I purchased femenized seeds for the first time after growing from bagseed for my first few indoor grows(and a few outdoor years prior). Ordered some headband and monster cookies seeds from a local seed bank along with some cherrytop autoflower seeds(got a couple freebies so I also ended up with gage green diamonds and dust mix pack and bigtop auto as a bonus). Struggled sprouting seeds but managed after a few attempts to get 2 headband sprouts…fast forward to a few weeks into veg and one plants stunted with some really odd growth. I figured if I stopped with the fox farm trio regimen and switch to just ph balanced water I could solve it. Sprouted a couple gage green seeds as I intended to begin a perpetual harvest setup, again it took a couple attempts before I had seedlings break soil. Both of those plants grew amazing in their ocean forest soil with 1/4 strength fox farm nutrients. Switched the lights to 12 12 schedule when I seen signs that all 4 were female. Fast forward to midway through flower(week 3 or 4) and things are going good, bud production seems normal. Couple weeks go by and it seems bud formation has halted and upon closer inspection seeds are forming on a few buds. I cut down the only pollen source I could find(the stunted headband plant had pollen sacs)and hope I’ll still harvest some decent bud even with a few seeds. Nothing seems to be progressing much by the 10th week of flower so I cut them. Found pollen sacs and seeds galore on every plant and I cannot for the life of me find a cause. Now, while all this was going on I had the autoflowers in a seperate grow tent on the other side of the basement and was enjoying my first autoflower and hydroponics experience. The plants were doing great with the GH trio of nutrients but grew to around 6ft high including the bucket, much bigger than I’d expected based on what I’ve heard/read about autoflowers. Those were finished up recently as well and I found pollen sacs and seeds in those too though not to the same extent or even close to the photoperiod plants. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is happening. Plants were getting the same treatment as previous bagseed grows that flourished with the same setup. Any help I can get trying to figure this out would be really appreciated
Forgot to mention I’ve also got one monster cookie plant in bud right now that I picked through today and found pollen sacs, also checked the tents for light leaks but didnt find anything aside from an led on a power strip. Would that be enough to cause a disruption? Also I’ll attach pictures
I’m a new grower but with autos there is a risk of them turning out like that you need to chopped them down right away and get them out of that room if not Even a tiny amount of pollen in your handy can cross contaminate your tents , I been reading about autos doing this , I guess they are a lil more unstable When stressed, I would wait for more advise as well
They stop growth since they don’t need to create flower instead it uses the energy to create seeds , male plants do look different Than female, and I think the smaller ones looks more male
Appreciate the response. Tha autoflowers turned out okay for my first autoflower attempt I think. Like I said they weren’t nearly as seeded as the photoperiod plants grown in a seperate tent entirely. I’m really hoping someone can ask the right questions and help me figure out if I’ve overlooked something or maybe my local seed source isn’t that great?
Seeds were all femenized according to the source.
Start reading Around comment 470 that’s around where he starts having problems with his autos @J.Doobie
Looking into the thread you shared it sounds like both autoflowers and femenized seeds have the potential to be much more unstable than I was originally led to believe before purchasing them.
Are you positive you didnt herm them with light or environment?
I’m not positive of anything. I’m willing to admit I could be at fault, but there were a couple…unfortunate events shall we say…I had a garden hose running into the larger tent with a sediment filter and carbon filter attached and the sediment filter exploded one night and the tent had 3 to 4 inches of water in the bottom before I caught it. Water from that tap had a PH around 8. I pumped the water out and mopped up as much as I could and ran the dehumidifier for a few days. I drowned the plants in ph balanced water for a few days after they dried out. I forgot about this until I spent the day racking my hazy brain. 
Also I did have a bulb burn out but with 2 lights running it didnt leave the plants in total darkness. There was also one time when I was away from home for a few days and they did dry out and wilt up. Would this have been enough to cause self pollination? Aside from those issues the humidity has been 45-60% and temp 65-75°F with 2 600watt hps lights running from a light controller on a single timer. I’ve checked for light leaks and sat in the room through both lights out and lights on at various times to be sure it’s working properly. As for the autoflowers in a seperate tent that never had any real problems aside from the few days I was away and they driep up the water in their dwc buckets but they weren’t wilting much at all and I refilled as soon as I noticed it. I still have a healthy headband mother in the veg tent and some recently rooted clones in 1 gallon pots so I can try again
No way to be sure. Ive effed up my PH worse than yours and got some nute lockout but they didnt herm. Typically light leaks during dark time, and rarely i have suspected radical temp swings but most old timers say that will stunt them not herm them. Hard to tell, with all the cross breeding and autos and all the new stuff were doin could be a ph issue.
Sorry i cant be of more help.
if i was experiencing this issue id be chasing the light issue. If that failed id be here doing what your doing. Good luck brother, if i think of anythi g ill reach out.