Reg seeds: drop how many for 4 fem?

[cr8grow]

Closing in on my second harvest...considering grow # 3 and have a few questions about regular seeds. My first 2 grows were feminized seeds from two different breeders with 100% germination.
1) How many regular seeds should I sprout with the objective to end up with 4 females? I’ve heard to expect 50/50 males and females, but dont want to rely on starting only 8 seeds.
2) Can I keep seedlings in solo cups long enough to presex or should I plan on a step up to larger pots in the interim? I will ultimately grow the 4 best in 3 gallon pots.
3) I have two different GSC bagseeds, quite a few of each and both were great. I see some great pictures of bagseed results but have also seen a lot of warnings to avoid. What are the issues with bagseeds? I will need to sort out some new seeds over the next few weeks. Quick pic of my Cali Connection Corleone Kush almost 7 weeks since flip to 12/12.

 

[Modest Grower]

So I would go with maybe 6 and then if it doesn't work out plant more as needed. I think you will need a bigger container to pre sex. As for bag seed. The biggest unknown is the quality of the father and the potential for males. Other than that plant away! Your plants look great!

 

[CanadianJim]

I wouldn't recommend this, but you can sprout the seeds and 2 or 3 weeks in switch to 12/12 until they show sex, cull the males, and sprout a few more repeating the process until you have 4 females. Other than that there's no realistic way to guarantee 4 females except planting a lot more than you need. The main issue with this is it puts a lot of stress on fairly young plants, especially when you reveg them.
You can try growing them until they've got some side branches, or until they're big enough to top, and stick a cutting in a glass of water under 12/12. It should survive log enough to show sex. I don't know how well that works though, as I've never tried it myself. By the time the plants are that big any seeds you start after that will be way behind. If that doesn't bother you then that's the route I would take.
Good luck.

 

[The Celt]

Hey @CanadianJim,

Most seed plants require 6 to 8 weeks before they are mature enough to flower. Putting them under 12/12 at 2 or 3 weeks old will just slow their growth rather than show sex.

There are environmental conditions you can provide that will increase your odds of getting females from ”regs” but no guarantees.

If I can find the article describing the conditions, I will post it here.

 

[CanadianJim]

Hey @CanadianJim,

Most seed plants require 6 to 8 weeks before they are mature enough to flower. Putting them under 12/12 at 2 or 3 weeks old will just slow their growth rather than show sex.

There are environmental conditions you can provide that will increase your odds of getting females from ”regs” but no guarantees.

If I can find the article describing the conditions, I will post it here.

6 to 8 weeks to be mature enough to flower properly, I agree. However you can force flower well before the plant reaches full maturity. I did a few runs of 12/12 from seed this winter to test a couple of strains and they all shifted to flower between the 2 and 3 week mark. Granted, the ones that started to flower at the 2 week mark were a fast flowering strain, but the others were both 50/50 hybrids. If you continue to flower at that point you get a tiny amount of bud, like 2 or 3 grams. But it's doable if you have the seeds to waste.

 

[Hplar]

Reg seeds that have more darkness then daylight will produce more female plants

 

[The Celt]

This article was put out by Dutch Passion quite some time ago but not sure the date.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

What are the issues with bagseeds?

The one small issue I can add is autoflower, you just don't know if it is an autoflower or not and if you put them under a smaller light for too long at the start you may lose some at harvest time. If you were to use it to make clones....

 

[cr8grow]

So I would go with maybe 6 and then if it doesn't work out plant more as needed. I think you will need a bigger container to pre sex. As for bag seed. The biggest unknown is the quality of the father and the potential for males. Other than that plant away! Your plants look great!

Good input on the father. When I find bagseeds I assume there was a hermie in the mix, but could have been a male that went undiscovered until too late. I checked out your perpetual expansion...looking good over there.

 

[cr8grow]

I wouldn't recommend this, but you can sprout the seeds and 2 or 3 weeks in switch to 12/12 until they show sex, cull the males, and sprout a few more repeating the process until you have 4 females. Other than that there's no realistic way to guarantee 4 females except planting a lot more than you need. The main issue with this is it puts a lot of stress on fairly young plants, especially when you reveg them.
You can try growing them until they've got some side branches, or until they're big enough to top, and stick a cutting in a glass of water under 12/12. It should survive log enough to show sex. I don't know how well that works though, as I've never tried it myself. By the time the plants are that big any seeds you start after that will be way behind. If that doesn't bother you then that's the route I would take.
Good luck.

This gets me to thinking reg seeds dont fit my single cabinet/single light growing style. This is good input for thought.

