I have a question about cannabis trichomes. But my question is about trichomes on leaves in the vegetative stage. Neither the clones nor the plant it was taken from was flowering, yet I can see trichomes on the leaves. I’ve looked it up countless times and always come up with nothing. Everywhere talks about trichomes at harvest. Or the trichome life cycle and what their role is in the plant. But I never find anything on trichomes in the Veg stage.
~Preston
Notice the trichomes on the sides of these cannabis leaves.
Why are they appearing in the vegetative stage?
What causes trichomes on cannabis leaves in the vegetative stage?
Trichomes (the sparkly stuff you see on buds) are usually seen in the flowering stage on buds, and to a lesser extent, they show up on leaves around the buds. For some strains, their leaves may become completely covered in trichomes.
Trichomes are the “sparkle” you see growing on buds in the flowering/budding stage of life
But what about trichomes in the vegetative stage? What causes them to appear?
1.) Plant may be flowering or re-vegging
One reason you may see trichomes on leaves is the plant is actually either flowering or re-vegging (reverting back to the vegetative stage).
Although Preston mentioned that his clone and the mother plant it came from were in the vegetative stage, I noticed that the leaves in the picture are round at the edges instead of the typical serrated leaves.
Notice how the edges of these leaves are round. That means this plant is re-vegging.
When you see round cannabis leaves it almost always means the plant is re-vegging. What this means is that either the mother plant was already starting to flower when the clone was taken, or the clone started flowering on its own (perhaps it received unusual light schedules, or started flowering as a stress response) and then reverted back to the vegetative stage. Having entered the flowering stage is likely why Preston saw trichomes on his leaves.
However, there are other reasons you may see trichomes in the vegetative stage.
2.) Trichomes without stalks (just the “heads”)
You may see these on cannabis leaves at any stage of life. They look like the “heads” of trichomes only you see just the circular orb without any stalk. This is just a natural structure that grows on the leaf. It isn’t necessarily potent like the THC-laden trichomes we know and love.
You may notice little orbs on your leaves, that look almost like a trichome “head” without a stalk. This is just a normal part of cannabis leaves. They are not full of THC like trichomes in the flowering stage.
You may see leaves with little “heads” or orbs on the leaves look like trichomes without a stalk.
These are normal to see on some strains in the vegetative stage. They may also appear during times of stress, for example, if the plant is exposed to unusual light schedules. That is likely what happened here as this leaf has only 3 “fingers”, which you often see after light schedule interruptions or another issue with light schedules.
3.) Natural variation (genetics)
Cannabis plants are living things and sometimes they act in unexpected ways. As we breed strains to produce more trichomes, some strains may grow a few trichomes in the vegetative stage, especially after the plant is mature and has started showing pre-flowers.
Some strains have been bred to grow rows and rows of trichomes in the flowering stage. These strains are more likely to grow trichomes in the vegetative stage.
Quick Recap & What to Do
If you see trichomes in the vegetative stage, it could be…
- the plant has started flowering or is re-vegging
- the result of stress (for example light stress)
- natural variation (genetics)
So if you see trichomes in the vegetative stage, this is what to do…
- Look for signs it has started flowering or is re-vegging (for example smooth edges of leaves).
- Make sure that the plant is getting consistent day/night cycles with uninterrupted dark when the grow lights are off.
- If you check and everything seems fine, there is a strong chance it’s just natural variation.
About Nebula Haze
I love teaching beginners how to grow weed at home. It’s easy to grow great weed if you have the right information and equipment. If you’d like to read more tutorials and growing articles like this, use the search bar on the side of GrowWeedEasy.com to search for a topic you’re interested in, or sign up for our weekly newsletter and get a new cannabis-growing tutorial delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
Happy growing! ~Nebula
