[pinecone]

I occasionally see threads where growers consider throwing plants into flower or cloning and flowering just to determine sex. This has always seemed silly to me as (with the aid of a jeweler's loop) I have been able to determine the sex of most well cared for cannabis plants by the time they are a month old (from sprout), and before they are really large enough to take cuts from.

Pine

You need a jeweler' loop


Below are 3 SSH seedlings just starting to show their sex. They were sowed on February 25th, 2011 and sprouted 4-7 days later. The picture is from today so they are 3 weeks or so from sprout. They have been are in 16oz cups and under T5 HO (6500K) lighting on an 18-6 schedule. The plant on the left is a female, the one is the middle is a male, and the sex of the one on the right cannot be determined yet (it was the last to sprout and is a bit behind the other two). I expect to be able to sex this last plant within a week.


Nodal region on the female plant. Note the long slender shape and smooth texture of the preflower. Even if you couldn't see the hairs this shape and texture would be an early indication of a female plant. I find that hairs are typically visible through a loop shortly after a pre-flower is visiable to the naked eye, but sometimes the the first few female looking preflowers don't show hairs right away. In these instances the first hairs usually show on preflowers forming on upper nodes.


Nodal region on the male plant. Note the difference from the shape and texture of the female pre-flowers.

[Maj.PotHead]

thats nice but the erea ya highlited isnt a preflower they'll show preflowers right next to the stuplia many moons ago that was a thorne. but over time and evolution it became soft

[pinecone]

Originally Posted by Maj.PotHead

thats nice but the erea ya highlited isnt a preflower they'll show preflowers right next to the stuplia many moons ago that was a thorne. but over time and evolution it became soft

The preflowers are most definitely in the areas that I highlighted. They are right next to the stuplia (or whatever you call them).

Pine

[Budley Doright]

Those structures are called stipules...

And indeed preflowers form behind them.....


looks like females top and male below..


By the way you can remove the stipules for a better look at the preflowers....


just grap it with tweezers and pull down....


I do it all the time...


By the way I wrote a thread on early sexing on OG....


I used to say look for preflowers the node below the top node....


right where you are looking....


I didnt see you had already sexed them ....sorry.....


one thing to note about tiny female preflowers....


the very tip is a darker green....


male flower its normally lighter on the top.....

[Shcrews]

for easy sexing, i prefer tequila, MDMA, or any combination thereof

[pinecone]

The last one showed its sex today. It is a female.

Pine

[rrog]

It's a little hard for me to see, but you mention the pre-flower shape is different as well as the texture. Male = sphere female = pear shape. When I've tried just using that as a barometer, they all look like they might go either way... that's my untrained eye, obviously.

Burnt Rope introduces something new for me... the darker green tops of female pre-flowers.

The texture thing is new to me. Females are smoother?

[pinecone]

The males almost look like little short lobster claws to me (at least initially) whereas the females are smoother, longer, and pear shaped.

Pine

[rrog]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. Very helpful.

[yesum]

This may be worthy of sticky? Thanks for the info and pics. I am vegging in party cups and plan to sex the plants in the cups and then up pot the females only. Will save a bunch of soil and space.