Do most people doubt the genders of the weeds? Do they even think about whether there exists a difference between male and female marijuana plants? Let us explore the same in this article. Similar to human beings and animals, even plants have male and female genders. Coming to the weeds, male and female marijuana plants exist on this earth. While growing weeds, the type of weed plays a crucial role. It helps in getting the right value and quality in the final stage.
Main Difference Between Male And Female Marijuana Plants That You May Find:
Female marijuana plants have great value in the market for their high THC buds. So, it is clear that male weeds have fewer psychoactive effects. Though you consume it in a high quantity, it will not feel high. Furthermore, male plants will grow disturbing the growth of female plants. Soon after the fertilization of female plants, they will spend much energy on seed growth. It will concentrate on seed growth rather than THC nugs and flowers.
Sometimes, male plants crowd the female plants and restrict the space of female plants. Thus, it acts as a disturbance in stopping the growth of female plants. Thus, money-minded people will only grow female plants in their homes.
How To Identify Male Cannabis Plants?

Male Flowers Look Like Little Balls:
The early signs of a male plant are that it will produce male flowers within 3 to 4 weeks. Such flowers look like little balls and are pollen sacs carrying pollen grains in them. The male plants don’t have the capacity to produce buds. However, such plants help female plants with pollination resulting in more seeds.
Male Pre-flowers Fast Development:
Once these male plants’ pollen sacs are open, they will help for pollinating. Not only does this crop also help most plants to grow within the range of 5 km.
If you are looking for the early signs of a male plant, it will be taller. Also, male plants are not bushy like female plants. If you want to produce seeds in a controlled environment, you need to concentrate on pollination.
Male Plants Have Thicker Stalks With Fewer Leaves:
When compared to a female plant, the male plant will have a thicker stalk. It was one of the early signs of a male plant Cannabis. The thicker stalk makes the plant grow taller than female plants.
Thus, the thicker stalk will support the weight of the plants effectively. Furthermore, male plants have fewer leaves when compared to female plants.
Remove Male Plants Unless You Require Seeds:
Soon after determining the sex of the plant, you can get rid of the male plant. This will prevent spoiling your crop. Never remove the buds using a bare hand, as it will even decrease your crop.
Most growers simply throw the male plant while a few keep them for breeding. If you want to grow both male and female cannabis plants, then you can try out separate rooms for them. So the early signs of male plants are,
- Sparse leaves
- Thick stalks
- Taller plants
- Green and white flowers from pollen sacs
How To Identify Female Cannabis Plants?

Check For 4 – 6 Weeks From Germination:
Usually, the pre-flowers in female cannabis plants appear between 4 and 6 weeks from germination. In such a period, the female plants will get 5 to 6 internodes. Here the pre-flowers look like white hairs in V form.
You can notice such white hairs coming out from the green calyx. The structure of such white hairs is known as ‘pistils.’ Then, the pre-flowers lead to the formation of clusters named ‘Buds.’
Look Out The Stalk of Female Plants:
Soon after the maturity stage, the female plants start flowering. Here the female plants will have slender stalks with abundant leaves. So, the female plants are easy to separate their bushy structure.
Female Plants are Shorter then Male:
When you compare female with male marijuana plants, you will notice a major difference in their height. Usually, they are shorter than male plants but remain bushy with many leaves. So the characteristics of female cannabis plants are,
- Abundant leaves
- Resinous buds
- Pair of white hairs (pre-flower)
- V-shaped pistils
- Slender stalks
- Shorter female plants
What are Hermaphrodite Plants?
When a female cannabis plant grew in a stressed condition, it might have both male and female sex organs in it. Such a plant is the Hermaphrodite plant. Since it has both sex organs, it will pollinate and spoil the entire crop. So, it is better to remove this plant from the other plants when you discover it.
But it is difficult to monitor and remove such hermaphrodite plants from them. To prevent this condition, you can avoid plant stressors like
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Bad weather
- Plant damage
- Disease
- Pests
It is not so easy to grow a marijuana plant in a healthy condition. So, it is almost a rewarding process that requires much more care to get the best result.
Once you find out male and hermaphrodite plants in your garden, you need to remove them for safer results. Also, ensure that you take care of the cannabis plants in a healthy condition.
Which Weed Plants Grow Faster?

Generally, male weed plants grow faster than female cannabis plants. During the fourteen days of the growth cycle, you can see the male plants are taller than the female plants. Male cannabis plants will take 30 days to start the flowering stage. But you couldn’t notice so fast flowering in the female plants.
Also, you shouldn’t grow both male and female plants together. Ensure that you separate them and remove the male cannabis plants completely. It will act as a hindrance to the growth of female plants. Thus, it is better to eliminate them when you see the growth of male plants.
The Bottom Line:
This article gives you an idea about how to differentiate male cannabis from female plants. It is easy to identify both weeds using some tips as discussed above.’
Also read: How to Grow Weed? A Step-By-Step Beginners Guide to Grow Cannabis Indoors