Hollow stems, good, bad?

[Waira]

Hollow stems is pith autolysis and it means the plant needs more carbon for photosynthesis. Other than that they are very healthly and dverything you where doing was locked in no stress really during the whole grow is another key factor for this happening

Understood, and good point on lack of direct cannabis studies too...
On the other hand, I have to wonder about the Carbon deal though. Here's why: mine are outside, in nice breezes, small sized and not growing at crazy rates (and under C fixing pressure), nice T and RH% so VPD is usually just fine; they get regular hits of fulvic acid by foliar applications as well as plenty humic-fulvic into the soil as well...
Soil herd gets carb's too, no "starvation" via roots there either it would seem...
As such, it's hard to buy that this is a case of plants not getting the C uptake and fixing they need to keep up with growth and metabolism...

A caveat: I've not cut up plants in prime veg' stage before (thankfully), only at the end of their life and we know the plant is tapping into internal resources at this point so perhaps the hollowing is created/magnified during this end stage?

 

[Badfinger]

A caveat: I've not cut up plants in prime veg' stage before (thankfully), only at the end of their life and we know the plant is tapping into internal resources at this point so perhaps the hollowing is created/magnified during this end stage?

Thats a pretty good theory.

 

[Talonxracer]

Understood, and good point on lack of direct cannabis studies too...
On the other hand, I have to wonder about the Carbon deal though. Here's why: mine are outside, in nice breezes, small sized and not growing at crazy rates (and under C fixing pressure), nice T and RH% so VPD is usually just fine; they get regular hits of fulvic acid by foliar applications as well as plenty humic-fulvic into the soil as well...
Soil herd gets carb's too, no "starvation" via roots there either it would seem...
As such, it's hard to buy that this is a case of plants not getting the C uptake and fixing they need to keep up with growth and metabolism... View attachment 1581887

A caveat: I've not cut up plants in prime veg' stage before (thankfully), only at the end of their life and we know the plant is tapping into internal resources at this point so perhaps the hollowing is created/magnified during this end stage?

My thoughts as well.

 

[Badfinger]

The inner core of the stem is called pith. The primary function of pith is to transport nutrients throughout the plant and then store the nutrients within its cells.

Pith autolysis is when the storage pith of the stem is autolyzed (meaning it destroys itself) by enzymes in the plant that degrades cell walls, leaving a hollow stem. From my understanding, this happens when the plant is starving for carbon, which the pith is basically a core of. So if it's lacking the "juice" from what's provided to perform certain functions of photosynthesis, it takes what it needs from the pith core.

I would think hollow stems is perhaps a tell that your nutrient regiment isn't providing enough to the plant (in my humble opinion.) @Mañ'O'Green @Waira any input on this?

It is just mostly a genetic trait. It is believed that hollow stem plants have higher THC production so this trait shows up a lot because of selecting for it. The xylem where water/mineral transportation takes place would be just inside the wall of the hollow core. There can be virus activity that can cause this but that is rare compared to the genetic selection.

Honestly, I haven't seen any notable difference between them. I've been running organic nutes only for a few years now, and haven't noticed any differences. I chop my plants to bits too when done, so I get to see a good representation of such things!

All these admins show up at once in my thread. Reminds me of owning a little cantina, and I got 3 cop cars parked out front, bad for business..LOL
I'm joking of course. Intelligent input is always welcome.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Pith Autolysis in Herbaceous, Dicotyledonous Plants: Experimental Manipulation of Pith Autolysis in Several Cultivated Species

Abstract. Pith autolysis, a condition in which dicotyledonous herbaceous plants have a hollow stem, results from the autolysis of a plant's storage pith. O

academic.oup.com

With autoflowers I see this mostly in very fast growing large hybrids.. Blue dream photos seem to have a propensity too.

 

[DoobieGrows]

I think the hollow stems is from genetics. I am not sure which one is responsible. It probably has something to do with plants coming from dry arid conditions started to use their stems as a Conveyor belts for water and nutrients. This is just my personal bro science explanation

 

[Son of Hobbes]

This question came up on Derek420's Facebook group for Dreambeans; I found an interesting read about it:

It's a slightly older paper (from the mid-late 90's), but Susan M Carr and Mordecai J. Jaffe wrote a paper on observing pith called "Pith Autolysis in Herbaceous, Dicotyledonous Plants: Experimental Manipulation of Pith Autolysis in Several Cultivated Species," published in the Annals of Botany, Vol. 75, No. 6 (June 1995), pp. 587-592 (6 pages). Published By: Oxford University Press

Their observations give a nod to the idea that the plant is borrowing from the pith core under stressful conditions, taxing conditions, or where growth begins to accelerate or becoming more demanding (when you have a heavy feeder that is blowing up, or you're starting flowering for example.)

