Hollow Stems! - Weird???

[TGT]

I had a plant recently this summer that was grown outside from seed. At the end of the season the bud was extremely potent and smell and taste was incredible. The only weird thing I noticed about it was when I was cutting her down. Her stems and stock were abnormally hollow. I mean so hollow that even while growing they were easy to bend and kink. I thought it was because the plant was outside and it grew faster than any other plant that I have ever grown. A couple times it actually grew four inches in one day! So I thought the hollow stems and stock was due to quick growing, may be the soil or a combination of the two.

Now that I cloned her because of her exceptional bud, I planted her indoors in my grow room. I am experiencing the same thing indoors that I had experienced outside as well. The stems are just as hollow!

A little info on the strain might help out with an answer. I had an AK47 fruit pheno and crossed it with a California Orange/Hash plant. Then the seeds from the cross were sprouted and two plants that most resembled the AK47 were selected (a male and a female) and then crossed, so that a brother and sister now made seeds. These seeds were the ones with the hollow stems and stock. The AK47 is an elite clone from around my town, and the CO/HP was from an unknown source.

I have grown for many years and have never experienced a plant with such hollow stems that is apparent in all stages of growth. I know about half my strains have hollow stems when at the end of budding and leaching, but never even as a young plant.

If anyone has any info or experienced anything like this before, please let me know. Any response would be great as I am very interested to know if others have had this happen. I know it must be caused by genetics alone as the growing medium and style has changed, but still strikes me as strange. Thanks in advance!

TGT

 

[WeeD22MaN]

Hey TGT!

That is weird... Iv only seen hollow stems in hydro and never seen a hollow stem right at the very bottom when I cut... Was it hollow there aswell??

WeedMan

 

[Closet Funk]

Hollow stems is a good sign of potency in a strain. Good for choosin males when pollinating.

 

[TGT]

Thanks for the response!

WeeD22Man: Yes, the stocks were holow even at the bottom.

Closet Funk: So hollow stocks mean a plant is potent - cool. I never heard this before. It is true this plant is exceptionally potent, even more so than my elite mother AK47 and any of the CO/HP I had previously. I am very happy with the potency so this seems to comfirm your answer. It just is a nusence as the stocks are so hollow they make the plant very fragile. I have to tie every bud up so that they don't kink and fall over. I would say on the thickest part of the wall of the stem is only a mm or 2 thick! It almost totally resembles a drinking straw. It is as though there is no pulp!

Anyways, thanks for the response - if anyone has anything else to add please feel free. I am very interested in how common this is as I have never experienced it before out of any of my previous grows. When I chop down this next crop I will post pictures for you all to see. You won't believe your eyes!

TGT

 

[Guest]

Its totally a genetic thing,I've seen it in several strains.I've never noticed hollow stems having a bearing on potency but I bet it uptakes water and nutes better than a solid stalk.You can tell from looking at the stalk if its hollow it will normally be flatter than a round solid stalk and also have several "lines" going the entire length of the stem.Those who know what I'm talking about know what I'm talking about.huh?

 

[PederseN]

im with you SKELETOR

 

[TGT]

You are correct in that the stalks and stems are more flat than round. And yup, there are lines that follow the stem the entire length. I never noticed until you mentioned it. Also, I didn't mention earlier but the stems that hold the fan leaves are extremely long. It seems as though the thin stocks and stems have the same mass as a regular plant, but spread over a larger area. I don't know if that makes any sense but it's hard to explain. Probably some pictures would help. I'll take a few tomorrow and post them. Thanks for your input Skeletor.

TGT

 

[TORC]

DJ Short has stated that he believes hollow stems facillitates the production of heavier resin content. Would seem that allowing a freer uptake of nutrients could have something to do with this.

 

[Guest423]

the most potent buds i ever smoked had hollow stems...don't know if thats coincedence or not?

