8 week schedule for Flowering

Hydrochronic

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys. I am currently in my going into my third week of flowering and i am trying to figure out a schedule till harvest but i have not came up with anything yet and have been just collecting information their are tons of bud sites and more appearing everyday good size buds already too. I'm not sure as to when to start flushing my plants and ripening and what not not. I heard about turning the lights off for the last week to force essential oils and to put the plant in a state of shock or sumthing? but when do you flush before the lights go off? not sure on this any help would be great guys. I value all opinions.
 

lexterian

Well-Known Member
First of all,read the grow faq.It does have your answer.
You flush in the last 2 weeks.
On the last week,it is a good idea to to reduce the light schedule from 12 hours of light,to 9-10 hours of light.It basically tells the plant to get it's ass in gear and the buds to get a bit bigger and more resinous.
It doesn't matter at what time to flush your plants.Aslong that you dont flush during their dark hours.Flushing gets rid of that chlorophyll taste.
You can tell when to pick the buds.
You need to look at the trichromes.
When the trichromes are clear,its to early.
when trichromes are cloudy,it will give you an "up" high.
When trichromes are cloudy and there are some amber colloured trichromes,then harvest has reached it's peak and it will be a couchlock stone.
When trichromes are all amber,harvest has degraded and is less potent.

Hope u understand more,just read the grow faq nest time.:D

Now u go and have a kick ass grow!
 

bongrippinbob

Well-Known Member
Flushing doesn't get rid of the chlorophyl taste. It gets rid of the nutrients in the soil which in turn gets them out of the plant for a cleaner burning, better tasting smoke. The drying process and cure is when the chlorophyl and whatnot are removed from the plant. That is why your plant goes from bright green to a much duller color once dried and cured. Less chlorophyl equals less green.
If you don't have a microscope to look at the trichomes, you can also go by the hairs. Harvest when about 80% of the hairs have changed from white to a redish brown. This is not nearly as accurate as checking the trichomes, but is much easier.
 

bongrippinbob

Well-Known Member
Oh, and forgot to mention, DO NOT TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!!!! If you want, you can turn them off for 24hrs about a week before harvest. But don't turn them off for any longer than that.
You can shorten you 12/12 to like 10/14 if you want, but I always just leave mine at 12/12 and have great sucess.
 

Hydrochronic

Well-Known Member
Thanks Lexterian. I dont mean to sound rude or anything I'm aware of where the grow faq is i have read it many a times, i am merely looking for insight of how other people have other ways, and i was asking for some insight on the weeks that this stuff all happens. I did think this was a forum where you ask questions right? I do own a 100x pocket scope works great by the way and i constantly check my buds just outta curiosity i was noticing today the formation of the trichomes on the leaves today interesting at the start of 3 weeks. I was more or less wondering how you determine how long it will take to get to the desired colour so you know to flush a week in advance which i will be doing, than 24 or so hours of dark. Thanks for the responses guys!

*ebb and flow 250w hps light mover rockwool cubes 4 12/12 DNF Bloom.
 

bongrippinbob

Well-Known Member
It is kind of strain specific, pheno specific and even condition specific as to when all this stuff happens. You can't just say you are going to be on an 8 week schedule if you are growing plants that take 10 weeks to finish.
After growing the same strain a few times, you will get a better feel for it. Usually with new strains, I like to flush around day 46-49 just assuming they will finish in around 60 days. But I have also chosen strains that are suppose to finish in around 8 weeks. But some of these 8 week strains have phenos that take up to 70 days to finish.
For the most part, plants will finish in 50-70 days. You need to know about when you plants will flower. I would suggest a longer flush than cutting it short because you started too late. Plants are the only living thing that can produce their own food. So even though they will be lacking in nutes, they will still survive with just water and light. If you start too early this time, you know next time to start later.
 

Hydrochronic

Well-Known Member
Thanks Bongrippinbob. Thats some good info. Another question i had is what if not all the plants finish at the same time? but close to each other. they were'nt all the same height but i vegged them and have been flowering them for the same amount of time. I guess i just have to get creative. Any tips?
 

blazin waffles

Well-Known Member
Thanks Bongrippinbob. Thats some good info. Another question i had is what if not all the plants finish at the same time? but close to each other. they were'nt all the same height but i vegged them and have been flowering them for the same amount of time. I guess i just have to get creative. Any tips?
Well you can harvest when they become ready or if its the same strain you could pull one when the trichs are clear/few cloudy, one all cloudy, and one amber. See which high you like!!!

