A hermaphrodite (or “Hermie”), is a cannabis plant that has both the male and female reproductive organs. As the pollen of a male flower is fertile and easily dispersed, the hermaphrodite will be able to self-pollinate themselves as well as all of the other plants around them. You have to be very vigilante. Male flowers sometimes appear in bunches between the tops and, on occasion, only a single male flower will grow – hidden away from your prying eyes. It only takes one male flower to disperse its pollen and ruin an entire crop. This is why a vigilance and a keen eye is needed – you cannot afford to let even one male flower remain in your grow room.

There is always a chance that one or two plants in your grow room could turn hermaphrodite. There are several causes that force the change within your cannabis; knowing what they are can help you reduce and combat them.

Sometimes cannabis plants become hermaphrodites due to poor genetics. There is little preventative action you can take here. All you can do is ensure you do more research into buying a better seed quality next time.

The main cause of a cannabis plant turning hermaphrodite is due to stress. When a cannabis plant reaches a certain level of stress it will begin to fear for its life. As a result, it goes into survival mode to try and ensure the longevity of its species. The only viable option that it is certain will ensure this is by reproducing with itself. Such things that can stimulate this level of stress are an irregular light schedule, sudden changes in the grow environment – including transplanting, fluctuating temperatures, or simply anything else that your cannabis plants could consider a drastic change to the norm. You should also take into consideration that some strains are much higher maintenance than others, making them more susceptible to stress and thus making them more likely to become hermaphrodites.

If your cannabis plants are going to turn into hermaphrodites, then it will happen during the pre-flowering or flowering stage of their lives. These should be easily recognizable in your grow room due to them having both sexes flowers, but keep an eye out just in case there are only one or two sneaky male flowers, like outlined above. When you notice a hermaphrodite, it is vital to remove it from the grow area as soon as you can. Do not give it the chance to pollinate the cannabis plants around it.

There are a few expert breeders out there who will remove the male flowers from the cannabis plant itself as soon as they are noticed. This is only in instances where there are a few flowers. Doing this correctly can save the plant, making it viable for harvest again. However, it is a giant risk. If you miss a flower, or do not remove them in time then you run the risk of compromising your entire grow room. Should this happen you are going to have a lot of seeds and very little bud. If you ask us, why take the risk? If you see a hermi, remove it from existence. Destroy it. You will not want to keep it for seeds as its children will be genetically more inclined to become hermaphrodites themselves.