How long to show preflowers?

[jokerlola]

I planted 4 regular seeds in late April and they all popped on April 30th. One of them showed it's sex with clear male preflowers around June 11th but the other 3 still aren't showing any preflowers at all. Is that common for their age? They are 51 days old.

Is it true that males tend to reveal themselves quicker than females?

 

[Phytoplankton]

You don't say if it's indoors or out, or what your light schedule is (Indoors). But it's not unusual for plants to not show sex at 51 days. In my experience males tend to show earlier than females, not an absolute, but in general.

 

[jokerlola]

You don't say if it's indoors or out, or what your light schedule is (Indoors). But it's not unusual for plants to not show sex at 51 days. In my experience males tend to show earlier than females, not an absolute, but in general.

These are outdoor plants in Denver Colorado. Right now daylight is approx 15 hours.

I find it a little strange that the one plant did show it's sex on June 11th but the others haven't yet.

 

[Phytoplankton]

It may have to do with them being planted outside in late April. That’s right on the edge of vegging/flowering hours, so maybe one went over to the dark side. I lost 2 of 4 clones once by putting them outdoors in mid April, two went into flower an never recovered, the others showed sex but then revegged.

 

[jokerlola]

It may have to do with them being planted outside in late April. That’s right on the edge of vegging/flowering hours, so maybe one went over to the dark side. I lost 2 of 4 clones once by putting them outdoors in mid April, two went into flower an never recovered, the others showed sex but then revegged.

Sorry, I didn't clarify how these plants have been grown well enough. They were germinated and grown as seedlings indoors in a windowsill with some LED grow light bulb help and then they started being hardened off outside in direct sunlight starting May 15th and then completely outside by June 1st.

 

[Phytoplankton]

In that case, **it happens. At least you didn't waste more time on a male, hopefully the others will be girls. When I grow indoors (and outdoors) I use feminized seeds, so the chances of wasting time on a male are remote.

 

[Mastrmasn]

In 5 grows so far I have never seen a preflower. 8 different strains.

 

[jokerlola]

In that case, **it happens. At least you didn't waste more time on a male, hopefully the others will be girls. When I grow indoors (and outdoors) I use feminized seeds, so the chances of wasting time on a male are remote.

I've mainly grown from cuttings (clones) but I got some free seeds from the 2020 Indo Expo and they are all regular seeds. I first started trying to grow them last year but they kept dying do to damp off because I didn't know what I was doing with seeds. I did get 4 to grow last year and one turned out to be male (found that out as it started to flower). I've never really checked for pre-flowers before. I had wanted to try to tell sex before I up-potted these plants I have so I saw info online about seeing preflowers after the 5th node. I did have one clearly sprout balls (got confirmation here posting the picture). I topped the plants a second time and the tops were long enough to clone so I'm cloning those in 12/12 light to see if any of the 3 are males. I started that on Sunday so I hopefully should know for sure in about another 10 to 14 days.

 

[Icemud]

I agree with what phytoplankton said... Generally the males will reveal themselves first (not always) but be on the lookout for balls. I've had females go 2+ months and not show any sign until I put them into 12/12. If you are not seeing balls yet, thats a fairly good sign they may be females, but still hard to say.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Hi @jokerlola!

Being that you are growing outdoor in Denver, your night length is currently at its lowest point of the year, which is around 9 hours. This being the case, the plants will not start to flower until around Aug. 8th at the earliest, when night length becomes 10 hours. Keep in mind that all male cannabis plants are autoflowering – they don't flower based on night length. See this post. So, this explains why you were able to identify your males.

I think you have all females remaining, and they will start to flower in August. happy growing!

 

[jokerlola]

Hi @jokerlola!

Being that you are growing outdoor in Denver, your night length is currently at its lowest point of the year, which is around 9 hours. This being the case, the plants will not start to flower until around Aug. 8th at the earliest, when night length becomes 10 hours. Keep in mind that all male cannabis plants are autoflowering – they don't flower based on night length. See this post. So, this explains why you were able to identify your males.

I think you have all females remaining, and they will start to flower in August. happy growing!

