Hermaphrodite Plants: Spotting Nanners Before They Seed Your Crop
By The Budometry TeamPublished Updated
A hermaphrodite plant produces both flowers and pollen. Left alone, it will seed itself and every plant in the tent, which ends the run's quality even if the buds still finish.
Part of our pillar guide: Plant Training, Pests and Troubleshooting
What to look for
Yellow banana-shaped stamens protruding from buds, or small round pollen sacs clustered at nodes that look like tiny grapes rather than the teardrop shape of calyxes.
Causes
Light leaks during the dark period, extreme heat, severe over- or under-watering, major physical damage, unstable genetics, and letting a plant run far past its harvest window.
What to do
Catch a few nanners early and you can remove them carefully with tweezers, then check daily. Widespread male flowers mean isolating or removing the plant to protect the rest of the tent.
Prevention
Do the dark-period light leak test before every flower run. It is the single most preventable cause.
Frequently asked questions
- Is seeded bud still usable?
- Yes, but yield and quality drop noticeably and you will be picking seeds out of everything.
The full guide on this topic
Plant Training, Pests and Troubleshooting
Topping, LST and SCROG explained, plus how to identify and stop spider mites, fungus gnats and powdery mildew, and how to read leaf symptoms correctly.