What are these things?

[sociobud]

This is my first ever grow and I have 4 plants that I thought were female. They are in day 23 of flowering and looking very pretty. Today as I was looking at the buds with a magnifying glass, I noticed something new. On one of the lower branched buds on one plant, but on the outside to get good light, is 2-3 very small things that have pretty little brown hairs growing from them. They don't really look like balls, more like seeds, but not much like that either. Kinda like a calyx with a brown thread coming out.

I hope someone knows what these things are. Is this one a hermi? I didn't think hairs came out of hermi's "balls". There is definitely hairs coming out of these. I've been doing really good at temp, pH, water, and light.

Hope the pics help. Its hard to get a good shot, not sure I really can. The last pic is the best. You can see the shapes and the hairs coming out.

[PharmaCan]

Those are male sex organs you are holding in the last pic - can't really tell much from the other pics, they're too blurry.

PC :smokin:

[sociobud]

even with obvious brown hairs growing out of them??

ok, if this is a hermi, what should I do now in week 3??

bummer dude :(

[dejayou30]

I can't tell anything from those blurry pictures. Take some clearer ones if possible if you want more opinions, not that PC's is necessarily a bad one. :jointsmile:

[sociobud]

I removed the plant from the closet while I am awaiting it's fate. I found some more of the "pod" like creatures on another plant, but only at the very bottom, and still developing buds. I need to know if I should pluck them out or what...

I took some better pics (hopefully). I took one of the branches off and stripped it of it's leaves in hopes of providing a better photo. Please check this out and tell me what you think???

Also, is the plant finished? Should I toss it or try to save it if it is a hermi???

I checked everything again to make sure the "req's" are ok. The pH is around 6, temp between 75-80F, 12-12 cycle, 2 fans blowing on plant, NEW exhaust fan (I did have some humidity problems which resulted in mold on walls, but the new fan fixed that)...wonder why it turned...

[sociobud]

So I plucked one of the smaller, lower, more developing "buds" off and took some photos. Hope this helps more.

Also, when people say "pollen" came out of the ball, what does that look like? Dusty??? Cause when I squeeze mine, juice comes out. Nothing dry, and what I would think would be "pollen-like".

[dejayou30]

If liquid ran out, its probably an immature seed, which means that PC was probably right about the male parts. I had some seeds show up on my first grow and they would leak clear liquid when squeezed. Its likely your plant hermed, but at this point you might as well leave them alone and let nature take its course because there's no turning back now and the buds will be smokeable when they are donw growing, just not as potent as they could have been if they weren't pollinated.

[stinkyattic]

The pollen would come from a little yellowish pod like a tiny banana.
What you have there is 'pregnant' female parts- The calyx has swollen from the seed growing inside it. You likely had a hermaphrodite that you did not notice in time, or a male nearby.

[Farmer Rich]

I seem to be having the same issue.. I don't know if I agree with PC, they seem more like pollinated female seed pods. On the plant below, I thought this was a hermi and talked myself out of it. Looks like I'll be smokin' some seedy weed after my first grow. Since I grew up in the 70's, I definitely know about smokin' seedy weed! I guess on the positive side, I have one really crusty (with trichs) indica that I'll try the seeds from because the hermi was equally crusty..

I'm guessing at this point I should just let things continue with the grow? Seems a little late to be pulling the plant..

:wtf: Farmer Rich

[gainesvillegreen]

What you have there is 'pregnant' female parts- The calyx has swollen from the seed growing inside it. You likely had a hermaphrodite that you did not notice in time, or a male nearby.

I definitely agree with the female part, they are indeed calyxes; however, I don't know about the pregnant/seeded part (I'm not saying I disagree, just that I don't know). I have seen many a plant where the calyxes would swell as they matured without being pollenated.

The thing that makes me unsure is the browned pistils on the swollen calyxes. From your pictures, the buds look very young and the only brown pistils I see are on the swollen calyxes, which seems to be indicative of pollenated buds.

So, anyways, I would recommend cutting open some of the swollen calyxes on the pieces you cut from the plants. Check them to see if you have just an immature seed at the base or if you have growing seeds inside.

[Farmer Rich]

Pulled my offending plant from the box for inspection and sure as shit I found a few bananas emanating from a few flowers. Now the question is, I'm in week 5 of flowering with 5 additional plants in the box. Do I put back the hermi, or keep it out to prevent further pollination? I'm thinking the latter??

:( Farmer Rich

[stinkyattic]

Keep it out or get in the habit of removing nanners every single day. Up to you. In a small garden with a plant that is not a full on herm popping dicks all over, you can probably keep up with male flower production.

[hybridlove420]

definitely seeded. the 4th pic in first set makes it dreadfully obvious, despite the camera focusing about 5ft behind the plant.

if the calyx grows to almost the size of a seed and its hairs brown/die/and shrivel way before theyre expected to, its almost guarenteed that theres a seed growing in the pod

[psychocat]

definitely seeded. the 4th pic in first set makes it dreadfully obvious, despite the camera focusing about 5ft behind the plant.

if the calyx grows to almost the size of a seed and its hairs brown/die/and shrivel way before theyre expected to, its almost guarenteed that theres a seed growing in the pod

I would have to agree with you on this.

[sociobud]

Thanks for everyone who answered. At least I have a diagnosis to go on now. So I have a pregnant female eh? That means I'll have seedy buds at harvest and less potency? Should I just keep growing and let nature take its course as stated earlier? This is my first grow ever, so a seedy crop isn't the worst case for me. I'm just glad I had 4 out of 4 plants start female, until this one turned. If I could harvest all 4 of these plants successfully, I'll be one happy camper regardless if the end result is seedy.

Let's vote?? Keep it or chuck it???

[Farmer Rich]

Hey Sociobud,

Looks like you and I are in the same spot. I decided to pull my hermi from the box and sit it the spare bedroom and see what happens. Frickin' shame! The pictures pretty much explain why.. I was hoping for close to an oz off this one. Worse yet, I found balls on her in early flowering and talked myself out of pulling her from the box!! I did pluck all the balls at the time, clearly that wasn't good enough; next time I ain't messin' around!

Question for the masses?? Say one really sweet plant has a few seeds as the result of this hermi... Should I even take the time to try to grow them, or consider them genetically tainted and not bother?

:( Farmer Rich

[hybridlove420]

not so much tainted as just a slightly offset second generation that will consist of femals and possibly hermies.

but i find seeds are easy to get growing, and therell still be bud for smoking when you remove seeds

[sociobud]

So I'll have seedy weed. I think for my first ever grow, that's something I can live with! I started with 4 plants, and hopefully I will be harvesting 4 plants. So they have seeds, but the bud is still smokable, and that's all that matters to me. Besides, this is all a learning process. I'll be a more prepared and a better grower next time.

Thanks for all who helped me figure out my dilemma.

[psychocat]

Seeds are good. :thumbsup:
Always got a supply of something you are familiar with.
Just try to make sure you get those horny little males out before they are mature next time. :D

[sociobud]

damn horny males!!! :pimp:

[stinkyattic]

Unless you want to deal with this problem on every subsequent grow, do NOT use those seeds, as they WILL carry the hermi trait!!!