Familiarizing yourself with the anatomy of your cannabis plant will help you understand the many intricacies that come along with growing weed.
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that the cannabis plant is comprised of many different components, some of which will determine whether or not it is a female or a male when you are looking at clones for sale.
The Anatomy of a Cannabis Plant
Nodes These are the archetypal fan leaves you see everywhere. The ones on hats, shirts, stickets. (No, they’re not called leaves, apparently.)
Cola Not coke-a-cola. (I know, I know, I’m saying a lot of ‘no’s’.) Anyway, the cola refers to the cluster of buds that grow tightly together. Though there may be a few that appear along lower branches, the main cola is found at the top of the plant itself.
Stigma and Pistil (I just want to begin by saying I love these names.) Essentially, the pistil carries all the reproductive parts that belong to the plant and help to determine whether it is male or female. The hairlike-strands that you will find on the pistil itself are the stigma. Their main purpose is the collect the pollen that comes from the male plant to begin the reproduction process.
If you notice a change in the stigma’s color, don’t worry. They start out as white and during the maturation process begin to darken to a brown.
Bract The bract holds the female reproductive parts of the plant. You can find them by inspecting the “tear-shaped” leaves (not to be confused with the nodes) which are covered in resin glands. The bractis crucial to aiding in the concentration of the cannabinoids.
Calyx This part of the plant is inside the bract. So you won’t be able to see it unless you use a microscope or tear it apart. The calyx is a see-through layer that wraps around the ovule which is located at the bottom of the plant.
Trichome This is known as the crystal resin on the cannabis bud and is most important in the developmental process of THC and CBD. When it dries, the resin releases itself through the glands on the leaves, stems, and calyxes.
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