- What is Marijuana
- Ways of Using Marijuana
- Different Names of Marijuana
- Medical Uses of Marijuana
- Cannabis Cup Strains
- Germinating Marijuana Seeds
- How To Transplant Seedlings
- Plant Stress
- Fertilize Seedlings
- Planting Pot Seedlings
- Growing Hydroponically
- Aeroponics And Growing
- Hydroponic System Water
- Nutrients Mixture Guide
- Hydroponics Soil
- Cropping Techniques To Cannabis
- Cloning Flowering Plants
- Pruning Weed
- Pests And Diseases
- Transplanting Procedures
- Breeding Pots
- Identifying Female / Male Plants
- How To Choose The Proper Strain
- Lowering The Smell & Odor
- How To Make Seeds
- Growing Marijuana Plant Outdoor
- How to Grow Marijuana Outdoors
- How To Grow Pot Outside
- Guidelines of Growing Outdoor
- Outdoor Marijuana Pests
The Pre Flowering Growth Stage
Marijuana is a dioecious plant, being either male or female. However, intersex (aka hermaphrodite or bisexual) plants with both male and female flowers can also occur. You can see pre-flowers with the naked eye, but a 10x to 30x magnifier will make viewing easier. You can accurately determine plant sex after eight weeks. Using this method, you can distinguish sex before inducing flowering. Pre-flowers are the first sign of a plant's sex. The pre-flowers grow at branch internodes just male behind the leaf spur or stipule about the fourth week of vegetative growth, when the plant is six to eight weeks old. This is the point of sexual maturity, the first sign a plant is preparing for flowering-the next stage in life.
Plants grown from seed under an 18/6 Female day/ night photoperiod will generally show pre-flowers before plants that are given a 24/0 day/ night photoperiod. Once pre-flowers are distinguishable as male or female, plants can be induced to flower with a 12/ 12 day/ night photoperiod. Male pre-flowers are normally visible when plants are six to eight weeks old, after the fourth week of vegetative growth. The pre-flowers emerge behind the stipule at the fourth to fifth branch internodes and generally do not turn into full flowers.
Early male flowers are easy to spot with the naked eye. They are located at branch internodes. Male pollen sacks hang like little balls. Each pollen sac has enough pollen to pollinate all the females in the average grow room. Remove and destroy male plants grown from seed as soon as you can verify male pre-flowers. Removing male plants now will virtually ensure an all-female crop of sinsemilla.
Pre Flowering Growth Stage
On the other hand, Female calyx formation initiates about the fourth week of vegetative growth when they develop female pre-flowers. The appearance of pre-flowers does not depend upon photoperiod. It occurs when a plant is old enough to show signs of sexual maturity, about six to eight weeks from seed germination. The pre-flowers emerge behind the stipule at the fourth to fifth branch internodes. A pre-flower looks like a regular female flower; most have a pair of white fuzzy pistils. Pistils normally emerge after the light green seed bract part of the pre-flower has formed. Wait until pistils have formed to ensure the plant is a female and not a male. The pre-flowering stage lasts from one to two weeks.
Plants grown from seed under an 18/6 day/night photoperiod will usually show pronounced preflowers before plants given a 24/0 day/night ph~to period. And, under a 16/8 day/night regimen pre-flowers show more quickly and are often more pronounced. Once pre-flowers are distinguishable as female, plants can be induced to flower with a 12/12 day/night photoperiod. ]
Vegetative seedlings are now ready to start flowering. Male and female flowers will form and are easy to see. This garden is full of females that have been flowering for three weeks.
Always wait to induce flowering until after pre-flowers appear. Inducing flowering with 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness and 12 hours of light before pre-flowers develop will stress the plant. This stress could cause odd growth, and plants might grow into hermaphrodites. Inducing flowering before pre-flowers form will not speed flowering. Flowering will occur about the same time as if you had waited for pre-flowers to show!