Forcing plant to sex female with dark period? Plus, feedback on my setup is desired.

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by Garfong, Mar 27, 2010.

  1. #1 Garfong, Mar 27, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 27, 2010
    Hello All,

    I'm a new member and this is my first question, on something that has been on my mind for sometime
    that I'd like to get out of the way. I did do a few searches here before posting & didn't find
    the answer.

    Seems that I read, perhaps in an Ed Rosenthal guide, once upon a time, that by giving plants
    a dark period of 24 or 48 hours, you can induce the plants to sex female. Is this correct?
    If so, is it 24 or 48 hours? Also, I forget if this is at the first sign of male traits during veg, or
    if it's done at the cusp between veg and flower photoperiods. When?

    I do remember doing this about 25 years ago with success, I just can't remember the specs
    ...or am I wrong/just hallucinating?

    ________________________________________________

    OK, being new, I'm not sure if it's OK to lump these posts together, but here goes:

    This is my first grow in ~25 years. Then, I grew a few crops of five Sativas under two 2-bar 40W
    flouros (I know, weak) with sparse but reasonable success - best high I've ever had, was also
    told so from my friends, one saying that it was the spiritual, personal energy that I put in & I can't
    really deny such (felt good, man).

    Anyway, I'm just at a place to get back to doing this again [& have extreme medical need
    (chronic pain, depression, etc.)], albeit, I'll be doing this on the cheap, and I'm using, for the first time,
    a 400W MH/HPS switchable, digital in a ~2.5 ft.W x ~5.5 ft. L x ~7 ft. (usable vertical) H area of a
    small bathroom [using about half of a 23-24 sq. ft., total area] that is getting a fresh coat of flat
    white paint this coming week. I'll also enclose the grow area, proper, with reflective mylar, will
    elongate the 13" x 10" light hood with some textured aluminum that I have to a size yet to be
    determined, and rely on the present ceiling exhaust fan, a 10" and 6" oscillating fans, door open/ajar
    for ventilation and circulation. I'll be using a homemade manual light mover made from a track
    lighting track, coupled with pot swapping (outside growpots to the center/inside every couple days)
    and periodic 1/3-1/3-1/3 / 120 growpot rotation to help with uniform growth/light exposure. The
    place I live doesn't get very hot inside [75; even in Summer (under trees, and due climate].
    I'll be using a small thermostat-dependant electric space heater set @ 75; well away from/not
    pointed @ the plants in the event of chilly temperatures. Sound OK?

    This first time, I'm shooting for growing a total of eight plants in either four gallon bird seed buckets
    or three or four gallon nursery pots, or a combination (all yet to be procured). I'm probably shooting
    for plants no more than ~ 4.5 to five feet - if they go that high. Are three gallons big enough to
    produce/sustain that size plant?

    I'll be using various seeds from NorCal dank that I saved from the rare, stray seed from bags of primo nugs.
    These are mixed up, some of unknown strains, but most/all are Indica/Sativa crosses. I know I have
    some White Widow and White Rhino, but the rest are strays from bags of indeterminate Humboldt, San
    Fran and Santa Cruz diggity. They are five - up to nine - years old, but have been stored in amber glass
    in a closed tin at steady room temperature. They still look good: big/roundish/fat, dark & marbled, free
    of critters, and still hard. I don't think I'll have a problem, and have enough seeds that I think I'll be OK in
    respect to germination success. Input/experience on this type of thing with age of seeds?

    I'll be using one-half soiless nursery mix (mostly peat & perlite, ~6.0 pH) and one-part premium soil,
    ideally, Fox Farms, or some similar Coco blend with miccorhizae. Does this sound like a good plan?
    Do I need a ~1" layer of gravel in the bottom or added sand to facilitate drainage? Or is the sand
    and/or rocks unnecessary?

    Ideally, I will be shooting for 100% organic nutes (molasses, maybe some blood meal, and extra lime,
    for sure), but I'm open to synthetics, like Big Grow/Big Bud or Dutch Master Gold, if they will save me
    time and take the brain cramps out of formulating a bunch of various single additives. Which is a good,
    CHEAP all-around complete fert? I realize I'll be using different things during the two light cycles and the
    general NPK reqs, but I was wondering, mostly, about cost and (I'd like to stay away from fish emulsion
    because of possible translation to taste...thoughts on that?) and would def like to go organic if it's not a
    major headache. Input?

    And, I'll be pruning/pinching to induce secondary, etc. growth, but I was wondering fan leaf removal - I
    forget what the rule is. Also, is there a definitive guide on internodal pruning on here? I couldn't find it...

