Ep 009: Identify Male vs Female Pre-Flowers

0:00 — 1:23

Intro: tent tour at 1500 plants

Jeremy opens episode seven by announcing the topic: telling male from female. He notes the tent is a jungle with over 1500 plants in the 10x10 space, most still young seedlings but actively transpiring. He explains that sex ID takes time in this early stage, flags that some plants are ambiguous, and says he would like to transplant today but is going to wait until Monday. He previews tips on holding plants back when they want to explode with growth in small containers, and states that successful organic gardening is about keeping plants happy on an even keel rather than bursting then slowing.

1:23 — 2:25

Confirmed female: Branson's Royal Revenge #12

Jeremy grabs Branson's Royal Revenge number 12 as a straightforward example. He points out the 'crotch' — the V where the leaf comes off the main stalk — and shows a single white hair (pistil) coming out of a small piece of plant tissue, which confirms female. He contrasts this with the male signal: an 'overbite' shape where a piece of plant material grows out with a lip, eventually developing into multiple little balls with overlapping. Because #12 has a smooth shape with a hair coming right out the top, he calls it 100 percent female and sets it aside.

1. 1. Pick a plant that is obviously sexed to demonstrate the method
2. 2. Find the V where a leaf branches off the main stalk at each node (the crotch)
3. 3. Look inside that V for either a white hair (female pistil) or an overbite-shaped protrusion (male)
4. 4. Confirm female when a smooth shape has a single hair growing out the top
5. 5. Confirm male when multiple little balls develop with overlapping overbite shapes
6. 6. Set confirmed females aside from ambiguous and male plants

2:25 — 4:52

Ambiguous plants: Royal Revenge #3 and Halitosis #2

Jeremy shows Branson's Royal Revenge number 3, which has a thick stout stalk but an ambiguous crotch that could be an overbite or a branch. He notes that Long Valley genetics (which is in this cross) has tricked him in the past. He looks at the top of the plant where it reads more female but says it is still too early to call, so he leaves it on the table as a maybe for Monday. He then inspects Halitosis number 2, where he sees what might be a white hair but no clear shape below it, and moving up and down the plant yields no clearer signals. When ambiguous, his rule is to look at lower and higher nodes on the same plant, and if still unclear, wait.

1. 1. When the crotch is ambiguous, check other nodes lower and higher on the plant
2. 2. If still unclear, mark the plant as a 'maybe' and leave it to develop another day or two
3. 3. Remember that genetics like Long Valley can show ambiguous or confusing pre-flowers
4. 4. Keep 100 percent confirmed females on one side and maybes / males on another

4:11 — 5:33

Decision tree: clone, wait, or plant

Jeremy lays out the decision when you cannot cleanly sex every plant: option A is to take cuttings from identified females, root them, and run a rooted cut crop into the beds which ramps up very healthy; option B is to plant now accepting the slim chance of pulling a male later; option C is to wait longer, risking decline in small one-gallon containers, especially over a weekend when he is only in the tent an hour at a time. He notes that the plants are not even five weeks old and already stacking branches and showing sex. Some genetics take up to six weeks to show sex, and moving up to a two gallon can delay onset because root-bound plants often tell you faster. He chooses to dim the lights and wait until Monday.

1. 1. Inspect every plant and mark as confirmed female, confirmed male, or ambiguous
2. 2. Weigh three options: clone and run rooted cuts, plant now with risk, or wait
3. 3. Consider time-in-container health: small containers decline without attention over weekends
4. 4. Remember some genetics take up to six weeks to show sex
5. 5. Avoid upsizing to a two gallon if you want faster sex ID — a little root-bound speeds it up
6. 6. Dim the lights to hold plants back rather than over-driving them into stress

5:33 — 7:40

Dimming lights and cover crop check

Jeremy dims the light on each side of the tent to avoid overdriving the one-gallons that are running out of food. He checks the living soil beds and is excited that the cover crop under the straw mulch is popping off just days after seeding — green is coming through which means he has a few days of buffer before Monday's transplant. He walks through quadrant one, which is overgrown with males, cucumbers, and thousands of seed starts, and mentions he needs to clear space and set up an Earth Box from scratch (a future video). Lettuce keeps regrowing after harvest and he may shave it to reset even growth. He also points at newly installed basil paper pot transplants — a unique system using a hand tractor that lays seeds like a chain of ammunition into the soil at perfect spacing — being trialled on the farm this year.

1. 1. Reach up and dim the light on each side of the tent to lower intensity
2. 2. Feel the weight of each one-gallon to confirm moisture before deciding to water
3. 3. Check the living soil bed for cover crop emergence under the straw mulch
4. 4. Confirm moisture all the way to the bottom — cover crop growing out the drain is a green flag
5. 5. Skip watering and skip the planned seaweed extract drench since weight is fine
6. 6. Plan logistics for clearing quadrant one to set up the Earth Box next week

9:05 — 13:33

FAQ 1: Is peat moss environmentally friendly

Daniel Sleepwalker asks if peat moss is sustainable and what the alternatives are. Jeremy says the non-sustainable narrative mainly comes from Europe, where peat is mined in limited quantities and burned for heat (the source of the 'peaty' flavour in Scotch). European alternatives include leaf mold, made from fallen leaves bagged or piled for about two years until they turn black — a great peat alternative for garden beds but Jeremy's tests of commercial leaf mold sources were not viable for BuildASoil. He argues coco coir is actually less sustainable: Canadian sphagnum peat moss is abundant (the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association says less than two percent has been mined over decades with strict mining rules), while coco is a farmed product that may be grown chemically, needs to be rinsed with water for years to reduce sodium, then shipped halfway across the world with quality control issues. He also mentions black sedge reed peat from the US, which he does not recommend because it comes from a saltier crop with lower nutrition.

