LST sexing question and hermie question

I'm really sorry if this has been answered before but i can't seem to find the answer to my exact question. First a few facts about the set up I am using. I am using this as a first run for experience. I am using bag seeds from a really good bag for my first attempt. While this is a trial run mainly for expierence, I would still like to produce something for my efforts. I am using all CFL's. I want to start several plants to ensure i get a female but I only have room for one to get to full size. I am going to use the LST growing method. I am leaning toward putting my plants into flower early, determining sex, picking the strongest female, and then putting it back into veg so I can put it into the LST sprial around the grow pot. Here are my questions:

1) What is the minimum number of plants I should start with to try and make sure I get a female?
2) How early can I put them into 12/12 flowering to determine sex?
3) Should I rush to get them back to veg or take my time in determining sex?


Also I had other questions about hermies.

1) What makes a hermie undesirable?
2) How do you tell if it has turned?
3) At what point do you stop worrying about turning your plants hermie? Flowering? Harvest?

Let me thank any responders in advance. I'm just aiming to grow for personal, not for sale so I don't want to just go for volume. This is my first try and I just want to be as careful as I can without being over careful.

And may everyone have a Happy Holiday!

Ceese said:

1) What is the minimum number of plants I should start with to try and make sure I get a female?
2) How early can I put them into 12/12 flowering to determine sex?
3) Should I rush to get them back to veg or take my time in determining sex?

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1) How long's a piece of string? You can veg 10 seeds and all 10 turn out male, or all 10 female of 5 male and 5 female - it's the luck of the draw. Grown out in optimum conditions you should get 50% female/male. In my last grow I grew out 3 seeds - two turned out male with 1 female.

2) It's not wise to veg plants, flower them to determine sex and then re-veg them again it confuses and stresses the plants and dimishes their genetic integrity. Better to take clones from your vegging plants and root them under 12/12 and within 10-14 days you should know the sex of each plant.

3) See above.

Ceese said:

Also I had other questions about hermies.

1) What makes a hermie undesirable?
2) How do you tell if it has turned?
3) At what point do you stop worrying about turning your plants hermie? Flowering? Harvest?

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1) Hermies are considered 'undesirable' simply because they can pollinate your other females once the pollen sacks open and because male parts on a hermie plant often aren't that easy to spot - you can miss them quite easily.

2) Male flowers appear on a predominantly female plant.

3) You shouldn't worry about your plants turning hermie at all. If you grow them properly, keep your lighting schedules consistent, don't over-fertilise or under fertilise and water correctly there should be no reason for them to turn hermie. Some do so genetically, some do so via environmental stress - but it's not something to worry about - if you spot male flowers on a female plant either nip them off or destroy it.

Ceese said:

This is my first try and I just want to be as careful as I can without being over careful.

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Good luck with your endeavours.

babygro said:

Hermies are considered 'undesirable' simply because they can pollinate your other females once the pollen sacks open and because male parts on a hermie plant often aren't that easy to spot - you can miss them quite easily.

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But what i don't get is why is a hermie bad? Does it not get you high? Does it not flower? I'm sorry but i just can't find an answer. Probably because it is such a basic question.

by the way thanks for the help babygro

Ceese said:

But what i don't get is why is a hermie bad? Does it not get you high? Does it not flower? I'm sorry but i just can't find an answer. Probably because it is such a basic question.

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they are as good as a female except they have seeds. some will only get a few male flowers so you only get a few seeds on your plant. but others will get a lot of male flowers and can seed the whole plant. the bud should be as good it will just be full of seeds.

This should help answer your questions https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=category&id=53

Ceese said:

But what i don't get is why is a hermie bad? Does it not get you high? Does it not flower? I'm sorry but i just can't find an answer. Probably because it is such a basic question.

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It's bad because it can pollinate your females! You don't want your female plants pollinated, because depending on the degree of pollination it can seriously reduce down your yield as the females put all their energy into producing seeds rather than unfertilised calyxs.

Yes it can get you high, other than the odd male flower it behaves in exactly the same way as a female plant. And yes it does flower - it behaves in exactly the same way as a female plant.

Because hermaphrodites look to all intents and purposes as regular females, it's very easy to miss the odd male flower lurking under the foliage - the next thing you know all your females are pollinated - that's why people don't like them!

Thanks, I get it now. I appreciate the help.

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Yes thank you it helped me as well.

fdd2blk said:

they are as good as a female except they have seeds. some will only get a few male flowers so you only get a few seeds on your plant. but others will get a lot of male flowers and can seed the whole plant. the bud should be as good it will just be full of seeds.

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a male plants thc is waaay lower then a females because the plant focuses on makeing seeds instead of resin glands.