Probably a dumb question...but here it goes...

I am currently flowering 8 plants (started with 8 cause I ultimately wanted 4 once sex was determined). They had a slight case of fungus gnats and growth slowed for a week or so, which caused stress. So far I have 6 females and the one of the other two looks female, but no pistels so far. The other looks like it will be male. Is this crazy luck or what?

As far as the problem goes...since they did suffer stress, I am afraid to get rid of any females (confirmed) because I am afraid they might wind up being hermies. So my options are to just flower whatever females I have no matter the # and get smaller yield per plant...or...is this possible - can you cut off any male branches from hermies before they drop pollen (handling carefully with pods in bags) and be okay?
I will try to post pics ASAP. This is my first serious grow. I started with 20 bagseeds, 16 sprouted, 14 survived. I have a few (2 females for sure) held back in veg for mothers and a couple I am planning to make hash with (not very strong). I know I am new, but I have researched FOREVER before I started. I know what pistels look like and when I say females, they have pistels. But as far as hermies go....never seen one in person. I carefully examine my plants individually everyday, so if it happens, I hope to catch it!

So 8 confirmed females out of 14....not bad I would say...as long as they don't turn hermie on me!


P.S.- my setup, to save someone from asking....

2x3x3.5 mother room
2x3x3.5 clone room (I am thinking of lowering shelf for more mommy room)
3x3x7 flowering room
400w MH AgroSun for flowering (Hydrofarm reflector)
using CFL's for veg/mother and regular fluro for cloning
plenty of exhaust (finally) and fresh air (had a heat issue for a day or two)
oscillating(?) fans to help harden-off
i have appropriate testing supplies (ph, n, p, k, moisture, light)
use distilled water and/or boiled and cooled tap water
used the dreaded miracle grow soil (moisture control) - no complaints so far...
i am considering using cfl's on my next flowering cycle when i have less plants in there for under growth (with my HID)

IDEAS, COMMENTS and the likes are WELCOME!!!!

PICS to come soon! Maybe tonight!:p :p :p

I forgot, started flowering on January 1st...easier to keep up with that way!

With the 3 rooms you have you can do a perpetual crop.That would be like a SOG.Everything would be waiting in line to do it's thing.With the size flower chamber you have you could flower 20-40 cuttings at a time.Just start with cuts that are about 12 inches in height.Flower them! Take more cuttings from MAMA,and keep adding them to the flower chamber.You'll always have ladies in waiting.It's possible to get an ounce per plant! I have! But not every plant produces that quantity.Since you are starting from seed.It will take about a week or more for the seeds to sprout.Then about a month to Veg some and be able to sex them.You want them to be as short as possible,maybe 10 or 12 inches,when ya force flower to sex.Once they are sexed.You don't have to wait to take cuttings.That will save you a bit of time! Hope this answered some of ya questions you were pondering on!Good luck!

Ga Grown!

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Yes, you can chop the pollen sacs. I've been chopping the sacs of 3 hermies for 2 weeks now (harvest is now).
Found them a little late, there were one or two on each plant and one or two had opened. From that moment on I spent 20 mins a day searching and chopping. As soon as I saw any sac, I squirted down with water and snipped off very carefully.
After a few days the sacs seemed to stop growing. Only a few branches were seeded.
If you miss a couple though...

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Thank you faithless...I kinda thought you could..but not taking any chances. I am scared shitless about not finding one in time and it pollenating my entire crop. How hard is it to spot a male in the midst of tons of female calyxes? I have seen a couple of pics of hermies and I am amazed that the grower saw that one male sac. I know once I have a few grows under my belt I will be able to spot them better!

Thanks again.

P.S.- I think I have a new, slight problem. One of my plants is falling over. It is healthy, everything green, etc. Not over or under watered...Maybe just top heavy....is this possible with no buds yet....just leaves? Oh, well, gonna stake it tonight (have it tied up now).

question- how do you know you have females without seeing their pistils?

I "think" they are female (the ones with no pistels) because the preflowers look like the confirmed females preflowers did. The male preflowers (on my plants, unknown strain) were fat and the female preflowers were all skinny. Best description I can make. And I said they "looked" female, not confirmed.

And they have pistels now. I had one hermie I killed, cause it was mostly male, starting to get clusters, but had a few female spots on it (pistels). Now I have a mostly female plant, but a couple of branches have clusters of balls. Should I just cut those branches off or destroy the entire plant?

P.S. - Thank you for your responses....I appreciate all the help I can get.