 

[cr8grow]

Reg seeds that have more darkness then daylight will produce more female plants

I hadnt heard that fact. I see that also mentioned in the Dutch Passion Fem article The Celt shared here. Will reread that now. Thanks for the input.

 

[cr8grow]

This article was put out by Dutch Passion quite some time ago but not sure the date.
@The Celt thanks for sharing. Ive read through this a couple times and am making a checklist for gaps in my grow. Biggest issue is very low humidty in my cabinet (in dry unfinished part if the basement...low RH). I need to address that for my next grow.

 

[cr8grow]

The one small issue I can add is autoflower, you just don't know if it is an autoflower or not and if you put them under a smaller light for too long at the start you may lose some at harvest time. If you were to use it to make clones....

The GSC was Caregiver and Dispensary weed...who knows. Im curios but havent tried to grow an auto. I see some pics of massive buds on some and a lot of 8 inch plants with a couple small buds.

 

[The Celt]

Unless you are having issues, or using regs, don’t worry too much about humidity. My nursery runs about 40%rh and my flower tent runs about 30%rh with lights on and they do very well.

Unless you have a lot of air movement, the local rh around the seedling is generally much higher than the ambient Rh. If you have a small digital rh meter, put in in the pot with your seedling about an inch above soil. You’ll likely find the rh there to be 10pts or more higher than the ambient rh.

As water evaporates from the soil, it drives up the rh immediately around the seedling.

 

[Hplar]

I hadnt heard that fact. I see that also mentioned in the Dutch Passion Fem article The Celt shared here. Will reread that now. Thanks for the input.

I sprouted 15 reg seeds..and got 12 females so I know it works

 

[Jackalope]

With environmental's out. Basic Male/Female ration of marijuana is 50/50. So if you want 4 females start 8 seeds. Other then temp. Most of my environmental's stay the same other then temp. I have got 70 to 80% female and I have had the same percentage's for males. Out of the 5 regular seeds of Clown Royal by Second Generation. I got one female.

Some say that how the seed was fed when growing has a effect on the Male/Female ratio also. So many different things considered. It is best to just figure go with the basic 50/50 ratio.

 

[politoed]

hey dude i can tell you a bit about this from personal experience. there was an old formula i used to see around about 15 years ago that went something like this

out of 10 seeds, 8 will germinate
out of those 8, 2 seedlings may die or be runts
out of those 6, assume 2 females (always err on the side of caution)

my first grow, i germinated 12 seeds.
11 popped. 1 died. out of 10, i got 3 females.

my second grow i germinated 14 seeds
10 white skunk
3 double gum
1 afghani #1

i got 9 white skunk seedlings, and 8 males
1 female doublegum out of 3 seedlings
1 female afghani out of 1 seedling

my rh was around 60%, temps were perfect, FF ocean forest (seedlings were in peat moss/perlite/vermiculite) under a 250w hps and some cfls in a 1.5x2.5ft cabinet.

i went from cups to 1 gallon pots for sexing. after sexing up potted to 5gals.

a good move is, veg for 2 months from seed. but as soon as you can take a cutting from the plants safely, do so, and put the cuttings in 12/12 even if its in water. you can sex them quicker that way without the terrible stress of flowering and revegging. youll find out maybe 2 weeks faster than waiting for preflowers? to some people 2 weeks is a big deal. to others not so much.

this was just my personal experience and im no expert.

 

[cr8grow]

hey dude i can tell you a bit about this from personal experience. there was an old formula i used to see around about 15 years ago that went something like this

out of 10 seeds, 8 will germinate
out of those 8, 2 seedlings may die or be runts
out of those 6, assume 2 females (always err on the side of caution)

Thanks for sharing and breaking down your actual experience. This sounds like a good approach. I would need to sort out another space with light to accomplish 12/12 on the cuttings. If I dont get some new Fem seeds in the next few weeks I will try the bagseeds.

 

[politoed]

Thanks for sharing and breaking down your actual experience. This sounds like a good approach. I would need to sort out another space with light to accomplish 12/12 on the cuttings. If I dont get some new Fem seeds in the next few weeks I will try the bagseeds.

you could keep them in a cup of water and just remove them from your room and put them in a cabinet. annoying yes, but youll know in 2 weeks. also dont be surprised if you plant 10 seeds and get like 7-8 females too. it can happen. thats why i used fem seeds this go. i just cant be bothered to sex anymore (ayoooo)

 

[Head1982]

@The Celt that was an awsome article. I had no idea about some of that.