Quote Originally Posted by pccdrom
plants are looking nice, bud formation has improved. im gonna give mine 56ml of overdrive when the time comes. (2 weeks bhind u). when wud u normally apply overdrive then? seen a couple red stem on your leaves, u still think its because temp is too low @ night????? i got red stems all ova plant, (things look ok apart from that)
I used to apply Overdrive in the last 2 weeks of a 7 or 8 week bloom phase. But I'm currently experimenting with trying to identify the physical changes of the plant that indicate when Overdrive should commence.

I believe Big Bud should commence when you have a few pistils appear. Big Bud should stop when pistil formation has peaked. Overdrive should commence after pistil development. Normally once the pistils have peaked, the real bud formation begins. Some people refer to them as asparagus tips, while I compare this point with the bud developing its pop-corn features. This pop-corn feature is my physical reference to when Overdrive should commence. I think the scientific name of the pop-corn/asparagus is Calyx.

My new method

1. When the plants are switched to bloom, Calyces (plural for Calyx according to the dictionary) develop at every internode.

2. A couple of Pistils/Stigmas appear from these Calyces/Calyxes that indicate the gender of the plant.

3. Then a load of Pistils/Stigmas form and create bud sites along branch stems at each node.

4. Then once the pistils have reached a maximum, Calyces develop at every node that give us usable produce in the world of medicinal herbs.

So, once the first signs of Stage 3 appear I use Big Bud. I've noticed that the job of Big Bud helps with the development of Pistils/Stigmas and lots of healthy Trichomes. The overall appearance of what the plants' final buds will look like starts here.

Once the Pistils/Stigmas have reached a maximum I notice a slight pause in development. Then, slowly, more Calyces/Calyxes form where all the Pistil sites are. So when Stage 4 appears, I start using Overdrive until the bud looks 95% ready for harvest. The last 5% comes about during the final flush of the crop.

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Big Bud [0-1-4] - What they say:

Dr.Hornby has spent many years researching and profiling resin producing plants. His knowledge, passion and love for his work has produced unparalleled products that supercharge resin production and substantially increase yield. Big Bud has been extensively researched, developed and field tested. Big Bud is extremely plant specific - the only one of its kind in the world. During field testing, Big Bud overwhelmingly beat all of it's competitors. The reason for this is Big Bud's plant specific ratios of Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium and Amino Acids. Big Bud will dramatically increase bud growth, width, weight and resin production like no other bloom enhancing product can.

Available Phosphate (P2O5) 1.0%
Soluble Potash (K2O). 4.0%
(Soluble) Magnesium. 0.7%

Derived from:

Magnesium Phosphate, Magnesium Sulphate, Potassium Phosphate, Citric Acid, L-Alanine, L-Arginine, L-Aspartic Acid, L-Cysteine, L-Glutamic Acid, L-Glycine, L-Histidine, L-Isoleucine, L-Leucine, L-Lysine, L-Methionine, L-Phenylanlanine, L-Porline, L-Serine, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan*, L-Tyrosine, L-Valine.

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Overdrive [1-3-4] - What they say:

Overdrive is an ultra premium flower booster with an extensive and very complex array of phosphorus and potassium sources. Overdrive is designed to pack on extra girth and weight, and to produce unparalleled flower and oil production during the critical last weeks of flowering when plants show the most sizable gains.

Total (Nitrate) Nitrogen (N). 1.00%
Available Phosphate (P2O5). 5.00%
Soluble Potash (K2O). 4.00%
Magnesium (Mg). 0.92%

Derived from:

Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Folic Acid.

0.5% Absorbic Acid
0.5% Fulvic Acid (derived from Leonardite)

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Since applying the first dose of Overdrive, the plants aroma has become somewhat supercharged. It is no longer the sweet, fruity, almost edible feminine smell of Cheese in her youth. It's now more spicy with less sweetness, like it has aged. The new aroma has that serious aspect to it that indicates a few bong hits will leave one daze for hours. The Calyxes are coming on really well and I can see this crop finishing around one week earlier than expected. The majority of buds are dense and firm. Only very few are still looking soft.

I'm going to bring the other three cheeses in to the bloom room within the next few days as to overlap slightly. The others have been vegging for around 50 days or more so I expect they will grow pretty big. That is my only concern. Will they steal the space in the bloom room and force the others to the side?

I think I've typed enough for not, time to smoke a lil medicine to ease my mind.
home.grower Reviewed by home.grower on . Diary:02/09/07: 8 Pots of Plants Greetings One and All & Thank You For Visiting This Thread 02/09/07 marks the day that I commence yet another Garden Diary. This time I am working in a smaller space approximately 5' x 8' in measure, which is actually a custom partition in a small bedroom. The room has been implemented from scratch. A 4" x 2" timber frame was cut to fit, MDF panels were cut to fit, and a custom sliding door was installed due to space issues. The Garden has 2 x 160mm unfiltered air inlets from outside. Rating: 5