Weed Grow Guide by Royal Queen Seeds

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

  • First and last name
  • Home and billing address
  • Telephone number
  • Gender
  • IP address
  • Email address
  • Date of birth

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

  • First & last name
  • Gender

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

  • Email address

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO:

  • Revoke the consent you have granted;
  • Access personal data;
  • Rectify personal data;
  • Delete personal data;
  • File a complaint or a writ for the protection of your rights before the Spanish Data Protection Agency;
  • Be notified of any security incident that may affect your rights;
  • Limitation of processing;
  • Portability.
By Luke Sumpter Reviewed by: Andreu Francés

A guide to differentiating between male, female, and hermaphrodite cannabis plants.


From psychoactive cannabinoids to aromatic terpenes, cannabis features many traits that make it unique within the plant kingdom. However, the uniqueness of the plant doesn’t stop at the phytochemicals it produces.

See, the vast majority of plant species are monoecious, a term meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs in the same plant. These include edible plants, such as corn and squashes, that can readily fertilise their own flowers using their own pollen.

Cannabis belongs to a minority of species that are dioecious in nature, meaning they produce separate male and female plants. Specifically, it should be noted that only 5-6% of all angiosperms (flowering plant species) possess this rare and interesting trait.

Why Does It Matter That Cannabis Is Dioecious?

Cannabis growers and breeders use this trait to their advantage, since it allows them to separate male and female plants. This enables growers to prevent the flowers from becoming fertilised and going to seed, which results in better-quality flowers, known as sinsemilla.

It also means cannabis breeders have more control when it comes to crossing specific males and females together. They can choose two healthy and vigorous specimens, place them close together, and produce progeny that express certain traits.

Let’s take a deeper look into male and female cannabis plants. From there, we’ll see what causes some specimens to develop both male and female reproductive organs.

Male vs Female Cannabis: What's The Difference?

Male and female plants look identical during the seedling and vegetative phases. But, as they begin to transition into the flowering phase, plants finally begin to reveal their sex. During this time, females produce resinous buds loaded with cannabinoids, and males form sacs filled with pollen.

Female cannabis plants are the main focus of casual growers looking to harvest a personal stash. But, depending on their genetics, female plants can look drastically different from one another. Some remain small, producing dense canopies and significant lateral growth. Others grow in excess of 3m, produce massive harvests, and look more like trees than regular garden plants.

Despite their differences, all female plants share one thing in common: they produce female flowers. These flowers, colloquially known as buds, possess small glandular structures called trichomes that produce cannabinoids such as THC and CBD.

Male plants, in contrast, don’t produce female flowers. This makes them less valuable for growers seeking only buds. However, they do produce pollen sacs. These small vessels create the genetic material required to fertilise female flowers and produce seeds. This makes the males extremely important for breeding new cannabis strains.

It should also be noted that male pollen sacs and female flowers develop at the same point on the plant. Both structures emerge from nodes, the point at which branches meet the main stem. So, when you see buds starting to form on some plants, start looking for pollen sacs too.

The image shows a close-up of a cannabis plant displaying early male pollen sacs, illustrating the difference between male and female cannabis during the flowering phase.

Hermaphrodites: When Cannabis Plants Become Monoecious

Cannabis, like those who love it, doesn’t always stick to the rules, though. Sometimes, this dioecious plant species goes against the grain and develops both male and female reproductive organs. These specimens are known as hermaphrodites. Either genetic or environmental factors, or both, can cause plants to develop this unusual trait. Having both buds and pollen sacs, they end up developing the ability to pollinate and reproduce with themselves.

Of course, growers want to avoid this phenomenon if they’re aiming for the best flowers possible. We’ll dive deeper into what causes hermaphroditism and how to avoid it below.

The image shows a cannabis plant displaying female early signs of a male plant, with both buds and pollen sacs, indicating hermaphroditism caused by genetic or environmental factors.

Can You Tell if Your Plant Is Male or Female Before Flowering?

Yes, thankfully. While males pose a threat to growers chasing nothing but resinous buds, you can prevent them from entering your grow room altogether if you know what to look for. You don’t have to wait for pollen sacs to develop—and risk them spilling their genetic material—in order to spot the males in your crop.

