Uhgg... it's a "Sausage Fest" in there!

[rhead]

Well out of 15 beautiful plants, I had 13 males! :swear
Something went horribly wrong... ideas?
Nutes: Foxfarm
Soil: Organic (cheap) / 1.5 gal smartpots
Beans: All bag seeds 5 diff. strains
Water: Distilled Springwater ph 6.2
Temps: Max 90f / Min 72f
Humidity: Max 58% Min 34%
Lighting: 2 x 600w HPS + 2 x 125 Feliz CFL (blue)

 

[Green81]

Maybe just v unlucky :(

 

[dailychronic]

First time I went to bat I got 11 males and 1 female. Just bad luck. Nextime I went 2 males 8 girls so sometimes it just bad odds. Although if it is anything maybe it was your cheap organic soil. I also used cheap "organic" soil when I
got mostly males.

 

[true grit]

Work on lowering your temps. If you are hitting 90 degrees during germ/veg, its "said" that higher temps lead to more males and vice versa- so keep it cooler during germ (70's) and hopefully you can have better female ratio. And to help with heat, you shouldn't need 2 (600)'s for vegging. Take a look at a smaller veg light or add a few more cfl's. You don't need much light for vegging, and that will help drop temps considerably til flowering. Then at that point I suggest improving exhaust/airflow to get the temps down.....

If space is limited, consider looking into feminized seeds, but as they can herm make sure your environment is consistent and a slightly cooler to avoid any possible issues.

 

[rhead]

thanks for all the input...! I am going to re-vamp the grow room, probably with just the 2 x 125w CFL's untill winter when I can handle the heat. I will only be able to add one 600w for flowering, thought the current layout would work but its way too much for a 2' x 6' space. :whew

I do have limited space. Gonna keep down the heat, get some good soil like foxfarm or light warrior. I pop the beans like normal, drop in root riot plugs, then to the smartpots.

I started my free Auto-Fem roadrunners about a week ago only 1 of 3 popped! Just wanna get things right before I crack these fem'd white label super skunks!

 

[waayne]

Hey rhead True Grit nailed it on the high temps.
The ideal veg room temp is 76 degree's
Environmetal extremes almost alway's impact the
male-female ratio in a negative way.
bet you get a better ratio on the next run.

 

[rhead]

since I chopped, bleached & cleaned, and re-started the auto-flower fem's, well (fem)... my temps have been 72.7/31% min 83.2/57% max under 2 125w feliz bulbs in hydrofarm fixtures. I have it in the same soil, gonna go shop for new soil tomorrow and crack the super skunks next week. Anybody use soil from home depot? heh.. I will let the autoflower grow out while the skunks veg, then add the 600w to flower them. Just 5 in the 2 x 6 should be ok if I flip them at 10 weeks. Thats 20.83w / sqft in veg and 70.83w / sqft to flower. Maybey I should make a diary so you's guys can help me along the way!!

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

if they were all bag seed what kinda weed was it any good? if it was brickweed maybe you just got all hermi's?

 

[true grit]

Sounds like you've got it under control! Those temps should be manageable for a veg space...trust me the more air you can exhaust out the better! It will also create a passive intake of fresh air to help as well.

On the soil, since you are just starting, if you use FF Ocean Forest cut it with perlite or something as its fairly hot. I tend to use Roots Organic for my soil seedlings.

 

[waayne]

Don't know where you live but a garden center or Hydro store might have some higher quality soil,would be good to try and find some Fox Farm,Roots Organic,or Black Gold.
Scrimping on soil is not the best item to try to get on the cheap
starting out!

 

[cheyenne]

Things idid in the past were, 1 make sure the initial tap root has plenty of free depth to drop so it doenst J root, blue light spectrum and mid 70s temps, always got me more girls then boys.

Man thats just a bummer. What strain was it?

 

[rhead]

if they were all bag seed what kinda weed was it any good? if it was brickweed maybe you just got all hermi's?

