🌿 How to Tell If Your Cannabis Plant Is Male or Female (Beginner Guide)
By Kabloomi
In no way am I an expert — I’m just learning as I go and sharing what I figure out along the way.
🌱 Introduction
If you’re new to growing, one of the first real tests you’ll face is figuring out whether your plant is male or female.
I remember the first time I had to do it — I was checking every node with my phone flashlight like I was inspecting gold.
Knowing your plant’s sex early is super important, especially if you’re growing from regular (non-feminized) seeds.
Males can pollinate your females, and once that happens, your buds fill with seeds instead of fattening up.
Nobody wants that when you’re just trying to get a nice harvest.
Here’s what I’ve learned about spotting the difference between male and female cannabis plants — and when to look for it.
🕒 When Can You Tell the Difference?
You’ll usually be able to tell the sex of your plant around weeks 4–6 of veg, right before you flip to flower.
Sometimes earlier if the plant is mature or stressed a little.
The key thing to watch: small growths called pre-flowers that pop up where the branches meet the main stem — those little “V” nodes.
👨🌾 How to Identify a Male Plant
Male plants show pollen sacs — they look like tiny round balls or bunches of grapes.
They form right at the nodes and don’t have any white hairs (pistils).
What to look for:
- Small, round, ball-like growths.
- They tend to face downward as they get bigger.
- They appear early — sometimes a full week before females show theirs.
Once those sacs open, they release pollen that can ruin your whole crop if it hits your females.
If you spot a male, move it out immediately (or destroy it if you don’t plan on collecting pollen).
👩🌾 How to Identify a Female Plant
Female plants are what we’re all after — they grow calyxes with white pistil hairs sticking out.
Those pistils are where your buds will form later on.
What to look for:
- Small tear-shaped calyxes with 1–2 white hairs poking out.
- They’ll grow right at the node where the branch meets the stalk.
- Over time, those hairs get longer and turn orange or brown as flowering progresses.
If you see white hairs — congratulations, she’s a keeper 🌸
🧬 What About Hermaphrodites?
Sometimes a plant shows both male and female traits — usually caused by stress (like light leaks, heat spikes, or overtraining).
These are called “hermies.”
They’ll grow female pistils and male pollen sacs at the same time.
If you see one, it’s risky to keep it because it can self-pollinate or pollinate nearby females.
I learned the hard way that it’s better to cut your losses early than to risk your whole tent.
🔍 Tips From My Own Grow
Here’s what’s worked for me while checking sex on my plants:
- Use a magnifying glass or phone zoom. Those pre-flowers are tiny.
- Label every plant if you’re running multiple from seed — makes it easier to track who’s who.
- Check daily during week 4–6. They can change fast once pre-flower starts.
- Don’t panic if you can’t tell right away. Some strains show slower than others.
For me, the sweet spot to check has always been right before the flip — around week 7 of veg.
🌸 Final Thoughts
Learning to tell male and female cannabis plants apart is one of those little milestones every grower hits.
It’s like the first time you transplant successfully or see roots hit the bottom of the cup — it just clicks.
If you’re growing regular seeds, start looking for those pre-flowers early and trust your eyes more than Google Images.
It’s something you’ll get better at every time.
I’ll keep sharing what I learn as I go — and if you want to see how my Candy Cake grow turns out, follow the full journal right here on Kabloomi.com 🌿
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