What Are Cannabis Nanners and How to Deal With Them?

Cannabis bananas (widely known as “nanners”) can cause a lot of distress to a grower. They are elongated yellow growths that resemble bananas, hence the name, though they can also be white or lime green in color. These growths typically appear on buds and can grow together in bunches.

In a nutshell, these growths are male pollen sacs. They typically appear on male plants or can indicate the hermaphroditic traits of a female plant. Once they appear on buds, these sacs start pollinating everything within their reach. After pollination, female plants produce seeds instead of a cannabinoid-rich yield. Thus, the appearance of bananas is very undesirable for most growers.

In order to avoid them, a grower must know how to tell the difference between male and female weed seeds, as well as how to sex cannabis when it’s grown. But that’s not all. In this guide, we will help you gain a better understanding of this phenomenon and learn how to address it the right way.

Getting Clear on Nanners’ Meaning

As you already know, nanners cannabis is a term that defines the appearance of male pollen sacs or hermaphroditic traits on female plants. Now, let’s delve deeper into this term.

Traditionally, weed plants can be either male or female. Male plants are used for their pollen, to pollinate females and to produce seeds. Female flowers, on the contrary, are those used for producing cannabinoid-rich buds that are then used for therapeutic purposes, including the following:

• Pain relief

• Stress relief

• Sleep improvement

Typically, pollen sacs appear on male plants. However, in some cases, a female flower can also develop these banana-shaped structures filled with pollen. If this happens, such plants are commonly called “hermies.”

Weed bananas consist of a pollen sack and anther. They can develop at different stages of the flower’s life cycle and, most often, they are a plant’s response to external stress. Unlike male pollen sacks, these growths don’t need to open to start the pollination process. Instead, they start pollinating everything around them as soon as they appear. The biggest consequences of this include decreased potency and quality of the yield due to seed production. Thus, the average grower will want to be able to spot and get rid of hermaphrodite weed buds to save the crop.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that hermies are completely useless. Some breeders hope and pray for hermaphroditic plants because that’s how they feminize seeds. When a female flower develops nanners and pollinates itself, the seeds it produces have a 99% chance of growing into a female. That’s how we get feminized seeds.

Read Also: Fan Leaves: How to Prune Cannabis for Optimal Growth and Yield

Can You Smoke Flowers with Nanners?

Generally, it’s not recommended to collect and smoke a flower that contains bananas or pollen sacs. As a grower, you must be looking for high potency and quality in your buds, but nanners can really get in the way. Their presence indicates that your female plants experienced stress or turned into hermaphrodite cannabis plants, which significantly affects the quality of yield.

There are several things that can force your female plants to go hermaphroditic:

• Improper light schedules – There are a few significant differences between feminized or male cannabis flowering. Feminized plants require firm light schedules to develop good buds. If their light schedule is inconsistent or they are exposed to light during dark periods (this is called light leaks), it gives them a lot of stress and is a common contributor to hermies. Too bright light can also lead to the development of nanners.

• Temperature – Another thing a grower should keep an eye on is temperature. When it’s too high or low, this can also lead to the appearance of hermaphroditic traits.

• Deficiencies and diseases – Different major problems with your plant’s health are also common triggers for nanners. These can include nutrient deficits, pH imbalance, light burn, root rot, and nutrient burn.

• Genetics – Finally, a big role in your yield’s quality is always played by genetics. Some strains are more susceptible to stress-induced hermaphroditism, even if you grow them in perfect conditions. Thus, it’s crucial to study all the specs of the strains you are going to grow. Also, it’s important to buy seeds from trusted suppliers who feminize seeds properly and guarantee high-quality genetics.

Read Also: Cannabis Deficiencies: Symptoms and Solutions

Tips to Minimize the Possibility of Weed Nanners

Now that you know more about this phenomenon, you must be wondering what you can do to mitigate the risks. Here are a few handy tips to avoid the appearance of bananas on cannabis:

• Pick the best genetics. Unfortunately, male-female cannabis plant identification doesn’t work when you are buying seeds because they typically have no visual differences. Thus, it’s important to buy from trusted breeders and pick high-quality genetics with a low tendency for hermaphroditism.

• Create the right environment. As a grower, you must set up the perfect space, temperature, humidity, and light for your flowers. Avoid external stresses and extreme fluctuations that lead to hermaphroditism. And avoid light leaks.

• Keep an eye on nutrients. Feed your flowers with the nutrients it needs to develop and grow healthily. However, don’t overfeed them to avoid nutrient burn.

• Control pests and diseases. Regularly inspect your flowers and take proactive steps to prevent any pests and diseases.

• Master stress management techniques. Minimize the damage or stress your plants receive during their life cycle. Adhere to stress management techniques, like low-stress training, and stick to consistent watering practices.

• Look out for nanners. Finally, you should regularly inspect your plants to see if they develop nanners early on. If this happens, immediately remove such flowers from the rest to avoid pollination.