I saved only the 5 best weeds of the year, 3 were definatly heavy indica's (short) 2 were big ole tall sativa's. Wasnt mexican schwag more like good outdoor from the hillbilly states.
:harvest:

 

[rhead]

:stonedsmilie:

Things idid in the past were, 1 make sure the initial tap root has plenty of free depth to drop so it doenst J root, blue light spectrum and mid 70s temps, always got me more girls then boys.

Man thats just a bummer. What strain was it?

Just bagseeds, but ones I would DEFINATLY smoke again! I just rebooted the growroom, gonna get some good soil & pop these Super Skunk Fem's under 250w cfl blue to veg 10 wks or so, then add 1 600w hps hortilux to flower. Thanks u guys rock with suggestions! Imma start a grow diary next weekend & you guys feel free to coach!

 

[Blaze]

It's just bad luck most likely. The myth that environment influences sex in plants has been thoroughly disproved by several scientific studies at this point. Environmental conditions when the seeds are forming may influence sex but that's it - once the seed has formed it's sex as been determined already.

 

[cheyenne]

It's just bad luck most likely. The myth that environment influences sex in plants has been thoroughly disproved by several scientific studies at this point. Environmental conditions when the seeds are forming may influence sex but that's it - once the seed has formed it's sex as been determined already.

Im not discounting what you are saying, but do you have a link to any research papers on the topic? if you have ever done research you know its fairly easy to manipulate data to show what you want to see. im curious as to their techniques and methodologies.

 

[motherlode]

another old wives tale about males is that if the initial push of the tap root hits the bottom of the container it increases the likelihood of a male


edit: chey beat me to this...

 

[Blaze]

Here are two to check out:



http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v88/n2/full/6800016a.html

It gets a bit complicated since cannabis is a genotypically intersex species. It is also important to differentiate between environmental influences when the seeds form (which do appear to influence sex ratios) and environmental influences when the plant is growing (which do not appear to influence sex ratios.)

Charles Xavier has a really good answer to this question on another thread:

"Sexual determination is genotypic. That means it is written in the genetic code of the organism. Whether it is 'male' or 'female' is predetermined.

Sexual expression is phenotypic. That means all the traits possessed by an organism that can be visually observed; but it also encompasses all the traits that can be made to manifest by manipulation or stimuli. Whether it appears to be 'male' or 'female' is condition dependent.

The environment does not "trigger the sex gene". The sex of the plant is already fixed. The environment influences expression i.e. causes certain chemical processes in the plant that may cause it to look differently.

The genetic code (genotype) remains intact, but what can be visually assessed is influenced by the environment (phenotype).

Here's the deal: ordinarily the environment shouldn't have such a profound effect on a seed, but irrespective of what they appear to be phenotypically, most Cannabis plants are genotypically intersex specimens (colloquially referred to as hermies).

That's just the way it is.

Sincerely,

Charles."

Or in other words, sex is determined by genetics, period. Environment simply does not influence genetics except in extreme examples.

 

[zappafan99]

Is the above then saying sex is predetermined but hermes/intersex can arise from stress?

 

[SweetIslandFunk]

I hear ya man, out of 3 out of 10 females

 

[farmerjohn]

Make sure you sprout seeds with 4" of soil underneath. Doing so encourages female development. My last attempt @ this resulted in 3 females of Blue Dynamite, (currently in flower) out of 6 surviving sprouts. (12 seeds planted) One got knocked over & died. Two others are just now being sexed. It could be a clean sweep, if the last two end up females!


As always, there are 3 kinds of liars. Liars, damn liars & statistics! Try the solutions mentioned & check the results out for yourself. One possible reason for the 4" of soil giving good female ratios might be due to the fact that not all seeds sprout. Let's say you put 10 seeds in 4" deep pots & 7 sprout & make it to maturity. Of those 7, 5 or 6 are females. Perhaps the 3 lost seeds were male, but could not utilize the extra soil, whereas the females did, by dropping deep taps roots quickly & surviving. This would account for the previously stated point that sex is predetermined & still allow for environmental manipulation, in order to up the female %.