Plants keep growing under 10 hour light

[TroutBuds]

So I've been growing for 15 or so years and took about a year off before starting again 6 months ago. Problem was that I couldn't get in contact with anyone I knew that could supply me with starts. So a good friend worked some magic? and got me a few starts that he thought was some good shit. Well now after 6 months and several harvests I'm completely frustrated. These plants refuse to finish budding under 12 hour light. So what did I do? I dropped the time down to 10 hours. I've done it before and still got good production but this new strain still kept growing. My nutes are looking good so I don't think that the problem. The last crop I had to drop down to 8 hours for the last 3 weeks to get them to finish off. I've done much topping with the crop thats in the works and it looks to be the best one yet. The plants are green, bushy and at 8 weeks today the buds are looking pretty good but no where near finished, some are still growing taller. Not much taller but little by little they continue to work towards the shield. I'm planning on keeping them on 10 hour for 1 more week before dropping down to 8 to get them to finish off. Any suggestions before I make the change?

[stinkyattic]

Forgive me for questioning the obvious, but are you absolutely sure you have no light leaks?

Do you know the strain and its stated flowering time?

By 'finishing off' do you mean that production of fresh pistils has ceased, or that they have ripened according to trichs?

You do know that 8 weeks is just an indoor average and that 10 is not unusual?

[TroutBuds]

100% sure there are no light leaks. I keep subbing my toe in the dark. It hurts kinda bad.
I have no idea of the strain or the flowering time. I'm okay with that since when I first start I had plants that took 12 weeks. It was okay because the yeild was out of this world. 1/4 pound a plant.
By finishing off I do mean ripened according to trichs.
10 weeks would be fine if the yeild was bigger and I had them under 12 hour light but how crazy is it for me to have to drop to 8 for them to finish off?

[Duckys]

The plants obviously still going to grow in height a bit. Thats nothing to worry about. As long as its flowering, just give it time and be sure to check those trichs with a loupe.

I still dont understand why you have to drop the light schedual to finish them off. If they are already flowering under 12 hours light, just let them go, they will finish when they want to finish. Not like changing the light to 8 hours is going to magically finish them instantly. :S

[normski11]

hey buddy i know of a few guys who mess with their times in that way they do so that they can finish the plant off quicker than the usual 7/8 weeks dont suppose you would know why my ladies are drooping just a couple of hours b4 lights out in veg

[stinkyattic]

Stay on thread topic please. You already have a thread for that in problems.

[SpaceNeedle]

I've had a couple of girls keep stretching while I was gone for a week. They just stretched and stretched, until I finally just threw them out.

What I normally do , is bend the tops over to the sides. By this I mean not snapping them, but I just taking an area of 3-4", and squeezing the stems near the top until it almost looks like it wants to grow DOWN. So all I really do is flatten the stem without kinking it. I feel it is better than cutting the tops, and it keeps the canopy of the plants nice and even, and it 'confuses' the plant to not grow lengthwise and so then it starts filling in.

In your case you could have some lemons instead of great plants. I paid $250 for some seeds from Amsterdam, and after six months, I finally threw them all in the garbage. The buds just came out like little cotton balls....

sn

[DNAero]

What method are you growing now soil/hydro (the more specific the better)? And under what kind of light and how much(the more specific the better)?

The only :twocents: I can offer thus far if you're having height problems is push them to flower earlier than you normally would. You could try tieing them down, it's a lil late in the stage for this normally, but unorthodox problems make for unorthodox solutions. By doing that, you push your problem laterally and put a low amount of stress on the plant (I'm not saying LST them, no snap/crush anything. Just bend.) If lateral isn't an issue this could be a solution, hopefully doesn't push your ladies out of their main light as you said they're nice and bushy already.

Really try to identify the strain. Take notes on everything, smell (both flowering and dried), taste, high, leaf info, stem info, etc. If you can find it's lineage it could answer all your problems. You should at least be able to identify it's species and if it is a hybrid which percentage sativa/indica (estimate of course).:detective1: