# indoor sex determination for outgoing plants



## Darkstar (Apr 14, 2006)

I know what preflowers of male and female plants look like. My question is how long do you need to grow plants indoors usually to determine the sex of a plant? For years i have just had to pull males up once i see them start to form balls. 

It was brought to my attention that u can start them indoors and once they mature u can determine sex. Also what time schedule do you use so as not to shock them when putting outside.

Thanks in advance for anybody who can help me get a grip on this.

(edit) Also I understand how to make plants flower indoors im just trying to avoid that stress. Is this possible? How do you guys do this?


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## Stoney Bud (Apr 14, 2006)

Darkstar said:
			
		

> I know what preflowers of male and female plants look like. My question is how long do you need to grow plants indoors usually to determine the sex of a plant? For years i have just had to pull males up once i see them start to form balls.
> 
> It was brought to my attention that u can start them indoors and once they mature u can determine sex. Also what time schedule do you use so as not to shock them when putting outside.
> 
> ...


Hey Darkstar, the best way IMO, is to let the plant grow large enough indoors to take a cutting from. Then flower the cutting. This will tell you the plants sex and not stress the plant except for one cutting.

When you move the plants outside, do so in stages. An hour out for a couple of days, then two, then three. When you get to four hours out in full sunlight with no evidence of shock, then you can leave them out. Watch the plants very closly and make sure they have enough water when you put them out.

Good luck man.

EDIT: When you flower the cutting, it should show sex clearly in about 10 days.


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## Darkstar (Apr 14, 2006)

Stoney Bud said:
			
		

> Hey Darkstar, the best way IMO, is to let the plant grow large enough indoors to take a cutting from. Then flower the cutting. This will tell you the plants sex and not stress the plant except for one cutting.
> 
> When you move the plants outside, do so in stages. An hour out for a couple of days, then two, then three. When you get to four hours out in full sunlight with no evidence of shock, then you can leave them out. Watch the plants very closly and make sure they have enough water when you put them out.
> 
> ...


 
You the man Stoney Bud, thanks for helping me with that. Makes perfect sense now. Why didnt I think of that?  

What is your take on this? Would it make more sense to clone the females and skip growing out all my seed? In your opinion what are the pros and cons of these methods(cloning as opposed to growing from seed) as I have no experience in cloning, though im sure I can do it without too much grief.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate being able to learn from people with experience.


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## Stoney Bud (Apr 14, 2006)

Darkstar said:
			
		

> You the man Stoney Bud, thanks for helping me with that. Makes perfect sense now. Why didnt I think of that?
> 
> What is your take on this? Would it make more sense to clone the females and skip growing out all my seed? In your opinion what are the pros and cons of these methods(cloning as opposed to growing from seed) as I have no experience in cloning, though im sure I can do it without too much grief.
> 
> Thanks for your help. I appreciate being able to learn from people with experience.


The surest way to have known females is to use clones. Barring any unusual stress that could cause a plant to change sex or become a hermie, if you take and raise clones from a known female, each clone will be genetically identical to the mother plant.

The disadvantage in doing this with bagseed, is you may have as many as a dozen different plants represented in a bag of street weed. There is just no way to tell. If you grow a selection of seeds from the bag, you can refine the selection by choosing the plant with the best of the best in each of many categories. If you had clones growing from each of these plants, THEN you could pick your best plant and grow it specifically for cloning more plants from it.

All of this takes time, money and room to grow clones.

I grow totally indoors now. I buy seeds from Nirvana and grow them. I use a Mother plant and sex it with a clone. When I find my best female, I grow her until I can take clones following the 30% rule. Then I raise the clones.

I always keep a Mother going. It will provide me with genetic duplicates as long as I can keep her alive. Mother plants are best kept at about a three foot tall size. I prune my Mothers every day to keep them small and to lessen the amount of total pruning to fit well within the 30% rule. Failure to follow this rule can result in death, sickness, disease, hermies, or complete sex change.

THE 30% RULE:

Never modify a plant in any way that causes more than 30% of the plant to be either healing from cuttings or severe training, at one time. Move the plant in stages and take only cuttings that allow two thirds of the plant to remain UNTOUCHED until the third you modified is healthy and growing normal again.


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## Darkstar (Apr 14, 2006)

Stoney Bud said:
			
		

> The surest way to have known females is to use clones. Barring any unusual stress that could cause a plant to change sex or become a hermie, if you take and raise clones from a known female, each clone will be genetically identical to the mother plant.
> 
> The disadvantage in doing this with bagseed, is you may have as many as a dozen different plants represented in a bag of street weed. There is just no way to tell. If you grow a selection of seeds from the bag, you can refine the selection by choosing the plant with the best of the best in each of many categories. If you had clones growing from each of these plants, THEN you could pick your best plant and grow it specifically for cloning more plants from it.
> 
> ...


