Feminized Or Regular Seeds

[Canine246810]

I have a issue. I went to get some seeds from the hydro shop in my local area. I asked for feminized seeds. He looked at me leaned back in his chair and said " Well I dont sell or use feminized seeds". He said have a seat let me tell you why. Of course I was like dude I have things to do but of course curiosity got the best of me and I took a seat. Ill cut the story short. He basically said feminized seeds are pretty much a plant impregnating herself and breeding seeds. He said its like insest and eventually these seeds will have genetic issues and deformations. Can anyone give me some opinions on this. Im starting to think this guy is effing with me. Appreciate any input.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I don’t think he’s wrong. It depends what point of view you’re looking from. Fem seeds are very handy for the average grower who doesn’t want males. In the big picture are they good for the plant species? - obviously not since it’s a case of squashing genetic diversity in the name of convenience. For the purist who wants the advantage of a full range of genetics - some might think fem seeds are pissing in the gene pool.
In the short term not likely to affect the non-purist, non breeding grower.

 

[Barney86]

No1 rule of growing mate. Never listen to the hydro guy.
He wants to sell you reg seeds cos you'll only get half the amount of females and need to buy more. Most likely a higher mark up too cos he'll get them a lot cheaper.
Only thing that kills more plants than the hydro guy is cats.

Fem seeds from any reputable supplier are over 99% female and over 99% stable. Usually get 3 or 4 different phenos but that's unavoidable unless you use clones.
Done maybe 130ish fems from seed and had 1 that didn't pop. Every other one was perfect.
Never heard of this before and honestly l, while there may be a small amount of truth in it, its not something that will ultimately make the slightest difference to your grow.
Only difference is your much more likely to fuck things up from pollen sacks and the hydro guy makes even more money.
Never trust them mate. They're as bad as customer service reps for nute companies.

 

[Canine246810]

No1 rule of growing mate. Never listen to the hydro guy.
He wants to sell you reg seeds cos you'll only get half the amount of females and need to buy more. Most likely a higher mark up too cos he'll get them a lot cheaper.
Only thing that kills more plants than the hydro guy is cats.

Fem seeds from any reputable supplier are over 99% female and over 99% stable. Usually get 3 or 4 different phenos but that's unavoidable unless you use clones.
Done maybe 130ish fems from seed and had 1 that didn't pop. Every other one was perfect.
Never heard of this before and honestly l, while there may be a small amount of truth in it, its not something that will ultimately make the slightest difference to your grow.
Only difference is your much more likely to fuck things up from pollen sacks and the hydro guy makes even more money.
Never trust them mate. They're as bad as customer service reps for nute companies.

Yea this guy is a bit strange but he does have good prices on all the grow materials like pots and nutes and has even given me free stuff. But I will hit on one note he does seem a little off. I was a bit curious cause I found another place and ordered both reg and fem and even ordered some auto. My plans are to start producing my own seeds so hopefully I will get things right. Thanks mate.

 

[Canine246810]

Barney, funny part is this guy telling me the story and me just sitting there looking at him and kinda wondering if he was inbred.

 

[Barney86]

Barney, funny part is this guy telling me the story and me just sitting there looking at him and kinda wondering if he was inbred.

He probably was mate . Webbed feet the lot lol

 

[Barney86]

To be fair, I've just had a doob and I think I get what he means. If your gonna breed you are better doing it with males. It's the natural way but hee haw wrong with fem seeds. Dare say the world would have known already they were bad in anyway.

 

[Dwight Monk]

It is one of those things that there are folks that feel strongly one way or the other side of the spectrum with no real "science/proof" one way or the other in many cases (IE Flushing/light schedule/molasses/etc etc etc) yet they feel very strongly about their point of view. There are Breeders that don't do Fem or Auto seeds period, I'm sure if you ask one of them why you would get something similar (or other reasons). I have a few Fem (and maybe one AU) seeds in my seed collection, but those I bought when I was first starting and not anything I have bought recently. Not that I necessarily buy into things I have heard (they genetically weaker, high doesn't last as long, etc...) but it does kinda make sense to me too and just doesn't feel "natural" so not my thing or not currently not my thing. If I was growing outside from seed yeah Fems are nice for that, but usually my outside ones a Clone or one I have already sexed so I already know it's a girl. The two Fem seeds I have popped and grown one was a pain in the backside sickly thing and the other was some very decent stuff, so proves/disproves some of those "reasons" right there, and probably just came down to good and bad genetics/luck/or something

