# How to tell early stages between male and female ?



## MassiveToke (Sep 17, 2006)

I have a plant going and this is my first time not using feminized seeds, It just showed its first leafs, I was wondering how I tell if it is male or female ?
And if it is male is it possible to change it into a female at a early stages of growth?


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## AssGasOrGrass (Sep 17, 2006)

There are some more experienced members here who might be able to answer but as far as i know you cant tell until they show balls or pistils which i think is the flowering stage


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## MassiveToke (Sep 17, 2006)

Well it has two clover like leafs and two marijuana leafs . Not sure what the clovers mean ? The plant is only like a inch tall tho.


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## m420 (Sep 17, 2006)

The "clover" leaves are normal and every marijuana plant that you will ever grow will start out like that. The ragular weed leaves will come next and go from 3,5,7 prong leaves, maybe more. You really can't tell males from females until they show their sex (balls/pistils) which is usually some time after flowering is induced. If you are not using feminized seeds than I recommend growing at least three plants to up the chances of a female.


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## MassiveToke (Sep 17, 2006)

Thanks for the info I got one plant and another in a other container if I dont get any females I will just Harvest the males and make some hash .


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## skunkushybrid (Sep 18, 2006)

if you're used to females just look for something different. You can induce flowering quicker by turning off the lights for 48 hours and then switching them straight to 12 12. Our plants started showing in a couple of days.

Male plants have little balls that will sometimes have a claw shape coming out of the top. This is our first grow and that claw shape was sort of confusing. I could just imagine it opening and releasing pistils.


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## MassiveToke (Sep 18, 2006)

Well I have it in my green house and I am not going to put lights by it. The sun is what it gets. Right now it is about two inchs tall and startiing to grow abit every day. Soon I hope it will be a nice big plant  I will post some pics in about a week or two. Oh and should I water the plant more in a green house because it is warmer ? And are a few ants going to be a problem ? I could use some answers this is my first indoor grow big changes from not using feminized seeds and and moving from outdoors to indoors.


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## skunkushybrid (Sep 19, 2006)

You're still growing outdoors, and at the wrong time of year. I think. I'm not sure about the U.S. 

I wouldn't attempt it in this country. I know how a greenhouse works etc, etc. I'm sure you have to wait about the same amount of time as an outdoor grow, you can expect huge yields from a greenhouse.

I'm really regretting trying to answer this post now. But at least it has me thinking and I'll follow this thread to see what answers are given. I'm interested myself because as soon as I get a bigger place I'm going to get myself a greenhouse. Still going to grow indoors too as I have a partner on that venture. The greenhouse will be all mine... and so will the smoke.


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## AssGasOrGrass (Sep 19, 2006)

Dumb q but, whats the science of greenhouses, and how does a bigger yeild come from one?


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## Widow Maker (Sep 19, 2006)

I wish I had a green house. They are the shit. You get the advantage of being outdoors (the suns light). And its still a controlled enviroment. You dont get rain, or rodents and you can control the bugs a lot better. A hydro setup in a green house would be the the shizzle.


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## mullup (Nov 20, 2007)

MassiveToke said:


> Thanks for the info I got one plant and another in a other container if I dont get any females I will just Harvest the males and make some hash .


 
i just ripped out a male of mine, now after reading that i regret it.

Could you please tell me how to make hash ? i've wanted to know for a while now. 

thanks, MullUp


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## homegrownboy (Nov 25, 2007)

You live in Canada, and it's friggin winter time...brrrrr...you can't grow outdoor till after winter i think march is when u plant i dunno though


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## skunkushybrid (Nov 26, 2007)

mullup said:


> i just ripped out a male of mine, now after reading that i regret it.
> 
> Could you please tell me how to make hash ? i've wanted to know for a while now.
> 
> thanks, MullUp


hash is trichomes... you harvest the trich's. Either turn them into oil or hash.

Check the FAQs there are tutorials in there for both... or at least, there should be.


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## bush basher (Nov 26, 2007)

here's a male












and here's a female


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## skunkushybrid (Nov 26, 2007)

Isn't that a calyx in the bottom pic'? Looks like a hermie...


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## skunkushybrid (Nov 26, 2007)

oops... missed the part where you said 'this is a female.'... lol


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## bush basher (Nov 26, 2007)

ha ha ha i dont think she's a hermie. cant see no signs of anything but pistols anyway.


