# Newbie Grower With some Questions



## Columbian Connection

Hi all.
I do want to apologize for having so many questions, but I need some help.
I have a 3 tall plant that is quite skimpy. That is not a whole lot of leaves. It also has a skinny trunk. Is it supposed to look this way?? Also some of the leaves are huge! Bigger then my hand. 
My other question is that I noticed a couple of leaves had a few pin head size black spots on them. Like oil. Any clues what these could be?
Question 3. Only one leaf by the bottom of the plant is turning gold. All the other leaves are light or dark green. What is causing this and should I worry about it?
Any ideas on how high this plant will grow? Because if it gets any to much higher we are going to have problems. Is there a way to alter how high this plant will grow without damaging the plant or reducing its yield?
Here is a real strange question. I have never in my life have seen this on any plant. Upon inspecting my plant the other day I noticed growing out of the plant what looked like a leaf vain about 5 long but no foliage attached to it and it was blood red. Any clue on this one???? 
One last question. Is there a way I can tell at this stage if I have male or a female plant? If so what and where am I looking for? I have been trying to do my own research on all of these questions on the internet but with no luck. If anyone can help me out that would be great.

Thanks
The Columbian Connection


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## Columbian Connection

Gee I must have really stumped everyone with these questions  I thought for sure someone knows something about this stuff. Any help for a fellow toker would be nice


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## GanjaGuru

It would help to know:
Indoors or out
If indoors how much of what kind of light & light cycle
The age of the plants and anything else you can think of like growspace, planting medium and style of growing (hydro, soil, sog, scrog etc.).


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## Columbian Connection

Well not to be a smart ass, but I am in the outdoor growing section.

It's growing in top soil in the earth with clay soil around that. It should have ample grow space, but grape vines and some trees are around it. It's gets watered with a gallon of Mirical Grow once or twice a week.  Because of the other foilage around it the plant gets about 5 to 6 hours of direct sunlight and partial sunlight till dusk. The plant It was planted in late April.


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## QuitBogartin420

_OK dude...hopefully i can help you out here. First of all if those big sucker leaves are blocking sunlight to your lower leave I would snip a couple of them off. Secondly as far as telling M form F plant there are a couple of posts in this forum that have pictures but basically the female will have little pear shaped green pods that break open and initially 2 golden hairs will sprout out. On the male plant the pod is more of a round shape - when it pops open the pollen comes out. Thirdly as far as the height being a problem you have at least 2 options. Personnally I like to Top mine early in the growing season (like now) at 2 or 3 feet so they grow into a bush.... all this involves is cutting the main stem right at the juncture of 2 leaves ..After the initial shock wears off those 2 leaves will become main stems....Occassionally I eventually top both of those and then have 6 main stems etc......Your other option is to take the top of the plant and bend the top over to the ground and secure it somehow (tie it to a stake or something). By the next day all the leaves should turn to the sun with the upper ones eventually turning to stems and giving you another bushy plant option................*AND Lastly but Definately not Leastly I'm concerned about the following statements in your post:*_​_Here is a real strange question. I have never in my life have seen this on any plant. Upon inspecting my plant the other day I noticed growing out of the plant what looked like a leaf vain about 5 long but no foliage attached to it and it was blood red. Any clue on this one???? _
_My other question is that I noticed a couple of leaves had a few pin head size black spots on them. Like oil. Any clues what these could be?_

_It really sound to me that the red you were seeing was dozens, hundreds, hell maybe thousands..lol...of....*Aphids*...The stem you saw was what was left of an entire leaf at one time. Additionally the black spots are egg sacks of something. Possibly more *Aphids.... Woohoo*_
_You need to put a stop to that right away by spraying or dusting them with something. I've heard you can spray things like water mixed with minced garlic and hot peppers to ward off some pests but I'm not sure about aphids. Since your buds will start to flower and bud sometime in August, depending on your location. I would dust the leaves now with something for aphids from the hardware store or walmart or whatever so hopefully you can get rid of them now (nobody likes poison on their buds ;-)_
_I've heard of Neem oil you can get at garden centers that you mix with water and spray on plants too...you might want to look into that._
_*Anyway.....I'm new to this forum and this is my first post so I just want to say hi to Ganja and all you others out there for sharing your info. Personnally I have some plants that got a late start. Just bagseed but it was good...lots of hairs..My plants are about 6 weeks old and a couple feet tall but they just starterd a good growth spurt a week or so ago. I wish i could visit them more often but I dont wanna leave a trail if ya know what I mean. Anyway I'm hopin to have enough 'Kentucky' bud to last thru the long winter. Pictures coming soon.*_
_*I wont be a stranger..........Now pass that blunt damnit!*
_​_
_​​​


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## Columbian Connection

Thanks Q B. What does everyone else thinks of Q B'S advice?

If the red stems were aphids don't you think my plant would all chewed up by now?

Those black spots seem to be part of the leaf not something connected to it.


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## GanjaGuru

-Don't remove leaves; they are there for a reason.
-Those spots sound to me like spider mites. Unchecked they can completely ruin your pot.
-Marijuana can grow 12' tall, or more.  Most doesn't, but it can double in height during flowering.  The only way to limit height is to top the plant (cut off the upper part).
-There are clues you look for--preflowers--than can help indicate sex, but the only sure way is wait until they are 2 weeks into flowering (which will happen during the next 6 weeks); the males will grow balls (pollen sacs).


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## Columbian Connection

How far down should I cut it and should I do it now?