 

[Haps]

I see this from time to time, the hollow stems make fine joint pipes, xmas gifts for friends. I got a 15 inch joint pipe from a G13 x BS male last year, feel like a 40's movie star when I'm puffin on it. For breeding it is a good sign, but don't get carried away with it, for males, odor and structure are much more important factors. Have fun.
H

 

[Rosy Cheeks]

Stem thickness is related to both genetics and grow conditions. Fast grown plants will produce weaker fibers and be more hollow than slow growing plants. My hydro grown plants have thinner stem walls than my soil grown, simply because the grow so much faster. Plants cannot violate the laws of physics though and must be designed such that they are able to sustain their own weight, and in addition resist external forces such as wind or rainfall (that makes the plant heavier). This implies that plants have to distribute a certain amount of their resources to support structures (stems and petioles) and these cannot be allocated to leaves, fruit or seeds.
In theory, resources a plant does not put into stem thickness can be put elsewhere, such as fruit production. However, no research study indicate that Cannabis gets more potent simply because has grown fast, rather the contrary.

 

[Closet Funk]

DJ Short has stated that he believes hollow stems facillitates the production of heavier resin content. Would seem that allowing a freer uptake of nutrients could have something to do with this.

That's where I read that at.

 

[ilovebetty]

i noticed my northern lights are hollow - i just assummed this was typical. so it's a good thing? cool.

 

[Where'sMyBud?]

In the March-April (issue #59) Cannabis Culture, the "Cloning for Dummies" article, written by Jeff Tek, notes that "Hollow stems such as these tell me that my plants were healthy and stress free with no sign of nutrient lockup or deficiency."

Now wait a minute...

Out of the 30 or so strains I've grown out before, none have ever had hollow stems and I'm pretty damn sure that 90% of them were healthy and didn;t have deficiencies or lockups.

With that, I solely believe that hollow stems are genetic, just like Skeletor said.

 

[TGT]

I understand hollow stems are some what normal as I have grown many strains out in the past. Out of all the strains I have grown I would say 25% had hollow stocks, but none hollow stems. This particular plant has stems and stock like I have never seen before. It makes the plant delicate. When I bend a stem down even the slightest it kinks. It is not so fragile as to not support bud though as I use string to help support their weight. I wish I had a picture to show you all to what extent I mean. The trait that is just as striking as the hollow stems is also the elongated stems that hold the fan leaves. They too are hollow. Every stem, stock and stick is hollow on the entire plant.

Everything people have stated above lead me to believe this is a good thing. It is extremely heavy in resin and coated in trichromes when finsihed. It is probably one of the most intense highs I have had to date and I have been in this business for over 15 years now. I was particularily intersted in what was writen above about what DJ Short was said to have written.

Roseycheeks: What you have written I believe totally. It seems a perfect explaination and seems to jive with everthing this plant has shown me. Thank you for that bit of info. I found it very enlightening.

Thanks for all the response, it has been just the info I was looking for. I will take pictures and post them of the plant as she is now. She is now a third generation so she is small. She won't be harvested for at least another 2 months but I will post pictures. Thaks again!

TGT

 

[Kenny Lingus]

Check out Aquamans sticky threads on breeding in the breeders forumes.

Ofte the hollow pithed stems are a trait from thc-potent stock. long petioles is typical for Cannabis Sativa var. afghanica or afghanis/hash-plants

You should consider yourself lucky having that phenotypic expression. (at least if the other parameters ar superb as well.)

 

[anna]

well thats good to know, all of our plants have had hollow stems, but I never had a problem with them bending, they supported them selfs, We grow in grodan and hand water three times a day. can any one tell me where the pictures of the trichromes are, clear,cloudy, and amber? thanks anna

 

[randude]

Damned Plants

Damned Plants

This is obviously a penalty from god for incest. Your plants are going to rot in hell now. Great job man. At least the bud is good. Too bad you damned them to the firey furnace of hell. I guess Satin has to get high too eh?
Here is pear that I grew indoors. I forced it to have incest too.

 

[HighonPottery]

I discovered that they also come in useful in peace pipe making.

Just choose a nice fatty stem with a big hole. Hollow it out some more with a scraper of some sort and then whittle up a bowl for it. Attach the two by making a male/female connection like a tobacco pipe has. You'll want the hole to be fairly wide since it will resinate rather quickly. They're sort of a bitch to clean, but a nice novelty that everyone will be jealous of.

Here's one of the ones I made a few years ago:

 

[Wacky Tobacky]

WOW!!! thats a big fucking pear!

very nice pipe man.... i am jealous....lol