Feminized vs Regular Seeds: Understanding the Differences for Successful Growth

There are several different types of cannabis seeds on the market, and understanding the differences between them is vital for a successful home grow. If you want to know the difference between feminized seeds vs regular, you’re in the right place.

What Are Feminized Seeds?

Many new growers are stumped when asked “what are feminized seeds?” but the answer is quite simple.

Feminized seeds are cannabis seeds that have been specifically modified to produce only female plants. Female plants are the cannabis plants that grow the flowers you know and love, while male plants are solely responsible for pollination and reproduction. There are a few ways to feminize seeds, but the important part about feminized seeds is that they reduce your chances of getting a male plant to nearly 0.

Feminized seeds are 99% guaranteed to produce a female plant, so you don’t have to worry about sexing your plants, pollination, or sorting between male and female cannabis seeds.

The problem with having male and female cannabis plants together is that when females are pollinated, their flowers are full of seeds and have significantly less trichome production, reducing the potency of your yield.

• Easy for new growers to succeed
• No need to sex plants
• 99% guaranteed to get a female plant
• No pollination of female plants from male plants

All autoflower seeds are feminized, but not all feminized seeds are autoflower. If you want to make your own feminized seeds, we have a blog that walks you through how to grow feminized seeds, step by step.

What Are Regular Seeds?

Regular cannabis seeds are the kind of seeds you’d find in the wild (if you came across a wild cannabis plant.) Unlike feminized seeds, which are 99% female, these seeds have a 50/50 chance of being male. Growing multiple regular seeds together means you have to be able to tell the seed is female and identify the males or risk pollination and ending up with flowers full of seeds and little THC content.

However, regular seeds are important for cultivators and home growers who are breeding plants. If you’re trying to create a new strain, clone plants, or experiment with the genetic diversity of cannabis, you need regular seeds vs feminized.

Regular cannabis seeds can be photoperiod plants or autoflowers.

What is the difference between regular and feminized seeds

Feminized seeds are very similar to regular seeds with one major difference – there’s less than a 1% chance of getting a male plant with feminized seeds. 

Potency

Both feminized and regular cannabis seeds can produce strong plants with potent flowers. The potency of your cannabis harvest is not dependent on whether your seed is feminized, and more dependent on the strain genetics, growing conditions, and environmental factors.

To maximize the potency potential of your yield, opt for high-potency cannabis strains.

Yields

Do feminized or regular cannabis seeds yield more?

Apples to apples, both feminized and female regular seeds have equitable yield potential, because the size of your yield is almost entirely dependent on the growing conditions for the plant during seedling, vegetative, and flowering phases. The cannabis plants with the biggest yields are those that have ample light exposure, water, regular feeding, and low-stress training.

However, since there is a 50/50 chance of getting a male plant with regular seeds, feminized plants have the edge here.

Costs

For the average home grower, feminized seeds are more cost-effective. Unless you’re interested in breeding plants or trying to create a new strain, you don’t need the stress and time it takes to sort through male and female plants.

Feminized seeds guarantee a female plant every time, a better deal than any regular seed.

Genetic Stability

Feminized seeds are genetically identical to the mother plant, and are only as genetically stable as that plant. Feminized seeds are not unstable, but the feminization process carries over every trait from the mother plant exactly.

Regular seeds aren’t genetically modified and tend to have more stable genetics. However, you can still find regular seeds on the market that will produce cannabis hermies if you buy from a shoddy seed bank.

We surveyed 500 growers, asking them what motivated their choice of regular seeds for cultivation projects. A significant portion of growers (21.4%) indicated that they opt for regular seeds because of the genetic diversity they offer.

 

	Total	I wanted to preserve genetic diversity.	I prefer to select my own male and female plants for breeding purposes.	I believe regular seeds offer more stable genetics.	I’m interested in exploring a wide range of phenotypes.	I prefer the natural variability that comes with regular seeds.	I’m not concerned about having only female plants	I’m experimenting with creating my own unique strains.
Total	238	41	15	51	9	31	23	12
Gender
Female	144	26	8	32	6	20	11	7
Male	94	15	7	19	3	11	12	5

Cloning

While you can clone both feminized plants and regular cannabis plants, more growers prefer to clone from regular cannabis seeds, particularly when pheno-hunting.

Creating clones from regular cannabis seeds can give the clones more genetic stability. Feminized plants are genetic copies of their mother plants, and any potential issues are passed directly on. If a cannabis grower has pheno-hunted a strain to find exact qualities, they may create a feminized plant to clone this strain.