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## skunkushybrid (Nov 26, 2007)

My mistake...

I just saw balls, balls, pistil as I scrolled down... and I thought, fuck! 

Nice work on the close-ups, btw.

I gotta buy a better camera.


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## bush basher (Nov 26, 2007)

i got mine on hols in tenerife cost me 160 euro's can get them for bout 140 quid here. sony cyber shot w55 its a great camera.


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## skunkushybrid (Nov 26, 2007)

bush basher said:


> i got mine on hols in tenerife cost me 160 euro's can get them for bout 140 quid here. sony cyber shot w55 its a great camera.


 
hmmmmm. 160 ero's, or £140? I know which price I prefer, lol.

Know any shoplifters?


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## bush basher (Nov 26, 2007)

i know. wasnt really lookin for a cam just seen the price and thought fook it. 

nah mate used to a few years ago not now. lol


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## skunkushybrid (Nov 26, 2007)

Yeah, the shoppers  these days are all heroin addicts. They'd grass you up just to get bail off a charge they'd most likely get a fine for. desperation for the next hit and all that.


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## bush basher (Nov 26, 2007)

sounds like round here. nothin but smackies ha ha ha.


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## jeffro (Dec 10, 2007)

Man, I am having the same dilemna. This is my first time and I really don't want to mess it up, you know? I forced flowering about 4 days ago and one plant is starting to show, but I do not know what I am seeing?! Help?1


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## skunkushybrid (Dec 10, 2007)

There's no need to panic... the balls of a male have to congregate quite a lot before they burst.

A female will have a calyx, which looks like a male ball at first, but then two white hairs/pistils will sprout out. The males will just keep growing balls, they usually show up in pairs, lol. No, truthfully they do.



jeffro said:


> Man, I am having the same dilemna. This is my first time and I really don't want to mess it up, you know? I forced flowering about 4 days ago and one plant is starting to show, but I do not know what I am seeing?! Help?1


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## jeffro (Dec 11, 2007)

Someone please help this stoner. I am registered as Jeffro and I have no idea how to ask a question about my plants. Please someone help me?!
Thanks
Jeffro


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## nbgen12 (Apr 22, 2008)

so ima try growing around my house... after i germinate the seeds and get the to start growing inside then what do i have to do? b/c i want to grow outside. What is a good amount to go check up on the plant and water it? also what should i do for the soil? this is my first attempt at growing so thats why im asking all this, cuz i dont want to mess up.


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## onep0ket0ke (Apr 26, 2008)

male plants also ALWAYS have thicker leaves than females.


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## onep0ket0ke (May 19, 2008)

Scratch my last post, for I was misinformed.

The difference in leaves decides the "strain".
Cannabis Indica has fat leaves usually in no more than 5 leaflets
Cannabis Sativa has long slender leaves with up to 9 leaflets

In case anyone every needs to know how to tell the difference between male, female, and hermaphrodite plants.

Female plants, when in late vegetative -pre-flowering stage- will produce pistils.
Male plants, when in the same stage will start to produce a sack that sort of resemble Garbanzo Beans. These open up in flowering and pollinate females causing a female to end THC and bud production and begin seed production.
Hermaphrodite plants, in the same stage will show both sexes and are of very little use to the grower for recreational use.

Males should only be Kept in the wish of creating buds with seeds for reproduction. Otherwise, I recommend cloning cuttings.

Pistils - 2 small white hairs that protrude from the node.

Node - split of a branch from the main stem or where the leaves petiole splits from the branch.

vvv --- Pic of a female in Pre-flowering stage --- vvv






vvv --- Pic of a male plant just starting to show its sex --- vvv






vvv --- Pic of a male plant completely showing its sex --- vvv


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## Rayvrien Dawson (May 22, 2008)

How do I know if i Have a male or female?


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## Rayvrien Dawson (May 22, 2008)

What is the best lighting to use and can I grow male and female together and if not how do i tell them apart.


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## Beaters (Jun 12, 2008)

onep0ket0ke said:


> _Scratch my last post, for I was misinformed.
> 
> The difference in leaves decides the "strain".
> Cannabis Indica has fat leaves usually in no more than 5 leaflets
> ...


Those are some very nice macro pix. Just curious, what kind of camera/lens was used on those males? Those images were better than anything I've yet seen in books.


