Feminized cannabis seeds are created to contain no male chromosomes, in order to make sure plants originating from them will turn out to be females when the flowering period comes. These female plants are the ones sought after by most cannabis growers, as they have the capability of producing the luscious buds and resin most people know and use cannabis for.

Why choose feminized seeds?

Non-feminized seeds come from the fertilization of a female cannabis plant by a male cannabis plant, and the resulting seeds, in turn, produce female and male cannabis plants. There is no way to foresee whether a seed will produce a female or male plant, explaining both why removing male plants from a grow space is deemed so important, and why feminized seeds are so precious to many growers!
Of course, there is still one way to find out what non-feminized cannabis seeds are up to; growing them! But at times, another option can prove itself more than useful.

Indeed, many people find the process of growing cannabis difficult or time-consuming – especially when the space in which they are cultivating is not 100% adapted to what they wish to achieve. Those people might find solace in growing feminized cannabis seeds, since the task of identifying and removing male plants from the grow space is in this case unnecessary.

When female cannabis plants are pollinated by accident, this can have quite a negative impact on your harvest which explains  why, especially in the context of medicinal use, feminized versions of cannabis strains are greatly appreciated. Beginners will also prefer this option in order to obtain a relatively easy but glorious first harvest – and once more acquainted with the art that cannabis growing is, might stick to feminized seeds regardless!

Why are feminized seeds so easy to grow?

When using naturally produced seeds, i.e. not feminized, it is quite common to start the process by germinating an important number of them. Many opt for germinating twice as many seeds as number of plants they ultimately would like to nurture into providing healthy harvests. This is definitely not among common considerations when growing from feminized seeds! All feminized seeds are meant to become female plants, so one just needs to contemplate how many of those plants are appropriate for the grow space available, as well as the grower’s needs and wishes. The rest is up to the amount of love and pampering provided during the plants’ respective lifecycles! In other words, with feminized cannabis seeds, cultivation has become mind-blowingly easy.

What are feminized seeds?

Did you know that cannabis plants have the ability to grow reproductive organs of the opposite sex in extreme conditions? Other plants also benefit from this skill, and even certain animals. In the case of cannabis, it explains how the plant successfully managed not only to survive, but also to thrive in most climates, including in some particularly hostile environments. Each gender can develop reproductive organs of the other, although it is more common for female plants to grow male flowers as well. From there, the plant can, essentially, pollinate itself, therefore ensuring the future of the species by producing more seeds which will spread and create more plants.

Of course, this incredible possibility for cannabis plants to pollinate themselves did not take long to reach the minds of expert cannabis growers. Feminized seeds come from the process of forcing a female cannabis plant to produce pollen, and then have it pollinate other female plants with said pollen. Because of this very specific configuration, the seeds that will be produced will not bear any male chromosome, explaining why any plant resulting from growing them will be exclusively female, producing female flowers.
During the first developments of the feminized seeds project, a certain breed of cannabis, which has a propensity to produce hermaphrodites, was used to secrete the male pollen needed. The genetic identity of the strain resulted in those hermaphrodite tendencies being passed on to the seeds, and plants growing from them. Feminized seeds created nowadays do not use these techniques or strains. Growing hermaphrodite plants from feminized seeds is therefore a thing of the past!

Female seeds and feminized seeds are two entirely different things. Technically, it is incorrect to call a feminized strain “all-female” or “guaranteed female”, from a scientific standpoint. Regardless, when it comes to comparing feminized seeds of a cannabis strain with regular seeds of the same strain – or even in general – there is no difference in terms of taste and smell, quality and quantity of resin produced, levels of cannabinoids (THC, CBD or else), etc.