When Should I Start My Flower Cycle?

This is one of my first times growing and I was just wondering when I should start my flowering cycle. I'm using three 40 watt cool white CFL's (7,800 lumens total) and is 5 sets high, though I cut off the bottom two sets. I was going to grow it another 2 or 3 sets (making it about 8 inches tall) then change it to a 12/12 cycle. Is this a good idea? Should I flower sooner or later?

how did you cut off the bottom 2 sets?

Just cut the stem (leaf) and took the suckers off.

so like you cut off the bottom 2 sets of branches... as in lollipoping it?
Sorry.. just don't know what you mean..

Why'd you do that? Don't cut anything else off man, if the plant doesn't want something anymore it'll get rid of it. Only time you should cut something off your plant is if you're topping it, until you have more experience and know what you're doing.

Yeah I lollipopped it.

KawiZZR said:

Why'd you do that? Don't cut anything else off man, if the plant doesn't want something anymore it'll get rid of it. Only time you should cut something off your plant is if you're topping it, until you have more experience and know what you're doing.

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Well I have previous experience growing with these lights and other types of plants (outdoors). If you trim a plants older growth or growth you don't want, it focus' more on new more productive growth. Usually you only remove the suckers (the nodes between stem and leaf) you don't want and leave the leaves. But since my CFL setup is only really good for a 3 foot radius I get rid of the bottom two sets all together and focus all it's growth on the rest of the plant which I harvest. No point in waisting nutrients on a section that will get little light later and a lame harvest. Plus it makes it easier to water and looks nicer. There won't be any dead leaves hanging off the bottom while flowering.

Haha sorry bout that, sounds like you fit into the second category then, then people with more experience. Glad to hear you aren't just another noob who went in and decided to cut things off bc he didn't like how it looked or some other cray reason. With that having been you're first post I was wary. Since you know what you're doing then you'll have a much easier time than most do on their first few grows.

Regarding when to switch to 12/12, if your plant was from clone then it's already mature and you should be fine at whatever height you deem appropriate, keeping in mind it'll likely double in height. If it was from seed then you'll want to look for preflowers and alternating nodes. Either of these showing up is a sign that the plant is mature and can be flowered when you choose to switch the light schedule. If the plant reaches around the height you wanted to switch and it isn't yet showing either sign of maturity then you can go ahead and force flower it but it will take a bit longer before. The first week or so of 12/12 it will still be in veg and may stretch more before showing preflowers and beginning flowering.

Is there any reason you're going with lollipop as opposed to any of the other forms of training? Again, apologies if I came off as insensitive before. Here to help if you need anything.

ok... lollipopping is a great technique. I haven't ever grown under CFL's.. so I can't offer any advice worth salt on it.. good luck and a bump for you.

KawiZZR said:

Is there any reason you're going with lollipop as opposed to any of the other forms of training? Again, apologies if I came off as insensitive before. Here to help if you need anything.

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Thanks for the info, I didn't know you could wait for the sex to show itself under a veg cycle. As for the lollipop thing, idk. I'm just kind of learning new things and experimenting with them. I think it's more because it's just something my grandpa taught me.

Is it true that the more light you put it under the more likely it is to turn male?

MikeAlex said:

Thanks for the info, I didn't know you could wait for the sex to show itself under a veg cycle. As for the lollipop thing, idk. I'm just kind of learning new things and experimenting with them. I think it's more because it's just something my grandpa taught me.

Is it true that the more light you put it under the more likely it is to turn male?

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That's cool, was just curious. I've done topping and lst, haven't yet done either lollipop or scrog but want to try each at some point. I've heard a lot of different things about what influences a plant to be male or female, be it the seed has a predisposition to a certain sex, certain light spectrums, day and night temperature, hours of light each day, intensity of light on a seedling, etc.

I honestly have no idea what actually effects it. If I did I hopefully wouldn't have ended up with 6/7 being males this round haha. The only things I know will impact it's sex are the seed (reg vs fem) and how much you stress the plant. A minimally stressed plant is less likely to herm (equivalent to male far as I'm concerned).

Your grandpa taught you a good thing then - I should write a post on all this sometime so I can reference it when I'm stoned...
just means no popcorn bud to trim... about the same overall weight, you'll have more sellable bud.

hmm... looks like I'll just be going with feminized seeds. What exactly does autoflowering mean?

Autos are bred so that they will do exactly what the name says. They will flower under any light schedule, but should be left on either 20/4 or 18/6 depending on what the breeder recommends. You could mix them with photoperiod plants but having autos on 12/12 will greatly reduce their yield. Most autos stay pretty small and they finish relatively quickly. Because they are not photoperiod and have definite lifespans they cannot be cloned. Some of the newer ones get decently sized and yield pretty well.