1. 1. Ask whether the media was mined or farmed and at what rate
2. 2. Check the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association for mining and stewardship data
3. 3. Consider proximity: Canada is close, coconut-producing islands are far
4. 4. Ask if the farmed coco was grown chemically or organically, and whether it was properly rinsed
5. 5. Avoid US black sedge reed peat due to salt and low nutrition
6. 6. If pursuing leaf mold, collect browned fallen leaves, bag for ~2 years or build a pile

13:33 — 14:15

FAQ 2: Coco vs peat sustainability follow-up

Straight Shade Tree Builds comments that he has read the opposite — that coco is more sustainable. Jeremy answers that a lot of people have heard that claim but asks viewers to consider: coco is shipped from a faraway island, it is farmed (not just mined) and may not be sustainably grown, and there are mined inputs used to grow the coco itself. He reaffirms peat is more sustainable in the way it is used right now, especially because BuildASoil is close to Canada.

14:15 — 15:58

FAQ 3: Intake fan vs exhaust only

Jeremy explains that his tent runs a passive intake: the exhaust fan triggers, air gets sucked out, and replacement air pulls in through seams from negative pressure. Some growers run a low continuous intake fan for positive pressure so nothing sits in the room stale, others prefer negative pressure so everything is constantly exhausted. Jeremy says managing humidity, temperature and fresh air is the real priority — find your weakest link. If intake + exhaust running 24/7 drops humidity or temperature too much, put it on a cycle. At night he plans to run a lower setpoint on his Niwa wall controller which will kick the fan and pull humidity down. He is using one eight-inch AC Infinity exhaust fan and one oscillating fan inside the tent, and would like another oscillating fan.

1. 1. Identify the weakest link in your environment (temp, RH, airflow)
2. 2. Default to an exhaust fan with passive intake through tent seams
3. 3. If you want stale air constantly removed, keep exhaust dominant (negative pressure)
4. 4. If you want fresh air pushed in, add a low continuous intake fan (positive pressure)
5. 5. If intake+exhaust drop temp/RH too much, cycle them rather than run 24/7
6. 6. Use a controller to run lower night temps to trigger exhaust and drop humidity at lights-off

15:58 — 18:05

FAQ 4: Distance from light and DLI

Nathan187 Gonzalez Goons asks how far Jeremy keeps his plants from the light — his own are at 24 inches in veg. Jeremy says there is no fixed answer: his are three or four feet away because he is running a potent LED and has measured ~500 µmol PPFD at canopy, which is plenty for his photoperiod. He points viewers to his Instagram post 'Do You Even DLI Bro' and explains that on a T5 you might want the plant within one inch, on a double-ended HID six feet away — it is about the light reading at the canopy, not inches. He also reminds viewers that VPD should be based on leaf surface temperature: plants too close heat up the leaf surface and mess up VPD, while plants too far in a cool LED room may not have enough stimulation to drive transpiration. If you do not own a PAR meter, look up your light manufacturer's datasheet for readings at one, two, three feet and place accordingly.

1. 1. Stop thinking in inches from the light — think in PPFD at the canopy
2. 2. Use a PAR meter to measure µmol at canopy (Jeremy targets ~500)
3. 3. Calculate DLI from PPFD times photoperiod to confirm intensity
4. 4. If no PAR meter, look up the manufacturer's published readings at 1ft/2ft/3ft
5. 5. Check VPD against leaf surface temperature, not ambient
6. 6. If leaves are too close and hot, back off; if too cool and far, move closer

18:47 — 20:11

FAQ 5: Saponaria powder availability

Midnight OG asks when Saponaria extract powder will be available. Jeremy says it is live now under the name Saponaria at buildasoil.com — they just forgot to flip it live initially. He is reworking the product, asked Instagram for naming suggestions, and is working with Jay Plant Speaker (a California outdoor and greenhouse grower) to potentially co-brand it. He uses less than a quarter teaspoon per gallon and one two-ounce bag ($40, free shipping) lasts him many grows. Dose can be bumped up for foliar sprays aimed at pest protection via saponins.

1. 1. Go to buildasoil.com and find Saponaria powder (currently 2 oz bag, $40 with free shipping)
2. 2. Dose at less than 1/4 teaspoon per gallon for drench/feed
3. 3. Up the dose if foliar-spraying to leverage saponins for pest protection
4. 4. Expect one 2 oz bag to last many grows at normal drench rates

20:11 — 21:08

Outro: community and upcoming content

Jeremy invites viewers to drop more questions in the comments — they will try to put them on video or answer in the comments. He notes a lot of experienced growers are now watching who have followed BuildASoil for longer than the company has existed, encourages learning from them, and acknowledges that even when content isn't new, it often takes years to internalise. He mentions live chat support is slammed during busy season and asks people to prefer comments for non-urgent questions. He teases dozens more videos to come.