Any way to make them finish quicker?

So close to the finish line with my 1x blueberry and 1x super lemon haze. They are both "overdue", the blueberry by 1-2 weeks (it is 10 weeks today), the super lemon haze, by the calendar, should have finished around this weekend.

The super lemon haze has a lot of *lower* buds that are very nearly done, mostly orange receded pistils, whereas the upper, larger buds are 99% long white pistils still. The blueberry is more consistent all round but still about 50% white pistils.

I am due to go away next weekend, but at the current rate there is no chance of them being done by then.

Are there any methods I can use to speed up the ripening and make them finish quicker? I have begun lowering the feed amount as per the canna coco instructions. Is there anything to be gained by reducing the number of hours of light, to simulate winter coming, or would that just be depriving them of the light they need to ripen? Any suggestions welcome!

PS, the info I have seen so far suggests a quicker finish but lower yield under 13 hours darkness. Given my buds are already fat as can be, would there be much yield loss if I added more dark hours at this late stage?

Lower the lights on time to 10 hrs. From where you are now. You will get no loss in density.

This works to help them hurry a bit. An old school way to push Sativa's towards finish.

I was wondering what lights are you running? Your "intensity" may be a little low for the area involved.

Running a Mercury Vapor bulb at 400w (That's all they take and are designed for) WILL make them finish quite quickly. (That's due to the big increase in UV radiation given out by that bulb. It will increase the potency too!)

FlashBabylon said:

So close to the finish line with my 1x blueberry and 1x super lemon haze. They are both "overdue", the blueberry by 1-2 weeks (it is 10 weeks today), the super lemon haze, by the calendar, should have finished around this weekend.

The super lemon haze has a lot of *lower* buds that are very nearly done, mostly orange receded pistils, whereas the upper, larger buds are 99% long white pistils still. The blueberry is more consistent all round but still about 50% white pistils.

I am due to go away next weekend, but at the current rate there is no chance of them being done by then.

Are there any methods I can use to speed up the ripening and make them finish quicker? I have begun lowering the feed amount as per the canna coco instructions. Is there anything to be gained by reducing the number of hours of light, to simulate winter coming, or would that just be depriving them of the light they need to ripen? Any suggestions welcome!

Click to expand...

Co2 bags look for them online or ebay

zander19 said:

Co2 bags look for them online or ebay

Click to expand...

Unfortunately the sealed environment necessary for the use of CO2 would create too much heat for my little tent. Plus, the added expense this close to the finish would be a pain, as I don't plan on growing for another couple of years.

Dr. Who said:

Lower the lights on time to 10 hrs. From where you are now. You will get no loss in density.

This works to help them hurry a bit. An old school way to push Sativa's towards finish.

I was wondering what lights are you running? Your "intensity" may be a little low for the area involved.

Running a Mercury Vapor bulb at 400w (That's all they take and are designed for) WILL make them finish quite quickly. (That's due to the big increase in UV radiation given out by that bulb. It will increase the potency too!)

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will give that a go (the drop to 10 hours of light) - they have all stopped growing in size now, although they are still packing on a last bit of weight - so hopefully it's the right time to do this.

The light is a 600w HPS. I have a theory that, until a few weeks back when I harvested two other that were in the tent, due to a lack of space the SLH was growing pretty much vertically due to a lack of horizontal space. As a result the main colas were too close to the light and therefore too hot to photosynthesize. Total guesswork, based on limited knowledge, but it explains why lower buds have matured a lot faster than those upper ones.

Much as with the CO2 bags, I'm leaning towards not buying a mercury vapor lamp on the grounds of cost this close to the finish line, but thanks for the suggestion and the 10 hour tip!