Indacouch
Well-Known Member
LolTo show SOMEONE on here what I just googled !!! Weird I found this huh?
hollow stalk/stems
- Thread starter toesack charlie
- Start date
Rayne
Well-Known Member
If the main stem (aka: meristem) has a hollow center that is normal. It helps the plant maintain some rigidity. The secondary branches might be hollow as it gets thicker.
if you do not want to be mislead by the pseudo science that is pushed on a lot of web forums,
study Botany in your free time. You can buy used college/university level books if you do not want buy new ones.
if you do not want to be mislead by the pseudo science that is pushed on a lot of web forums,
study Botany in your free time. You can buy used college/university level books if you do not want buy new ones.
toesack charlie
Member
here is my paki, not a huge yield but all in all some sticky, stinky, dense buds
WeedFreak78
Well-Known Member
I've been growing for 10+years and have yet to cut down a plant that doesn't have a hollow main stem. Some of the smaller autos I've ran didn't have a large void, so maybe people growing smaller plants don't see it as often?
I stopped reading cannabis specific "bro science" years ago and started studying cultivation of herbaceous plants, seeing that's what it is. My results improved almost immediately.
Rayne
Well-Known Member
Third generation organic gardener here.
rikdabrick
Well-Known Member
You did not come off dickish, just FYI.i run with a 1-2-3 ratio in flower. hollow stems have not been a plague for me, but my opinion of genetic issue comes from starting tons of seeds over the course of years. seed grown plants of one stabilized line or a stable hybrid tend to be nearly identical. so when i grow a strain (lets use dukenukem as an example) and plant a dozen seeds, end with 9 females, and all have hollow shafts, i deduce that genes play the major role (as the other dozens of plants from multiple strains are in the same conditions, same nutrients, same schedule).
i'll check the boron when it comes up again. however, i think that a micro is less responsible than the base genetic code.
and totally not being dickish either buddy, promise!
You could be right. I think it's the same scenario as I mentioned with some strains being selected from parent plants that are not efficient at taking up phosphorous. Also some varieties could have a higher requirement of certain nutrients which happens in other crops and some varieties could also be more sensitive to nutrient deficiencies/toxicities which also happens in other crops. So it is genetic, but I believe those issues can be fixed with dialing in the proper mineral ratios.
Is there a way to know how many ppm of available calcium and boron you run in your system? I'm just curious.
rikdabrick
Well-Known Member
What pseudoscience are you referring to? Boron deficiency causes hollow stems, cracked stems and watery stems in several other crops. It also causes hollow areas in several crops including radish, turnip, pear, cotton, peanut, sorghum and sugar beat among others. Boron is necessary for plant structure and cell expansion. If you don't have enough, some part of your plant isn't going to fill in properly and I have personally seen strains with hollow stems fill in with the proper balance of calcium to boron.
Do you have any soil tests on your plants that have had hollow stems or are you just going by your feels? Feels are not real science or real botany, just FYI.
What botany books have you read that say that hollow stems are a good sign?
Do you think a hollow stem is going to be more rigid or stronger than a solid stem? Have you ever seen a 10+lb plant with a hollow meristem? Just curious.
What "bro science" are you referring to? See the above response for hollow stems and other hollow areas of plants being caused by a boron deficiency. Boron deficiency is the most common micro nutrient deficiency in the world so it's fairly common.
You have never cut down a solid stemmed plant in 10+ years and you think that is normal? I doubt almost anybody on this site (or any site) would say that's normal. I'm assuming this is in hydro? I don't think there's any way you could do that in soil in 10+years. Even if you wanted to. Some soil somewhere at some time would have enough boron for you to pull at least one solid stem plant. What's the ppm you're running of calcium, boron and silica? If you're in hydro, can you find out? If you're in soil and have a soil test then what's your CEC too? Is that info that you know or are you just growing by feels too? Feels is about the same as "bro science" when you're trying to prove that you adequate supplies of a specific nutrient, just FYI.
You can believe what you like, but I used to get hollow stems on a fairly regular basis and since I dialed in my calcium to boron ratio I haven't seen one. I send in soil tests at least every 6 months and preferably twice per round. At the beginning of vegging and the beginning of flowering. So that way I can have testable, repeatable and observable results. There's a name for that; it's not "feels" and it sounds like "bro science", but without the "bro". And my shorter plants this last round were about 6' and the tallest were about 9-9.5' so I wouldn't call them small.
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Uberknot
Well-Known Member
To show SOMEONE on here what I just googled !!! Weird I found this huh?
Everytime I walk into any public place first thing I say is Fuck Trump...After what I witnessed I just dont give a damn anymore period.
You should see these fucking morons reactions.
They have their heads so far up their asses they have no idea at all they just fucked themselves and their grandchildren for a few decades. They will see and learn the hard way as always.
WeedFreak78
Well-Known Member
I wasn't referring to you with the "bro science" comment. I was reinforcing Rayne's recommendation on studying general botany to get a basic understanding of how plants work. Once I went from thinking of it as some unique thing, and treated it like other herbaceous annuals, my results greatly improved.
I've grown outside in native soil, super soil mixes, and multiple indoor types of hydro. Different nutes, teas, water only. I've noticed sativa heavy strains get it more. Maybe you're right and I see it in those because of their fast growth rates and I'm not giving them what they need. I've just seen it so often, even in other plants, I assumed it was normal. I was under the impression the center didn't do anything as far as water/nutrient distribution, just support. I know from doing fabrication, a tube can be almost as study as a solid, and nature doesn't like to waste resources, so it all kinda made sense.
I'm always open to new knowledge. .
rikdabrick
Well-Known Member
Not that it matters, but you have some big respect from me for responding to my smart-assness so civilly. And I agree 100% that studying botany and agronomy is better suited to one's time in learning how to grow cannabis. There's not much difference between cannabis and most other crops except cannabis has a longer continuous flowering period than a lot of annuals so timing of nutrients and amounts of nutrients can be done differently than for other annuals.
Also, I'm not saying that all plants should have solid stems. I haven't looked into many other plants besides cannabis and field crops. Really, I'm just speculating based on some knowledge of some other crops and on my experience with dialing in boron to calcium ratios and the experience of a few other growers who I respect their knowledge in plant and soil sciences. And IMO everyone is just speculating on the needs of cannabis until we can run tissue sample testing along with soil testing. That's when we'll really be able to dial things in. So I could be wrong, you could be wrong; we don't really know yet I don't believe. But I'm pretty sure most cannabis strains will fill in their stems with sufficient calcium and boron levels. If you ever get a soil test let me know and I'll give you a prescription based on your soil test results to dial in Ca, Mg, K, Na, P, S, B, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and Si if you're interested. But send me a message first so you know what tests to get and where to send them.
toesack charlie
Member
hollow stalk girl, Dark devil dry weight 40g. Not so dark but smells so good and like honey on your fingers trying to roll one up
hillbill
Well-Known Member
I do perpetual with different strains and hollow stems just don't seem indicative of anything of great importance since end results seem the same for sister plants if they are hollow or solid stemmed. Maybe the stem grows fast enough at some point to pull the matter from the center to the growing outer layers, creating a void.