Plus then you will have "different" weed thats actually the same...ya dig!

:peace:
 

IGTHY

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys. I am currently in my going into my third week of flowering and i am trying to figure out a schedule till harvest but i have not came up with anything yet and have been just collecting information their are tons of bud sites and more appearing everyday good size buds already too. I'm not sure as to when to start flushing my plants and ripening and what not not. I heard about turning the lights off for the last week to force essential oils and to put the plant in a state of shock or sumthing? but when do you flush before the lights go off? not sure on this any help would be great guys. I value all opinions.
Do all that lextarian said. Always look at your Trichs! I didn't look at my Trichs on an Indica I grew in the past and it always put me to sleep. I let her go too long and she produced more CBD ratios than I would prefer,now that I've been drinking milk; I totally through all of my grows I keep my Micro in hands reach.
 

bongrippinbob

Well-Known Member
I am assuming you are growing from seed. If this is the case, you may end up with several phenotypes. This may cause some plants to be ready much earlier or later than others. Once you are using clones from the same mother, your plants will all mature at about the same time, give or take a few days.
The height they go into flower doesn't really make any difference as to how fast they will flower. It is the pheno, the conditions, etc. I would pull each plant as it is ready because they will not all finish at the same time this go around. As mentioned, check you trichs.
You can also follow what Blazin said, but this would be better done if grown from clone. If they are clones, then I would do it this way. If they were from seed, then I would harvest as they become ready, and then harvest the clones from the same mother at different times to see which high you lik the best.
 

Hydrochronic

Well-Known Member
They were clones to start with, i had some complications with overwatering in the begining was just a nube well still am but i'm a lot better now. Once i fixed this issue the plants took off again. they are all budding and started at the same time i just thought that some plants may be ahead of each other by comparison of the number of bud sites compared to the shorter plant or bigger buds than the short ones. All in all they look amazing everyday they look fuller and fuller i only got a 250w hps but i move it everyday and supplement the dark spot with cool and warm white flourescents. everthing seems to be great i'm in week 3 gonna change the res and set the nutes to 1100 ppm then start to go down from their till week seven i was thinking they should be pretty progressed by then. Then start to flush the plants and the smaller ones can stay another week and flush for 2 weeks depending on the trichome formations and colour i use my mini scope everyday i was thinking about getting a microscope that you would find in highschool i like seeing the magnafication its like csi! My next grow will be Blueberry X Skunk #1 from The Flying Dutchman. won the cup a few times. i got 10 feminized for $80 but i only need to use one or two seeds then clone from their!
 

bongrippinbob

Well-Known Member
If I were you, I would grow out more than one or two of those new seeds. If you only grow one or two, you may not end up with the "cup winning" pheno. You want the best possible chance of getting the best pheno in the pack. A 10 pack is a very small run to find the sought after pheno depending on how much work was put into the strain, how stable it is, etc.

I have only grown hydro once, and it was DWC. Everything worked out great for me. Since then, I have just used soil. I usually don't start to reduce my nutes until I start to flush. A lot of people will tell you to start to lower the nute dose, but I never had, and I haven't had any problems. I may have to flush a little longer, but if the plants are using the nutes I giving them, I figure why the hell not.

If they were all clones from the SAME MOTHER, they should all finish fairly close to each other. If they were different sizes going into flower, they will be different sizes finishing flower. But as long as they were from the same mother, they will finish close. If they were clones from a bunch of different mothers, they may finish at different times just like seeds would.

The shorter ones will have less bud sites because they are smaller. The shorter plants may even have smaller buds, mainly because they are further from the light than the tall ones. If the short ones were closer, they would probably have the same size buds. If they are farther away, as I'm guessing they are, put them on top of a box or something to get them just as close as the tall plants.

With only 250watts, you don't want your plants much taller than about 12"-18" when they finish, and I stick closer to 12". The 250watt light can't penetrate that far. If plants are too tall, it causes the plant to use its energy on the lower buds that will never develop. And this inhibits the energy to the buds that are getting the light.
 

Hydrochronic

Well-Known Member
thanks man! your just full of info! Makes perfect sense. thinking of upgrading to a 400w for the next and use my 250 as well.
 

bongrippinbob

Well-Known Member
Glad I could help. I am subscribed to this thread, so if you have any other questions and I know the answer, I'll gladly give my 2 cents.
 
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