Alright alright everyone’s favorite hermie advocate is here …
Jokes aside, I say that because on my last run I grew about 6 plants from “hermie” seeds. Now I have around… 7-8 ounces of some really nice bud from that strain and have found 1-2 immature white seeds in the whole stock so far (and TRUST me, I checked thoroughly). I haven’t posted the results yet but here’s it with a quick fan leaf trim before heading to drying.
Despite the fact that 99% of the community is going to yell and scream SPARTA, I am of the mindset that everyone needs to slow down and perform a little self analysis before giving up. One thing no one has mentioned in this whole thread that i think is worth bringing up is the phenomena of balls and bananas.
A plant that shows only bananas has undergone a process called rodelization, and is a response to stress. Plants that show these are … wait for it … NOT true hermies. They are mixed sex plants, aka female and male sex parts growing in the SAME place (pistols coming out of calyces). These are worrisome because the moment they rear their ugly little heads they may have spread pollen. I say may because studies have shown that sometimes hermie pollen can be sterile. I wouldn’t bank on this, but again, another reason why it may be worth waiting out.
True hermies are plants that show both pistols and pollen sacs at the plants bud site, aka balls. THESE plants are true hermies. Balls that have not opened up have not spread pollen. Despite what the mob mentality will have you think, balls don’t always grow and spread like a deadly contagion. They can disappear if the stressor that caused them is corrected (in my case, getting a portable AC unit for the room). The same goes for rodelization. Additionally, if you check daily for the first week or so, you’ll notice how quickly they stop coming if your maintenance and correction is fast enough. Pollen also has a relatively short lifespan as far as its viability in the open environment. Unless you’re running a perpetual grow, the idea of basically doing a crime scene cleanup of your grow room is silly since the pollen will long be inert by your next flower cycle.
So what does this all mean and why even care? Because they are separate and independent phenomena, and our community needs to do a better job distinguishing the two since they are not necessarily caused by the same thing. And by knowing this, growers can make more informed decisions as to whether a plants symptoms can be managed and disappear over time (points to self) or if the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.
In my case, the amount “ball sites” corresponded to the number of bud sites, so… I carefully began a regimen lightly misting the plants and tent walls several times a day to kill any escaped pollen. I also used an LED magnifying glass to check each branch and bud site in a dark room once a day (balls will ALWAYS be co-located with bud sites, they will never just be growing by themselves randomly on the plant body). Balls were promptly plucked and discarded. If they appeared open, I sprayed with a little hand sprayer before plucking. Symptoms stopped after about a week of monitoring. I stopped checking daily after 10 days symptom free.
In my case, roughly 60% of the cases were so mild (talking 3-5 balls on the whole plant) so they were treated and monitored. Plants that showed both balls and rodelization (nanners) were axed since I was only week 3 and had two other tents in flower. I have roughly 12 ounces in cure jars and have found 2 immature white seeds in the whole stock. I have roughly the same amount drying right now, and I can tell for sure they haven’t been seeded (maybe I’ll find a few down the line, but definitely won’t be many if so).
In closing, this is is just a long winded way of saying perform your own cost benefit analysis. Don’t let the mob always sway you, since they don’t know your goals, your setup, financial considerations, personal constraints, etc.
Peace and love all, time to go check on my own hermie bud and see how’s it’s curing