AKgramma
Well-Known Member
If the pods were still closed when you removed the male, you should be safe. If any were open, the pollen that got released will settle in the nooks and crannies of the females, waiting for the flowers. So time will tell whether you get buds, seeds, or both. If that happens, isolate one of the fertilized females and grow it for the seed. The other females, you'll have to pluck out the seed pods if you want any smokable product. Taking clones will save the strain.
I have grown many males to maturity to collect and freeze pollen, as well as to use them to pollinate females for cross breeding and seed production. I have also had females herm on me in large grows. It is not the end of the world if you get males, or herms (females with some male flower stalks), or god forbid, seeds!
Your male will not 'infect' anything. It will ~pollinate~ any ripe and ready female flowers that the pollen comes into contact with, if that is what you mean. However, as said above, it takes a while for the males to fully mature and produce flowers that open. Even after the male flowers open it takes a day or so for the pollen to mature and begin to fall off the pistils. If you see any fluffy yellow pollen on the leaves of the male, that will have happened. And even if it does happen and they pollinate your females, all is not lost. We smoked weed for several millennia with seeds and got high. I also smoke male flowers to get high. Yes, they have THC in them, contrary to popular belief.
Several things to keep in mind. One is that pollen is only viable for several days. After that it dies. So it will not linger and pollinate females flowers that open a week or more later. Males tend to mature faster than females. If the females are not flowering and ready to be pollinated, they will not be affected. If some females are pollinated, you will likely get a few seeds, but only the in flower stems that are pollinated will the levels of THC drop. It will not affect the whole plant unless it is completely pollinated. MJ is wind pollinated. That means that pollen basically will fall off the pistils and be picked up and moved around in the air. It is basically a fine dust. If you are growing indoors without fans, or outdoors with no wind, it will basically drop on itself (the males or herms) and not pollinate any females around them. It takes some air circulation to spread pollen around.
As for why you got a male? Generally sex in Cannabis plants is determined when a seed is created after a female ovum is pollinated. However, that can be changed due to environmental and genetic factors. You do not say if you are growing seeds or cuttings. If growing from non-fem seeds, you will get about a 50/50 male to female ratio of plants, so it is normal to get males. If you are growing from fem seeds, you will likely still get a small number of males, even in ideal conditions (no matter what the seed company guarantees!). Generally the problem with fem seeds is that you are likely to get herms for genetic reasons. Herms tend to beget more herms. If you are growing from female cuttings (or fem seeds), you can still get them to flip sex to being males, or herms. The Dutch have done a lot of research on this and basically it comes down to a variety of stresses that can force females to turn male. Too much heat, too little water, variations in pH, variable lighting, etc. can all affect and flip them. There are also chemicals that can flip females to makes, as well as males to females. But they are not so easy to get ahold of.
Clear as mud?
Your male will not 'infect' anything. It will ~pollinate~ any ripe and ready female flowers that the pollen comes into contact with, if that is what you mean. However, as said above, it takes a while for the males to fully mature and produce flowers that open. Even after the male flowers open it takes a day or so for the pollen to mature and begin to fall off the pistils. If you see any fluffy yellow pollen on the leaves of the male, that will have happened. And even if it does happen and they pollinate your females, all is not lost. We smoked weed for several millennia with seeds and got high. I also smoke male flowers to get high. Yes, they have THC in them, contrary to popular belief.
Several things to keep in mind. One is that pollen is only viable for several days. After that it dies. So it will not linger and pollinate females flowers that open a week or more later. Males tend to mature faster than females. If the females are not flowering and ready to be pollinated, they will not be affected. If some females are pollinated, you will likely get a few seeds, but only the in flower stems that are pollinated will the levels of THC drop. It will not affect the whole plant unless it is completely pollinated. MJ is wind pollinated. That means that pollen basically will fall off the pistils and be picked up and moved around in the air. It is basically a fine dust. If you are growing indoors without fans, or outdoors with no wind, it will basically drop on itself (the males or herms) and not pollinate any females around them. It takes some air circulation to spread pollen around.
As for why you got a male? Generally sex in Cannabis plants is determined when a seed is created after a female ovum is pollinated. However, that can be changed due to environmental and genetic factors. You do not say if you are growing seeds or cuttings. If growing from non-fem seeds, you will get about a 50/50 male to female ratio of plants, so it is normal to get males. If you are growing from fem seeds, you will likely still get a small number of males, even in ideal conditions (no matter what the seed company guarantees!). Generally the problem with fem seeds is that you are likely to get herms for genetic reasons. Herms tend to beget more herms. If you are growing from female cuttings (or fem seeds), you can still get them to flip sex to being males, or herms. The Dutch have done a lot of research on this and basically it comes down to a variety of stresses that can force females to turn male. Too much heat, too little water, variations in pH, variable lighting, etc. can all affect and flip them. There are also chemicals that can flip females to makes, as well as males to females. But they are not so easy to get ahold of.
Clear as mud?
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