Flowering Period?

[Luke Skywalker]

Additives are usually labelled well, but I'm yet to find a nute that tests out at a decent range when made up to specifications. I usually make it up like they advise and end up with an off the scale reading or a bloody high one at least...

 

However, I digress.

 

You should use less nutes to begin with, from none for plants in soil to a very weak solution in hydroponic methods, and slowly build the levels as the plant grows and develops from a germinated seedling, through the slow growth of seedling stage, through the fast vegetative phase, then preflowering, all the while slowly increasing in concentration as the plants develop. When you change to 12:12 and change to a bloom formula, you can make up this solution to the same or very similar strength as the vegetative phase. A truncheon is a great investment, as it lets you know concentrations of the nutrient solution before you pour it over. Over the flowering phase, they'll streeetch, then build up buds with many flowers coming from the nodes, where a branch would otherwise be lower on the plant... These then fill in the spaces, between the nodes, to form buds or colas.

 

The flowers will appear small and very sparse at first, and over time will develop and you will see the individual calyxes, (the green part of the flower at the base, where the white hairs come out from.) as they swell and the stigmas die off.

 

Depending on the strain, these flowers can grow very quickly and harvest can be in as little as 6 or sometimes fewer weeks. On the other hand, some strains just never seem to finish elongating, and can take 12, 14, 16... lots of time to really finish and ripen up totally.

 

Make sure you flush every couple of weeks too, to remove any excess salts from the medium. Plants are very easily over fertilised this way.

 

As to when you will know they're done, and when to cut out nutrients, well, depending on the strain, (I remember you said this was just a seed from a bag of hydro? or something) it could be anywhere within that range I said before. If it was just one seed amongst the bud, with very few others, it's likely been an accidental pollination from an outside source, and you have no idea what it would have been pollinated from. Could be a super skunk male, coulda been a hemp plant at the farm down the road, coulda been a shitty, stunted and mutant hermie sitting at the back of someones garden in the shade, neglected and yet still going at it to procreate.

 

So really, we can't tell you exactly when it's likely to be ready, and when you should start flushing. You can get a fair idea by the hairs, but some plants can drop a lot of hairs and appear mostly red, but not be at peak "ripeness" yet. Trichomes are the best judge, and you can do this with a cheap magnifyer, (30x minimum) or a microscope with 100x or more magnification.

 

The trichomes will slowly turn from a clear colour, to a slightly milky appearance, then develop amber and deeper and deeper tones of brown.

To flush, you should try and catch the trichomes on the turn, as they start to get a tiny bit of brown in them. Some would start the flushing process earlier, when they're still mostly clear, it's a personal thing really, as well as being influenced by strain. Some will appear to be amber, and pretty much universally appear ripe, and still be producing more and more thc than ever... it's just that some of the thc has been oxidised into lesser forms and masks it's production.

 

You can usually tell by the amber tho, and you should be taking several calyxes, (individual flowers) in the last few weeks, as you can judge by the browning of the majority of the stigmas.Just take a few from select parts of the plant(s), then examine them for the colour of the trichomes individually. The overall picture is what's important, not the individual flower, or trichome. You should test newer and older flowers, checking to see the progress of the trichs as they develop and start to degrade.

 

Phew, didn't realise I'd type all that. I think I've got some info in some of my older growing threads, which you could find in my sig and doing a search for "microscope".

 

Good luck mate, I'm sure you'll know when it's time mate, and if you don't get it perfect, I doubt anyone'll hold a grudge.

 

"Take what you have learned, and apply it through the force."

[Chev]

Phew! Thanks Luke, that was bloody interesting mate

[Tom]

Phew!   Thanks Luke, that was bloody interesting mate

Usually is.