Cannabis Garden # Two; 75% Of The Dirty Deed in Dirt is Done

A few days ago, I crossed the 4 week threshold in vegetative state in my second cannabis garden. I continue to learn and change what I am doing in an effort to achieve a better yield and resin production from my micro-crop.

I germinated 13 seeds and once the tender shoots were transplanted into their respective growing bags, they have been receiving 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness along with water and nutrients.

What I have learned is that most crops are scrutinized at the five week mark for the tell-tale signs of the plants' gender. I carefully examined my plants under 60 X magnification and took some photos to illustrate the differences that I am already seeing at week 4.

Male Cannabis Plants Typically Present With Round Sphere-Type Globes Or Balls That Grows From A Small Stock

(At just over 4 weeks, I have 4 plants presenting with these structures which are pollen sacs. The presence of pollen sacs indicates that they are male plants.)

These spheres are typically visible (to the naked eye) in the 5th week of a grow. Currently, they are actually immature pollen sacs which (if left) will mature, increase in number, open up and spew pollen en masse.

If this process isn't stopped, the male plants will pollinate ALL the female plants. The females will then happily start the process of seed production. This is not a bad thing for people who want to produce seeds but for anyone who does not want seeds, it is certain disaster.

The female plants will expend a lot of energy to produce seeds at the expense of their flower (bud) and resin production. This is exactly the opposite outcome of what most growers try to achieve in their grows.

I Am No Exception (Even Though I Am An Inexperienced Grower) I'm Still Attempting to Achieve A Larger Yield 

In my first garden, I  let a male plant live because I had never seen one alive before (in real time). I quarantined it outdoors as soon as I could tell for sure that it was a male plant but, I either didn't remove it in time (before it started to release its pollen) or, I inadvertently carried the pollen to my female plants by water and feeding both the outdoor male plant at the same time as my females indoors.

Through This Experience, I Learned That Cannabis Pollen Is Exceptionally Resilient

It will live until it either pollinates a female or becomes wet. If it doesn't become deactivated (by either of those two means)  it will be fully capable of pollinating a sexually mature female plant and can remain viable for a few weeks or months, even.  Pollen can also travel great distances (once it's airborne) and although there is moisture in the air (which will likely deactivate it) you just never know what Mother Nature has up her sleeve.

After my pollination experience, I washed my entire grow room and equipment with 10% acetic acid (cleaning white vinegar) at full strength. It was just as big a job as sorting the 100's of seeds that my first 3 plants produced. I am not bemoaning the fact that I had to entirely strip my grown room and cleanse it with minute detail. I would have done this anyway. Sanitizing your grow room and equipment is a prudent standard operating procedure to adopt between gardens (from one crop to the next).

It controls the growth or infestation of mold, mildew or bugs.

Soil Is Never Reused From Crop To Crop Either

Every time you plant a garden, you want to give that crop the best start in life that you can. The thinking is that these practices can and will save you valuable time and resources if you can successfully avert problems before they even have a chance to start.

Prevention is the key to success in any cannabis gardening story, so I am learning.

This is why, I decided to look at my plants under magnification. It's tricky to discern the gender of the plants when they're young. The sooner you can distinguish the males from the females, the sooner you can eliminate the risk of pollination. You can also stop wasting nutrients and lights on plants that don't produce buds.

In my garden's case, 6 of the 13 plants looked like they weren't females. 4 were easier to distinguish and two, well, not so much. Here's what the questionable two looked like under magnification:

You can see that it is more of a tear-shaped structure, not spherical but it isn't presenting with any hair yet.

Hairs Are Produced By Female Plants

Here's what the other 7 plants look like which are definitely female.

Notice the very long hair growing out of the tear-shaped structure.

It's mind-boggling to me when you can plant seeds at the exact same time and end up with some plants more developed than others.  Quality of the seed, perhaps.

When I asked for opinions, most Growers thought that the 4 plants with the tiny stock and ball structures were males.  I agreed and so, I took care of things...with a big knife and my wood-stove.

Chopped at soil level and incinerated. 

The two remaining plants (with questionable gender) have been quarantined to see if they will become hairy. This tactic was also suggested by many of the Growers and I think that it was very valuable advice. 

I admit that I am nervous about pollination and it's difficult to wait, but I am.

I welcome your comments and I invite you to follow me on my journey...occasionally we will be waiting for good things to come. ;)

Here's the song that I was singing in my head when I gave my plants the axe:

For all things nasty, there is AC/DC. (This was posted to YouTube by acdcvevo on June 6, 2013.)

~Rebecca Ryan