What Makes Marijuana Transgender?

Let it first be acknowledged I am no marijuana expert. I have taken no creative liberties with the information I share, all of it was gained through personal experience and feeble internet research.

At the earliest sign a cannabis plant is developing male reproductive characteristics, which is evident due to the growth of what look like testicles called pollen sacs, marijuana farmers often cut the plant down. This is because female plants, which grow the smokable flowers we call “buds,” will be pollinated and subsequently produce a lower THC content. Despite this, we must not neglect to acknowledge males do serve a purpose in breeding.

There are in fact intersex plants as well! Unsurprisingly, I was not able to find statistics on the percentage of intersex cannabis plants occurring naturally. However, I did find hard to inhale scientific writings covering topics of sex in marijuana plants. These scientists discovered the offspring was more likely to be female when intersex plants served as pollen donors.

Another way farmers manipulate offspring to become female is through cloning. Cloning is done in the vegetative stage with the use of a cutting. Another option is spraying colloidal silver, which can be bought at pharmacies, on your female plants before they enter the flowering stage. This encourages the female plant to grow pollen sacs with “feminized” pollen, making the chance offspring will be female 99.99% Feminized pollen is created as a result of the sacs forming in the absence of male chromosomes. It is also possible to increase male sex expression in marijuana plants with the use of silver nitrate.

According to scientists, intersex characteristics can be persuaded through “environmental stresses suggesting that external triggers and epigenetic factors may play a role.” (Rosenthal, 1991; Kaushal, 2012) “Some plants formed [intersex] flowers when female plants were exposed to extended periods of darkness early during growth.” (Rosenthal, 1991, 2000)

On a less gendered note, enjoy the insects that have visited my plants. Leafhoppers which are featured in my photos in both the nymph stage and adult form may be beautiful, but they will eat the crop!