Before entering the flowering stage, cannabis plants begin to reveal their sex in the form of preflowers—the early developmental stage of buds and pollen sacs that form around the nodes (the point at which the branches and main stem meet). However, it takes some time—up to six weeks—for preflowers to display obvious male and female features.

  • How Soon Can You Tell if Your Plant Is Male or Female?

Luckily, male preflowers show key characteristics earlier than their female counterparts. This enables attentive cultivators to remove male plants from the growing space well before female plants start to bloom. Typically, males reveal their sex two weeks earlier than female plants. You can expect to see preflowers begin to appear by the sixth week of the growing cycle.

How To Identify Different Sexes Of Cannabis Plants: Sexing Cannabis

The ability to determine plant sex as early as possible is a critical skill for cannabis growers. Know as "Sexing Cannabis", as you develop this eye for identifying plant sex, you will be able to prevent any accidental pollination.

The goal: find the males and move them out of your grow room or garden as quickly as possible. The sex of a plant becomes fairly obvious during the early flowering stage, but time is of the essence in that regard. The quicker you can identify and remove male plants, the more you reduce the chances of accidental fertilisation.

  • Identifying Early Signs Of Male Plant

Growers identify plant sex by identifying pre-flowers, which are small structures that form at the nodes during late vegetation.

During the early flowering stage, take a stroll around your grow room or garden with a magnifying glass or jeweller’s loupe. Inspect a few nodes on each plant to see how far along into the flowering process they are. At this stage, you won’t see any obvious flowers or pollen sacs. Instead, you’re looking for young pre-flowers. Although these tiny structures look similar, they have distinct features that allow growers to tell them apart.

Male pre-flowers look like tiny green eggs or “balls”. These young pollen sacs will look smooth and won’t possess any fine hairs, or any distinct point. Later into the flowering stage, pollen sacs begin to form larger and denser clusters. They’ll become easy to identify with the naked eye by this point. However, pollen sacs usually begin to disperse their contents around 2–3 weeks after forming. Be sure to remove them from your space with haste if you don’t plan on crossing your plants.

The difference between male and female flowers becomes more obvious as they grow, but cultivators with a keen eye can tell them apart at the earlier stages. Male preflowers, anatomical landmarks known as staminates, are much more spherical. They feature a round sac accompanied by a long piece of protruding tissue. Together, these structures are referred to as the “ball and stick”. If left to develop, male preflowers will quickly transform into hanging sacs loaded with pollen. Other characteristics of male plants also help to give their sex away. These morphological differences include increased height, thicker stems, and fewer leaves. 

The image illustrates early signs of a male cannabis plant, featuring small green pre-flowers that resemble tiny eggs or balls, which lack fine hairs and indicate the plant's sex during the flowering stage.
  • Identifying Female Cannabis Plants

Female pre-flowers also develop at the nodes. You can distinguish them based on one obvious visual characteristic: hairs. Female pre-flowers feature tear-drop shaped calyxes with small hairs protruding from the tip. These small hairs, known as pistils, are the sex organs of female cannabis flowers.

These protruding structures are designed to capture pollen, which leads to fertilisation. They stick out away from the flower to capture pollen from the air, and to await being brushed up against by pollen-covered insects.

Within a matter of weeks, these small pre-flowers swell into dense nuggets and begin churning out cannabinoid and terpene-rich resin. Since you the removed males and prevented pollination, your flowers will continuously produce resin until the end of the growing cycle.

The image depicts the early signs of a female cannabis plant, showcasing tear-drop shaped calyxes with small hairs (pistils) protruding from the tip, indicating the plant's sex and its readiness to capture pollen for fertilization.
  • Identifying Hermaphrodite Cannabis Plants

Several factors can cause female plants to start to develop pollen sacs—or exposed stamens—alongside their flowers. This trait means that plants don’t need to rely on a nearby male to burst their sacs and fertilise them. As we’ll discuss in a bit, this is actually a savvy survival mechanism and a display of nature’s genius. However, hermaphrodites aren’t desirable in the grow room or garden. Now, let’s discuss both types and how to avoid the issues they cause.