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## GanjaGuru

QuitBogartin420 mentioned how/where to top.
Do it asap if your gonna do it.


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## Columbian Connection

Thank you all for your replies.

Got a question for you Guru. Is there a way to tell what kind of plant it is? I know how tell if it is a sativa or an indica plant. It's a indica with big fat wide leaves and blades. It has a sweet skunk smell if that makes any sense. These leaves are huge. about the size of my hand spead wide. The plant seems to be a little skimpy on the leaves. Each leaf has 7 to 9 blades. It also has a skinny stem. Not like the one I once grew that was the size of a baseball bat. I trust your judgement. What do you think it is?


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## Columbian Connection

By the way nice plants


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## Hick

no possible way to determine the strain you have. There are at least, hundreds of stable IBL's out there, and thousands, if not tens of thousands, hybrid crosses.


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## GanjaGuru

Lke Hick said, there is no way to identify a specific strain while growing, and difficult even when they're harvested & cured.
I think people put too much empasis on strains.
One reason is that for example a NL from one seed bank is usually different from a NL from another bank.
I test smoke local grower's results every fall/winter, if I like a certain bud I ask the grower to kick out a few extra clones for me in the spring (he gets a phat bud in return).
So it could be named "Compton Schwag" but if it gets me to where I'm going I don't care WHAT it's called.


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## Columbian Connection

Yeh I know what your saying. It's kind of nice to know what your smoking. You know like the old days. If you got Columbian Gold, Red Bud, Rainbow, Panama Red . . . You kind of knew what kind of buzz to expect. The intensity might have varied, but everything else was the same. Its nice to see names are coming back. for awhile when you asked someone what it was all they said was its green. That is at least where I live that has been the case. In any case do you agree it is an indica plant?


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## QuitBogartin420

This goes back to your plant height issue. I stole this quote from Joey posting a reply under the "training"  thread.
Training plants with twist-ties is a great way to get them to bush out a bit. Just take any type of plastic or paper twist tie and wrap it around the top of the plant, then pull it over until the top is bent over 90-180 degrees and then attach this to the main stem lower on the plant. Do this for one week and then release the plant from it's bond. The plant can be trained in this fashion to take less vertical space and to grow bushier, to fill the grow space and force lower limbs to grow upward and join the green canopy. This technique takes advantage of the fact that if the top is pulled over, it creates a hormonal condition in the plant that makes it bush out at all lower internodes.


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## Columbian Connection

QuitBogartin420 said:
			
		

> _Personnally I like to Top mine early in the growing season (like now) at 2 or 3 feet so they grow into a bush.... all this involves is cutting the main stem right at the juncture of 2 leaves ..After the initial shock wears off those 2 leaves will become main stems...._
> 
> _Ok! I still have not had time top the plant. It's about 4' tall. Can I still do it?_
> 
> _If I can still top it then what juncture of two leaves are you talking about? If my pic uploaded please show me on the pic._
> 
> _By the way I don't know if I added a pic to this post or not. I never done it. I uploaded an attachment. If that is not the way its done and we dont't see a pic. then please someone tell me how to do it._
> 
> _Thanks again for all the help. _
> ​


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## GanjaGuru

I wouldn't top this late in the season unless there was a reason to (like stealth).
The days have been getting shorter for 6 weeks.  In 2 weeks it will go into budding.  So if you topped it now it would barely have a chance to recover before it goes into flowering.


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## Columbian Connection

Well stealth from the wife and the neighbor since it is in his yard and he don't know it  That is the reason for me wanting to top this plant. If you say it is going to flower in two weeks then maybe I wont. 


Is the plant going to continue to get higher? ​
How long does the flowering take?​
If I top it now and your right about the flowering does that mean I wont get any buds and it will die?​
By the way how does the plant look to you, since you now got the chance to see what it looks like? ​


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## Columbian Connection

By the way. The picture's color is not exact for some reason. The leaves are a real deep green to almost black color. The new leaves start to come out a light green, but turn to the dark green soon after. I have not gave it any food for about two weeks since we have had rain every other day or so. I'm thinking it is in the kind of strain it is. What do you think? I noticed something strange today that I never saw before. When the sun was directly on it the top was limp. Now that the sun is not as strong as the afternoon sun it has perked back up. Any ideas why it is doing this?


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## mariofromontario

~ pretty plant. to me and from the pic it looks very healthy. I am no longer a big fan of topping, i agree with guru whole heartedly. i wouldnt top that plant. the limpness is likely caused by the plant temperarily running out out of water. In direct sun the plant drinks enormours amounts of water. If a plant is having problems sucking up enough to keep it cool,  it can fold its leaves, or limp up, nothing to worry about,it  was just probably the most sun it has had in a while with all that rain you talked about. The colour of the leaves is dependant on strain, diet, and weather.


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## GanjaGuru

Leaves can also go limp from too much water.

-The plant will continue to grow in height, and during the first 3 weeks of flowering it will REALLY get taller.
-You need to feed the plant, rain or shine, just like people.
-Flowering takes 2 months
-If you top it now it could affect your yield.  No way for me to tell if it will or by how much.


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## Columbian Connection

I guess I'm going to have to risk topping it. If the wife sees it I will be living on the street. Even if it's not in my yard.  Better to lose a couple oz then my family. 

So from the picture from a couple of post ago, how far down should I cut it? 

Thanks for the help.


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## Natopotato

ya those are sum plants wow.


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