so how are you supposed to know your plant is a female,to become a mother plant?Will It just show sex on 18/4 after x amount of days?or do you do 12 12 then find out and revert to 18 4?

sorry for the newb question, im on my first female and wanted to clone but I fear its too late for that

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where did you get the seeds?

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Its not the pile...

...its pilin' it high

are you talkin to me dude?

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At about the 4th week of veg, you should begin looking at the main nodes of the plant. Initially it will be difficult to tell, but by the 6th week you should know for sure,and if male, get them the hell out of there.
MALE: a male will have a protrusion at the node that is reminiscient to a human thumb. It will be like a stub that grows more in width than length. From this little nub seeds will form when flowering begins...this is not what you want if you are trying to attain a mother plant!
FEMALE: instead of nubs at the nodes, two hairs that will maintain a constant width will grown in length after thet form. They will be reminiscient of tentacles of which are long and thin. Again, initially it will be hard to tell, but by the 6th week you should know for sure.
MOTHER PLANT: To determine which plant to use as a mother plant to attain clones, simply do so by first ruling out all males. Secondly, you should choose a plant that has plenty of healthy available clones (an available, usable clone will be a stem that is about 2-3 main nodes down, and has about 2-4 small cotyledons on it). The mother plant should be the female plant that is healthiest, has grown the longest, and has the most available stems to turn into clones
TO CLONE: snip off the stem after the 2-3 main nodes and some cotyledons with a 45 degree angle across the stem...be sure to use a brand new fresh razor. After you snip it off, split the end of the stem vertically about a half inch up the stem...in other words, begin to cut the stem in half longways from the bottom, and go about a half inch up...after you have cut this, cut the two lowest nodes of cotyledons from the bottom off to increase surface area that the cloning gel adheres to. The most important aspect to remember to get it to root is that the more surface area you make, the more possibility for root growth. After the cuts, IMMEDIATELY place the exposed cut end of the stem into a cup of water to maintain viable life. Then all you have to do is apply the gel, place them in your growing medium, place a hood over the clones and maintain a humidity of AT LEAST 85% or more!!! This is imperative because the leaves will be unable to get water because their is no root system initially...until the roots form, which could be up to 2 weeks, tedious care needs to be taken to maintain a high humid. level. Remember to use flourescent lights because they generate little heat and clones should be at about 75 degrees, which can be tough in the summer. ANY MORE QUESTIONS?

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Its not the pile...

...its pilin' it high

Bump

I see a lot of new growers getting bad advice about reverting mothers without being informed of the consequences. Degraded genetics.

That's right; when you reveg a mother her genetics are degraded. Period

I'm not saying you can't reveg a mother, and grow out many satisfactory harvest using a reveg, but the genetics won't be as good as they were originally.

Even by taking many cuttings over and over again you are stressing the mother and genetics are degraded - over time. This is of little consequence to commercial grower, but the hobby, and medical grower is more concerned with keeping the quality he or she has, and avoiding the added expense and hassle of securing new genetics.

It's much better to take cuttings from each successive batch of vegged clones. This can be done dozens of times with no loss in quality.

Sadly there are few alternatives for the one garden (space) grower, who's interested in continuing their genetic line. If you are growing bag-seed you are far better off starting with new seed, rather than trying to reserve a mother.

One of the singe space growers best options is to grow auto flowering strains which flower irregardless of light cycle, and veg in 12/12 light. Reserve the males (when their flowers are almost ripe), remove them from your garden, collect their pollen, and use it to pollinate select female branches. This way you have a steady supply of seed for future generations.

Another option is to take clones before flowering the mother, and by the time they root, the mother usually shows sex. Then put them all immediately into flower.

Better yet, create a cloning and vegging area, and only take clones from clones.

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson my grow