Non-Hermaphrodite Plants Begin with the Parents
Stress testing your female plants is essential to removing breeding plants with hermaphroditic tendencies. Breeding with unstable parents can produce hermaphroditic seeds. It’s extremely important to expose your potential parents to the stresses most commonly known to trigger hermaphroditic flower production.
These include, but are not limited to, the following stresses:
- Inconsistent Light Schedules
- Pinhole Light Leaks During Flowering
- Excess or Extreme Changes in Temperature
- Bound Roots
- pH too Low/High
- Lighting Spectrum Change
- Media Excessively Wet/Dry
- Excessive Supercropping/Heavy-Trimming
- Root Pruning
- Over/Under Feeding
- Incorrect Nutrient Profile
- Insects/Disease/Fungi
- Pesticide/Chemical Exposure
- Extended Flowering Time
Only females which stay 100% female should be used for breeding purposes.
Yes, Stress Testing
Choosing excellent parents can take a long time and consume a lot of resources. These factors are the main reason so many unstable seeds are available today (2018), Patience and persistence pays off here. The more stable the genetics you’re working with, the quicker you’ll have a large enough number of potential parents. Each stress takes 1-3 weeks to form male flowers. Stressing multiple clones, of the same plant, ensures accuracy of the test results.
The more stable the original female plants, the more valuable the end seeds will be. Keep stressing until you’re absolutely sure the plant is stable. Again, be prepared for this process to take quite a while. Every extra ounce of effort you put into this portion of the program will pay you back in greatly increased quality.