One of the most common questions that many growers ask themselves is whether they prefer feminised seeds or regular seeds should be used. Therefore, we will briefly explain how feminised seeds are produced. This way, everyone can decide for themselves whether they want to use mixed seeds or purely female seeds for their next grow.
There are 2 different methods how seed banks produce feminised seeds. Both variants have in common that a female plant (usually a clone) produces male flowers. To get the female plant to produce male flowers, it is either sprayed with a siberthiosulphate solution (STS) before flowering or stressed during flowering, i.e. exposed to a different light cycle. The result is that the plants start to hermaphrodite, i.e. both female and male flowers are produced.
Thepollen from the male flowers is then collected and pollinated on another female plant in the flower. Since 2 females are crossed, the resulting seeds automatically carry only female genetic material. The great advantage of feminised seeds is undoubtedly that you do not have to select the males and there is no danger of male plants pollinating female plants and thus causing seeds in the grass. However, there is a disadvantage that should not be underestimated. Since feminised plants are produced with hermaphrodites, the genetic material is never as good as that of seeds produced from "normal" pollination. In practice, this means that plants from feminised seeds more often show male traits such as spilling, lean growth, etc., can hermaphrodise more easily under stress and also have smaller buds than plants selected from regular seeds. I recommend growing mother plants from regular seeds, this way you get more stable clones over a longer period of time. Mothers from feminised seeds become much weaker after some time.
So what now: feminised or regular???
Everyone has to answer this question for themselves. Experienced growers usually use regular seeds, select and destroy the males and get a mother from the best female. This way they always have the same genetic material and thus the same perfect result. For beginners or the "quick grow in between", feminised seeds are absolutely recommendable. You don't lose much time with the selection and you can enjoy a good indoor harvest after only 3 months.