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

Never had fem seeds until this year. So far, I see no difference in viability or plant health when growing side by side with regular in the greenhouse. I just pollinated a fem Gelato along with some others, but haven't popped any yet. I would lean toward normal females if I were making seeds, though.

 

[Jackalope]

It will be different for every grower. What you are growing in has a lot to do with it.

Feminized seeds are fine. Now days they are getting better all the time. They do limit the genetics passed on by the original parents. A selfed strain will be slightly different than a Feminized strain. There is a difference!!!! The selfed strain will have mostly the genetics from the one plant. Seeds made from 2 different clones of the same strain will carry more genetics and are considered as feminized. Good or bad. Genetic make up has a lot to do with how many phenos there will be in a selfed plant. In most cases only about 50% of them will be just like the mother. Better results can be had with the better made more stable strains. These will also be different than F-1 seeds made from 2 different female plants. These create a feminized hybrid much like a normal regular F-1 strains.

Regular seeds can be a strain or a F-1. As before now days there is a big difference. Strains like Blueberry and C-99 have been bred over generations and are stable. Selfed plants from them will be more consistent. F-1 strains will have more vigor and more genetic variety. The more stable the parents the more stable the S-1 seeds will be. All these new Poly hybrids of 2 different F-1's can bring a larger variety of phenos. This can also create a environment for some thing great to happen. Lots of those clone only greats have come from a batch of regular seeds.

To sum it up if you just want to grow a couple plants in a small place feminized seeds is the way to go. If you have plenty of room to go through a few males then you have the option to grow regular genetics. All this is based on known genetics. I don't know I would trust a local store for seeds. Clones maybe. You can get better seeds from true breeders at a seed bank.

 

[Barney86]

It will be different for every grower. What you are growing in has a lot to do with it.

Feminized seeds are fine. Now days they are getting better all the time. They do limit the genetics passed on by the original parents. A selfed strain will be slightly different than a Feminized strain. There is a difference!!!! The selfed strain will have mostly the genetics from the one plant. Seeds made from 2 different clones of the same strain will carry more genetics and are considered as feminized. Good or bad. Genetic make up has a lot to do with how many phenos there will be in a selfed plant. In most cases only about 50% of them will be just like the mother. Better results can be had with the better made more stable strains. These will also be different than F-1 seeds made from 2 different female plants. These create a feminized hybrid much like a normal regular F-1 strains.

Regular seeds can be a strain or a F-1. As before now days there is a big difference. Strains like Blueberry and C-99 have been bred over generations and are stable. Selfed plants from them will be more consistent. F-1 strains will have more vigor and more genetic variety. The more stable the parents the more stable the S-1 seeds will be. All these new Poly hybrids of 2 different F-1's can bring a larger variety of phenos. This can also create a environment for some thing great to happen. Lots of those clone only greats have come from a batch of regular seeds.

To sum it up if you just want to grow a couple plants in a small place feminized seeds is the way to go. If you have plenty of room to go through a few males then you have the option to grow regular genetics. All this is based on known genetics. I don't know I would trust a local store for seeds. Clones maybe. You can get better seeds from true breeders at a seed bank.

I've heard this F1 f2 stuff before, never really paid much attention to it. Get all my seeds for free anyway so never needed to know.
What do you mean you use two females for an F1? You turn 1 female male and use that to pollenate the other?
If so, is that not the same thing as self polinat . Aaaahhh hang on....right.
Think I get it. Self pollination is bad because there's no genetic variation. Kissing cousins creating spider babies sort of thing.
So by using another female if the same strain that's been turned into a male, you keep the characteristics while introducing enough genetic change that it should in theory stabilise the genetics and reduce the chances of mutations ??

