Slow finish or am I missing something?

bamboofarmer

Well-Known Member
Hang in there man, what is your nute lineup? You might be low on K (potassium). It's critical to provide the correct kind/amount of food for their flowering phase, super important if you want fat dense nugs. Otherwise it might be genetics, maybe a diff pheno? They look like they're almost ready to me too.
I have been feeding Tiger Bloom (2-8-4) 2-3 tsp/gal per watering, 1tsp/gal grow big every 3rd watering just for fun, 2 ml cal/mag plus/gal every watering.
The buds are pretty fat and dense, problem is they won't quit growing lol!
Maybe I need to back off the nutes eh?
 

bamboofarmer

Well-Known Member
No i wasn't jumping on you but now i will. This it the point. He is very close to finishing and if he changes anything now it WILL take longer because it will have to adjust to anything he changes. So you told him to try something and risk putting the plant into shock? That is VERY bad advise. YOU ARE WRONG.
If I were to change the light, I would do it by a few minutes a day, just to let them know what they should be doing. You guys both make valid points, and I appreciate your arguing. Keep it up, lol!
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
It seems to me that if a marijuana plant begins flowering around the 12/12 mark, that keeping the photo-period right at 12/12 would keep the plant right at the threshold of re-vegging.
This reminds me of something a few growers do. They use a far red (730nm) LED for 5 minutes the moment lights go out. Reportedly, it takes a plant two hours(?) to switch into the mode where it produces the hormone for flowering (the one that, with too much light, the hormone burns off and the plant stays in or reverts to veg).

I probably have some of the details wrong. But, what they do is hit the plant for a few minutes to make better use of lights out. This lets them do something like 14 hours on, 10 dark. More light, more growth while still not triggering the plant back into veg.

I wonder how that might work with the theory that longer lights-out will help the plant finish. Maybe you could keep it 12 on. The 12 off would be more like 14.

I looked at my notes. It's called a "Flower Initiator." I learned about it here:

https://www.rollitup.org/t/flowering-with-cree-bulbs.656542/page-4#post-9412197

In that thread someone bought one of these: http://growlightsource.com/the-flower-initiator-10-watt-ip65-indoor-outdoor-grow-light/the-flower-initiator-accelerator-far-red-730nm/

You can search that thread to find some discussion about "flower initiator."
 

mike4c4

Well-Known Member
I have done a lot of light test, i just started doing 10/14 for the 1 first weak flowering. then back to 12/12. It starts the flowering in 7 days and little stretch. i tried just about everything i have read and it wasn't till I fully learned to listen to the plants and give what they want when they want it did i get great results. Ive got a strain right now that likes 16/8 in veg. I had it on 18/6 for two weeks and noticed that at 16 hr of light the leaves start to sag just a little. that tells me that the light respecters have stored all they can and needs to sleep.
 

slinkysaurus

Well-Known Member
Just good for thought- I'm not disagreeing with you Mike, but the sag, or droop you talk about could be nothing more than the way the plants "breathe" ...

If you put them on a time lapse for the full 18/6 you'll notice the leaves continuously droop and pick up throughout the entire days light cycle, mimicking breathing.

It might just be that you caught them at their "droopy- breath"!

As for the light cycle... Did you try a 14 light and 12 dark period for the first few weeks of flower, instead of the the other way around? I.e - 14/12 as opposed to 12/14?

Some great articles written in 420 about it with some great results to boot :bigjoint:
 

mike4c4

Well-Known Member
Just good for thought- I'm not disagreeing with you Mike, but the sag, or droop you talk about could be nothing more than the way the plants "breathe" ...

If you put them on a time lapse for the full 18/6 you'll notice the leaves continuously droop and pick up throughout the entire days light cycle, mimicking breathing.

It might just be that you caught them at their "droopy- breath"!

As for the light cycle... Did you try a 14 light and 12 dark period for the first few weeks of flower, instead of the the other way around? I.e - 14/12 as opposed to 12/14?

Some great articles written in 420 about it with some great results to boot :bigjoint:
NO im not talking about breathing. the same sag you get when you water some strains, thats what in talking about. You have to really get to know the strains you grow., and that only comes from growing the same strain over and over. ive been growing for 31 yrs now, and seen just about everything. Im not saying that i know it all dont confuse that. I make stupid mistakes all the time and i know better. LOL I just went through a cloning problem i was having, For a month i couldnt get a clone to take for nothing. I forgot to plug in the heat mat . LMFAO LOL LOL nubes dont even make that mistake because they are nerves and check everything 20 times a day and i got to relaxed in my growing and needed a wake up call.
I never said 14/12 or 12/14 how would you get that. 12+14=26 LOL I did type it backwards For the first week i run 14/10
14hr dark and 10 hr light. It makes transition to flower faster. It takes 1 week instead of 2 to 3 to see some white hares.
 

