My question is this ,,,this is my first grow ,,,, a friend gave me bag seed,,some killer smoke, so i started growin 18/6 moved to 12/12 started to flower at about 13 inches it looks great frosty buds at top and middle about two inches big thus far on top, i only used a shop lights hangin in my closet cool white 80 wats 4 footers plus another 40wat cool white on the side with foil around my grow box,,,,anyway i've been flowering at 12/12 for 5 weeks now and my plant is twice the size it was before flowering ,,top bud is nice about two inches tall and thick and big crystals all over but my lower buds are just starting it looks to me, frosting but pre-flowering,,,im on my last 21 to 25 days of flowering, what should i do i only have 3 weeks left, will they grow and mature in that time or do i have to harvest the top and middle at 8 weeks and leave them to mature for a couple more weeks ? is that the way it go's for all plants ?? like i said this is my first grow and it is fun as hell but i need to get some input from you more advanced growers ... also after havesting can i go back to veg state 18 /6 and if i do, how long before i can flower again?? thanks for all your help, you guy's rule !!!!!!!!
a decent way to judge peak harvest time is to go by the color of the hairs. if 75% of the hairs on your buds are red its probably a good time to pick em. also if the main buds are riper than the lower buds pick them first and let the lower ones fatten up for a while before picking them, like you suggested. if leave some of the lower flowers, more importantly, node sites, and send them into a 24/0 light cycle after harvest in a couple weeks you should see new growth and after that wait until it grows enough to accomidate your space. but factor in the stretch during the onset of flowering. some sativas stretch like a foot or more in the first two weeks of flowering. but again, some indica's only stretch a few inches too. so try to judge the stretch from the first time you flowered it out, to accomidate the space your in. hope you enjoy the smoke in a few weeks!
Ther is a time to harvest ur buds that will create max yield and potency. Just setting a time and picking it will not create the best results. The method using the colors of the hairs is ok, but there are things called trichomes on the plant. You will need a jewelers loupe or lighted microscope to see them. Pick the buds when they r ready. If you have buds that are not ready to pick leave them alone. Do some research on trichomes on this site in the FAQ and use the search engine here for harvest, trichomes etc..... hope this is helpful.
I echo Wawona. You can re-veg your plant just as smot mentioned, just remember to leave some growth when you harvest. She'll get all ugly & funky but it can be done. IMO, done too many times will diminish the quality.
Not to hijack the thread, but Ive heard that giving it less and less light at flowering packs on the crystals...like getting it down to 8/16 or something really makes a difference, is this true?
Not really Joker. I've done just about everything imaginable during the final days of flower and it doesn't make much difference in the buds to be honest.
Ok 'Sparky.... You hear all of those myths, and unless you either try it yourself, or know someone who has...it sounds semi-believable. Thanks for the low-down on it.
hmmmm, was reading somewhere, not long ago, about a study done on/around the subject. I think it was at a seed site, or maybe at CC, but I can't seem to dredge it up. so I'll ty to relate what I recall as best I recall. Tests were performed with one of those, "spectro-jiggy's" that determines thc content. According to their findings, mj's should be harvested within the first 4-6 hrs. "after the lights come on", for maximum potency. According to them, potency began increasing as the sunrose and continued to gradually increase untill approximatly noon, then sharply fell off from then untill sunset. I'll look a bit more 'n see if I can find a link to post.
Get rid of the foil as it can cause burn spots and doesn't reflect enough light to be worth the while. Flat white paint and/or mylar is the most effective option for your grow box. As per your question about the lower buds: Since you are using fluorescents and made no mention about the JOG approach to get as many bud sites as close to the bulbs as possible, I am guessing those lower buds will never truly develop. I harvested a couple rounds with fluorescents as flowering light sources, and the yield was always minimal. I found that unless buds were <2" from the cool bulbs they did not develop beyond a few pistils. Remember that fluorescent bulbs only have an effective spectrum for about 6".
