rounding third coming home, we're almost there!

Alright if I got you to click on this post because of it's clever title, than this was a success!

Anyways, I'm at 6 weeks and 2 days into flowering and I need to figure out a couple things before harvest which should be by the 9th week, latest.

First off, ive read a couple different things about when to start letting the plant suck up its own nutes, I'm at week 6 right now, should I start just straight water feeding or wait till the 7th week?

Second, is this an ok time to lower temperatures a bit to really bring out the color in the buds? If so, how low is too low for both day and night, and how long should I leave them at those temps?

Thirdly, I feel like i've read somewhere but I can't seem to find it again about having the lights off for a couple days before harvest. is this true?

I think that about covers it. Here are what the ladies look like as of yesterday. greenhouse a.m.s, the church, and seedsman's power africa. Supposedly the africas is supposed to turn a pretty purple color which from what I hear the temp. drop really brings it out.

I appreciate any help or advice or criticism given :thumbsup:

Usually a week of flushing is enough but 2 is what most of us do.
About the only thing lowering temps will do will make them turn purple but usually you do that earlier in the grow. DOn't know if it would make much of a change in 3 weeks. Might be worth a try. I've run them down to about 40 during lights off.
Lights off for a couple days at the end can help resin production. It stresses the plant and it produces more resin in times of stress.

The plants are looking very good.

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Originally Posted by bcals0087

Thirdly, I feel like i've read somewhere but I can't seem to find it again about having the lights off for a couple days before harvest. is this true?

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On here and in my latest High Times issue, they say 3-5 days with lights off, and feed with cold water. It's known as "Shock Ripening". Supposedly (according to high times) it adds weight, density, resin, flavor, and aroma, but i only really believe the resin part.:stoned:

Killerweed is right about the flushing, I like 2 weeks to keep it safe

I've never tried bringing down temps to induce a color change.

:stoned:

Thanks for help, ill feed for another week and then start flushing. I'm just going to drop the temps for the hell of it, can't really hurt I guess. Easiest way to drop temps is an ac unit right? if so, that sucks because their out of season, and I don't have one. Any other way to drop temps? maybe buckets of ice?

Anyways, from the 6th week on, do the buds tend to bulk up a lot more? Reason I ask, the power africa (middle one) started flowering very quickly and got big quickly, however, the buds are not as dense as the other two. So my theory was she flowered quickly b/c of her high yield genetics, and then bulks up towards the end to increase density. That would be nice.

Dougal, did they mention to only feed with cold water during that 3-5 day period? or starting even earlier than that?

Thanks again for the help

You moght try watering them with ise water. I'd be careful tho. It lookslike you have a nice crop there. Hate to see it ruined. I would experiment on one plant.

yeah thats true, maybe not ice but cooled in the fridge if ice might be to risky. any advice as to when to start this beautification experiment?

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Originally Posted by bcals0087

Dougal, did they mention to only feed with cold water during that 3-5 day period? or starting even earlier than that?

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Flush normally (2 weeks prior to chop), but for the last 3-5 days, ice water is recommended, if going for shock ripening.

Hope this helps

"I'd be careful tho. It lookslike you have a nice crop there. Hate to see it ruined. I would experiment on one plant. "
^^^^good advice there

ok i got you, i think I will try with one of them, but honestly how much do the last three days count if I watered them with ice water or not? Can 3-5 days really effect your final crop? just curious. Thanks

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Originally Posted by bcals0087

how much do the last three days count if I watered them with ice water or not? Can 3-5 days really effect your final crop?

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That's for you to observe :D:stoned:

Touche!:thumbsup:

Give it a try and let us know!

:thumbsup: So it's finally harvest time. Trichs look good, cloudy and some amber. So what I did was I chopped the colas tonight, and the rest of the plant will go tomorrow night. I didn't realize how time consuming and tiring this became lol. I'm a perfectionist as it is so this really took a toll haha, but it was fun. It's my first time :thumbsup:.

So I tried this shock ripening technique but I only left the lights off for two and a half days and I did water with ice cold water. Did anything happen? The buds are sticky icky, and two of them took on purple and lavender shades. beautiful. you have to see it in the right light, I don't think my camera phone was that great, but its what I had on hand. However I did crack a window in the connecting room that had all doors shut except for the growroom and temps outside were in the teens if not single digits at night. So the temps in the room got to between 60-65 during the day and like 50 at night. Could have had an impact but all in all they look great, so I would say to anyone go for it, it can't hurt anything.

In the pictures I couldn't fit all of the colas that were chopped so these are just a few out of about 7 more. From trimming them, there was a ton of resin on the scissors I was using, so with the glove hand, I was able to peel it off, ball it up, and smoke it in a gravity bong. :D I'm :stoned: thats all I can say. Ladies made me proud, i've successfully completed my first grow. Now to the drying and curing for the finishing touches.:smokin:

You should be proud! Looks like you popped your cherry VERY Successfully!

Keep growing

Wow, great first grow! Keep it up.

Enjoy!

Daanng! Nice!

Looks awesome man, Any idea of how much ya got? Maybe a wet and dry weight in if possible? Hopefully it was a heavyweight bout. :jointsmile:

Damn those look great... congrats!

Thanks guys, 'preciate the postive feedback. All I can say is it was worth my time and money. I hit a few obstacles along the way, but managed to overcome them. I have to take a break as i'm in the process of moving, but this is only the beginning. :D.

jtsik, so far i've weighed a few of the colas, and the one thats below the 20 dollar bill weighed in at 36 g's, and a few of the smaller ones at 22-26 g's. Hopefully dry weight will be about half of that but i'm not to sure, we'll know soon enough!

Here's some more, did NOT think there was going to be this much coming off of these plants :lovestruck: lol, but I guess thats what a lot of tlc, research, and a 400w hps will give you with just three plants :D.

I tried to get a right side view and a left side view the best I could, the shot of trying to get them all in was just too difficult :thumbsup:

I also speed dried some of the last little popcorn nugs I pulled off the bottom of the plant. I was so beat by then I said ah fu*k it i need to relax. so i used some nice microwave trick and it did the job quite nicely for me being so impatient. It actually turned out to be 2.5 dry, and for being from the bottom of the barrell so to speak, I was extremely satisfied. I can only imagine how the rest of the plant will be!!:stoned:

ps. gotta love new marlboro red special blends, their cellophane was perfect for my first bagged gram! :D

Awesome job, bet you're proud of your girls!

Awesome job Bcals! Those buds look superior, the purple/lavender you're talking about usually tends to come out in genetics that have those phenotypes, dropping the tempature of the room will result in the purple/lavendar color. I think you only have to drop it 10-15degree's for it to change, from what I heard anyway do not quote me directly haha.

Great harvest man and I bet your enjoying the fruits of your labour! I know Ill enjoy mine in 1 months time. :D

very nice.congrats

thanks again!

yeah joel, it's funny because I didn't really read up on dropping the temps when there is purple in the genetics until like the 5th-6th week of flowering. At first I thought if they're going to turn purple, they will turn purple, if not, oh well. Then I read so I opened a window in the room as it was the only means of lowering the temperature at all, and well, I guess it did the trick. I know purple doesn't necessarily make it better, but it definately makes it better to look at! lol