What do you consider day 1 of flowering ?

Blaze 77

Active Member
Just curious ,

Iv always counted day 1 of flowering as the same day I flip to 12/12

Normally I see sex about 2 weeks in , but I have some bag seed in with some Blue Mystics that are just now showing pistols at week 3 and this got me wondering if flowering weeks start when you flip or after they show sex ?
 

Merlin1147

Well-Known Member
Yup. Time to fire up a fatty. I put that question to a bunch of breeders a while back and as it turns out they can’t agree either. Some said at the flip other said when you start to see stars at the growing points.
 

BluntMoniker

Well-Known Member
You cant quantify "flowering" itself as far as plant processes go.. it has to be gauged visibly by an individual, making it more anecdotal than exact. If I'm waiting until i see visible signs of flowering, the plant may well be 2 or 3 days into flowering on a metabolic/biologic level for all I know.

So imo, flowering is from the time you switch to 12/12. I change my light schedule at lights out, so the following morning when lights come back on, is when day 1 of flower is counted for me.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Ok ... before the torches and pitchforks come out from some growers ... i look at it this way.
Regular seed grow

Stages :
Germ / Sprout
Early Veg
Late veg
Sex out ( usually around week 5-7 ) and FIRST Pistils show ..... HERE you can either keep vegging
Or Flip

If you “ flipped “ 12/12 .....
Transition stage for about 10-14 days ( average )
Stretch / Budset stage .... plant is SETTING UP FOR FLOWER.

AFTER STRETCH ... when plant has stopped or slowed in final stretch .... Plant is officially now concentrating on blooming. Therefore it is now “ flowering “ .

Remember plants do not follow a calendar or counting. Trying to pin a harvest date is a moot point since plant finishes when it finishes and according to the environment ( your grow ) . Your own setup dictates your result and it will different among other growers and their setups. Breeder harvest windows are ONLY ESTIMATES. Harvest is always “ better “ past the estimates. Breeders can claim those magical harvest windows because they ran them under the most optimal conditions to judge their strain. Think about it. Strains are so genetically diluted , how in the fuck are we gonna even know what its supposed to do. Many seed slingers ( breeders ) pollen chuck S1 / F1 to sell to you. Some good breeders will further REFINE THE STRAIN LINE to F3 / F5 with incredible and consistent performance. Thats why you basically run them as long as they need .... plants will tell you when maturity peaks . That comes with experience.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Really there is no need to count from any point, as the plant will not be done based on a calendar. It will be done once it has finished its life cycle based on the environment you provide to the plant.

I personally do not consider a plant to be flowering until it begins to show flower formation, the nodes stack tighter, and the first bursts of flower growth begin. I feel this way based on my experience growing 1k+ plants the last 10 years and from the reading I've done about plant biology. It takes time for plants to build enough of the correct hormones to actually make a switch to the flower cycle. That transition can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on the strain, the maturity of the plant AND your environment. That few days or weeks makes counting from 12/12 totally arbitrary since it can vary depending on conditions like I mentioned.

However if you simply use basic observation you can look at a plant and tell within a couple days whether it has began to form flowers. If you aren't looking at your plant well enough every 2-3 days to tell, you are already doing something wrong. Growers outdoors have been doing this forever. There isn't a magic light timer outside for growers to flip, so they look at their plant and when it starts forming flowers it has obviously began its flower period.
 
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kwigybo88

Well-Known Member
The vast majority of breeders use flip as the barometer. That is pertinent to know simply as a rough guide. Individual cultivars will inherently differ. Doesnt mean it's the best system, simply the most prevalent.

For example Americans talk in terms of pounds, feet and inches despite the imperial system being manifestly inferior to the metric system. But if you're in the US it is pointless to talk in kilos, cm and m because most dont understand it.

As always, trichs determine ripeness. Pick a standard and be consistent with it simply for your own consistency and comparability.
 
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