hey guys whats happinin. I posted earlier but know one anwsered me so il ask again.What are the first signs of flowering in a female?And male? Likem i know females start to get pistils and male get a ball on a stick thing.Well ive looked at pics and still dont understand really.So if any one can explain id apprecaiate it.My plant is a female i think but not entirely sure.It has little thing i think are pistils.And how long does it genaerally take for a male to develop a ball on a stick.Mines been on flowering for a while and no balls yet.Also do males have a smell like a female?THX IN ADVANCE.
Male Plant Under natural light, males usually start to flower from one to four weeks before the females. Where the photoperiod is artificially controlled, as with electric lights, males respond quickly (in about a week) to a change to short photoperiods and usually show flowers sooner than the females. Male flowers develop quickly, in about one to two weeks on a vigorous plant, not uniformly. Scattered flowers may open a week or more before and after the general flowering, extending the flowering stage to about four weeks. The flowering stage continues to demonstrate the male's tall, relatively sparse growth. Most of the flowers develop near the top of the plant, well above the shorter females. The immature flower buds first appear at the tips of the main stem and branches. Then tiny branches sprout from the leaf axils, bearing smaller clusters of flowers. The immature male flowers are closed, usually green, and develop in tight clusters of knob-like buds. The main parts of the male flowers are five petal-like sepals which enclose the sexual organs. As each flower matures, the sepals open in a radiating pattern to reveal five pendulous anthers (stamens). Inside the ovoid, sac-shaped anthers, pollen grains develop. Initially, pollen sifts through two pores near the top of the anther; then, starting from the pores, longitudinal slits slowly open (zipperlike) over the course of a day, releasing pollen to the wind. Once a flower sheds pollen, it shortly dies and falls from the plant. Normally, male plants begin to die one to two weeks after the bulk of their flowers have shed pollen. Healthy males may continue to flower for several more weeks, but secondary growth seldom has the vigour of initial bloom. Female Plant The female plant generally starts to flower later than the male, under either natural light or an artificially controlled photoperiod. Female marijuana plants flower when the average daily photoperiod is less then about 12 to 13 hours. However, some varieties and individuals may flower with a photoperiod of over 14 hours. Some Colombian varieties may not respond until the photoperiod falls below 12 hours for a period of up to three weeks. The duration of flowering also depends on the particular rhythm of the variety, as well as growing conditions, and whether or not the plant is pollinated. Within these variables, females maintain vigorous growth and continue to rapidly form flowers for a period that ranges from 10 days to about eight weeks. Females generally do not grow much taller during flowering. Growth emphasises a "filling out," as flower clusters develop from each leaf axil and growing tip. Normally, the flowers arise in pairs, but the pairs form tight cluster of 10 to over 100 individual flowers that are interspersed with small leaves. These clusters are the "buds" of commercial marijuana. Along the top of the main stem and vigorous branches, "buds" may form so thickly that the last foot or more of stem is completely covered. Usually the leaves that accompany the flowers tend toward simpler structure, until each leaf has one to three blades. {Figure 76. Female in full bloom.} The visible parts of the female flower are two upraised stigmas, one-quarter to one-half inch long, usually white or cream, sometimes tinged with red, that protrude from a tiny, green, pod-shaped structure called the floral bract. This consists of modified leaves (bracts and bracteoles) which envelop the ovule or potential seed. The mature bract is a tiny structure, about 1/8 inch across and 1/4 inch long. When fertilised, a single seed begins to develop within the bract, which then swells until it is split by the mature seed. Bracts are covered more densely with large resin glands than is any other part of the plant, and are the most potent part of the harvest. Resin glands may also be seen on the small leaves that are interspersed among the flowers. The differences between male and female Cannabis become more apparent as the plants mature. The same can be said of the differences between varieties. Often, two varieties may appear to be similar, until they actually flowers and fill out to different forms. These appear in many ways: some varieties maintain opposite phyllotaxy with long internodes throughout flowering; bud sizes vary from about one-half inch to about three inches, with a norm of about one to two inches; buds may be tightly arranged along the stem, yielding a "cola" two feet long and four inches thick; and some varieties only form buds along their main stem and branch tips, with a few "buds" forming along the branches. When a female is well-pollinated, growth slows and the plant's energy goes into forming seeds and thus into the continuation of the species. Some plants (but only the more vigorous ones) will renew flowering even when pollinated. Females that are not well-pollinated continue to form flowers rapidly. This extends the normal flowering period, of 10 days to four weeks, up to eight weeks or more. Individual flowers are pollinated by individual pollen grains. In a matter of minutes from its landing on a stigma, the pollen grain begins to grow a microscopic tube, which penetrates the stigma and reaches the awaiting ovule wrapped within the bracts. The pollen tube is a passageway for the male's genetic contributions to the formation of the embryo (seed). The union of the male and female complements of genes completes fertilisation and initiates seed formation. The stigmas, having served their purpose, shrivel and die, turning rust or brown colour. On a vigorous female, the seeds reach maturity in about 10 days. When growing conditions are poor, the seed may take five weeks to ripen to full size and colour. Naturally, all the flowers do not form, nor are they pollinated at the same time - and there will be seeds that reach maturity weeks before others do. Although each flower must be individually fertilised to produce a seed, a single male plant can release many millions of pollen grains. A large female plant can produce over 10,000 seeds. Hope this helps. Z
u helped me out alot too.what i under stood anyways.so basically males flower before females.Males flowers start out as clusters of balls.Females ar smalee bunched leaves.If u get a male close to a fdemale it will produce lots of seeds.So if u dont have a male it will be seedless bud?