Easiest way to weed out males without wasting soil?

[way2green]

That is pretty much the way I do it but I still give them some vegan organic nites.

 

[bigjay420]

I'm very interested in "Bag Sexing" (flowering one branch). Anyone know the benefits/ drawbacks?

 

[markscastle]

Problem with sexing branches is until the plant material is old enough it won`t show sex. It does work on plants that are old enough butt hen you have the time and expense into all the plants already. You could use clones or s1 seeds. To me the expense of soil is trivial. Compared to the overall costs it`s just not that much. Time however is costly ! If you keep your plants in containers until they show sex make sure to repot them as needed. You don`t want to let the females get root bound and waste time while trying to pinch pennies on finding the males. Some things just can`t be rushed. Instead of trying to rush the process keep in mind that you should give the attention to all the prospective females and still have a good crop. Take clones of every strain while in veg for your next crop so you can choose the best for your next grow and have all females. It could be harder like it is for me being in the forest and off grid. Can`t keep moms and have a whole Winter to suffer through before the next planting. When I was in town I didn`t have as much room but I could grow indoors year round ,keep moms and keep clones going. Now I depend on one larger crop per year. Seedlings can fail me late on like this year and that doesn't leave enough time to start from seed again. I was lucky some good people at the Farm let me have some great genetics in clone form or I`d have had nothing but small late plants this year.

 

[bigjay420]

Problem with sexing branches is until the plant material is old enough it won`t show sex. It does work on plants that are old enough butt hen you have the time and expense into all the plants already. You could use clones or s1 seeds. To me the expense of soil is trivial. Compared to the overall costs it`s just not that much. Time however is costly ! If you keep your plants in containers until they show sex make sure to repot them as needed. You don`t want to let the females get root bound and waste time while trying to pinch pennies on finding the males. Some things just can`t be rushed. Instead of trying to rush the process keep in mind that you should give the attention to all the prospective females and still have a good crop. Take clones of every strain while in veg for your next crop so you can choose the best for your next grow and have all females. It could be harder like it is for me being in the forest and off grid. Can`t keep moms and have a whole Winter to suffer through before the next planting. When I was in town I didn`t have as much room but I could grow indoors year round ,keep moms and keep clones going. Now I depend on one larger crop per year. Seedlings can fail me late on like this year and that doesn't leave enough time to start from seed again. I was lucky some good people at the Farm let me have some great genetics in clone form or I`d have had nothing but small late plants this year.

Mark, as always... You cut through the bullshit and speak in a manner I can quickly understand. So when you put it like that, soil is a minor expense. I guess I should start looking into cloning and housing mothers. If there are any links/ articles that you find to be helpful on the subject, please point me in the right direction. Also any tips you'd like to provide would be amazing. I'm here to learn. Thanks again!

 

[markscastle]

I recommend the book `Marijuana Horticulture ` by Jorge Cervantes . Also you can get great results with an E-Z cloner but they need a chiller when in a warm environment in summer. Roots grow fast and planting in soil ,hydro, or pellet medium works.

 

[MrBanjo]

As a side note, I can usually start from seed, sex out, and re veg within six weeks. You could do it quicker if you wanted. I use a coco mix in solo cups, the amount of waste is minimal.

Something I do that I don't really see much, is I plant in a completely clear cup, and place that cup in regular matte finish cup. I can easily grab the clear cup and look at the root growth and determine when it's time for repotting, and still keep the root zone dark with the second cup. Hope that helps.

 

[markscastle]

As a side note, I can usually start from seed, sex out, and re veg within six weeks. You could do it quicker if you wanted. I use a coco mix in solo cups, the amount of waste is minimal.

Something I do that I don't really see much, is I plant in a completely clear cup, and place that cup in regular matte finish cup. I can easily grab the clear cup and look at the root growth and determine when it's time for repotting, and still keep the root zone dark with the second cup. Hope that helps.

Brilliant!

 

[bigjay420]

As a side note, I can usually start from seed, sex out, and re veg within six weeks. You could do it quicker if you wanted. I use a coco mix in solo cups, the amount of waste is minimal.

Something I do that I don't really see much, is I plant in a completely clear cup, and place that cup in regular matte finish cup. I can easily grab the clear cup and look at the root growth and determine when it's time for repotting, and still keep the root zone dark with the second cup. Hope that helps.

That is an excellent idea!!! Thanks so much for the tip. Thus far, I had only veged for 3 weeks, as I had height constraints. I moved the grow area to its own bedroom, so I have much more space to veg and work in. I wouldn't mind the extra veg time, if it guarantees me time to force flip, cull out males, flip back, up pot, heal and flip again. Do you ever have stress problems with all that flipping?