Plants form a significant part of the human diet and are a source of therapeutic remedies. When consuming any plant, stage and amounts play a crucial role. Some plants may consume most of their parts while others have a specific position, and the rest of the plant is either used in other ways or discarded.  

To reap the benefit of cannabis, you either smoke, inhale, ingest, or use a skin product. The most direct is smoking-dried mature female cannabis flower buds; other cannabis products use extracts from the same female weed buds. The female flowers at this stage produce resin glands or trichomes (in readiness to receive pollen), which contain the plant’s highest concentration of beneficial compounds.

So, understanding the difference between a female and male weed plant will help you as a producer and consumer. But first, let’s briefly mention what the cannabis plant is. 

 

What is a Cannabis Plant?

The use of cannabis has a history in many cultures and regions worldwide, with many twists in medicine, religion, law, and cultures.

Consumption of cannabis isn’t for food value but for its effects on the mind and body. Weed is known to interact with the nervous and immune systems. 

The main species of cannabis or weed, or marijuana plants consumed are C. indica and C. Sativa. The plant, however, exists in different cannabis strains according to regions and breeding. Male and female weed plants grow independently until maturity, although cases of hermaphrodite plants exist.

The advancement of science in researching plants, their compounds, and how they interact with our bodies reveals the potential benefits of using cannabis and its products in the medical field. The decriminalization and legalization of weed in Canada have seen a rise in recreational use.

 Both developments have led to the rise of a cannabis industry involving producers, processors, product makers, dispensaries, and online cannabis stores. Currently, individuals can also grow their weed at home.

 

What is a Female Cannabis Plant?

Weed cultivators mainly target female cannabis plants for consumable cannabis in their harvest. They produce the sought-after bud that is the basis of all weed products, whether edibles, topical or smokable. Female plant weed has the highest tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. The THC compound is found only in trace amounts in the male plant.

The harvests of female weed plants have higher potency levels than male plants. While it’s possible to make concentrates like hash from the male plant, their use is occasional, as the bulk of consumables come from female plants.

The hemp material of a female weed plant is coarse and tough, making it suitable for products requiring strong fibre. 

 

What is a Male Cannabis Plant?

The male cannabis plant produces sacs instead of buds. The sacs in male plants produce pollen, facilitating female plants’ pollination. Male weed plants play a crucial role when breeding by providing 50% of the inherited genes in seeds of a specific strain. So, breeders seek strong fathers with particular traits for their mother plants. 

Weed male plant leaves have a higher level of phytocannabinoids than female plants. Breeders will seek male weed plants with high cannabinoid concentrations in their leaves and strong roots for their breeding programs.

The male weed plant hemp fibre has wide use in the clothing industry. The male plant hemp is softer than female plants, making it suitable for bedsheets, shirts, or tablecloths. Male cannabis plants also help in the control of harmful pests.

How to Tell the Difference Between a Male and Female Marijuana Plant?

The marijuana plant has two growing stages: vegetative and flowering. After germinating, the weed plant begins the first cycle of its growth, the vegetative state in which it increases in height while broadening. During the first four weeks of the vegetative stage, separating the sexes of weed plants is difficult.

Around the sixth week, the cannabis plant enters the pre-flowering stage, allowing us to start telling the difference between male and female marijuana plants. In the pre-flowering stage, male and female weed plants start maturing for the next phase of their lives, siring the next generation, so their sex organs develop.

Characteristics A Female Weed Plant

Look for the following physical features when identifying female cannabis plants.

• Has more leaves than male
• A Slender stem with more branches
• Pear-shaped buds protected by a layer of calyx appear at the junction of the branches and the main stem.
• Fine white or orange hairs which appear translucent, known as pistils, start growing on the buds. 
• Buds are resinous to enable the capture of pollen

Characteristics Of Male Weed Plant

Look for the following Physical features to identify cannabis male plants.

• Thick, strong stems with spaced branches facilitate the flow of pollen
• Has fewer leaves than male
• Pollen sacs buds appear at the same junction but are hairless and later open to white and green flowers
• Taller than females to enable pollination from above.

Characteristics Of Hermaphrodite Weed Plant? 

Although rare, it’s possible to come across two types of hermaphrodite weed plants.  

• A plant that, on maturity, develops both pollen sacs and the resinous buds
• Hermaphrodite weed plant that grows anthers appearing like bananas

Hermaphrodite plants are capable of self-pollinating but are discouraged to avoid passing on genes and will also lead to buds with seeds. A plant becomes a hermaphrodite or herms out due to excessive stress from any of the following.

• Physical damage
• Weather conditions
• Disease
• Insufficient nutrients
• Poor genetics 

Best Ways of Sexing a Cannabis Plant

The primary objective of sexing cannabis is to increase sinsemilla (seedless buds) by growing the females separately from males or discarding males to avoid pollination. It allows females to have more buds as it awaits pollination.   

Are you planning on growing your cannabis for consumption? Cannabis planting seeds are available from different sources and in various categories and types for many strains. 

You can buy weed seeds from streets, dispensaries, online cannabis seed stores, from breeders. Only feminized seeds can germinate with a population of 99% females. Regular non-feminized seeds will have a higher male population. We recommend buying your cannabis seeds from a reputable breeder.

So, what is the best way of sexing weed plants? It’s easier if you are new to starting growing your cannabis with feminized seeds. The seeds will produce fewer male plants in the population after germination, so less work.

To start sexing cannabis plants wait until after the fourth week, some strains start maturing early, and the sex organs may begin appearing. By the sixth week, most plants will be showing clear their sexes. 

If you aim to harvest seedless buds remove all the males from the population before the pollen sacs open. Remember, hermaphrodites also produce pollen and should also be discarded.

Weed growers targeting to mix a strain can introduce male plants from the other strain in a female population to produce seeds. Remember, male weed carries half the genes of the subsequent offspring.

 

How To Feminize Your Seeds? 

Feminization can be through the use of chemicals to inhibit male chromosomes. However, you can’t smoke weed. The crop is sacrificial for the production of seeds. The chemicals suppress ethylene, resulting in pollen sacs full of female chromosomes.

To produce feminized seeds using natural ways, we use the rodelization method. It involves allowing your female plants to develop pollen sacs and pollinate themselves. However, the method is not popular among breeders because of the possibility of male seeds. 

So if you want to avoid the hassle of sexing your cannabis plants you can buy feminized marijuana seeds online.

 

Where to Buy Cannabis Seeds Online in Canada?

Cannabis online dispensaries and weed stores in Canada offer a variety of cannabis seeds for sale. Our online seed bank boasts high-quality weed seeds of different strains, and we have feminized seeds and regular seeds from trusted sources.

 

References

WikiHow (2022, July 26). How to Identify Female and Male Marijuana Plants available at: https://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Female-and-Male-Marijuana-Plants#/Image:Identify-Female-and-Male-Marijuana-Plants-Step-8-Version-5.jpg

The Seed Pharm. (2023, March 5). Buy Feminized Cannabis Seeds Online. Available at: https://www.theseedpharm.com/product-category/marijuana-seeds/feminized-marijuana-seeds/

Leafly (2022, September 16). Marijuana plant anatomy and life cycles. Available at: https://www.leafly.com/learn/growing/marijuana-plant-anatomy

Toronto Weed Delivery. (2023, March 5). Same-Day Weed Delivery in the Greater Toronto Area. Available at: https://torontoweeddelivery.co/

Homestead and Chill (2020, May 7). Sexing Cannabis: How to Tell the Difference Between Young Male vs. Female Cannabis Plants. Available at: https://homesteadandchill.com/sexing-cannabis-plants-male-vs-female/