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## iixasheexii (Nov 10, 2008)

i am growing for the 1st time and i just put my plant into the flowering stage about a week ago and it is growing stuff on the very top and i cant tell if it is the beg. of nugs or "balls" is it a male or female? i have some pics


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## ThaDonNacci (Nov 12, 2008)

Congratulations! It's a Bouncing Baby BOY! Those clusters on the top are all balls!
Sucks to go that far and have a beautiful plant turn out to be a male. Happened to me. I kept it in veg in my closet for about 2 1/2 months. It was about three foot tall when I switched it onto 12/12 only to find out that my now 5 foot monster was a male! GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! 
That was before I knew you could make hash outta the males, so I just upped and tossed him into the river.............


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## iixasheexii (Nov 13, 2008)

Yea I have been growing it for about 3 months and yesterday we killed it. All that hard work for nothingg! I wasnt even going to waste my time making hash because I heard it was rediculously hard to make with male plants.. o well I guess next time I will order female seeds.. Thanks for your help


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## 420weedman (Nov 13, 2008)

iixasheexii said:


> Yea I have been growing it for about 3 months and yesterday we killed it. All that hard work for nothingg! I wasnt even going to waste my time making hash because I heard it was rediculously hard to make with male plants.. o well I guess next time I will order female seeds.. Thanks for your help


you really set your self up for a swift kick in the teeth if you start with less then 3 plants...i started with 13 ... only 3 were female


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## flgrower (Jan 25, 2009)

you cant tell til into 12 12anmd no you cnat make a plant be a female


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## 420weedman (Jan 25, 2009)

flgrower said:


> you cant tell til into 12 12anmd no you cnat make a plant be a female


they will show in 18/6


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## Antman (Jan 25, 2009)

Just a little "heads up" for everyone that has read some of the misinformation in this thread. You DON'T need to put a plant into flower(turn the lights to 12/12) to tell whether it's male or female. After your plant is vegged to the point that it starts growing in the "alternating internode" pattern(usually around 6 weeks), which means the plant is sexually mature and will produce the best weed it's capable of producing, you will be able to find "pre-flowers" in between the "stipules" and the new growth, at each node. Male and female pre-flowers are a very easy way to determine the sex of your plant without doing anything to your plant or the light cycles. You have a long way to go before you'll be able to tell sex, and NO, you can't change a male plant into a female plant, unless there's some mad scientist out there that knows a way of doing it. I HAVE HEARD some ppl say that putting banana peels in a bag with your seeds will turn them female, BUT I have never tried it and can't say whether it's fact or fiction.


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## william2 (Jun 10, 2009)

i have a plant that has budded a bit early.it is only on its third set of leaves and it already has buds on it.is this normal?


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## 600HPS (Sep 11, 2009)

william2 said:


> i have a plant that has budded a bit early.it is only on its third set of leaves and it already has buds on it.is this normal?


What do you mean it budded early? If you have it in the vegetative state, there shouldn't be any bud yet, and if you switched over to flowering (12/12) then you should be expecting to see buds. I don't really get your question without more information...


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## indy kuh (Mar 3, 2010)

hypotenuse


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## WheresWaldosBUD (Mar 5, 2010)

this is going to my first outdoor grow and i have 97 seeds. I'll appreciate all the help i could get or just come by and check my grow journal out and subscribe. see how everything turns out for my gorilla grow!


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## smokesumkush (Apr 23, 2010)

seriously what a shitty plant and im not tryinna be mean but how did u manage to get a marijuana plant that grows so vigorously to look like it has polio!!!


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## ArizonaIceTea (Jul 25, 2010)

Usually you can tell from just the look of the plant in my opinion. A male looks masculine, they are bigger, the nodes stretched farther apart, it grows faster. Meaning, don't get to excited if some plants are growing really well and getting big, it could be a male. On the other hand, don't always knock the runt of the bunch because that could be signs of a female. They look very feminine and petit, they grow more bushy. Just let time tell you the sex of your plant. Usually males will show signs well before females do so there is not much to worry about if your are watching your plants. Always start with 3 or more plants to increase the chance of getting a female and learn how to clone!


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## medicalmaryjane (Jan 22, 2011)

Can someone please help me tell if this plant is male or female? I started with 3 plants as I was told but 2 of them died in replanting  This is the only one left and it's starting to get large but I don't even know if it is female. I hope it is! Please help. Is it too soon to tell? I have been growing this plant outdoors for quite some time and it's not that large. We had some cool weather and it didn't do anything for quite some time. What can I do to ensure things go well if it is female? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I have never grown a plant before. I hope it hasn't all been a waste.

