Male VS Female cannabis plants, which one is the best used for extracting CBD? This is one of the questions we had been asked recently and thought that it was a topic that deserved some investigating. Before diving into which one is better for extracting CBD, let’s take a look at male and female cannabis plants, and what makes them different.
How to identify the sex of cannabis plants
Cannabis plants can be identified by examining what grows between their nodes (where the leaves and branches extend from the stalk).
Female Cannabis Plants
Females grow what is known as stigma between their nodes. Stigma are hair-like projections that grow from the pistil of the female plants flower. All female flowers contain these hair-like projections. In the wild, the stigma is used to catch pollen from male flowers, producing seeds, allowing for new genetics of plants to emerge. When referring to cannabis plants, this is not as important, as male cannabis plants are not highly sought after unless there is a need/want for creating new strains through cross pollination.
Male Cannabis Plants
Male cannabis plants start with a pollen sac. A pollen sac is a small, round, seed looking growth, on the cannabis plant found between the nodes. Male plants will only ever produce seeds, making them less desirable than female plants.
Cross pollination
Because cannabis plants grow as either a male or female plant, we can isolate the benefits of growing females with or without male interference. Introducing both males and females will result in cross-pollination and thus seeds, which is how a breeder achieves new genetics. On the other hand, removing a male from the garden allows female plants to grow large, seedless buds (called sinsemilla). The buds often consumed for either medical or recreational purposes come from female plants.
Where does CBD come from?
CBD is derived from the stalks, stems, leaves, and buds (flowers) of the cannabis plant, NOT the seeds. Also, it is important to note that when we are referring to CBD, we are referring to non-medical marijuana derived CBD. That means that all of the plants that the CBD is extracted from is going to have a THC concentration below 0.3%; thus, it will not get you high, or produce any kind of mind-altering effects.
Which is better for extracting CBD?
So, this leads us to the question, which plant is better for extracting CBD? The answer is female cannabis plants. Since female cannabis plants contain no seeds they are a much higher quality, and able to produce much higher quality CBD extracts.
Since male cannabis plants don’t grow buds, and only produce seeds that contain no CBD, many hemp farmers start their yearly crop with clones https://weedmaps.com/learn/dictionary/clone/ which help to ensure that the end result is going to be a crop full of all female plants, with no males present.
Did you enjoy this blog? Check out our previous blog How to Dose CBD for Pets by clicking here.