Lost myself a bit there, does that make sense?

 

[Jackalope]

Hell yeah you got lost. I got lost reading it. Not because it was written bad. There is so much involved these days with no easy answers.

There really should be a different designation for a F-1 hybrid made from a reversed female. There isn't I check with a known breeder. It is still a mix of genetics just like a normal hybrid. Lots of companies have one plant they revers to make their feminized strains. All these end up being F-1 hybrids not a selfed clone.

When it comes to 1 strain. Like I mentioned it is different. A selfed strain has all its own genetics. How varied that is going to be depends on the strain itself.

For example: 2 Critical clones were taken. One a great growing plant that finished fast and big. The other covered in trichomes with a juicy fruit smell and great flavor. By far the best pheno. The Juicy Fruit was reversed and pollinated itself and the other clone. 2 different batches of seeds were made. The ones from the different clones have lots of the different phenos like the original. The Juicy Fruit seeds come out mostly like the mother in growth. Smell is were things have changed. Lots are still Juicy Fruit but a Apple phenos showed up. Totally new. Nothing like it ever shows up in the other batch of seeds. They also finish later than the other seeds.

The breeder grew out all the feminized seeds. The Juicy fruit doesn't produce enough to make it worth growing for him. It is the only one I grow. I gave away all my mixed genetics ones LMAO.

This new pheno that showed up is the mystery. Is this a gift from selfing strains? I think it may be the reason for some of these odd flavors coming out these days.

 

[andIhalped]

I don’t think he’s wrong. It depends what point of view you’re looking from. Fem seeds are very handy for the average grower who doesn’t want males. In the big picture are they good for the plant species? - obviously not since it’s a case of squashing genetic diversity in the name of convenience. For the purist who wants the advantage of a full range of genetics - some might think fem seeds are pissing in the gene pool.
In the short term not likely to affect the non-purist, non breeding grower.

Well-stated!

I completely understand the convenience of fem’d seeds, but I grow regs for a coupla reasons. First, I’m kinda tired of how much plants, in general, have been manipulated for our convenience.

Reg seeds seem a bit more natural, which appeals to me.

I also think that having to be on the lookout for sex expression helps me be a better cannabis gardener.

But I’m far from a purist—I’m growing a fem’d Big Bang that I won in a promo. Though, it’s the first fem’d seed I’ve grown in my decades of growing.

Each to their own. DIY = DIY.

Grow on!

 

[Canine246810]

Hell yeah you got lost. I got lost reading it. Not because it was written bad. There is so much involved these days with no easy answers.

There really should be a different designation for a F-1 hybrid made from a reversed female. There isn't I check with a known breeder. It is still a mix of genetics just like a normal hybrid. Lots of companies have one plant they revers to make their feminized strains. All these end up being F-1 hybrids not a selfed clone.

When it comes to 1 strain. Like I mentioned it is different. A selfed strain has all its own genetics. How varied that is going to be depends on the strain itself.

For example: 2 Critical clones were taken. One a great growing plant that finished fast and big. The other covered in trichomes with a juicy fruit smell and great flavor. By far the best pheno. The Juicy Fruit was reversed and pollinated itself and the other clone. 2 different batches of seeds were made. The ones from the different clones have lots of the different phenos like the original. The Juicy Fruit seeds come out mostly like the mother in growth. Smell is were things have changed. Lots are still Juicy Fruit but a Apple phenos showed up. Totally new. Nothing like it ever shows up in the other batch of seeds. They also finish later than the other seeds.

The breeder grew out all the feminized seeds. The Juicy fruit doesn't produce enough to make it worth growing for him. It is the only one I grow. I gave away all my mixed genetics ones LMAO.

This new pheno that showed up is the mystery. Is this a gift from selfing strains? I think it may be the reason for some of these odd flavors coming out these days.

Totally even more confused now then I was to start.

 

[RAIN MAN]

I don't see anything wrong with femizinzed seeds. He was most likely trying to cop you out of some green. (Both ways). Feminized seeds have their part, such as regular seeds have thier part. As for what he Is teling you, not even close to being true. Don't listen to him.