Pre-Flowering Question, I've got preflowers, but can't tell the sex

Hi everybody!

I've been a long time lurker on this forum and I created an account because I'm finally serious about growing. I've had a couple of plants growing under a 110W CFL, 6500K, cool daylight. The light cycle I'm using is 24/0. Initially, I was using a tube light, followed by a 30W cfl, but when I switched to the 110W, the plants really started growing. One of the two is really getting big, so I thought I'd switch it over to 12/12 to see if I can induce pre-flowering. I decided to do this by placing the plants out on by balcony where they will only get around 11-12 hours of good sunlight and then stay in the dark throughout the night.

2 days into this routine and I'm beginning to see what looks like a pre-flower, however, I can't tell whether it's male or female. It looks kinda like a little ball, but from all the pictures I've seen online, it is in the location where a female preflower should be. I don't have a decent magnifier, so I resorted to using the macro on my 300mm lens with my DSLR. I also took a shot with my cell phone through a 15x magnifying eyepiece. The shots don't show much detail, but that's because the thing is too damn small. I can't tell if it's a male or female pre-flower, and as this is my first serious grow, I thought I'd ask for better opinions than mine. Pics attached, please help

P.S. some important information: The seeds are bagseed, nothing spectacular, where I get them, all the THC sticky goo is scrubbed off the buds and sold separately at an expensive price, so I'm hoping that when it does grow out and has all the trichs, it will be better than the bagweed it came from. I also just started giving them nutes 2 days ago before which they were growing au naturale. They're both 5-6 weeks from seed (I think, maybe even as far as 7). Grow medium: 40% vermicompost, 30% cocopeat & 30% red soil that's very clay-like with a very high iron oxide content (hence the color). Nutes being used: 19:19:19 foliar spray fertilizer, around 3 pinches in 1 liter of water, not all of which is used in one go. A liter lasts around 5 good sprays for both plants over a 2 week period. Another question: How often should I spray? This is the only nute regimen I've got as I can't find fertilizers to mix with the water and pour into the soil. Can I use foliar spray fertilizer for direct soil application?


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It is a little too early to tell, but my first thought was "male". I've been seeing those darned balls too much lately lol... Give it another week or so to be sure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by helpmefindbud

It is a little too early to tell, but my first thought was "male". I've been seeing those darned balls too much lately lol... Give it another week or so to be sure.

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That's good advice right there. :)
Also see here:

http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...cognition.html

They look healthy.

Aloha,
Weeze

Yeah. Learn by learking, I mean looking! LOL! You remember the old ad: Be all you can be, READ? That still holds true today. Reading these forums can teach you everything you need to know, help you sort out the wives tales from the truth. Ah, the wives tales! I've heard some STRANGE ones in my days!
----- Your plants are pretty & healthy. Good work! Post pictures with your questions as they come up. That always helps us help you. Like what you did with with the cell phone shot, thinking outside the box, good thing. Dutch pimp posts a link you can click on called 'drying & curing your buds'. Find it, click on it & book mark it. You will need it soon. (I don't know how to post a link you can click on from this cell phone, so I refer everbody to Dutch).
---- This can't be stressed enough. PREVENTION! Keeping your grow area clean, free of fallen leaves & debris will prevent most insects & disease. I 'bathe' my plants once or twice a week. Plain Joy or other gentle dish soap WITHOUT fancy additives, 1 table spoon to a spray bottle full of water, spray plants tops & undersides. If you want, you can rinse with another bottle full of plain water. I rinse unless I see insects, then I leave the soapy water on them. The rinsing is just a compulsive thing with me. The soap can take care of a few insects (in addition to prevention), but should you develope a full blown infestation, then more serious efforts are needed. The dreaded insecticides!
---- When you next post, lets talk soil & nutes. We can help you know when to change out your formula if & when necessary. :) :) :)

Sorry, went back & saw you DID post soil & nutes! Your soils good, good foliar feeding, you can use that as soil drench, but would be better to go with something higher phosphorus & lower nitrogen now that you're in flower. I use Tiger bloom by fox farms. There are many out there. You'll probably want to stay with organics.---- I see your plants are mature. This is indicated by the fact your leaves/branching is no longer parallel, but alternating. Just out of curiosity, how tall are they?

with the help of a magnifying glass, look on the plant very closely. you might be able to identify its sex but if not, it may be too early to tell. wait for another week or a couple of weeks. sexing marijuana plants can also be done through the paper bag method. however, looking at the pics, i notice small balls on the internodes. i think i'm seeing a male plant