What are Those Tiny Red Hairs on Weed Buds?

4/13/2021 What are Those Tiny Red Hairs on Cannabis Buds?
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TINY RED HAIRS ON CANNABIS PLANTS
What are Those Tiny Red Hairs on
Cannabis Buds?
The tiny hairs are called stigmas and they protrude from the pistil of the marijuana plant
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Posted by:
HighChi, today at 12:00am
What are the Tiny Red Hairs on Weed?
Do not be too surprised if you come across a regular cannabis user that knows very little about marijuana. This happens
largely because most of them only care about what the herb o ers and they feel there’s no need to bother with truly
understanding the unique characteristics of the herb. Unfortunately, this is very detrimental. With the right knowledge
of your herb, you'll be fully equipped with the necessary information you need to improve your cannabis experience.
In this article, we will be taking a closer look at the tiny red hairs that we see on weed and how it is important for the
identi cation of a good batch.
The ability to di erentiate between an indica-dominant hybrid and a sativa-dominant herb is not a common trait that
you can easily see in every cannabis user. It takes a good knowledge of the various parts of the anatomy of the plant.
Let me brie y run through some of the prominent parts of the anatomy of the cannabis plant that might not be known
by the regular cannabis user.

Cola: This refers to the aspect of the cannabis ower that grows at the end of any branch. It also refers to the largest
bud that grows on the top of the main stem.
Bract: This refers to a special type of leaf-shaped as a teardrop and covered by resin glands.
Calyx: It is also known as the bud and it has a strong concentration of sugar leaves with a considerable amount of
trichomes covering them.
Trichomes (https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/trichomes-why-they-are-important-and-how-to-grow-more-of-
them): This refers to tiny, bulbous globes with a good concentration of bene cial cannabinoids like THC and CBD. It also
contains a good concentration of aromatic oils such as terpenes.
Nodes: This is the part of the stems of the marijuana plant from which fan leaves protrude.
Fan leaves: A huge collection of leaves on the plant that make up a considerable amount of the harvest and are readily
used in creating edibles.
You will easily notice that there was no emphasis on the red hairs on weed amongst the prominent parts listed above.
To understand that, we need to rst talk about another part of the cannabis plant which is the pistil.
What is a pistil?
A pistil is simply a female cannabis organ. It is from this pistil that the red hairs we are talking about protrude from. The
tiny hairs are called “stigmas” and they are majorly tiny hair strands that protrude from the pistil. The role of the stigma
as it is with other plants is to collect pollen from male marijuana plants. Upon contact with the pollen from the male
cannabis plants, the stigmas are pollinated which brings about di erent processes in the plant.
The color of the stigmas of the pistil before pollination is white but with the onset of harvest time, the color of the hairs
begins to darken and eventually become yellow or orange depending on the strain. Pistils produce seed as a product of
pollination which is a major role in reproduction however, it is not bene cial to a cannabis grower. This is major

because the attention of the plant once pollination occurs shifts from producing resinous owers needed for
cannabinoids to developing the seed. This makes the weed less e ective in giving the desired medicinal and
recreational e ects.
Advantages of Pistils in Young and Mature Cannabis Plants
There is a di erence between pistils in young cannabis plants mature cannabis plants which must be understood if we
are to move ahead with the importance of stigmas and pistils. In young cannabis plants, male cannabis plants develop
prior to female cannabis plants. The feminized seed for instance can easily be identi ed as females within the rst three
to six weeks after germination. Young plants can easily have random pistils poking out which makes scrutinization
important to spot pre owers quickly. The presence of white hairs protruding from several nodes during scrutinization
shows you have a female plant on your hand. However, the type of strain can a ect how long you can easily identify
what type of plant you have on your hands as some can take as long as 8 weeks for con rmation as a female plant.
When the plants eventually become matured, the purpose of early identi cation of male and female cannabis plants
can then be e ected. The male cannabis plants need to be removed from the growing area early enough so they do not
fertilize crops which will defeat the purpose of the cultivation process. Aside from the identi cation of plants while they
are young, pistils can also be used to determine whether a plant is ready for harvest. The color of the pistils can be used
for this purpose as their color changes with the stage of growth of the plant.
For the rst four weeks, the stigma remains white which then begins to turn yellowish and eventually turns red, amber,
or dark brown at harvest time. Timing your harvest is very important as a grower and it is important to ensure that at
least 50% of the stigmas have changed to red or brown color before you consider harvesting. This is because this is the
time when the buds are most potent and more bene cial to the grower.
Precaution with harvesting
It is important to ensure that you do not wait too long before considering harvesting. Waiting too long may cause the
stigma to dry out thus reducing the quality of your buds. At this point, degradation occurs and some of the THC would
have been degraded to CBN which critically a ects the taste and potency of the plant. Pistils and calyxes make up the

owering plant of the cannabis plant which is dried, cured, and consumed. It contains a good concentration of
cannabinoids which is why they must be handled properly.
Bottom line
Understanding what pistils and stigmas are is paramount for every serious cannabis grower. If the advantage of this
knowledge is not utilized properly, it can make or mar the entire growth process.
MORE ON TRICHOMES AND STIGMAS, READ THIS..
(https://cannabis.net/blog/news/what-are-trichomes-and-why-are-they-
important)
WHAT ARE TRICHOMES AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? (https://cannabis.net/blog/news/what-are-trichomes-and-
why-are-they-important)
OR..

(https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/trichomes-why-they-are-important-
and-how-to-grow-more-of-them)
HOW DO YOU GROW MORE TRICHOMES ON YOUR CANNABIS BUDS? (https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/trichomes-
why-they-are-important-and-how-to-grow-more-of-them)
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What are Those Tiny Red Hairs on Weed Buds?

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