Skip to main content

Pre-flowers & Flowering

Submitted by Nayita on

By: Simon

I assume you refer to the abundant and very noticeable pre-flowers at the base of every side branch. The plants are not flowering yet. 

The plants cannot be flowering under 18/6 or a 20/4 light regimen, and there are no auto genes in AK-47. But I must say that stress flowering might be a possibility. This happens only when the plants are só stressed out that they think the chances are high that they won't survive for very long. And growing seeds quickly is then a way to have their genes survive. But I assume you know how to take care of plants. Which means we can forget this option altogether. 

Let's first look at the signs which tell you when a plant is flowering. 

If your AK-47's would be flowering then they would stop to grow more internodes and new knots (thats what they do in veg), and instead start building buds which are basically bundles of flowers grown together. 

Another characteristic of flowering is that the fingers of fan leaves revert back from say 7 fingers to 5 to 3 and finally to single leaves which stick out of the buds. 

Is that what you see, the plants have stopped to grow new internodes and knots while increasing amounts of flowers grow into buds which slowly grow larger in size? That is real flowering.

Or do you see just two single flowers sitting at the main stem at the base of each fan leaf? 

Of course there are four of these big flowers at every knot when two side branches are opposite of each other. And every knot at side branches may show two of these flowers too. Sure, for the less experienced grower this may look like flowering. 

And when you compare the big fan leaves towards the top, do they continue to have may be 5 or 7 or more leaflets (fingers)? Or do you see that the fingers of the fan leaves revert back with every knot higher on the main stem towards the top? 

That would also indicate flowering. But if the number of fingers of fan leaves stay more or less the same, that means the plants are not flowering yet.

Some plants exhibit pre-flowers far more noticeable than other plants. I think this is actually an advantage because when growing regular seeds you can quickly see the sex of each plant, before the real flowering starts. So you can quickly remove the males to make room. 

If a plant is good or not is not linked to having noticeable pre-flowers. Just like the color red in petioles is not linked to either bad or great plants for example. There are many characteristics present in cannabis plants for which we do not select at all when choosing plants to use for breeding. 

Noticeable pre-flowers is one of those, they just happened to be present on the plants we choose for other reasons. 

All seeds sold are strictly considered for souvenir, collection and/or preservation purposes only, to preserve valuable genetics in case the laws change. Serious Seeds does not want to induce anyone to act in conflict with the law and cannot be held responsible for those who do. Serious Seeds expressly states that it does not wish to induce anyone to act in conflict with the law. All persons who purchase cannabis seeds are responsible for their actions and future actions.