Question: I have a strain that has a slight problem with hermaphroditism but exhibits qualities worth keeping. My question is, how do I breed out the hermaphroditism while keeping the desired qualities?
Resist the temptation.
Starting your breeding program with a hermaphrodite is a recipe for disaster. No trait is that valuable.
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I agree pretty decently with @Scissor-Hanz, its more hassle than it’s worth with the amount of plants you would need to run to cut out the trait, but if still wanting too its pretty straight forward in that you continuously breed selecting only the plants that don’t exhibit those tendencies or the ones where those tendencies only manifest under excessive stress, and repeat over multiple generations till those tendencies are non existent.
To me any plant that automatically grows pollen sacs mid grow with or without any undue external factors gets the boot, but if it’s a plant that throws out a pollen sac or two right at the end of its flowering cycle as a last horrah to try and carry on its genetic code and has exceptional qualities i like then that is a little different as that can be worked around and refined over time, but that hasn’t happen to often for me, literally like one time and i have since gone to other genetics i like and are better.
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The traits this strain exhibit are very unique, producing red calyxes at a rate of at least 1:10 at the end of the cycle with a slight hermaphroditism. I need to breed out the hermaphroditism and breed in the red pheno to stabilize the color in the genetics.
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do you know the name of the strain?
Early Girl from Sensi does that.
Tastes like candy too.
It’s exactly as easy as you are lucky.
What you’ll need to do is grow large groups of plants, as many as you can possibly grow to completion at one time. Run them at least one full harvest, but more is always better, and create the next generation of seeds from ONLY plants that have never hermied.
If you’re lucky, it might take only two or three years. If you’re not diligent in removing every, single, hermie, it’s going to be a complete waste of your time.
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It’s a cross DJ Shorts Blueberry F4 x Black Rose No.3 called Oregon Cutthroat.
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Are you sure the issue is genetic and not environmental? There are few, if any, female plants in the world that can’t be stressed into producing male flowers.
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I’m not a hundred percent sure. I just know that the breeders weren’t releasing it to the mainstream public yet due to this issue. Which means some of the flowers may have been pollinated from hermaphrodite pollen.
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Also a side note* This strain comes from a very good seed company with very experienced breeders.
the product dutch master reverse / penetrate will prevent male flowers from forming so you can grow it out without risk of pollination. apparently how they make seedless fruits. have heard positive experiences using it with cannabis.
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The hermaphrodite trait is in every single plant.
There isn’t a strain on earth that won’t self pollinate if left to flower longer than is supposed to.
You can breed for a reduced tendency to hemaphrodite but it is a function of this plants sexual reproduction.
If you like I can quote at least three breeders/cultivation bibles that say the same thing.
If you have the room as said above. You can breed out the tendency to change sex by simply breeding the ones that do it less or or late.
Sorry if I sound curt but I’ve seen too many breeders and great strains get trashed over this witch hunt.
If you have a strain that NEVER has switched on you, let it go two or three weeks past harvest and ill bet you a pack of seeds that it will self pollinate.
My two cents. Good hunting!
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or spray it with silver, guaranteed to turn any plant!! hermaphroditism is hormonal and not genetic imo although some are more genetically predisposed to handle less hormonal stress than others
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Can’t resist.
how do I breed out the hermaphroditism while keeping the desired qualities?
Basically, your first move should be to do a map of this hermaphodism with its inherent linked traits. Without it, you’re blind and have more chances to be destructive that “evolutive” for the desired qualities.
On a second time, it will permit you to exactly known the leverage of these specific qualities in theyr sub-group then the method to use to maximize your chances to increase “artificially” the ratio.
This last analysis just will tell you how much time you will need to accomplish your goal, and if it fit to your situation and skills.
The traits this strain exhibit are very unique, producing red calyxes at a rate of at least 1:10 at the end of the cycle with a slight hermaphroditism. I need to breed out the hermaphroditism and breed in the red pheno to stabilize the color in the genetics.
You take the equation in the reversed sense in fact, your initial (red) ratios are too low to don’t be worked first. We start to speak about a recessive behavior at 25%, you’re at 10% with hermaphrodism in the equation. Sound like challenging at least.
How to say that fast and simple lol.
Lets imagine you’re a gold digger that possess different spots and than 10% of your finds are nuggets as big than your fist. And that the herms are the mud that you have to sort.
To increase the ratio of the “big nuggets” (red weed i guess), you have to cumulate and increase the amount of mud of your spots. Not to reduce its quantity, until you hit the core of the vein.
And that, until your ratio is enough strong to survive well to an other layer of segregation. If you reduce right now the spectrum of this raw material, you will just decrease the, allready very low, ratio at the end.
On time that you have at least a third of the offspring that show this trait, at different degrees and level off course, you can start to deal with the mud in an agressive way. But this is not a twos times job like, i guess, you imagine but more a dance.
Each time than you will reduce the quantity of the mud, you will have to evaluate again the gain/loss in term of “red ratio”. If ever you’re lucky on one pass and that the red ratio stay increased by 300% from its original state, you can continue to reduce the mud.
But sometimes it will not happend, and for one or twos or “n” generation you will need to return in the first step to work the color again before getting back in the mud.
To finish, you have to be aware that this type of extraction take years of dedication in skilled hands and a large panel of tools. When you decrease the herms rates by 5% each generation, you can be happy of yourself and about a well done job. I say that just to be sure than you’re aware about the temporal factor in game for this type of work.
Now, on a personnal point of view and 100% personnal. Not a judgement or anything like that, just a share :
I don’t give a fuck about the color of the weed than i’m smoking/eating/vaping at the moment than i don’t have to roll one each half hour. And i will never spend years and take the risk to go in jail for that, colors ^^ I agree, my own context make the decision more radical and maybe more understandable i guess, but the idea behind will be the same in a full legal lab’ using the last technologies.
Knowing the twos bloods, you have better to spend you life to re-equilibrate the BB over the BR in potency and long lasting performances, in cleaning it from herms. And take the color as a potential bonus of this exercice, in any case with these twos bloods you can’t finish without a color’s festival if ever you push your lines enough, and let them express
your selections during enough time. We all known that the BB is “color linked” with its specific high and that the BR was bred for the bag appeal first, let the wheel turn a fews cycles before to re-invent it again. You’re on a railroad in fact to get your red weed near naturally, but not aware of it by lack of generations.
good luck and don’t kill any single “rants” with this hybrid ^^
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Finally yes! Plants induced to herm chemically are no threat at all. I believe this was done by Dr greenthumb with the ecsd strain. In fact I believe he selected to s3 or s4. I’m about to find out and try breeding an original diesel male to his ecsd fem selfed line.
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Leave a light on during dark period for 2-3 days at day 14 flower your “stable “ strain will drop tins of pollen. Agree with everything you said. Intersex cannot be bred out.
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I’ve had a couple plants that wouldn’t do that. No balls, no nanners, doesn’t matter what you do to stress them. They’re stable.
You could flip back to 24/0 veg, 20 days into flower, and they would just keep flowering. No balls, no nanners, ever. Wouldn’t even reveg.
Draught stress is also an easy way to make whole packs herm. Let the plants dry out to wilting and then bring them back, then flower. = Herms.
Again, the stable plants I’ve had tho, won’t do that. The problem is, most people making seeds aren’t actually testing their plants. BeCaUsE ItS FiRe
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I do this all the time. Not on purpose. But all the time
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