Types Of Hermaphrodite Cannabis Plants

Hermaphrodite cannabis plants come in two different forms: true hermaphrodites and “bananas”.

The former features distinctly male and female reproductive flowers. Upon close inspection, you’ll notice male flowers occupying some nodes, and female flowers residing at others. When the pollen sacs rupture, the pollen will displace into the pistils, and the plant will effectively breed with itself. From there, it’ll produce seeds that will give rise to the subsequent generation.

“Banana” hermaphrodites get their name from their physical characteristics. Instead of producing separate male flowers, they only develop a bare stamen without sepals within the female flower. This naked appendage drops pollen directly onto buds to ensure self-reproduction. These stamens share a similar shape and colour to a certain tropical fruit, hence their name.

The image illustrates the types of hermaphrodite cannabis plants, highlighting true hermaphrodites with distinct male and female flowers at different nodes, and “banana” hermaphrodites, which feature a bare stamen within female flowers that drops pollen directly onto buds for self-reproduction.

How To Avoid Hermaphrodite Plants In Your Grow Room

Hermaphroditism stems from two major driving factors: stress and genetics. In regards to stress, hermaphroditism serves as a survival mechanism. If a plant experiences damage, heat, disease, or nutrient deficiencies, they start to freak out. Essentially, plants get the impression that their time is up. In a last-ditch attempt to reproduce, they decide to stop waiting around for a male and get the job done themselves.

To avoid this issue, try to maintain a stable environment in your grow room. Use a thermo-hygrometer to monitor temperature and humidity, keep your light schedule strict, and ensure your plants get all the nutrients they require.

Even if you have all of these bases covered, plants can still pollinate themselves due to genetics. Plants with a bad genetic history can inherit genes associated with the expression of male flowers, producing hermaphrodites.


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How Long Does Pollen Last in a Grow Room?

Under the right conditions, breeders can store pollen over a period of years for breeding purposes. However, this fertilising substance doesn’t last as long when exposed to the volatile environments of grow rooms and gardens. Pollen grains lose their viability upon exposure to water, heat, and light; these elements are commonplace within any growing environment.

Once a male plant opens its pollen sacs and spreads its genetic material, it only remains viable for a matter of days. If disaster strikes, the female plants in the vicinity will almost certainly divert their energy away from resin production and toward seed formation. While your current plants won’t turn out exactly the way you had hoped, this doesn’t mean you need to sterilise your entire grow room and all of your cultivation gear.

The pollen in the environment will lose its viability to less than 5% within approximately three days[1]. Considering you’re more careful with identifying sex going forward, you don’t have to worry about residual pollen contaminating your next wave of female plants.

What Type Of Cannabis Seeds Are Used For Breeding?

If you want to try breeding, you’re going to need regular cannabis seeds, and Royal Queen Seeds offers a premium range. In contrast to feminised seeds that produce only female specimens, regular seeds offer a 50% chance of the plant being male or female.

These seeds provide breeders with an army of males and females to experiment with. Cross the very best specimens together to create your own unique strains that match your taste. However, if you’re growing for nothing but buds, you can still use them for their stable and trusty genetics. As you may know, regular seeds provide excellent mother plants to produce clones and amazing yields. You’ll have to spot male plants, but the payoff will be more than worth it.

Can You Tell the Sex of a Cannabis Seed?

No. Believe us, we’d be thrilled if this was the case! No matter what your local ganja guru might tell you, growers simply can’t identify the sex of a plant based on staring at the seeds. Seeds aren’t plants. Without key anatomical areas to assess, such as preflowers, leaves, and stems, seeds provide absolutely zero clues about their future sex.

However, seeds do give away some indications regarding their quality. Their colour, sheen, size, shape, and even source serve as great means to predict their vitality. Unfortunately, these signs do nothing to point toward their fate as either a male or female plant.

The only way to know the sex of the seeds is by checking the DNA in the laboratory. For this, it would be necessary to extract the DNA from the embryo and apply molecular markers that detect regions of the male chromosome. Nonetheless, this method will destroy the seed and is highly expensive, so it is better to wait for the appearance of the preflowers to determine the sex.

External Resources:
  1. Humidity stress responses in pollen of anemophilous and entomophilous species https://www.tandfonline.com
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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