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Sunny Organics

Well-Known Member
I have been feeding Tiger Bloom (2-8-4) 2-3 tsp/gal per watering, 1tsp/gal grow big every 3rd watering just for fun, 2 ml cal/mag plus/gal every watering.
The buds are pretty fat and dense, problem is they won't quit growing lol!
Maybe I need to back off the nutes eh?
You should just let them finish on their own, don't hurry up the process. You still need to wait on the drying and curing, what's the hurry?
 

bamboofarmer

Well-Known Member
This reminds me of something a few growers do. They use a far red (730nm) LED for 5 minutes the moment lights go out. Reportedly, it takes a plant two hours(?) to switch into the mode where it produces the hormone for flowering (the one that, with too much light, the hormone burns off and the plant stays in or reverts to veg).

I probably have some of the details wrong. But, what they do is hit the plant for a few minutes to make better use of lights out. This lets them do something like 14 hours on, 10 dark. More light, more growth while still not triggering the plant back into veg.

I wonder how that might work with the theory that longer lights-out will help the plant finish. Maybe you could keep it 12 on. The 12 off would be more like 14.

I looked at my notes. It's called a "Flower Initiator." I learned about it here:

https://www.rollitup.org/t/flowering-with-cree-bulbs.656542/page-4#post-9412197

In that thread someone bought one of these: http://growlightsource.com/the-flower-initiator-10-watt-ip65-indoor-outdoor-grow-light/the-flower-initiator-accelerator-far-red-730nm/

You can search that thread to find some discussion about "flower initiator."
Hmm, sounds interesting. Thanks for the links.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
View attachment 3376115
i wonder how much longer
That looks exactly like a Sensi Kush or afghan I grow. I have the same problem. It foxtails, continues to produce pistils. I've never felt confident about when to harvest it. However, I believe I've always waited too long.

From my experience with mine (which I swear looks exactly like yours), I'd say you waited 8-20 days too long. You can't see it, but it's very dense inside those buds. Not dense like more traditional buds. But, dense like the pith on the inside of an orange rind. I don't know how to explain it. But, I think you'll see what I mean when you start breaking the buds down. It's a different kind of calyx. That's the stuff that always causes me to think it ripened too long.

I could be wrong. From the appearance of your plant, I harvested my last one about 10 days earlier than where you are now. I still think I went too long. I haven't tried 20 days earlier yet. But, I plan to next time.
 

bamboofarmer

Well-Known Member
That looks exactly like a Sensi Kush or afghan I grow. I have the same problem. It foxtails, continues to produce pistils. I've never felt confident about when to harvest it. However, I believe I've always waited too long.

From my experience with mine (which I swear looks exactly like yours), I'd say you waited 8-20 days too long. You can't see it, but it's very dense inside those buds. Not dense like more traditional buds. But, dense like the pith on the inside of an orange rind. I don't know how to explain it. But, I think you'll see what I mean when you start breaking the buds down. It's a different kind of calyx. That's the stuff that always causes me to think it ripened too long.

I could be wrong. From the appearance of your plant, I harvested my last one about 10 days earlier than where you are now. I still think I went too long. I haven't tried 20 days earlier yet. But, I plan to next time.
You are exactly right about the inside of the buds! They seem kinda spongy. I quick dried the smallest bud i could find the other day, and it shrunk down to not much lol! I took two hits and suddenly the news program i was watching became hilarious. Good high, but didn't last long.

I have let her get very dry and am considering chopping rather than watering again. I guess I don't need to ask you what you would do eh?
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Mine has a turpentine smell after it dries for awhile. It will be interesting if yours does too. It's a body stone thing, couch lock. Based upon when I harvested it this time, I think fox tailing is probably the sign that it's gone too long. Mine foxtailed 7-8 days before I harvested. I'm thinking that's the time to harvest.
 

bamboofarmer

Well-Known Member
Mine has a turpentine smell after it dries for awhile. It will be interesting if yours does too. It's a body stone thing, couch lock. Based upon when I harvested it this time, I think fox tailing is probably the sign that it's gone too long. Mine foxtailed 7-8 days before I harvested. I'm thinking that's the time to harvest.
That's interesting. The bud i smoked got me energized, but then again it was a little one from deep in the plant and the trichomes were mostly clear. I have grown this strain before and the odor is hard to describe.It's a 3-stage odor. When i disturb the plant it smells kind of terpentine/pine-sol mixed with bubblegum, but if you stick your finger right in a bud it gives off a nauseating oily smell which gives way to kind of blueberry smell. I don't know how else to describe it, lol.
 

bamboofarmer

Well-Known Member
98 Days flowering, 128 days total from seed. I should prob chop now. The other ladies still don't look close to finished, so i don't know what the hell to do about them lol!
 
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