Is heat really that bad for plants?

[khronik]

I started 5 nirvana big bud seeds near the beginning of June, and I'm just getting ready to harvest. I started them outside, and moved them to my attic, where temperatures were over 90 degrees for most of the summer. I planned to flower them all in two rubbermaid storage containers with a 400-watt light, but only one ended up being a female, so she got the whole thing.

I had the light on during the night to minimize the daily temperature spike, but I still had no cooling and temperatures got up to 105 degrees at the most. I had one 50 cfm bathroom fan for ventilation, and no CO2. My plant was attacked by both aphids and thrips before I finally got them under control about 5 weeks into flowering. Oh, and I topped my plant during flowering (2 or 3 weeks in), another no-no.

I ignored all the advice I got that my plant was doomed to a fiery death, following instead my own theories that my plant would do ok thanks to the massive amount of dirt (about 12 gallons) it had to grow in. Judge the results for yourself.

I harvested one cola already and got about a sixth of an ounce. That was 7 weeks into flowering. This weekend, it'll be 9. The cola i harvested wasn't even the biggest one, it was maybe fourth (out of 23), but it was getting burnt by the light so I cut it. The potency is just fine too. Like 5 people got stoned on about a gram and a half. Oh, and not a single hermie flower!

Anyway, I'm sure that if conditions in my attic were more ideal, I would have had a larger yield. But it was my only place to grow, and air conditioning was not feasible. Whatever I'll get is certainly better than nothing!

So here's my plant. I'm guessing about 3 ounces, based on past experience.

khronik Reviewed by khronik on 09-21-2007. Is heat really that bad for plants? I started 5 nirvana big bud seeds near the beginning of June, and I'm just getting ready to harvest. I started them outside, and moved them to my attic, where temperatures were over 90 degrees for most of the summer. I planned to flower them all in two rubbermaid storage containers with a 400-watt light, but only one ended up being a female, so she got the whole thing. I had the light on during the night to minimize the daily temperature spike, but I still had no cooling and temperatures Rating: 5

[socialistpete]

Khronik I had the same heat issues as you and one skunk69 turned hermie and the 2 NLxskunk were fine pulled 12 ounces wet had them in 18 gallons dirt each. I thought i seen a post from you in the local section that said your from the B-lo, if thats right then we both had the same heat issues being from the same area.

[khronik]

You know man, you can lay those babies down in an L.S.T. and they'll put on a lot more weight. Are there trichs all over it? I had some Nirvana bigbud when i started, and it was sugar coated, huge. Not the most powerful punch but there was so much sugar on it, i was very, very pleased.

Hey if you look up apical dominance, you'll see the hormone family Auxins mentioned. Low Stress Training was pretty well figured out on O.G. and is a means of laying all the limbs over horizontally, to the point that as many nodes, on as many limbs, are on the same horizontal plane. It makes the plants go crazy in growth, because all those nodes kept at the same horizontal height don't have the brakes put on growth; the plants do very well.

Most people nowadays don't realize that Low Stress Training is more than random tying; and isn't untying once you start. That's called Partial Low Stress Training when that's done. A full L.S.T. is leveling the nodes on the limbs every 2 to 3 days: once any bud gets higher than the others, it ships Auxin below to the others, slowing their growth. The higher a few buds get, the more Auxin they ship below, slowing the others' growth and freeing up energy for themselves: but a proper L.S.T. that's done till the chop gives more weight than any training method. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes for a typical grow every 3 days or so.

I had bigbuds from that pack from Nirvana giving up more than an ounce of rock hard bud each off a little 250 back in the day; laying them over pays bigtime and those calyxes will fill in from end to end all along the limbs. Hope you enjoy growing out the rest of yours mine were pretty as a picture.

I tried to do LST once and cracked a stem. I realize it's possible to do it without cracking any stems, but I'm still a bit wary. Anyway, I'm not disappointed with the results of topping. I nipped just the very tip off of the top bud, not the whole thing. All the side shoots immediately started growing a lot faster, and I ended up with 23 colas off the main stem, which ended up at a more or less similar height.

As far as trichromes, I have a lot, I guess. The leaves aren't as covered as I've seen in pictures of, say, white widow, but there's definitely trich coverage. I'll take a picture when I harvest, but this HPS light colors all my pictures orange, so you wouldn't see nearly as much detail under that.

Khronik I had the same heat issues as you and one skunk69 turned hermie and the 2 NLxskunk were fine pulled 12 ounces wet had them in 18 gallons dirt each. I thought i seen a post from you in the local section that said your from the B-lo, if thats right then we both had the same heat issues being from the same area.

Yep, I'm sure it does depend on the breed. Right now I'm doing a grow of Mandala's Satori and Hashberry, since they're supposed to have great heat resistance. Of course, these'll be harvested November-December, so I'll have to worry more about cold than heat. Hope we don't have a repeat of last year's October weather!

I gave away the rest of my Big Bud seeds, since right now I'm more interested in trying out Mandala's strains. Still, this was a fine strain, and everyone who's smoked it so far was surprised at how potent and long lasting the high is. Of course, they're all a bunch of noobs who mainly smoke street weed, but this is still a very well-performing plant.

[rhizome]

The hotter you run, the higher yer humidity has to be- google "vapor pressure deficit"

[khronik]

rhizome: sort of, but a more accurate statement might be, "the hotter you run, the faster your plant will lose water." In that sense, it's true. During the hottest part of the summer I had to give that plant almost a gallon of water every other day.

Bud shot!!

[Opie Yutts]

Is heat really that bad for plants?

Is heat really bad for animals? If it's uncomfortable for you, it's uncomfortable to your plants. If it's so hot your productivity is diminished, it's the same for your plants. If it's so hot you get ill, then so will your plants. If it's so hot you die, then the plants will eat you so they can survive the heat.

100 - I've heard of it, don't recommend trying it.
95 - Perhaps ok, Likely not.
90 - Probably ok, but a little less would be better.
85 - Not optimum, but it'll do.

Nice looking bud!

[Skrappie]

Heat is bad for plants, but it does not mean you wont be able to yeld a large amount of bud from over-heated plants.

I think sometimes people forget that cannabis is just a plant. I have a plant that is outside that was exposed to 105 days, and 70 degree nights, low light (growing under another plant) and i stepped on it once when it was a seedling. It still grew, and its still flowering, no male flowers or anything.

they want to do their life thing, more then we want them to.

[highallthetime]

Buy a portable AC Unit , They are cheap and easy to move.
Also try to have Fans and also try getting the hot air out and cooler air from outside in.

Definetly plants will still grow in heat , but not optimum.

Good LUck

[Opie Yutts]

Definetly plants will still grow in heat , but not optimum.

What he said. Way more problems to deal with. PH and nutes must be just perfect.

[rhizome]

rhizome: sort of, but a more accurate statement might be, "the hotter you run, the faster your plant will lose water." In that sense, it's true. During the hottest part of the summer I had to give that plant almost a gallon of water every other day.

Bud shot!!

Well, bud porn aside, a more accurate statement would be

In order to prevent stomatal closure at high temperatures, which will limit the availability of atmospheric carbon for fixation, a low VPD must be maintained.

Really, I don't make this stuff up. Here's a link.