Stem Rubbers and Sniffers, are you one of them?

tardis

Well-Known Member
You rub the stem and smell it in veg & early flower? Which strain had the best smelling stem? My blueberry Gum stem smells like an unsweatend hubba bubba gum, my void male stem smells so grapey. :):) What strains do you like to rub and smell the stem?
 

spacecake13

Member
Stem rubbing and sniffing?:?: Wow i love growing but that just seems a bit fetishy for me. Ill leave you guys be so you can get back to your rubbing. bongsmilie
 

hoetreo

Member
I too do it, my afrodite smells great I thought the lemon skunk would have smelled better but I was wrong Afrodite is the loudest smelling in my grow room.
 

Total Head

Well-Known Member
i do this all the time. i've had a few strains where the stems smelled like tooth decay which was pretty gross. the stem always has its own distinct smell depending on the strain.
 

dajosh42069

Well-Known Member
I've never heard of this, but it sounds stressful as hell to the plants.

...I think I might try it though...although I don't really need to, my MK has had a powerful smell since it was about 2 weeks old (they were clones so) and the clones I took of them are already producing their own crazy good smell too. But I think i might try rubbing a stem and seeing if the smell is much stronger.
 

Jeffdt1966

Active Member
I've never heard of this, but it sounds stressful as hell to the plants.

...I think I might try it though...although I don't really need to, my MK has had a powerful smell since it was about 2 weeks old (they were clones so) and the clones I took of them are already producing their own crazy good smell too. But I think i might try rubbing a stem and seeing if the smell is much stronger.
really ?? you have seriously never rubbed a stem just to smell it ?? ... thats like one of the little rights of passage to a ganja grower.... now go rub that stem ! youll like it - just be gentle with the girl as it will be her first time too !
 

Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
I've been rubbing and smelling my girls for as long as I've been growing.
The Kandy Kush and White Rhino I have going right now both smell great.
The Kush has a rather sweet scent to it and doesn't smell like cannabis at all.
While the Rhino has that wonderful hash smell, with a faint hint of sweetness.
I'll be planting my Lemon Skunk seed tomorrow, can't wait to see what she smells like when rubbed the right way.
 

growerNshower

Well-Known Member
I gotta bring this thread back from the dead. I've used stem rub to confirm identity of my keepers after cloning or if I'm unsure I might have mixed them up. I can EASILY tell which of my keepers it is from a simple stem rub.

No, stem rubs don't smell exactly like the final flowers. BUT...there is definitely a distinct stem rub to many cultivars, and this can be very helpful.

Here are my observations from cultivars I've grown:

SFV OG (Cltvtd TC): piney, "green"
Cherry Pie (Sac Dispo): Bitter Cigars, Burnt something (Flowers are very similar smell but with cherry fuit)
Purple Urkle (Santa Rosa Organicann pre-64): Piney, bitter cigars, menthol (Flowers are grape candy and skunk)
Gushers (PCG): Piney, bitter cigars, slight menthol (Flowers are grape, pine, GAS, incense)
Ultraviolence (PCG): cheesey lemons, a little spice (Flowers are cheesey, urine, orange juice vomit ammonia)
Chem 91 (Harborside Farms): Pickles, lemon, pine (Flowers are solvent glue, lime, pickles, garlic)
Headband (Elemental Wellness Nursery): Lemon, pine, herbal/medicinal (Flower is floral, herbal, lime)
Legend OG (PCG): Same as headband
Tahoe OG (Roots Nursery): Same as headband
AJSD (PCG): Citrus and holiday spice, quite lovely

Obviously, there is a limit to what you can do with a stem rub...It's not very easy to tell the difference between very closely related cultivars like different cuts of OG/headband/idk maybe fake headband. It also depends on the stage of growth. My observations are usually on a smallish plant or clone; I like to rub pretty vigorously on a smallish branch that is still green, but has some stiffness to it...usually ~0.25-0.75 cm...I think the bigger or smaller stems don't smell as reliably.

Strangely, it seems like a slightly mentholy pine stem rub might indicate grape, as I've noticed that similar characteristic to the stem rubs on Grape Ape, Purple urkle, and Gushers.

-gNs
 
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