Is this the start of a seed!?!?

Sativied

Well-Known Member
The calyx shown in the OP's photo is a pre-flower, which contrary to a claim above don't grow in clusters. They appear in pairs, one on each side of each new branch, when a plant reached ontogenetic age mature enough for flowering. They can be pollinated and produce seed. If the grower chooses to veg longer (or is vegging a clone from such a ontogenetic mature plant, or somehow delays the transition with bad light schedule, or even revegs), it IS possible to have very fat swollen preflowers with dead pistils and no seed growing early in flower. However...

to me from my observations that white stripe means a seed is starting to form up in there,
Indeed. It's even more obvious with the one at the bottom of the pic, bursting open till seed is almost visible. It's possibly already further along then "starting to form up in there", indicated by the sudden bend of the narrower part of the calyx while the rest is sort of kept up by the shape of the already hard seed.
 
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Sativied

Well-Known Member
Ymw. I see now I said pre-flowers at base of "each new branch" but it's actually (when growing from seed) every new branch after 4 or 5 nodes. With good macro shots or a loupe they're enough to determine sex weeks before it's fully flowering. The pre-flowers lower in the plant and around the main stem have a head start compared to calyxes that form the buds in clusters. Which also means with males in the same space, it's possible the pre-flowers on females get pollinated before the males are removed.

If the goal is to get seeds anyway, or don’t want them mixed up with the buds, I’d leave them either way. Just pluck the buds from a branch (individual buds from a cola) sideways or upwards and the pre-flowers stay behind, as they’re not actually part of the buds:

EC11CF50-C024-4F0E-8E2C-3F5BCF1FC8A1.jpeg

(those aren’t seeded but I‘m so frugal I collect and smoke them anyway)
 
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