I have been able to turn good genetics into hermaphrodite, heat and humidity stress then flip the light cycle, turn night into day. Flipped 7 of 10 plants to hermaphrodite. Just my personal legend!
I see a loose correlation between certain abiotic stresses and hermies but past us growers this is one damn usefull trait to have for the bad years in the wild. Rain and water make pollen unable to drift on the air and dried pollen from heat is useless, studies have suggested that the plant picked this trait up a very long time ago and it is now hardwired into every plants genetics. What better way to make seed when all else fails but to produce the pollen right onto the female pistils, sometimes in nature if you shorten the distance you increase the chance of survival.
Genetics, thing is that when you add up all the different strains, threads and posts on here where this problem has manifested itself upon a growers plant/plants...... you kind of come to the learned conclusion that most people are talking shit and that all plants carry the gene to do this funky mixed up bi gender reassignment gay lesbian hermie love thing. That combined with the fact that most wild populations have been doing this in the wild waaaay before us stoners came along is a far more plausible explanation than some genetics rubbish that no one can make sense of.
It may suprise some (those that shout about mutants and mutations) that marijuana has a very rock steady mutation resistant set of genetics, science describes her as being resistant to change but loving of diversity - pretty much what you have in reality, a plant that loves to breed with all strains but resists mutating, In the wild again this is a really usefull trait to ensure survival of your genetics and keep them unpolluted or degraded.
So if your a cheap ass and want to know if breeding hermie seeds is a green light for go, then yes thats cool, many a fine plant has come from self pollinated seed, again this is thanks to those solid genetics i mentioned above. Hermies are used in some breeding programs in the weed and non weed plant world. I would point out that if the plant hermied in the first place then its not the seeds which made it hermie so dont expect any less unless you refine some details. I use to grow my own hermie seed, i got better and i got less and was forced to buy, i grow others hermie seed (when broke) quite often the plant dosent hermie or very little compared to the original grower who landed me with a handful.
Its going to take a little work on the growers part, certain strains will do better, others worse. Again were looking for those genetics that suit us best not the next craze thats sweeping the seed world, find a strain that you like and that likes you back and work with that whilst trying the odd other. Swapping and changing strains every grow imo makes it a little harder for the new grower, pick something simple and easy not whats pushing the boundaries of thc and cbd, try a few and stick with what grows best till you have some grows down. Anyone with cash flow is probably better off using seedbanks, a more uniform reliable product.
Often ive found that slight herms on plants produce very few seeds, not like im picking them out of everything but more localized patches around the male ball or banana. I dont cull these plants or separate but simply pluck the pollen sacs off as best as i can find them. I'd prefer a few seeds if it gives me a bigger yeild and whats to say that all the plants dont herm late on and i was fucked anyway, its a pain but i try to keep any herms in the grow tent because hopefully it wont be too bad and its a pain to loose the yeild from each plant (herms produce just as big potent buds mainly). On a side note, it use to be said here that the main reason herm weed was less potent was because the female calyx had trichs on the inside and out but that the seed inhibited the inner trichs from growing and thus the calyxs were slightly less potent. I think there is a more modern explanation and that this is kinda rubbish but thats how i was told years ago.
A lot of the science and studies are speculative, there is no evidence and they havent discovered the genetics for what makes weed herm, this is just a plausible theory but has received a small bit of attention and study over the years as well as how wild populations interact and function. Overall this plant is quite remarkable, it employs sexual and other stress reactions to ensure it has the best possible chance of survival in the wild, one might say its had a hard life.......