Five Handy Uses for a Male Marijuana Plant

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As a cancer patient, the state of California already legally allows me to grow my own medical cannabis plants for personal use. In this November’s election three states will also be voting to legalize weed for all adults over 21 years of age. Since soon even more people may be legally growing their own pot, here are a few tips for what to do with your male marijuana plants.

Differentiating between Males & Females

This male pot plant can be distinguished by its many flower clusters.

By comparison, this young female cannabis plant has no flowers, but instead has sticky white hairs at her internodes, which will develop into buds.

For growers who propagate their marijuana plants directly from clones, dealing with male plants is never an issue, as each clone is identical to its female parent. But if you are growing cannabis from seed, about half of your plants will likely be male, and will produce no buds. Many people believe male plants are useless, but I disagree. Here are five tips for what to do with your male pot plants:

#1 Companion Plant Natural Pest Control

Pungent and drought tolerant cannabis plants attract beneficial insects, while also naturally deterring many destructive garden pests. This year I interplanted a large male marijuana plant in with my brussel sprouts, and everything is thriving. We also included some nasturtiums, thyme and rosemary in the same bed, as these plants also also beneficial companion plants. In our climate brussels are traditionally difficult to grow successfully, and are usually invested with aphids, but this season my vegetables have never been healthier.

#2 Baked Edibles

Dried male pot plants can be cooked down with butter or oil to make delicious medicinal cookies or other tasty treats.

#3 Smoking Dried Male Flowers

Lately I have been experimenting with clipping off most of my male plant’s flowers and drying them to smoke. The flowers are much less powerful than female buds, but produce a more mellow and subdued high.

These clipped male flowers have been left to dry in the sun.

#4 Bean or Pea Poles

As autumn approaches and your male plants are just beginning to fade, try planting peas, beans or climbing over-wintering cover crop seeds at the base of your marijuana stalks. Some of my heartier males have reached nine or ten feet in height, and serve as excellent growing support from vining vegetables or legumes.

#5 Seeds

Many cannabis farmers immediately destroy any male plant so that their female plants do not become pollinated, but I like to allow our females to produce a few organic seeds for our next growing season. Two or three of the biggest, healthiest male plants are kept alive with most of their flowers clipped off on the very far end of our garden, far away from the females, but close enough so that a handful of genetically diverse seeds are produced for next year.

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