Male vs. Female Weed Plant: How to Sex Them?

Growing marijuana indoors is becoming more popular, and it's important to identify the male vs female cannabis plant. This will help you achieve higher yields and better quality (THC) marijuana plants. It may sound difficult, but relax, following Medicgrow guides can make it quite easy.

Additionally, our guide can help you learn how to handle male and female weed plants based on your specific needs, whether it's cultivating hybrid marijuana plants or growing high-yielding cannabis with UV grow lights. This article provides comprehensive guides on these topics.

Main Content:

• 1. Difference Between Male and Female Marijuana Plants
• 2. How to Tell Male and Female Cannabis Plants?
• 3. What to Do with Male and Female Weed Plants?
• 4. Conclusion
• 5. FAQs about Male vs. Female Cannabis Plant

Difference Between Male and Female Marijuana Plants

The primary differences between male and female marijuana plants lie in what they produce. Male weed plants produce and release pollen into the air needed for fertilizing female weed plants and are generally lower in cannabinoid content. Their primary function is to ensure reproduction by pollinating female plants, leading to seed production.

Female weed plants, on the other hand, produce cannabinoid-rich buds that are sought after for both recreational and medicinal use. Removing male weed plants to prevent pollination is advisable, allowing female plants to produce more potent, sinsemilla flowers. This focus on female marijuana plants ensures a higher yield of quality buds, maximizing the plant's value.

Difference between a male and female cannabis plant

How to Tell Male and Female Cannabis Plants?

To identify male vs female cannabis plants, you can check the pre-flower which develops at the nodes. Around 3-6 weeks into the weed-growing stages, male weed plants develop small, smooth pollen sacs at the nodes, while female weed plants produce tiny, white hair-like pistils emerging from tear-shaped buds at the same location.

Besides, male marijuana plants often grow taller and faster than female plants, which can be an early indicator before sex organs appear. Regularly check the early signs of your male and female weed plants during the weed flowering stage. This allows for timely identification and separation of male and female pot plants, ensuring the highest yields and preventing pollination.

The fastest way to discover male and female weed plants is to purchase high-quality full-spectrum grow lights. The Medicgrow NEO-780 LED plant grow lights are an excellent choice. It has 2 spectrums and light intensity specifically designed for marijuana growth, making it grow faster so you can discover its gender earlier.

Early Signs of Female Plant

Female weed plants can be identified by early signs such as bushier growth, more side branches, and broader leaves compared to male weed plants. Female weed plants also have shorter internodal spacing and may grow slower and more compact.

Look for pre-flowers at the nodes, which appear as tiny tear-shaped calyxes with white, hair-like pistils. These are a clear early indicator for female marijuana plants. Additionally, considering the overall health and vigor of the plant, as well as strain-specific traits and cannabis seeds' gender, can also help in identifying female weed plants early on.

Read also: How to Identify Female Cannabis Seeds?

Early Signs of Male Plant

The early signs of male cannabis plants include taller, more spindly growth with fewer side branches and narrower leaves compared to female marijuana plants. In addition, the pre-flowers at the nodes, appearing as small, ball-shaped pollen sacs, are a clear indicator of male weed plants.

It's also possible to identify male and female marijuana plants by their growing habits, as male weed plants tend to grow faster, generally 1-2 weeks than female weed plants. In addition, male weed plants have longer internodal spacing (the distance between sets of branches) compared to female plants, with a noticeable stretch upward.

By monitoring these signs, we can identify male and female weed plants and take further action, such as removing the male weed plants to ensure higher yields and THC or cultivating a weed seed you want.

Male vs female weed plant (The left is female weed plant and the right is male weed plant)

What to Do with Male and Female Weed Plants?

Once we’ve identified the male and female marijuana plants, we can dispose of them according to your needs. Whether you're breeding or cultivating high-quality cannabis flowers, we have easy ways to do it.

Breeding Strains

If you are interested in breeding marijuana strains, start by selecting strong, healthy male plants with specific characteristics such as high THC content, particular flavors, or disease resistance. To pollinate, evenly spread the collected pollen over the flowers of the female plant and wait 4-6 weeks until the seeds mature.

However, if you don't want to breed, carefully uproot or cut down unwanted male cannabis plants to prevent accidental pollination, which can significantly reduce the quality and yield of female cannabis buds.

Cultivating Buds

If you want high-quality, cannabinoid-rich buds, start by removing male cannabis plants from your grow room. Then provide optimal growing conditions, including proper light, nutrition, and pest control using indoor grow tent kits.

Choosing high-quality full-spectrum grow lights is essential. For example, the Medicgrow Fold 800w LED grow light offers a light intensity specifically designed for marijuana growth at a good price.

Lastly, harvest the buds when they are fully mature, and consider cloning healthy female plants for an equally high-yielding and high-quality strain.

Conclusion

In conclusion, being able to identify the gender of a marijuana plant is a fundamental skill for beginners, particularly in the early weeks of the weed flowering stages. It is also important to learn other essential growing tips, such as the proper light duration, the most effective cannabis grow lights, and more. With the growing skills, I hope you can achieve the buds and yields you've always dreamed of.

FAQs about Male vs. Female Cannabis Plant

1. How Soon Can You Tell if a Cannabis Plant Is Male or Female?

Typically, the sex of male and female weed plants can be determined around 3-6 weeks into the growth cycle, during the pre-flowering stage. Male weed plants develop small, ball-shaped pollen sacs at the nodes, while female weed plants produce tiny, white, hair-like pistils emerging from tear-shaped calyxes at the same location.

2. What Happens if You Don't Separate Male and Female Cannabis Plants?

If male and female cannabis plants are not separated, the male plants will pollinate the females, leading to seed production within the buds. This reduces the potency of the cannabis, as seed-filled buds typically have lower cannabinoid content compared to seedless (sinsemilla) buds.

Additionally, the female plants will divert energy from bud development to seed production, resulting in smaller, less dense buds and a lower overall yield. For growers not aiming for breeding, separating male plants can ensure high-quality, high-potency cannabis.

3. Can a Male Cannabis Plant Turn Female?

A male cannabis plant cannot change into a female plant, as male and female marijuana plants have distinct genetic and biological differences. However, plants can exhibit hermaphroditism, where a single plant develops both male and female reproductive organs due to stress or genetic factors, allowing for self-pollination.

Extreme stress can also cause female plants to develop male flowers or pollen sacs. Therefore, to avoid female cannabis plants growing male plant organs, it's important to avoid disrupted photoperiods or cannabis nutritional imbalances.

4. Do Male Weed Plants Bud?

No, male weed plants do not produce buds. Instead, they develop small pollen sacs at the nodes (where the leaves and branches meet the stem). These sacs contain pollen that is used to fertilize female plants, which can then produce seeds. However, fertilizing female plants with male pollen will reduce the THC content of the female weed plants.

Unlike female plants, if comparing male vs female pot plants, which develop resinous buds rich in cannabinoids like THC and CBD, male plants focus on producing pollen and do not form the psychoactive or medicinal buds that are typically harvested for consumption.

5. Are Female Weed Plants More Potent?

Yes, female weed plants are generally more potent than male plants. This is because female plants produce resinous buds rich in cannabinoids such as THC and CBD, which are responsible for the plant's psychoactive and medicinal effects. These buds contain higher concentrations of cannabinoids compared to any part of the male plant.

Male plants, on the other hand, produce only small amounts of cannabinoids, primarily in their leaves and stems, but these levels are much lower than those found in female buds. As a result, female cannabis plants are preferred by growers for their potency compared with male weed plants.