Cool thx! I will definitely do this. If I do have some seeds especially a cross it wouldn’t be the end of the world even if they would be likely to herm themselves.
Okay I have an update. Haven’t found anymore balls. I’m seeing some very nice bud swelling going on so that’s something. Last time this happened the buds stayed pretty small. I won’t really know until I take it down but if it did get pollinated I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. I’ll report back one last time once I take down.
4 Likes
Have any pictures? This can be potentially concerning, as pollinated flowers look very swollen and unusually round. However no way to tell if pollination or flowers getting fatter without a closeup.
This looks good! Just the flowers chunking up now! But still got a bit of fattening to do still, these girls are gonna be thick.
1 Like
Thanks!! I was looking very close at this picture… Is this what I think it is?
2 Likes
Oh yeah, those are stress herms but at this super late stage I honestly wouldn’t worry too too much. It takes weeks for a seed to fully develop, so if these ladies just started showing, the damage will be very minimal. The plant is close to death so its doing what it can to pollinate itself.
Lightly mist your ladies once a day to kill any airborne pollen and carefully remove those nanners with some tweezers. You should be more than fine at harvest without any noticeable drop in quality. Is the problem isolated to only a few buds here and there?
2 Likes
That’s the only one I could find. I did remove it with tweezers. I will mist it too. I do figure it’s too late to really do anything. I’m a few weeks out from harvest. I’ll report back. Thanks!!
2 Likes
Herms are the most frustrating aspect of growing cannabis IMHO.
I’ve seen them from every seed bank I’ve ever purchased from…from packs that cost $250 for 5 beans, to beans that cost just a dollar each.
There are some awesome breeders out there, but generally it’s really hard to assess the quality of online cannabis seed sellers. Some work their lines (sometimes for many years) and others simply chuck pollen and sell the result. IMHO ILGM genetics are as solid as anybodys, but I’ve had plenty of herms from ILGM too.
Cannabis plants are fluid and can actually “reverse” to either male or female depending on conditions. Most of my hermis could be traced back to environmental conditions (heat, nutes, etc) or light leaks.
This is one reason i almost always grow more than one pheno of a strain…just in case i have remove a few for reasons like hermaphrodism.
2 Likes
Thanks for the reply! Yeah I’m learning lol. It’s okay because I’ve been running good for a good while. This one is a freebie from seedmans. My ILGM right next to it is loving life with zero issues (if it didn’t get pollinated). I honestly never had a problem with any ILGM beans.
1 Like
Agreed. Even hype brands have given me plenty of true herms, aka balls alongside pistols (always a breeding issue, never the growers fault). Only thing I wish is that more information be put out on ILGMs stabilization efforts (if any), what filial generation the seeds are, etc. To combat this, I’m no longer growing F1 hybrids and am going to move to anything F4 and beyond, ideally. Should help with the herm problem.
2 Likes
Where do you get beans from? I would love to have some stuff more stable.
1 Like
I would just look into companies that actually breed their beans and show the genetic history. As a biochemist in training, that stuff is a lot more important to me than THC values or hype.
Companies that come to mind are Humboldt Seed Company for photos / autos (which breed all the way to F6 generation) or Mephisto (I’ve seen all the way to F7 with them) for autos.
There are lots more out there, but the important thing to note is that anyone can cross two plants — that’s not real cannabis breeding, but unfortunately a lot of “breeders” seem to think this is all that is needed to be called a breeder. Real breeding is the successful, purposeful selection of the best plants in a generation to start the next generation, reducing phenotypic variety in each successful filial generation. This can take years to do, which is why it’s uncommon.
The reason I knock F1 hybrids so much is because they are born from unstabilized parents, meaning the number of unique offspring phenotypes is ridiculously high. At that point, every bean from that cross basically performs like a different strain. I want uniformity, no herms, and predictable results, which can only be achieved with stabilized lines. F1 and F2 are usually pretty trash, with the first semblance of homozygosity appearing around F3-F4.
Anything that isn’t followed by “F3, F4, R2, R3, etc…” I assume to be a one-off cross that hasn’t been properly stabilized. Hopefully this is helpful, this is what guides me when making my own personal bean purchases and selections.
2 Likes
I’ve actually had the most herm issues with S1’s (selfed)
A couple years ago i read somewhere (can’t remember where) that you can mitigate that in S1’s by letting the plant veg and mature till she shows sex. I’ve since tried that and i rarely get a herm in S1’s now…that said by the time she shows sex she could be quite large lol!
Phenotypic variation is sometimes exactly what I’m after (pheno hunting for example), but generally i agree, i want uniform expressions across a strain in my room.
Some breeders actually have genetic test programs where they send growers seeds to test and report back long before they would ever sell a strain. I know of a couple top notch breeders who do this: exotic genetics, solfire, square one genetics, green house. Ive grown stellar examples from each of those listed.
1 Like
Make sure you don’t have any auxiliary equipment w/ a light on IE: dehumidifier, fan, A/C can all have little led lights on them and can cause a hermie… Bud look good!
2 Likes
Yes much agreed…i had afew turn hermie on me due to lost of power so they was in the dark for 3days and to big to bring outside from my basement…lighting is key
2 Likes
Took down a piece down early just to check it out. No beans found yet!! Thanks all!! You all really helped me out 
5 Likes
Final update. I did in fact find a few beans so far. I still don’t know if the other plant has any. One thing I found out was I was giving too much light. What I thought was plant fade due to finishing up was light stress. Again seeds is not a big deal and if my Wowie has seeds imma 100% grow them out 
.
1 Like