Regular vs Feminised Seeds: Which Should You Grow?

Watch the episode · 4:10

Do you want flowers, or do you want to make seeds? That one question settles most of the regular versus feminised debate. Here is what the research says about each, including the case of a grower who found out the hard way that "feminised" doesn't always mean female: about 30% of their plants came up male.

The short answer ▶ 0:24

Want to breed and make your own seeds? Grow regular. Just want flowers? Grow feminised. With regular seeds, about half the pack is male. With feminised, almost none. Here is why.

Regular seeds: a coin toss ▶ 0:37

Every seed gets an X from its mother. From the father it is a coin toss: an X or a Y. So about half of a regular pack grows up male.

In a real grow, that means this. Plant 10 regular seeds and you can't tell them apart for weeks. When they finally show their sex, about half are males, and they have to go before they shed pollen. Plant 10 feminised seeds and you get 10 females, almost every time. Same space, same weeks, twice the flowering plants.

There is a shortcut for regular seeds: a DNA test on a tiny disc of seedling leaf. In a 2025 study, a simple test of this kind matched the plants' real sex in all 600 samples, across 14 cultivars.

Source · Riera-Begue et al., Planta (2025)

How feminised seeds work ▶ 1:21

Feminised seeds skip that step. As we covered in how feminised seeds are made, a female is sprayed with silver so she grows male flowers. The mother gives an X and her pollen gives an X, so every seed gets two X chromosomes. Female, almost every time.

Almost. A grower in Montana lost money when about 30% of plants from certified feminised seeds turned out male. A 2024 review names the two likely causes: a mother plant that wasn't truly female, or stray pollen from somewhere nearby. A seed can only carry a Y chromosome if one got in.

Source · Timoteo Junior & Oswald, Front. Plant Sci. (2024)

The herm question ▶ 1:59

So do feminised seeds herm more often? Here is what is known. A herm is a female that grows male flowers, and its pollen carries no Y, so its seeds come up female. The tendency to herm runs in families: a 2026 review describes it as controlled by many genes, not a single switch.

Source · Richards et al., Plants (2026)

So a feminised line is only as stable as the mother it came from. If she is prone to herming, her seeds can be too, and seeds from a female pollinating herself can lose vigour from inbreeding. But we found no study directly comparing herm rates in feminised and regular seeds. Good breeders test their lines.

Source · Timoteo Junior & Oswald, Front. Plant Sci. (2024)

Why regulars matter ▶ 2:42

So why would anyone still grow regular seeds? Breeding. New strains need real males: they bring their own genetics, and they are far better at making pollen. One study cited in the 2026 review found true male plants produced around three times the pollen of females forced to make male flowers.

Source · Richards et al., Plants (2026)

And the claim that regular plants are stronger or more vigorous? We looked and found no study showing it. For now, that one is grower opinion.

The verdict ▶ 3:10

Feminised gives you almost all females. Regular gives you about half, and you will need weeks of sexing or a DNA test. But for breeding, regular seeds and real males are essential.

Just want flowers? Go feminised. Small space? Feminised again. Want to make your own seeds? Go regular.

Either way, it comes down to how well the breeder tests their lines. Regular seeds are about half male, feminised are almost all female, and breeding still needs real males.