    I'll also be planting, trimming, fertilizing, and harvesting as much as possible with astrological Moon signs
    - as much as that coincides with actual necessity/plant needs. Has anyone else tried this? What was
    your experience?

    I'm also thinking about making a couple of the water/sugar/yeast CO2 generators, like are described
    on youtube. Any thoughts on those?

    OK, whew, sorry for the length of this, and for so many questions - and if I put it in the wrong place!,
    but I think this is about the bulk of what I need feedback on at this initial stage. Fingers crossed, I'll
    probably go back to lurking, barring the nearly inevitable crisis/troubleshooting that I'll might/probably
    need.

    BTW, here are some Ed Rosenthal grow guides on Scrbd.com that I just looked up but haven't gotten
    into yet:

    Search for "Rosenthal Ed Marijuana" | Scribd

    And, here is the ebay Seller that I got my 400W Swithable Digital Ballast HPS MH Grow Light Sys
    from ($123.50 + 16 bucks ship{US$} from (you just have to watch a few days and pick an auction that
    hasn't been over bid - if any are around or below a hundred bucks one - two hours before end, you should
    do OK if you snipe w/ 1 minute to go, ~ $30 above the current bid - it may take a few auctions and
    a few days, but if $ is an issue, you save ~ $50+, as some of these go for over $170:

    eBay Seller: gyosupplies: Home Garden items on eBay.com

    (^these are private auctions and plain shipping boxes. ..or did I already mess up, security-wise, by doing
    this on eBay? :/ )

    And here is the seller that I found the best deal on reflective mylar film ($18.70 US, incl. S/H, for a
    27.5" x 50' roll):

    eBay Seller: kikokurio: Mylar, Home Garden items on eBay.com

    OK, nice to be among fellow potheads/nice to meet you! Any feedback, including telling me to get fuct
    for a longass post (possibly in the wrong place)..yeah, any & all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

    Also, & this is kinda late, is this site secure? heh :/

    Happy Trails!
     
  2. High there :wave: thats alot of questions :eek:

    Im far to high to read it all again.

    Here are the bits I remember,

    The dark peroid to induce flowering has been done by many growers and results posted in their journals, I don't think it makes much difference if any.

    Foxfarm soil and some of the others are super groovy, you don't need gravel but you can add perlite for drainage if you like.

    Don't bother using a homebrew CO2 method as they do very little if anything at all. Adding fresh air in works almost as good.

    This site is very secure and super groovy :wave:

    Sorry thats all I can do im :smoking: maybe somebody else can do better but I'd break your post down or search for some of your answers, you can learn everything that you need to know here. Good luck
     
  3. Many growers believe that an extended dark period before starting 12/12 lighting can jump-start the flowering reaction, but it won't change the gender of the plant.
     
  4. Not sure if this is of any help but...

    During the 1960's and 1970's some cannabis breeders took to experimenting with Colchicine. Colchicine, a powerful mutagen for both man and beast, stops cell duplication, while the cellcore duplication continues the same. The end result is a doubling or more of the chromosome set. This treatment can be beneficial to marijuana because it enforces many properties such as higher production of thc and resistance to disease. What also resulted, when gender chromosomes doubled, is that male or female chromosomes appear manifold, called Hermaphrodites. What's the plant to become? It becomes all at once. The result is called feminized or effeminate marijuana seed.
    Genetically, a cannabis plant is more or less predisposed to become male or female. This is regulated by 2 chromosomes everyone knows as the X and Y chromosomes. A plant with 2 XX chromosomes becomes female. A plant with an X and Y turns into a male. Plants have hormones that regulate it's functioning, of which gender is one of those functions. The hormone balance is genetically determined, and partly influenced by environmental factors. An example is when plant roots get damaged. The roots will produce a substance that in turn slows down leaf growth. The result is male flowers. When discussing hormone balance you get FEMALE SEED or feminized marijuana: a female is a plant with XX or only female chromosomes.
    When you have a seed with just X chromosomes, you are certain this seed will grow into a plant that is genetically female. To achieve the XX only plant: a female plant is forced by a hormone called Gibberellic Acid to produce male flowers, the pollen created contains only X chromosomes, when you offer this pollen to another female plant you can be absolutely certain to get seeds which are 100% XX. Once again this seed is called FEMALE SEED. Gibberellic Acid can be found in online. It takes years for an individual to achieve the proper plant hormone manipulation to get 100% female XX seed. Supplies therefore fluctuate and there are many different strains available worldwide.

    I am not the source of this information but you can find it at...
    Marijuana Growing Guide Free Library
     

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