Male Cannabis Plant Vs Female: How To Identify

Key Takeaways

• Female cannabis plants produce buds for cannabis products. Male cannabis plants produce pollen sacs for pollination. Read more about the differences in the article!
• Cannabis plants begin to show their sex in the first three weeks before flowering. Learn how to identify male cannabis plant vs female!
• "Hermie" plants contain both male and female parts, posing a risk to crop yield.  Find out why hermaphroditism in cannabis plants!
  
  

What Is The Difference Between Female and Male Weed Plants?

The differences between male and female cannabis plants are analyzed in detail in the table below:

Aspect	Female Cannabis Plants	Male Cannabis Plants
Bud Production	Produce buds (nuggets) that contain THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis	Do not produce buds
THC Content	High THC content (20 times more than male plants)	Low or negligible THC content
Usage in Products	Used in products like joints, oils, and creams	Rarely used in conventional cannabis products
Pollen Production	Do not produce pollen	Produce pollen sacs that release pollen for reproduction
Cultivation Preference	Grown more often due to high THC content and greater overall product yield	Grown less often, mainly for breeding and reproduction purposes
Economic Value	High – lucrative for growers	Low – valued primarily for reproduction

In general, male cannabis plants vs females start showing these pre-flowers around 4 weeks after sprouting. If female plants get pollinated, they produce a lot of seeds, which makes cannabis hard to sell because it's not good for smoking. If you tried smoking cannabis with a lot of seeds, the seeds would pop loudly, like small fireworks, which isn't enjoyable.

Most cannabis growers want only female plants in their gardens. To get this, some buy feminized seeds, which are made to grow only female plants.

However, these seeds usually cost more, and some people think they may have less genetic variety.

When Do Your Cannabis Plants Show Gender?

The first sign of whether a male cannabis plant vs female appears as "pre-flowers" between the 4th and 6th nodes (the points where leaves meet the stem). 

1. Male Plants

Male plants show pre-flowers that look like tiny, smooth pollen sacs and appear about four weeks after sprouting. Male plants are only needed if someone wants to produce seeds by breeding.

2. Female Plants

Female plants take around 4-6 weeks after sprouting to show up as pre-flowers. Female plants develop small, v-shaped pistils with soft white or pink hairs that are meant to catch pollen from male plants. Home growers usually prefer female plants because they produce the large, resinous buds used in cannabis. 

In general, male cannabis plant vs female start showing these pre-flowers around 4 weeks after sprouting. By week 6, you can often tell if the plant is male or female.

Once we know which plants are female, we transplant them into large grow bags with organic soil.

 

 

How To Identify Male Vs Female Weed Plant

How To Identify Male Cannabis Plant

• Recognizing male plants by their structure: 

Male cannabis plants generally have thicker, sturdier stems and fewer leaves compared to females. The thicker stem supports the taller height of the male plant, which needs to stay strong and upright. In contrast, female plants are usually shorter and bushier, with more leaves.

• Regular checks to determine gender: 

Between July and September, check your plants regularly to determine their gender. Male plants left to pollinate can drastically reduce the potential yield from female plants. 

Once pollinated, female plants shift their energy towards producing seeds rather than THC, the compound that growers usually aim to maximize. 

• Checking each plant carefully: 

Inspect each plant individually to confirm if it's male or female. Even a single male plant left unremoved can spoil an entire crop. Males typically reveal their gender earlier than females—about 7 to 10 days earlier indoors or up to three weeks earlier outdoors.

• Spotting male flowers at stem joints: 

Look at the stem joints (where branches meet the main stem) for small round sacs. These sacs contain pollen, and if allowed to mature, they will release it, affecting your yield. Remove these male plants as soon as you identify them to ensure a higher yield. 

• Check for hermies carefully: 

Some cannabis plants develop both male and female characteristics, known as hermaphrodites or "hermies." Treat them like males because they will also release pollen that can disrupt your harvest. Hermaphrodites are often undesirable because their pollen can ruin a crop

• Discarding or Isolating male plants:

Once you confirm a plant is male, it's best to remove it from the garden unless you specifically want seeds. Don't try to remove just the pollen sacs manually—missing even a few can affect your yield. 

If you choose to keep male vs female weed plant, keep them in a separate room from females, and be cautious not to carry pollen on your clothes or hands from one room to another.

Male cannabis plants can be identified by their thicker stems and the presence of small round sacs at stem joints. 

How to Identify Female Cannabis Plants

For the first six weeks, male and female cannabis plants look identical. It is after they develop reproductive organs that you can tell them apart.

• External differences: 

As they mature, female plants have fuller leaves than male plants. Mature female plants are usually shorter, bushier, and have more leaves, especially at the top. In contrast, male plants tend to have thicker, sturdier stems with fewer leaves.

• Looking for stigmas (Female signs): 

As the plant matures, female plants begin to develop small, transparent hairs called stigmas. You can see the joints between the branches and the main stem. 

Female plants will have small teardrop-shaped buds with hair-like stigmas. You may also see "growing heads," which are new branches or clusters of leaves that are just beginning to grow.

• Identifying males:

Male cannabis plants develop small pollen sacs that grow along the branches and leaf axils. Initially, these sacs appear as round, green buds that resemble small seeds. 

As the male plant continues to grow, the pollen sacs enlarge and begin to accumulate pollen inside. These are the male plant’s reproductive organs, which help disperse pollen to pollinate female plants when wind or animals break the sacs open.

• Identifying hermaphrodites: 

Some cannabis plants have the ability to develop both pollen sacs (like a male plant) and pistils (like a female plant) on the same plant. These plants are called hermaphrodites.

Hermaphrodites often appear when the plant is stressed by environmental conditions such as fluctuating light, high temperatures, or lack of nutrients. When hermaphrodites appear, they can pollinate themselves or other plants, resulting in unwanted seeds forming in the flower buds, reducing the quality and value of the final product.

• Separating male and female plants: 

You should keep female plants away from male plants. Only female plants can produce buds with enough THC for medicinal use. However, pollination by a male plant will significantly reduce its THC content.

Female cannabis plants have fuller leaves, are shorter and bushier.

What Is Hermaphrodite Cannabis?

Hermaphrodite cannabis plants produce structures for both sexes. Those hermaphroditic cannabis with both male cannabis plant vs female. This two-fold function allows the plant to fertilize both itself and nearby plants. Hermaphrodite plants will result in buds that contain seeds, and those buds typically have much lower levels of cannabinoids (like THC and CBD).

Hermaphroditic cannabis plants can self-pollinate and pollinate other plants. 

Causes of Hermaphroditism in Cannabis Plants:

• Lighting Issues: During the flowering stage, cannabis plants need a precise balance of light and darkness—typically 12 hours of light and 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness each day. If the 12-hour dark period is interrupted, the plant's growth hormones can get disrupted, leading it to produce male reproductive organs as a stress response. 
• Stress Factors: Cannabis plants are sensitive to various types of stress, which can cause them to develop both male and female parts. Common stress factors include:
• Extreme temperatures (too hot or too cold)
• Large humidity fluctuations
• Physical stress, such as pruning or topping
• Chemical exposure to pesticides 

Nutrient imbalances: Too much or too little of essential minerals (measured in EC/PPM) can stress the plant, which can lead to hermaphroditism. A balanced nutrient profile is key to maintaining a healthy, stress-free plant.