How Soon Can a Pre-Flower Be Accurately Verified Under a Microscope??

My plants are about 29 days old from seed. I can see pre-flowers beginning to form in the "armpit" of the newest growth's node but they're so small I definitely can't verify if they are male or female with my naked eye.

However, I can zoom in with a microscope and see that it looks like pheno #8 has that signature claw we all know to be associated with male pre-flowers. It also looks like #6 resembles a female pre-flower more than a male pre-flower under a microscope. But is it too early to tell? I included photos of the plants also so you have an idea on how big they are at the moment.

Here is Gorilla Bubble BX4, pheno #6 under a microscope:




here's pheno #8 of same strain:





here's a pheno #6 photo of whole plant:




here's whole plant photo of pheno #8:


Can I confirm the gender of these plants at 29 days old with a microscope zoom of the pre-flowers or is it too early to accurately say?

There's no point in obsessing about the pre-flowers at that stage. You'll have plenty of opportunity to identify (it would be very obvious) whether what you have is a male or female and decide accordingly.

FYI, you should post this kind of questions in the general growing section or newbie section of this forum, you'll get more response.

Definitely to early to tell. I know its hard to wait for these plants to do their thing, but rushing them never gets you any where. Plants grow at their pace, not yours . You might get preflowers that show sex, but not all plants show sex in veg. Usually plants need 6-8 weeks to be mature enough to show sex though. When I run new genetics, I always take a clone and put the clone into 12/12 to get it to show sex as soon as possible.

Put the microscope down and go smoke a joint. And what's with these 8 pheno's?

A bit early buddy...some people report clear signs of sexing as early as 4-6 weeks of veg. But as Thundercat said, this is usually observed in the 6-8 week range. People that do not veg for longer than 4-6 weeks may not even be aware of what sexing and real preflowers are.

Very cool photos pics 1&2

#6 is Female
#8 is Male
Those are my guesses, still a little too early to tell though. Usually if the preflower has a little "overbite" like #8 its male, but sometimes they'll surprise you. Females stay pointy like #6.

waterproof808 said:

#6 is Female
#8 is Male
Those are my guesses, still a little too early to tell though. Usually if the preflower has a little "overbite" like #8 its male, but sometimes they'll surprise you. Females stay pointy like #6.

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What are the surprises usually like? Is it more looked male but actually was female eventually? Or vice versa? Or have people had experience with both I wonder?

Tham sorry to tell you that you have a hermie. Just kidding. No but seriously, you won't know until 2 -3 weeks in flower.

a good trick is to put it on 12/12 for two weeks then continue your vegetative cycle. within 2-4 weeks after the 2 weeks 12/12 you should see some signs

hellmutt bones said:

Tham sorry to tell you that you have a hermie. Just kidding. No but seriously, you won't know until 2 -3 weeks in flower.

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not true. Plants show sex well before they are in flower.

newguy41410 said:

What are the surprises usually like? Is it more looked male but actually was female eventually? Or vice versa? Or have people had experience with both I wonder?

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Both.

waterproof808 said:

not true. Plants show sex well before they are in flower.

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Indeed...they'll show sex when they reach sexual maturity, not when you flip to 12/12. Now, if you flip to 12/12 before they reach sexual maturity, you may not even be aware that it's possible to determine sex before 12/12.

Logan Burke said:

Indeed...they'll show sex when they reach sexual maturity, not when you flip to 12/12. Now, if you flip to 12/12 before they reach sexual maturity, you may not even be aware that it's possible to determine sex before 12/12.

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Why wait that long? Just put her into flower.

hellmutt bones said:

Why wait that long? Just put her into flower.

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Just going into 12/12 won't instantly make the plant show sex or begin to flower. It still has to reach genetics maturity. You can run plants 12/12 from seed, and they will still usually take 6-8 weeks to begin to actually flower.

Thundercat said:

Just going into 12/12 won't instantly make the plant show sex or begin to flower. It still has to reach genetics maturity. You can run plants 12/12 from seed, and they will still usually take 6-8 weeks to begin to actually flower.

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Yes technically if you put it from seed in 12/12. But his plants are big as hell they are ready for flowering. He will see the sex in 2-3 weeks.
Ppl trying to get al technical and shit. Thats why noobs be getting all confused.

It just depends on your setup and how much you top, some people prefer vegging longer especially when scrogging waiting for the net getting filled in before flipping to 12/12. But for some people's setup, waiting that long just isn't an option and I can understand that.

hellmutt bones said:

Yes technically if you put it from seed in 12/12. But his plants are big as hell they are ready for flowering. He will see the sex in 2-3 weeks.
Ppl trying to get al technical and shit. Thats why noobs be getting all confused.

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No one has confused him. It's much better to learn the way the plants grow then to just blindly do things.

Its a common misunderstanding among new growers, and specifically indoor cannabis growers that flowering instantly begins at 12/12, when it doesn't actually start until the plant begins to form flowers. So many new growers expect a plant to take 8-10 weeks to flower, but then they cut it early because they counted their 8-10 weeks wrong.

It's a valuable lesson to learn about the plant biology so you can accurately read the signs your plant is giving you. The more you know the better you will be able to grow.

After 6 to 8 days of 12/12 your plant will show sex. There won't be giant flowers but you will see the hair out of the female part or see balls. You can do this when they get to about 5th node or so.

Thundercat pretty much explained it ..... plants will mature accordingly on its own terms even from the “ same “ seed stock.

My concerns are you are looking to “ preflower “ growth in a restricted solo. Spending valuable time vegging in such a small scale. They should have been up potted so you can not waste the topping techniques on a CUP GROW .

A proper veg / rooting stage in a container big enough to allow bigger rootmass makes more sense , then cull the plants once ( the veg time to put in ) will pan out and the plant sets up the structure “ it needs “ ....

Example .....

Say both go preflower ( female ) .... now what ?...

That rootmass will not give you any plant potential since it is ready to flower and it only threw
a few lateral branches. I personally only keep solos only for simple clone jobs / seedling starts after that , I plant solo cup as a root plug and let them do their thing. I mean you already spent 30 days in that cup. There is a time when the roots will be so constricted that it will preflower BECAUSE it has no choice and sometimes it becomes a stressor to the plant. Both creating either a good or bad / herm plant.