Hey there!
So, not as promised, but here I am a day later.
I was quite busy recently (actually not, I just tend to get lazy sometimes), but I have a lot to update. I've just taken a few pics 5 minutes ago to show you the current look of my two beloved plants.
Hi Alice.
When I first saw those pre-flowers on a plant I thought she'd been pollinated by a male from somewhere. I thought they were seeds. LOL
Your plants are looking very healthy
Same thing happened to me. First time I saw them I posted a picture asking the same thing.
Looks like it's not only me!
That's too funny right there. lol ^^^
To answer your question about male bits on a female plant. Yes they do it a lot.
Much more common than you think. Why we are seeing all these gender issues with
hoo-mans. Its been a thing for a long long while genetically. Plants and animals. But hushed up in the human world for some reason. I think that the % of transgender humans is like 10% at birth. I read that somewhere - could be wrong. My pop was a pediatrician - we had many quiet talks about this subject.
This genetic subject is where Mendel fucked up. He discarded "mutants" and did not include them in his final studies. He did write about it tho and didn't destroy his writings, thankfully. Now we have more to learn! woohoo.
Here's something that you should consider.
IF you stress your plants early specially during the pre-flowering stage you can actually promote the plant to put out male bits. How we produce seed with chemicals on a female plant.
Here's why:
Plants that are stressed early in life (dicots - male and female plants separate), have in the genes a method to pass on the genetics by way of self pollination. We have been exploiting this trait a fair amount with cannabis seed production. By "we" I'm talking breeders.
Reason for this is say there's a drought, and all or most all plants die, there's no way for plants to reproduce so they have evolved to have a method to self pollinate should the plants feel that need usually brought on by environmental stress.
Tying plants down and taking off leaves is just 1 form of stress. Not saying to stop mainlining or whatever technique you're using there but just food for thought going forward.
I use a hands off approach - specially strains I've never ran and cant find grow advice from someone that has grown out that strain.
So the answer is for sure plants will grow male bits on a female plant and sometimes we actually make it happen. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes not. The not on purpose is a baddy. Bot not a complete loss. Seeds are big business after all.
Your plants are looking VERY good - this is the fun part growing flowers.
Woot you got this!
Good job - Alice.
You need some good weed - you're on your way to it.
Keep the ball level & Eye on the prize. Yum yums are coming.
Thanks for the kind words, bobrown!
Your post has great bits of info, as always. I hope I haven't done anything too aggressive on my plants yet. Seeds are indeed expensive, but I'd be fine without getting a ton of free seeds for this run!
So, let's get into it!
Things I want to address in this post:
-how the plants are progressing
-yellowing of older leaves with quite visible brown (I think burnt) spots on them
-one funny, mutant branch
-and what else comes to my mind.
So, the AK is growing steadily. I felt like growth was stunted for a while, but looking at it now, she is only bushing out more, day by day. Her branches and bigger leaves are tied down and sideways at 7 different locations. I can't say I truly stress her with this kind of training, it's mostly just pulling her branches to areas where light can directly hit the budsites. With this method I can now count 7 main budsites (with separate branches) plus the main stem, which is, of course, the biggest. Apart from these, there are a lot of smaller sprouts where budding can begin. As a first timer, I'm actually satisfied with her current condition at this moment.
Jack, on the other hand, is something I could not figure out yet. Her leaves look beautiful, and in fact, the whole plant is a beauty compared to the AK, but she is so bushy, it's like every one of her branches are fighting against each other. I try to fiddle with her leaves daily, pushing the larger ones down, pulling the main branches up above the canopy, but it's quite crowded in there. I think the last 2-3 days is when her branches reached the point where they can finally outgrow from the shades of the huge fanleaves. If things go as I expect them to go, she may become a short, but very happy and bushy plant with 6-7 colas.
Look at how huge those leaves are!
I took off this leave a few days ago from the AK, this was the very first set of her 3-tail leaves, so it was way under the canopy when I took it off. Somehow it doesn't seem that yellow on this picture, but it was quite yellow in reality. Also, the dark parts on the sides of the leaf is something I can't identify. Any ideas?
Since then, I noticed yellowing on two other leaves too. Here's a pic of the worse one.
It's only on two of the lower leaves, but I'm worried if it spreads elsewhere. Sorry for the blurple, though you can see the color difference compared to the other leaf that lies on the sick one, that's much darker green.
Also those brown spots...
And then I have this strange, mutant branch too. I noticed it weeks ago, but always forgot to mention it here in the journal.
This branch doesn't develop two opposite side leaves, when a new set comes out. Instead, it always pushes out 3 leaves, one from a "normal" position and two more from the opposite side of the branch. The dobule leaves always grow from almost the same spot on the branch.
On this pic, you can see the newest sprout, the 3 leaves are clearly visible. Behind them a somewhat developed set. one on the bottom and two on the upper side.
This is the same branch, older leaves. Those two behind the little sprout come from almost the exact same spot. Is this something that often happens? To be honest, I'm ok with it, just kind of funny looking.
I wish I had more time, but I have to leave in a few minutes, so this is it for today's update.
When I'm done with the new layout in the room, I'll definitely upload pictures about the hopefully more stealthy setup. I do also have to install my carbon filter very soon, since smell is going to get out of control without it.
I hope every one of you had a great 4/20!