Harvest time cut short - early harvest is iminent

this is my first grow, i have 2 plants that are growing extremely well in my little indoor setup. since it was my first time, i let them veg a little too long and now im running out of time to harvest. march 24 which is just under 5 weeks away will be the date i am leaving to go on spring break, i will wait until that day to harvest. at this date, my plants will have been flowering for only 6 1/2 weeks. im concerned that they wont be ready in time and i really dont want to screw them up after putting in so much time and effort. i will be gone for a full week, so waiting until i get back to harvest is out of the question especially at this critical point in the life cycle. i think i will begin to increase the dark periods to 14 hrs and sacrifice some yield, which seems to be my best option. are there any other suggestions to speed up the process? has anyone harvested early like this before? what should i expect? am i getting worried over nothing?

I don't think changing the dark cycle to 14 hours will help you any. I don't see why you don't just wait intill you get back to harvest? Thats only 7weeks and most plants take 8.

well i guess i should have mentioned that i live in an apartment and im concerned that over spring break my landlord might come in and do some maintenence work or something. and im not just paranoid, there is a good chance of his workers coming into the house. but theoretically, if i did let them go another week while i was gone, how could i get them water while im away? since i will be flushing them at this point it will be critical that i get them clean water.

I'm not really sure how you could get them water over that one week. How many plants do you have? If you have alot of plants doing well then just don't go anywhere over springbreak. I always get my brother to water my plants when I have to go somewhere. Do you have someone that already knows about the grow and that you could trust?

you cant rush the process, and ablazed is right, how you gonna give it water without somekind of dripping system.

The most i leave my plants for is 3 days, and i flood em with water which is bad, but i also know another solution for a long period of time..

1) Put your light far away from them as possible.
2) Make holes in your pot unless it already as some.
3) Put the pot in a tray of water, with at least a few inches of water in it.
4) You can also put saran wrap over the pot so it doesnt evaporate the water as much..

thats it i guess, fairly barbarian way, but it works!

theres only a few people that know about it. theres only 2 plants, but everyone will be gone over break. i dont really have the option of staying here i have to go back home. i also not sure what i should do about curing them while im away because i dont want them to develop mold while im gone, but i cant drive home with a qp of fresh cut bud either. obviously i didnt really think about the time frame when i got these things going but im trying to make up for that now

Now all you have to do is find out if your landlord is going to come in or not.

thats a really good idea thc and i would definitely try that if i could but im afraid that my landlord is going to come in and find the plants. i also dont want to leave them growing and go too far past the prime time for harvest. at this point i need to find a way to speed the flowering process but i guess thats not possible.

wtf, you cant put it in your room and have the door locked? plus your landlord shoudnt have the right to go into your place while youre gone.. heh i dont know

no my door is broken and doesnt lock anymore bc our house gets broken into every time we leave for christmas or thanksgiving or anything. its really insecure so i guess im just going to have to wait as long as i can and *gulp* slash her the day i leave.

lol wtf are doing growing in the first place if you get broken into, thats asking for trouble heh.. yeah that sucks if you gotta cut em, ;(

i know, i guess ill just learn from this.

hey man, noone does it perfect the first time ;>

Ahem, I'd say that you haven't considered what you have to do next.

I sounds like you are going to cut them on Day 40. So what then? You have to dry the plants for a week or two, and that's when they smell the strongest. Will you leave them hanging in your apartment, and hope that the workers can't smell? Or take them home to dry in your bedroom closet?

Hmmm. Keep in mind, when I have bud hanging in a closed bedroom, the people in the next house can smell it.

whitewidowgrower said:

theres only a few people that know about it. theres only 2 plants, but everyone will be gone over break. i dont really have the option of staying here i have to go back home. i also not sure what i should do about curing them while im away because i dont want them to develop mold while im gone, but i cant drive home with a qp of fresh cut bud either. obviously i didnt really think about the time frame when i got these things going but im trying to make up for that now

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well to be honest mate and i dont wanna sound rude here but you really should of thought this threw when you started growing it really..

hey there try putting your lights down to 8 hours of light it will quicken the flowering and be ready and still potent.
this is my first grow and i wasnt sure how long it would take so ive had to take a bit of controll over natures time cycle. Then somke it so you dont have to take it away anywhere.

hope this helps, everyone forgets to plan something at sometime, although this was kinda stupid DONT DO IT AGAIN!
learn from your mistakes. you cant hide it, you need it hung for a week at least and if you cant do that then your only hope is a fast drying methode (heater or microwave Or something) then hide it. or ask a friend to dry it at a cost. but dont leave it hanging there for some fat landlord to come smoke it then tell the police . be carfull and good luck.

send them to me. i will take care of them for you. check my status, you can trust me.

potraoast, ive already thought about the time it takes to dry and cure the bud, i have a few options for that. is it true that increasing dark time will speed the flowering? this would be a last resort but ill really do anything to get these harvested a week early.

whitewidowgrower said:

potraoast, ive already thought about the time it takes to dry and cure the bud, i have a few options for that. is it true that increasing dark time will speed the flowering? this would be a last resort but ill really do anything to get these harvested a week early.

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Nope, not very much you can do at this point to speed things up. Shortening the daylight time will only decrease amount of THC produced. IIWY I'd cut them at the base at the last possible moment, and hang them whole. When you come back they will be ready for manicuring and curing.

HTH

Capital idea potroast! Let them dry on the stalk so the buds can soak up the reminants of nutrients from it.