Grow Questions (Flowering and Vacation)

I've been browsing this site a lot, just never posted. I've read a lot about growing, but this is my first. So, I'm looking for some advice relating to preflowering / flowering. Here's some info:

Strand: Nirvana Big Bud (Feminized)
Height: Just over 33cm (13")
Age: Middle of 7th week
Location: Tall Cabinet (w/ partial Mylar)
Light: Single 85w CFL (6500k daylight temp)
Schedule: 20/4
Temps: Highest @ ~31C (~89F)
Humidity: High @ ~50-80%

The first 4 weeks of this girl's life was harsh... it was at another location and not cared for well. During the middle of the 5th week, it was seperated from another plant (same strand) and transplanted into a larger pot. Since then, it has been cared for very well and has shown consistant growth (tall and wide) since just a few days after it was transplanted. It is particularily getting much more wide and full. Some pictures are attached.

Has this entered the preflowering stage? If not, can anyone guess when it may preflower or flower? I plan to be away in a week or two for about a week. This poses a problem with watering and having to change the light schedule. Best method for watering while away? Any suggestions, advice and/or comments are welcome!

your best bet would probably be have some you really trust water your plants while your gone.And i cant really tell if there is signs of preflower there yet or not but usually for me they show around 2 months to 2 and a half...depending on the strain.

See, that's a problem too. The few people I would trust with this will be with me... I was thinking about irrigating and giving her a good water a day or two before I leave (to moisten up the soil well, not saturate it). Then, rig up a plastic bottle with a small hole in it to drip into the soil. Just an idea, but at least it wont get completely depleted of water.

I believe that the last two pictures show the Pistillate Calyx forming (this is where the red hairs sprout)? From what I understand, I shouldn't need to change the lighting schedule until these form the white hairs and asymetrical branching begins to occur. Is that right?

Well as far as i know and from experience..ive never had red hairs come out of the calyx's only white and thats how u tell its a female is if it has white pistils coming out of the calyx and you can switch the lights to 12/12 at 4-7 nodes so you can either wait for the plant to mature n show signs of preflower to switch the lights or you can force flower when you want to.And so far from your last two pictures there is some signs of preflower starting but i dont see any white pistils coming out of the calyx so it may be a male but just give it time cuz it still could be a female...never know....But what i would do is put it into flowering.How tall is the plant and how long have you had it in veg?

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Originally Posted by letsburn06

How tall is the plant and how long have you had it in veg?

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Strand: Nirvana Big Bud (Feminized)
Height: Today it's just over 34 cm (13.375")
Age: Middle of 7th week

Lighting Schedule the BigBud was on:
Seed to 2nd week: 16/8
2nd week to end of 5th week 6: 18/6
6th week until today (today is 3 days into the 7th week): 20/4

So she been in vegitative lighting conditions since at seed and slowly increased. I'll wait to put it into flower. I'll post more pictures as I see progress with the pistils since it should be female. I don't expect this plant to get more than 5-7cm taller since the strand is characteristic to be small and dense and should flower around week 8/9. For the last week she's been getting more and more dense, not so much as tall.

Still looking for other suggestions on keeping her healthy for 5-6 days without a person to water it. Thanks. :)

It will grow more during flowering to and ur best bet would be the idea u had is my only guess for watering

thats the 1st time i've actually heard of someone going up with their lighting hours furthur into the grow than down.. Why do u care about preflowers if your certain its female? Just switch the light to 12/12 when you decide to flower.

Yea most grows ive followed stayed at 18/6 for the light cycle untill they switched to 12/12 for flower...but it seems to work for you...but yea if your sure its a female y not put it into flowering?

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Originally Posted by MrGreenFingaz

thats the 1st time i've actually heard of someone going up with their lighting hours furthur into the grow than down.. Why do u care about preflowers if your certain its female? Just switch the light to 12/12 when you decide to flower.

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WMaybe so, but I've never heard of it causing any harm and I wanted to give 20/4 a try.

I'd like to see someone who's familiar with the big bud strand comment on the stage. I'll switch to flowering in 2-3 weeks for sure, but I don't want to flower before it's ready. Looking for high yield and I'm coming without experience. ;)

Ive grown big bud from nirvana along with their northern lights and their nlxbig bud.And just to say i dont think 20/4 light cycle would hurt its just it was a new thing cuz most growers stay at the same light cycle threw the whole veg stage and only switch lights during flower.But any ways there isnt really a point when its ready to flower...i meen theren is wich is when it shows signs of preflower but there isnt really a specific time you HAVE to start flowering...you can flower at 4-7 nodes by force flowering and your plant will react just as good as waiting for the preflowers.But on the other hand from all my grows ive noticed that the longer the plant is in the veg stage...the more yield you get.Big bud is a high yielder anyways under the right conditions so im sure your yield will be good.Also you have to take into account how much space you have to grow...cuz it will grow some more when you put it into flowering so dont keep it in veg to long if you have limited space.And another piece of advise...it doesnt really matter what strain your growing most growers will all still tell you the standard veg time is 2 months and im sure most would say to start flowering now.....yes some strains take longer in th veg stage then others but big bud isnt one of them...its an easy to grow strain that is quick.

Huge plants don't necessarily mean more yield, just more to light up, I can only veg for as long as 34 days since they are always at a foot by then (from seed) by the end of their lives they settle between 2 and 3 feet tall, thats a lot to light evenly. Just don't wait too long to flower... As far as vacation, water the piss out of them (so water runs out the drain holes, you should be anyways) and go, trust the timers and trust they will not die, you will be fine, at worst they will be quite droopy when you get back.

^^ then water as soon as you get home...

edit, i recently had four clone moms go one month with no water. they were suuper crispy, leaves were brittle but green. i watered and two hours later, they were picking back up.

resilient little buggers ;)

Today the bigbud is a bit over 38cm (~15").

I'll probably induce a 12/12 photoperiod in the next day or two. After reading responses, I'm not too worried about the water anymore. I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kindprincess

^^ then water as soon as you get home...

edit, i recently had four clone moms go one month with no water. they were suuper crispy, leaves were brittle but green. i watered and two hours later, they were picking back up.

resilient little buggers ;)

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During the first 3-4 days of this plant's life, a friend was supposed to water it. Long story short, it didn't happen and I came back to two plants that were about short, wilted, yellow and lying flat on the soil. When I got back, I gave it some water and within a day it was looking good. You're right... they really are!

edit, I'll keep the pictures updated!

When I came back form vacation a few weeks ago, the plant was wilting and limp. Simply overwattering didn't cover it for a week.

I've tended to it since... cut the dead or dying leaves and got it back up to full health... just another delay in the growth cycle.

It has now been flowering for a week and a half or so. Here are the pictures.

Comments are welcome!