From the abstract:

"Pith autolysis, a condition in which dicotyledonous herbaceous plants have a hollow stem, results from the autolysis of a plant's storage pith. Our central hypothesis concerning the aetiology of pith autolysis states that the carbon from the pith is transported to the growth regions of the plant and used at times when the plant cannot meet its carbon needs by photosynthesis alone. According to this hypothesis, accelerated growth should increase pith autolysis. We here provide supporting evidence for the central hypothesis. More pith autolysis was found in faster growing tomato varieties than in dwarf varieties. More pith autolysis was found in both beans and tomatoes treated with GA3 than in controls. More pith autolysis was found in leggy bean plants grown in low light than in normal plants grown under normal light conditions. Pith autolysis decreased in both beans and tomatoes when mechanically perturbed or sprayed with paclobutrazol, both treatments that reduced growth. The stems of buckwheat plants that were flowering showed greater pith autolysis and therefore were more hollow than plants which were not flowering or which had the incipient flowers pinched off. This indicated that carbon from the storage pith may also be used in the formation of reproductive structures which require extra carbon. Also in support of the central hypothesis is the prevention of pith autolysis by the addition of extra carbon to the plant, in the form of an increased CO2 concentration of the surrounding air.Copyright 1995, 1999 Academic Press"

I can't find a full version of it for free (maybe if you're a university student, but otherwise it's $50 for the paper.)

 

[Badfinger]

This question came up on Derek420's Facebook group for Dreambeans; I found an interesting read about it:

It's a slightly older paper (from the mid-late 90's), but Susan M Carr and Mordecai J. Jaffe wrote a paper on observing pith called "Pith Autolysis in Herbaceous, Dicotyledonous Plants: Experimental Manipulation of Pith Autolysis in Several Cultivated Species," published in the Annals of Botany, Vol. 75, No. 6 (June 1995), pp. 587-592 (6 pages). Published By: Oxford University Press

Their observations give a nod to the idea that the plant is borrowing from the pith core under stressful conditions, taxing conditions, or where growth begins to accelerate or becoming more demanding (when you have a heavy feeder that is blowing up, or you're starting flowering for example.)

From the abstract:

"Pith autolysis, a condition in which dicotyledonous herbaceous plants have a hollow stem, results from the autolysis of a plant's storage pith. Our central hypothesis concerning the aetiology of pith autolysis states that the carbon from the pith is transported to the growth regions of the plant and used at times when the plant cannot meet its carbon needs by photosynthesis alone. According to this hypothesis, accelerated growth should increase pith autolysis. We here provide supporting evidence for the central hypothesis. More pith autolysis was found in faster growing tomato varieties than in dwarf varieties. More pith autolysis was found in both beans and tomatoes treated with GA3 than in controls. More pith autolysis was found in leggy bean plants grown in low light than in normal plants grown under normal light conditions. Pith autolysis decreased in both beans and tomatoes when mechanically perturbed or sprayed with paclobutrazol, both treatments that reduced growth. The stems of buckwheat plants that were flowering showed greater pith autolysis and therefore were more hollow than plants which were not flowering or which had the incipient flowers pinched off. This indicated that carbon from the storage pith may also be used in the formation of reproductive structures which require extra carbon. Also in support of the central hypothesis is the prevention of pith autolysis by the addition of extra carbon to the plant, in the form of an increased CO2 concentration of the surrounding air.Copyright 1995, 1999 Academic Press"

View attachment 1709218

I can't find a full version of it for free (maybe if you're a university student, but otherwise it's $50 for the paper.)

I just got some Dreambean's for my next grow. The Pine Curtain, he swears to me I'm going to get that old pine smell, cant wait.

 

[KingRatt]

Some strains I have grown are hollow stemmed, some not. The internet is massively conflicting on this subject, as to whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing.. What say you AFN?

If some strains are and some arent, i wouldnt think it would matter. If the strains that were hollow were a problem, i highly doubt they would be selected for And sold as a strain of it were a problem. Especially if it is just “some do, some dont”. It seems far fetched to me that any breeder would market such product if it was considered inferior in any way.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Some of my biggest producing plants had hollow stems and seemingly no ill effects from it