Plants 6 wks into flowering and losing fan leaves

hi guys,

Im growing 2 plants (indica/sativa hybrid) and i am 6 weeks into flowering right now - the fan leaves are turning yellow and are falling off. stopped giving them nutrients about a week ago cuz i thought that was the problem but its not helping. Theres like only a few fan leaves left on each plant... is this normal so close to harvest time?

Also got another question - the buds look great but most of the hairs are white... some of the hairs are turning amber but if the trichomes are at full maturity (read Zandors post) then its ok to harvest even if the hairs are mostly white?

Thanks for answering! :rasta:

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Originally Posted by bluntwiz

hi guys,

Im growing 2 plants (indica/sativa hybrid) and i am 6 weeks into flowering right now - the fan leaves are turning yellow and are falling off. stopped giving them nutrients about a week ago cuz i thought that was the problem but its not helping. Theres like only a few fan leaves left on each plant... is this normal so close to harvest time?

Also got another question - the buds look great but most of the hairs are white... some of the hairs are turning amber but if the trichomes are at full maturity (read Zandors post) then its ok to harvest even if the hairs are mostly white?

Thanks for answering! :rasta:

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Well, you should always harvest with trichromes. However, I have noticed over a few grows, that the color of the hairs usually correlates (to a degree mind you) to the maturity of the trichromes. Fairly consistently, through a variety of strains, when the hairs are about 80% changed (or when hairs are dying at a faster rate on top then they are being produced on lower buds), is around when the trichromes get mature.

As far as the leaves, depending on what strain it is, how big the plant was to begin with, and the conditions can all affect flowering time. At the end of flowering, fan leaves will be dropping like flies because the plant will be using all of its reserve energy and sucking it out of the leaves and into the bud production. This is normal. However, 6 weeks seems a little early. But once again there are a lot of factors, and if you started with clones, 6 weeks into flowering will be about 2 weeks ahead of something started with seed (need time to sex).

Pictures are needed for the best advice so we can get an idea of how far along the plants actually are.

hey thanks for answering i really appreciate it - im at work right now but i will take a few photos tonight with my digicam - yeah this particular type of plant should only take 8-9 weeks to flower fully before its time to harvest so im not too worried - they are not clones but were grown from seeds...

thing is im leaving in 3 weeks so i need to harvest it before i leave -- i have no choice... especially since i gotta dry/cure them and stuff... blah anyhow i ll be back later with some pics!! =)

thanks again :D

Sativa plants will lose their leaves far more rapidly than indica plants will.

It is ok to lose fan leaves on a natural basis. The plant isn't jsut sucking nutes...in some cases, it's purposely dropping the leaves so light can penetrate more on the flowers.

As long as you bud growth has plenty of leaves in the bud itself, the growth will continue on the flower itself.

Its a natural process that you can interupt with more nitrogen. However, you run the risk of harsh smoke at the end.

This is part of the "ART" of the grow. Its your call.

hi... yeah theres still plenty of leaves on the buds... nice healthy ones. heres a couple pics to show you guys...

thanks for your input

You will be fine.

Plus, all those leave dropping will make for some great smooth smoke AND some very easy...very easy....manicuring.

Nice fricking job on those buds!

Let them be. Let nature due what it is trying and all is well.

Actually when the plant drops the leaves off it’s not to give light to the buds but more of a nutrient mobile issue. NPK nutrients are mobile and that means the plant can move them around and use them where they are needed the most. Like late in flower when you are not feeding them N for example. That forces the plant to use up stored energy so it moves N from the large fan leaves to new leaf formation or some other part of the plant that needs N. If this occurs earlier in the plants cycle it’s a sigh of a lack of one of the mobile nutrients and most of the time it’s N but not always the plant moves around. Later in its life cycle it could be P or K that the plant is moving as well. It just depends on the cycle of life the plant is in at that time.

Thanks - thats reassuring! =)

Yeah I knew it had something to do with the nutes... i actually stopped giving them N like a week after they started flowering and been giving them a tiny bit of PK formula every couple weeks because i thought they didnt need as much N during flowering... ive stopped giving them nutes now...

Thanks again for your feedback guys, very appreciated =0

take care :thumbsup:

you should have continued using your grow ferts for 2 weeks into flower.some people mix bloom fert and grow fert for the first 2 weeks.you just ran out of n

I too am submitting a pic to what I am worried about.

The lower leaves on one of my plants is losing yellow leaves like crazy. I am sure it is a sativa strain.

Second plant is indica and it's fan leaves are slightly curling o nthe tips (seperate problem, I'm sure)

Also I am still feeding Fox Farm nutrients (big bloom and tiger bloom)on every second or third feeding. Clean water in between.

Plants were forced to flower 4 weeks ago. Bud growth is hefty and lush. Got pleanty of trichomes by my 30x magnifier.

Could you give me an opinion of my progress?

Thanx