Nodes, Guard Leaves, Sugar Leaves, Trichomes, Pistols oh my!
No worries, we can take some time in the early days and weeks of your grow to get comfortable with the basic anatomy of a marijuana plan, and how that knowledge will inform our process later (mostly in training, flowering, and harvesting)
Basic Cannabis Plant Anatomy
Before we get to flowers, let start with the basic plant.
- Roots (meeting at root crown to the stalk, roots are under the surface and turn nutrients into useable food.
- Stalk (main support structure, the "trunk")
- Stem (off of stalk)
- Nodes (where lateral branches grow from stalk)
- Fan leave (big old leaves that are photosynthesis factories, powering growth of plant
Marijuana Flower Anatomy
The flower itself is similar to other plants with pistils and stamen just like you learned in high-school. But unlike most plants Cannabis is dioecious, meaning the male and female reproductive organs are on different plants. While both flower, only the female grows "buds", dense flowers with psychoactive substances. Oh and also some reason we renamed all the basic parts of a flower 😆 I'll cover that below.
- Flowers start at the base of nodes and first emerge as the calyx (what growers call the bracts) pushes out stigma (what growers call the pistillate hairs).
- The stigma hairs are trying to capture pollen, so make sure no males are sprouting. Their seeds resemble bananas or balls on sticks.
- More bracts/calyx will emerge and engorge as the flower tries to attract pollinators with it's colorful flower.
- The resulting formation of tightly packed calyx is known as a bud.
- Buds at the top/end of a stem is known as the cola. Most plants have one(or two), but training techniques can result in many.
- Trichomes are the most magical bit, little sacks of THC rich resin. The have a "lifetime" though, and once they start turning amber will lose their potency. Most growers look for 1/3 of trichomes to start to show color to harvest.
- The Calyx (bud) is nearly as rich in THC, and we are striving to let the calyx fill in as much as possible before harvest.
- Sugar leaves are the dam little leaves in the bud. Despite being high in THC we cut them off for a smoother taste and smoke. But keep these sugary (crystally) eaves for butter or oil, or just eat them on a sandwich (after you "decarb" of course!)
#### Go Deeper with these sources!
https://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/anatomy-cannabis/
https://www.treadwellfarms.com/blogs/cbd-education/parts-of-the-cannabis-plant-unique-attributes-and-uses-abound