MJ. Myth #3: True that the germed seed does not need light while it is still completely under the soil. But, it will want light the moment it pops through, so what I do and advise others is to put a light on it beforehand anyway, so that when the sprout does pop through it gets light right away rather than wait in the dark for you to turn the light on. Plus, having the light on can add a bit of warmth which can help speed that initial sprouting process. Myth #4: No argument here. One seed = one plant, putting multiple seeds on top of each other will only result in multiple plants on top of and strangling each other. Myth #5: Baby sprouts come with the "food" they need to get started built in. They are too tender to take fertilizers until about 2 weeks in. Other myths: The external appearance of the seed will tell you if it is viable, the strain, if the genetics are good quality, and/or the sex of the seed. There is only a little bit of this that is true -- viable seeds tend to be brown or grey, non-viable seeds are white, black, or green. Also true that seeds likely to be viable do not crackle when you roll them firmly between thumb and forefinger. Other than that, though, the appearance of the seed tells you nothing. Whether a seed is large or small is a genetic trait but doesn't tell you anything about the plant it will grow into. Whether a seed has spots, stripes, both, or neither also tells you nothing about the plant it will grow into or whether or not it is viable (such markings are basically camouflage). Whether the seed has an oval dimple on the end or not does not tell you the sex of the plant that seed will grow into. Seeds in your bud make the bud less potent. This is not necessarily true, often bud with seeds is extremely potent, if the genetics and conditions were good. However, seeds in your bud definitely does give you less smokable bud, because some of that bud volume went into the seeds themselves. Seeds can go bad. They can if stored improperly, but actually seeds can be stored for years if kept in a cool, dark, dry place. A good method is put them in an old film canister with some uncooked rice (to absorb moisture) then put that in the back of your refrigerator. Seeds are designed to last a long time -- archaeologists found seeds in the Egyptian pyramids, stored so that the pharaohs could grow grain in the afterlife, and as an experiment they tried to germinate some, and after thousands of years they still germed right up. Not MJ seeds, but still tells you what Mother Nature is capable of. You can smoke seeds. Hey, I guess you can smoke anything that burns, but you won't get high from smoking seeds, they don't contain THC.
Thanks Toastybiz. You bring out alot of good info I have overlooked. Im going to edit the original post to include some of this helpful information.
Some other myths to add: Seeds from a hermie are feminized. What kinds of seeds and/or pollen a hermie produces depends on a lot of factors, so you definitely are not guaranteed feminized seeds. First off, males can hermie, resulting in pollen and even pistils that are a mix of some X chromosome and some Y chromosome. Also, some plants hermie because of genetic defects; such plants may not be truly male or female, and any seeds produced from them most likely will pass along these screwed-up genetics. Finally, some otherwise normal female plants can be induced to hermie through stress. Sometimes this results in normal feminized seeds, but usually the stress also messes up the chemistry of the genetics and so the offspring are likely to go hermie as well. Drug dogs can't smell seeds. Potentially they can. Dogs' noses are thousands of times more sensitive than ours. For example, dogs are better at sniffing out explosives than the most sophisticated devices technology can produce for that specific purpose. Dogs now are being trained to smell if someone has colorectal cancer. They can smell a seed if trained properly. You can get your supplies and setup in order after you have germinated your seeds. Germination is like starting a clock that cannot be stopped. A germinated seed is like a newborn infant -- coming home from the hospital with a newborn baby is way too late to first start thinking about shopping for baby bottles and diapers and a crib, the baby has immediate and very sensitive needs that can't wait for you to figure it out. Neither can a baby MJ plant. \t\tThat is why you should never, ever, ever, EVER germinate a seed until you have your supplies in hand and your setup ready. Germinating is the last thing you do to start your grow, not the first.
My favorite, which is as old as time: You can tell the sex of a plant by the number of leaflets produced on a leaf or, even better, Big wide (Indica) leaves are always boys. I heard both of these when I started my journey and can remember hearing it as a kid back in the early 80's. PS, For a little bit older plants. . . 11 leaflets or more on a leaf = great smoke. This is partialy true in that only larger, healthier plants will kick out the 11 or more leaflet leaves. However, it's really more an indication of plant health than potential potentcy imho.