Marijuana plants are either male or female. The male marijuana plants produce pollen which pollinates the flowers of the female marijuana plant, which once pollinated, produce marijuana seeds. If the female marijuana plant isn't pollinated [if there are no male plants nearby producing pollen], the flower/buds continue to develop and produce THC. Female marijuana plants which are not pollinated are referred to as sensemilla [without cannabis seeds]. Usually 30 to 50% of the marijuana plants are male. Removing male marijuana plants in your outdoor garden
Outdoor male marijuana plants will begin to produce their flowers and pollen as early as mid- July for varieties acclimated to cold to mid- warm climates. Marijuana plant varieties from more southern [near the equator] climates, may not start until mid- September. This difference depends on the budding cycle of your marijuana variety, some marijuana plants start to bud earlier than others, so the exact time to cut the male marijuana plants will vary with the marijuana strain. If you are using a variety of different marijuana seeds it may be necessary to visit once a week from July the 21st through September the 15th. The timely identification of a male marijuana plant is crucial to the success of the harvest. If the weather is exceptional during the time a male marijuana plant starts producing it's cannabis flowers and you missed seeing the first signs during your last visit, you could wind up with a lot of marijuana seeds and little of the fine herb.
A female marijuana plant can either generate a large seedless bud, a large bud with a few seeds, or a large bud that is almost totally seeds. The first case is achieved by removing all the male marijuana plants before any of their flowers open. The second case occurs when a few male marijuana flowers have opened but you remove them before any more open. The third case occurs when you miss-time the flowering of the male. This can be devastating if you have big female marijuana plants because you could loose 90% of the smokeable marijuana to marijuana seed production. This last scenario may not always be bad though. If you are short on marijuana seeds for the next growing season, it may be prudent to let one or two male marijuana plants stand and fertilize a portion of the females.
Good marijuana seeds are hard to come by, so if you have a marijuana seed strain you like, make sure to plan ahead and have at least a few hundred marijuana seeds for the future. The spotting of male marijuana plants is one of the most difficult of things to explain to a person that's never grown since it really takes careful attention to how the tops of male marijuana plants look at this stage of development. Even experienced marijuana growers will be unsure at times and will have to wait till the next visit to be sure. When a male marijuana plant enters the stage of flower development, the tips of the branches where a bud would develop will start to grow what looks like a little bud [little balls] but it will have no white hairs coming out of it. Female marijuana plants will have no balls and will have small white hairs. Male marijuana plants are often, but not always, tall with stout stems, sporadic branching, and few leaves. Male cannabis plants are usually harvested except those used for breeding, after their sex has been determined, but before the pollen is shed. When harvesting, especially if close to female marijuana plants, cut the marijuana plant off at the base, taking care to shake the male marijuana plants as little as possible. This helps prevent any accidental pollination by an unnoticed, open male marijuana flower. [For more information about spotting the difference between male and female marijuana » click here]
