Hey experts out there! I have a bag of random seeds and i would like to produce about 5 females, how many seeds should i try to germinate and grow so i can achieve my goal? [ i have about 60 seeds ]
you have to consider two things. firstly, the average female-male ratio of most strains is approximately 50%. secondly, the germination rate (percent of seeds that will actually sprout) can vary depending on the quality of your beans. my usual rule of thumb is to expect about 80% germination rate... but this can be highly variable with bag seed. so, if you want 5 females, you need at least 10 plants, but i would go with a few more to be sure you get those females (the 50% sex ratio isn't set in stone)- lets say 12 or 13. to get that many plants, you'll need to germinate that many plus a few more beans, to account for the fact that at least a couple probably won't sprout. so, like viBe said, probably about 15 or so.
^Statistically, this is exactly right. And statistical odds are about all you have to work with for now. Just know that you could have a different germ rate and/or gender balance and end up with 8-9 females, not a bad problem to have.
50/50 is all you can go by especially with bag seed, i got a bag seed grow in my hydro system right now, started with 9 plants, 2nd week of flowering so far 4 males pulled, fingers crossed......peace
I started with 20 bag seeds from some really good smoke I had and only 14 sprouted then two had problems and died off from what I'm thinking was nutrient lockout from soil ph being too high and only two ended up being females. So anyone that tells you an exact number is foolish!