OK. That would explain why the one plant revealed pollen sacks so early on and these other 3 are not showing any any signs of their sex. Now that I think of of it, my only other experience regular seeds last year, the male plant revealed itself early as well and I had to wait till August to know for sure the others were female.

 

[cbdhemp808]

I think you can be sure the others are female now. How many girls do you have? Would be nice to see some photos.

 

[Azimuth]

Keep in mind that all male cannabis plants are autoflowering – they don't flower based on night length. See this post.

Is that true? I've not heard that before. I have a clone from a seedling plant and the clone is flowering (is male) in veg but not the plant it was taken from (also in veg).

Males often times will show before females but I've never heard they would all flower regardless of light cycle.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Is that true? I've not heard that before. I have a clone from a seedling plant and the clone is flowering (is male) in veg but not the plant it was taken from (also in veg).

Males often times will show before females but I've never heard they would all flower regardless of light cycle.

You are wise to question that; however, I have both experienced it and read about it in Rosenthal's book. I had hemp plants grown from regular seed that were all under the same lighting regimen to prevent flowering. The males ignored the lighting and flowered. @Dwight Monk, 420 staff, confirmed it in this reply.

Turns out, however, I should not have said all male cannabis plants...

Rosenthal... page 368, Marijuana Grower's Handbook, 2010...

"Males and ruderalis strains from the far north are not photosensitive at all. ... Males of most varieties indicate under continuous light within three to nine months. Some equatorial sativa males are exceptions and require a dark period to flower. Under 18 hours of light, males indicate sooner than under continuous light."

 

[Mudballs]

yeah all males go to pollen straight out the gate. you can't stop it, they don't flower like our normal females, they just go.
source: grows a lot of males

 

[Azimuth]

Well then. Thanks for that.

I have a cbd plant I've been trying to clone so I can send one into flower to see what's what and the seedling (now mother) hasn't shown sex yet and it's been a while. Maybe things are looking up for that one being female.

I don't grow from seed very much so I haven't had enough 'at bats' to really notice. But I do read a lot and can say I've never come across that gem.

 

[jokerlola]

I think you can be sure the others are female now. How many girls do you have? Would be nice to see some photos.

I'll post some photos in the next couple of days.

I have 3 main plants . 2 are a regular seed strain called Phoenix Fire that I got for free at the Denver Indo Expo and the 3rd was a rogue hermie seed from a past grow that I found in the trim. I don't know exactly which plant it was from but it could be a Harlequin or Super Lemon Haze or Blue Dream. I'll eventually be able to tell from the smell.

But now I'll have 6 more plants because I am cloning 2 tops from each plant in 12/12 light for them to reveal their sex!

I started them last Sunday into clear Solos inside solid Solos inside a humidome that I take out and then put in a closet to give them only 12 hours of light. I noticed today, one is already got roots. No balls on any of them.

 

[Azimuth]

and the 3rd was a rogue hermie seed from a past grow that I found in the trim.

Careful with the one from the hermie seed. That's a genetic trait and you've got better than even odds it'll be a hermie too and pollinate all of your others.

 

[jokerlola]

Careful with the one from the hermie seed. That's a genetic trait and you've got better than even odds it'll be a hermie too and pollinate all of your others.

I'll be watching it. I grew a rogue hermie seed last year in the ground that was from a Gorilla Glue plant from 2018 and that grew a great plant. Really strong high. But I watched it like a hawk.

I do have a question about the male seedling that revealed itself this year 4 weeks after sprouting. One of the little sacks appeared to be open. That plant has long been taken away. Could that still pollinate my remaining plants even though they have no obvious female parts yet? Any precautions I can take like spaying my remaining plants down with water/hose?

 

[Azimuth]

Pollen can hang around a looooong time and be easily blown around on air currents from your fan, etc. If it was only one or two sacks it shouldn't be much of an issue. Water will kill the pollen so spraying down your other plants and inside of your tent will help, but spraying down lights and stuff is not advised.

I had a male plant start to flower in veg but I'm not really all that concerned. Most of my veg plants don't even have preflowers on them. I wiped down the surfaces but I'm not going crazy with it.