forgive me if this is a dumb question, but can plants pollinate each other in late stages of veg? and if so, wouldnt the use of fans in the area, make this type of thing more likely?
This can happen if one of the plants is a male/and or hermie. During the late stages of veg, the plants will start to emerge pre-flowers. Make sure you sex the plants carefully! This is usually not common among pre flowers, but if you let a male or hermie plant produce mature pollen grains, it will occur. So the lesson is: Make sure you sex your plants carefully as soon as they emerge first signs of sex. If you have any males or hermies, remove them carefully and get rid of them.
ive seen all the pics of male/femalew preflowers, but at what stage does the male drop pollen, or rather what does it look like when it is that mature? do the little 'balls' open? also, if a female (plant with pistils) appears to have balls, is it a hermie? thanks.
It depends, they can drop pollen early or late depending on agitation and/or dessication (drying out and opening up). Even a small amount can fertilize the female. Typically a male plant will look mature when you see a bunch of balls clustered ....it looks way different than a female flower. If your female plant has distinct balls (dont confuse balls with a calyx) then it is hermie. Also look for yellow things that look like clusters of bannanas. inspect your plant closely, if you can take a picture -- that would help as well.
ive grown plants that show the fem pre flowers befor swiching to flower...which is nice but now allways the case..ive never seen a male show sex befor switching to flower though... if you did a search for plant sex or something like that im sure you will find pics..heres a link to some pics i took for shamen...we also talk about pollination in there too.. laters..