 
Your right Stoney Bud. I think im gonna undertake the cloning process. Maybe just practice with it this season and throughout the summer not expecting to reep the rewards from them. More so to get a feel for how its done so when next season rolls around I'll have a little experience under my belt and apply it in the field. also I don't fool with bagseed anymore. I have acquired Purple Pineberry, Papaya, Mango(same thing as Papaya i understand) BB x Skunk#1, and Early Gold. 

Thanks many times over Stoney Bud. You have answered all my questions and have saved me alot of time searching. I feel confident now ill be able to do this.


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## dozer42 (Apr 14, 2006)

hey stoney bud. i have a question about the last tid bit of info. you say to take a clone off you plant to flower to determine the sex of the plant. do you have to root that clone before you sex it? some people tell me that the clone will die if you try to sex it before it roots.


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## Stoney Bud (Apr 14, 2006)

dozer42 said:
			
		

> hey stoney bud. i have a question about the last tid bit of info. you say to take a clone off you plant to flower to determine the sex of the plant. do you have to root that clone before you sex it? some people tell me that the clone will die if you try to sex it before it roots.


Yes, you can sex the cutting with no roots in evidence. I've done it thousands of times. The cutting will show sex in about 10-14 days. I've had them show roots too. It doesn't matter. I toss the cuttings anyway. I'm after cuttings from a full grown Mother. The first clone is for nothing but sexing the plant.


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## Stoney Bud (Apr 14, 2006)

Darkstar said:
			
		

> Your right Stoney Bud. I think im gonna undertake the cloning process. I have acquired Purple Pineberry, Papaya, Mango(same thing as Papaya i understand) BB x Skunk#1, and Early Gold.
> 
> Thanks many times over Stoney Bud. You have answered all my questions and have saved me alot of time searching. I feel confident now ill be able to do this.


Hey Darkstar, I'm glad I could help you. That is a sweet selection of seeds you've got. I love the names the strains have. It's always something exotic or teasing. Sometimes a hint of it's impact. I surf thru the seed banks and just check out the names and descriptions some times.

Read up and ask questions about the cloning process before you start any. It'll reduce your losses. Everyone loses clones. I try different things with the clones sometimes and kill them real quick. That's why having two Mothers for each strain is always a great idea. If one batch takes a dive, you always have the other Mother ready.

Pay for seeds ONCE. Then clone. Of course, I'm told there are some strains that can't be cloned. LR is one. I'd like to have a go at one of them to see if I could clone them. I think I could.


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## Darkstar (Apr 15, 2006)

Stoney Bud, Thanks I'm gonna study up on cloning I've already found a very informative thread posted by Hick. 

So when you sex the cutting for your mother plant you just treat it like any other clone but immediately start it on 12/12 I'm assuming?

Thanks again. I also love all the names of strains. After I got my seeds I found myself finding all these strains that I wanted lol. That's part of the fun though, looking forward to trying new strains in the future.


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## drfting07 (Apr 23, 2006)

Hick sent me this: As soon as you are able to take a cutting from your seed born plants, you can place "it" (the cutting) into 12/12 and determine sex. By labeling the cuttings to corespond with each plant (A,B,C, ect), you then know if cutting A showed pistills, A plant is gemale. and so on.
This is preferrable.."IMHO" to putting the plant into 12/12, determining sex, and then placeing it back under 24/0 to veg it to the desired heighth or to sexual maturity. Less stress AND less time involved .


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## Darkstar (Apr 23, 2006)

Thanks drfting07. Do you put your test clone(that is the clone you are just using to determine sex with) in a cup with soil and rooting agent like a normal clone? Or just put it in a small bottle with some water in it to keep it alive long enough to show sex? I can figure it out without too much trouble but if you know it will save me some time. thanks again.


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## Stoney Bud (Apr 23, 2006)

Darkstar said:
			
		

> Thanks drfting07. Do you put your test clone(that is the clone you are just using to determine sex with) in a cup with soil and rooting agent like a normal clone? Or just put it in a small bottle with some water in it to keep it alive long enough to show sex? I can figure it out without too much trouble but if you know it will save me some time. thanks again.


You just use the water. You don't want the plant to work on roots while you're sexing it. It'll sex faster in just plain water. Make sure the container is light proof so algea doesn't become a problem.

Good luck man.


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## Stoney Bud (Apr 23, 2006)

Darkstar said:
			
		

> Stoney Bud, Thanks I'm gonna study up on cloning I've already found a very informative thread posted by Hick.
> 
> So when you sex the cutting for your mother plant you just treat it like any other clone but immediately start it on 12/12 I'm assuming?
> 
> Thanks again. I also love all the names of strains. After I got my seeds I found myself finding all these strains that I wanted lol. That's part of the fun though, looking forward to trying new strains in the future.


I answered you in the post just above this one too. Sorry about the delay in responding.

I know what you mean about the strains. Every time I look, I want at least 5 more. I feel like a seed junkie.


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## Darkstar (Apr 23, 2006)

thanks stoney bud. sometimes things seem obvious but its always nice to confirm it with one of you guys and get a look into how you do it.


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## drfting07 (Apr 23, 2006)

hehe...glad i could help


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