Breeding

Breeding cannabis plants with regular seeds is better because it allows for genetic diversity and strain evolution to continue.

The feminization process involves stressing a mature female cannabis plant to the point where it begins to develop seed sacks. These seeds are exclusively female and many growers do not breed with them. 

Since feminized seeds are genetically identical to a mother plant, feminized seeds preserve a strain or genetic lineage exactly as it is. However, many growers shy away from breeding with feminized seeds in order to encourage strain evolution and genetic diversity.

Cultivation Process

The cultivation process is very similar between feminized and regular seeds.

Both types of seeds must undergo a germination process before being planted in soil (or hydroponics) and have a seedling, vegetative, and flowering phase. Both types of seeds require ample light exposure, consistent temperature, air circulation, proper humidity levels, and regular feeding. The major difference between the two is that growers using regular seeds must keep a close eye on their plants during their life cycle to spot and weed out any male plants that grow. 

If your feminized seeds are autoflowers, they will automatically move from the vegetative to the flowering stage without any changes to the light cycle.

Are feminized seeds better than regular?

Feminized seeds vs regular seeds are not inherently better, but they are easier for most home growers to use. Both regular and feminized seeds require similar levels of care and attention during their life cycle, but regular seeds have the additional task of identifying any male plants and removing them.

Unless you’re trying to breed a cannabis plant, feminized seeds are better for home growers.

 

	Total	Regular seeds	Feminized seeds	Both
Total	500	238	90	172
Gender
Male	207	94	46	67
Female	293	144	44	105

Conclusion

Feminized cannabis seeds vs regular: which is better? Feminized seeds are more cost-effective and simplify the growing process, making them the best choice for new growers. But if you’re concerned about genetic diversity or want to breed your own cannabis strains, regular seeds are the right choice for you.

We asked growers, “What advice would you give to growers who are interested in exploring both feminized and regular seeds for their cultivation projects?” Here are the most intriguing responses.

Gender	Age range	Q: What advice would you give to growers who are interested in exploring both feminized and regular seeds for their cultivation projects?
Female	37	To learn how to recognize the difference and do research
Female	53	Just keep testing different ways and you will find the best one that works for you
Female	37	Read and research and join forums and groups. Your gonna mess up but just use it as a chance to learn
Female	54	Take charge
Female	42	Do your own research
Male	60	Look at the results of others to make up your preference
Female	47	Be sure to keep your two sexes of plants separate from each other.
Female	56	Name brand; go with quality
Female	48	Try both
Female	37	Diversity is strength
Female	47	Know the difference between them
Male	45	Be creative!
Male	55	One at a time too grow
Female	42	The feminized grows faster
Male	28	I would say to make sure it’s legal where you live.
Male	36	Do what works best for you
Male	52	I would tell them to be careful not to get caught growing plants.
Male	53	Do not mix your seeds
Male	71	Fresh is better
Female	46	Know where you get them from.
Female	36	Pick them at the right season
Male	38	I’m not a professional but just water the plants
Female	32	That you will have to use the right type of soil depending on what type of seeds you are using and just keep regular maintenance on your garden.
Female	44	Growing together in same pot
Male	51	seek information to make sure they are doing right
Female	39	I would say to keep them separate so you can control which one is which.
Male	60	Go easy on fertilizer
Male	30	Try them both and see how you like the process and yield
Male	42	Do your research and make sure you are using quality products
Female	46	The best advice is to go into both feminized and regular seed for greater benefits
Male	51	Regular seats are good so you can get new stock. Feminize are better for the harvest.
Male	38	Use clones instead from a female and youll get females
Male	37	To be consistent in caring for the growth of the seeds
Male	38	Learn as much as you can. Watch YouTube videos.
Male	27	Do your research watching YouTube farmers or your local producers
Male	27	Try both and see what works best for you
Male	24	Be prepared for trial and error
Female	33	Have patience
Female	50	Firstly make sure it’s legal and secondly have the right space and equipment. Grow with love.

FAQ section

Do commercial growers use feminized seeds?

Yes, commercial growers will use feminized seeds. If a cultivator has pheno-hunted a strain and wants to continue to grow it exactly, they will often feminize one plant and use those seeds in their next grow cycle.

Can regular seeds produce female plants?

Yes. Regular cannabis seeds have a 50/50 chance of producing a female plant over a male one. If regular seeds could not produce female plants, there would be no more cannabis plants.

Can feminized seeds turn into male plants?

It is highly unlikely to get a male plant from feminized seeds, but not impossible. There is less than a a 1% chance of getting a male plant from feminized seeds.