Within the last 3-4 days, my plants have matured a lot. They have been in the flowering room for awhile now (about 8-9 weeks, lost track so I'm not entirely sure) and I have just been patiently waiting for most of the hairs to turn orange/brownish. Two of my plants are further along than the others because of stress I think, they got beat around a bit in the beginning of flowering--I was trying to build a new room around them, 1 got burned on the light, and 1 kept falling over. Anyways, when I checked them on Monday, and up to that point, the majority of the hairs were still white with a few orange ones peppered here and there. HUGE change when I saw them again this morning (Friday), now 30-40% or more of the hairs are orange/brownish. The buds seemed to stop getting any bigger about 3 weeks ago, and since then I had been wondering why they weren't maturing very fast. It seems as if they've done 3 weeks worth of maturing in 4 days! Well, that's not the problem, the problem is, when I look closely at the buds now, I think I can see seeds developing. Have my plants turned hermaphrodite? I can see signs on all but 3 plants (two of them are the ones that matured awhile ago). It is really hard to take pictures of what I am talking about, because you can't see much because it's so bright. I have attached two of the better pictures to illustrate my concern. I am pretty sure these are seeds on my buds. My question is, should I harvest them really soon the avoid more seed development, or should I wait for them to mature more and not worry about it? (FYI this is my first grow)
It could be a male flower, one looks open in the 1st picture. Could be hermie, but I hope not. If it is it will fertilize the female flower and you will get seeds. Are there any other plants with it?
Yes there are other plants with them (this is not the only one with evindence of seeds). About 3 of them aren't showing any signs, but the rest are (7 total). They were all females until about 2-3 days ago. About 1-2 weeks back I thought I might have seen seeds developing on 1 plant, but I couldn't really tell, so just dismissed it. Is it possible that they were seeds and have pollenated my other plants? Should I pull them early now?
No don't pull them early. If they are indeed seeds you can harvest them when they are mature and use the seeds to grow new plants. However, most female plants have what is called false seed pods. These look like seeds developing but they are empty. To make sure that's what it is take the juiciest looking seed and cut it off your plant. Disect that sucker and if there is a seed in there you will know. Also, don't harvest based on hair color; it is best to buy a microscope and look at the trichs under that. Radio Shack sells a cheap microscope.
Thanks SmknVTEC, I was going to pull them tomorrow, but now I won't. They seem to be maturing very fast now that energy is being expended to grow these "false seed pods." Is there anything I can do to reduce the amount that develop? Also, are you talking about a jeweler's loupe? You can buy one at Radio Shack?
even if they are seeds, id still let it mature, just because it has seeds, doesn't mean it will be bad smoke.
those are banana's & are very value-able if you know how to use them usually they pop up in times of stress or if the plants have been flowered past there prefered harvest time it is also normal to find a few seeds here & there on a plant , it's just safety measures that the plant uses to assure its survival ...thats why this miracle plant will never get extinct from this world
You guys are right, they are not true male pods. Do these banana pods release any pollen? That would explain why in a matter of days all the rest of them suddenly started growing the pods too.
yes they do carry pollen ...those banana's have the remarkable ability to produce all fem seeds ....there is a difference between a hermie flower & a banana a hermie flower is basically a male flower ..a hermie is a plant that has both sex on every node banana's show up so late & randomly...there is no time to produce seed but some times they produce the most 8-10 seeds on 1 plant peace John
I don't know about this banana pod stuff. Either it has a seed in it or it doesn't; either it has male balls which later have pollen or it doesn't. A hermie will produce female seeds if it is an otherwise female plant with the occasional male sack and it has to pollinate a separate, fully female plant; this is clearly not the case here. If they are false seed pods they will not have seeds, do not carry pollen and there is nothing you can do to reduce them.