I looked at the previous posts and I don't see balls. there do look like some white hairs at the way top but i can't get a good picture because I only have a camera phone and it sucks. Could it be femlae? I always assumed it would end up a male. (didn't want to expect much)


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## convict156326 (Jan 24, 2011)

medicalmaryjane said:


> View attachment 1396474View attachment 1396800
> 
> Can someone please help me tell if this plant is male or female? I started with 3 plants as I was told but 2 of them died in replanting  This is the only one left and it's starting to get large but I don't even know if it is female. I hope it is! Please help. Is it too soon to tell? I have been growing this plant outdoors for quite some time and it's not that large. We had some cool weather and it didn't do anything for quite some time. What can I do to ensure things go well if it is female? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I have never grown a plant before. I hope it hasn't all been a waste.
> 
> ...


it looks to me like you are a papa to a beautiful young lady, but the pic doesnt really show the nodes/ brackets ver well. a male will have literally little balls, you can pull em off and they look like imature seeds, once you get a male, you'll always be able to tell the difference


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## Antman (Jan 25, 2011)

Congrats! You are the proud father of a beautiful GIRL! The pistols you see are called "Pre-flowers" and are definitely female. Now if you can just leave her alone and let her do her thing without overfeeding or overwatering, you'll be in good shape. She will most likely DOUBLE in size when you flower her, so keep that in mind. Leave yourself enough room for that much vertical growth, and then some. When you're ready to flower, give her a SMALL dose of flowering nutes, turn the lights back to 12 on/12 off, and enjoy the ride. Best of luck with your girl. Keep us posted with some pics along the way. Do you know what strain it is?


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## sputniknz (Jan 25, 2011)

medicalmaryjane said:


> View attachment 1396474View attachment 1396800
> 
> Can someone please help me tell if this plant is male or female? I started with 3 plants as I was told but 2 of them died in replanting  This is the only one left and it's starting to get large but I don't even know if it is female. I hope it is! Please help. Is it too soon to tell? I have been growing this plant outdoors for quite some time and it's not that large. We had some cool weather and it didn't do anything for quite some time. What can I do to ensure things go well if it is female? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I have never grown a plant before. I hope it hasn't all been a waste.
> 
> I looked at the previous posts and I don't see balls. there do look like some white hairs at the way top but i can't get a good picture because I only have a camera phone and it sucks. Could it be femlae? I always assumed it would end up a male. (didn't want to expect much)


Look like a girl to me, better photo would help. But im pretty sure its a girl.


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## Antman (Jan 25, 2011)

ArizonaIceTea, It's nice that you want to help bro, but that's some incorrect info there babe. Straight to the "Growfaqs" for you lad. "A male looks masculine, they are bigger, the nodes stretched farther apart, it grows faster." NO. "Usually males will show signs well before females do." Definitely NO.


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## medicalmaryjane (Jan 25, 2011)

She is an Organic OG Fire Kush. I hope I can keep her healthy. Thanks for the help identifing the sex.

I am not the papa, I am the mama 

I will post some pics when she flowers.


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## solosmoke (Jan 25, 2011)

my eyes not as good as use to be but i do see hairs so its a girl ,happy growing


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## officernasty (Jan 25, 2011)

the only way to tell is when you put them into flowering or get something that the light cant penetrate such as a black bag or something and cover one of the leafs where the bud will grow and cover it for 12 on and 12 off and only that leaf should go into flowering and will tell you if its a male or female within 2 weeks or less


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## perry420 (Jan 12, 2012)

After all this time did you end up getting a bigger place and getting a greenhouse??


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## TeeJay202 (Apr 26, 2012)

i just started flowering my plant, i dont see any green pollen sacks so far.. heres my question tho, is it possible for the pistils of the female to start out green? or do they start as the clear/white hair?


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## Softball1 (Jul 30, 2012)

Hi I am trying to figure out if these two plants are male or female if someone can help me out that would be great here are a pic of each plant.


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## chickenpoop (Jul 30, 2012)

thats a female, the lil white hairs are very evident, congrats.


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## FresnoFarmer (Jul 30, 2012)

Softball1 said:


> Hi I am trying to figure out if these two plants are male or female if someone can help me out that would be great here are a pic of each plant. View attachment 2274704View attachment 2274705


female for sure


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