Do I have to Wait for Roots before Forcing Sex?

HI Guys and Gals,

I have a few Indica Seedlings (regular not fem) that are now just past the 3 week mark since sprouting, and just about ready to be topped. I would like to put those tops into flower in order to sex the plants. My question is --> Do I have to wait until the Cuttings Root before putting into flower?? This will be my first time force flowering in order to determine sex, so I wanted to get some insight first.

Just to be clear -- I clone mothers on a weekly basis, so I am not a newbie when it comes to cloning. I take over 100 clones per week, root in 5-7 days, and have 99% hit ratio

If I take the tops and put them under a dome, into the flower room with some shade so the light is not so intense, will they flower?? Or do I need to root them First?

Hopefully more experienced growers will chime in for me

Sorry, I can't help. But that's a good question, I would like to know too.

if they do change and root before dying you'd be lucky.I'd like to see the hit ratio.It would be super low.I think it would take longer if it did work then doing in conventionally.

MJ plants have roots? Sorry, just my warped humor....That's actually a good question. I'm not sure if it's the same, but there's a lot of folks on here that run 12/12 from seed so maybe it would work with clones. I would check with those guys and see if they've ever tried it.

Just do it. No idea. I've considered this before as well though.

Let us know how it turns out.

If you root them first, they will grow (stronger). Sure, under the right conditions, it is possible to root clones on a 12/12 schedule. If you're just going to sex them and toss them, that may be the route for you - and if your conditions don't allow for 12/12 rooting and differentiation/sexing then you should root like the rest of us. GL

yeah i always clone under 24 hour light
i don't see how they would show, because i wouldn't think the cut would put out any leaf growth until it got root growth (leaf mass = root mass right?)
hempy sog growers like to go straight from clone to flower
so i would just wait till you see roots then transplant and flower
you could even just put them all in a bubble cloner and do almost a mini dwc system. easy to maintain and you could fit a lot of cuts in a small spot.

overall i'm saying i think it would be a much better approach to root them first, especially if you're really good at it the 5-7 days is whatever

re thinking this i guess you could compare it to cut flowers
when you get a bouquet, does the florist not allow premature buds on there because they won't grow?
or do they actually mature and throw out the flower (since it already started)
I don't know if it would work for the transition may be too much for it (since it hasn't started the flowering process?)

i think it'd make a neat experiment! I always find tops are harder to clone, so to balance the experiment i'd take a myriad of clones, fresh cut, bottom old growth, whatever lol
making a little bubble unit i think would be the best and easiest idea

something else that may effect the experiment is maturity of the plant
there are a lot of ways to tell the plants mature, one way is alternating nodes on the main stalk , i think it takes around a month or two for a seed to properly mature and be ready to flower

They do not need roots to sex. If you put a clone under 12/12 right away they are still alive and will do their thing. I found this out from experience with a male Mr. nice guy. Just keep them humid so they don't wilt.

Rusty Shakelford said:

HI Guys and Gals,

I have a few Indica Seedlings (regular not fem) that are now just past the 3 week mark since sprouting, and just about ready to be topped. I would like to put those tops into flower in order to sex the plants. My question is --> Do I have to wait until the Cuttings Root before putting into flower?? This will be my first time force flowering in order to determine sex, so I wanted to get some insight first.

Just to be clear -- I clone mothers on a weekly basis, so I am not a newbie when it comes to cloning. I take over 100 clones per week, root in 5-7 days, and have 99% hit ratio

If I take the tops and put them under a dome, into the flower room with some shade so the light is not so intense, will they flower?? Or do I need to root them First?

Hopefully more experienced growers will chime in for me

Click to expand...

crispypb840 said:

They do not need roots to sex. If you put a clone under 12/12 right away they are still alive and will do their thing. I found this out from experience with a male Mr. nice guy. Just keep them humid so they don't wilt.

Click to expand...

Yea this is kinda what I am thinking, as long as I keep them lower under the canopy they wont get any intense light, and if I keep them in the dome, they should retain the humidity and do what they do long enough for me to know whats what.

They are throw away clones and only meant to find a mom. Once we have a mom, we can take as many clones as we want.

Regarding maturity,, Since we have all seen the 12/12 from seed thread, we shouldnt need to get too far into that.

Thanks for all the Replies EVERYONE!! I think I will go ahead and experiment with a couple and see what happens. Not with this batch, but since we take clones every weekend, I can put some into flower now and see how it goes.

please post up the experiment! thanks for asking this question as i'd like to see the results

I threw a couple into the flower tent, 1 Pineapple Express and 1 Afghan Kush... The problem might be that I dont have a heat mat for them, so I may need to figure out something with regards to keeping the root zone warm over the Cool nights.

I grew a G13 Pineapple Express last year and it was a very nice short stalky hybrid with high yield. The smoke was earthy citrus flavor and potent after the cure. One of my favorites. I let her go 9 - 10 weeks.