Can I force one branch to flower early? And what will happen?

Can i periodically put a light proof bag over one branch to make it flower early? My thinking is that I might be able to test the buzz of an untried strain at different stages of development on this earlier flowered branch, and therefore be able to tell when to harvest the remainder at just the right time. Dumb idea? Been done before? What? You make the call.

I know it has ben done before to check the sex of the plant but not shure if has ben done all the way/budding. Dosnt hurt to experiment a little.

once you see the pistils you can bring it back to beg with no problem, it will take longer to finish

well, i don't know if it's been done, but on my first grow i had it outdoors and for the longest time i couldn't figure out why one side wouldn't flower... it was because of a street lamp that kept that side in veg, so i guess by that merit in theory it should work... idk about air circulation and stuff, those stomatas need to breath, plus i'm sure there would be other issues involved, not least getting yourself to consistently take off and put on the cover..

I figure I only need to keep up with it for 3 weeks then I'll be flipping to 12/12 anyway. It seems it might work based on the streetlight scenario. My concerns are the very short veg for the one branch, whether the whole thing will try to flip into flower or the branch won't go into flower at all, and if it will cause too much stress and all those related problems. It didn't even cross my mind about the lack of air movement and sweating and stuff like that. If I was real good about it, I could only have the bag on 6 hours a day.

patience my friend !!

upthearsenal said:

well, i don't know if it's been done, but on my first grow i had it outdoors and for the longest time i couldn't figure out why one side wouldn't flower... it was because of a street lamp that kept that side in veg, so i guess by that merit in theory it should work... idk about air circulation and stuff, those stomatas need to breath, plus i'm sure there would be other issues involved, not least getting yourself to consistently take off and put on the cover..

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Heres ya go a old rollitup link. https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/92180-revegging-pre-forced-flowered-plant.html

Patience isn't the issue really. Getting the harvest point correct is. Let's look at this scenario: I grow out an unknown to me strain. I guess and pick a harvest point based on general information found online or in book. I will never know during this grow if waiting longer would have produced a better smoke for me. Or, say I wait a little longer and I realize too late that I should have harvested earlier. In both cases, damage done with no repair possible, short of growing again. Both of these scenarios to me are bad.

If I could get one branch 3 weeks ahead of the rest of the plant, then I could sample every couple of days and make a careful determination of when to harvest based on what I want out of the strain. I know there will be some changes during a proper cure period, but I'm guessing a fair determination of what can be expected can be had by sampling from the advanced branch every other day.

This would require the advanced branch to be taken to full maturity, but 3 weeks ahead of the maturity of the rest of the plant. I've tried to find something on here about this and probably due to my lack of skills could find nothing. I refuse to believe I've thought of something new.

Pretty sure this could be done man, pretty smart idea too. Try it. I wanna see it done.

Lazy me was hoping someone already did it... I'll be trying it if I don't raise someone who's been there and done that. I won't try it on my own till I have my own little bank of seeds to play with though.

Ya man not sure if someone has done it before, ive heard of people doing it for a short period of time just to see if their plant is male or female, but not fully finishing a branch.

how are you suposed to get the rest of the plant light when youre covering all but one branch up? just doesnt seem to make sence how you plan on doing this unless i read wrong and your covering one branch up and leaving the rest of the plant uncoverd then i guess it could work that way, alot easyer to just take a clone to sample, less work you dont have to worry about covering/uncovering,air circulation and things of that sort.

correction i did read wrong but i still stand by what i said its easyer to just take a clone.

Step by step, tell me how taking a clone will get me where I want to go - because I don't understand.

Start by planting 10 seeds.

dumb idea, yes it been done, get yourself a scope to check the trichomes, that will let you know peak harvest time.

Been done? Respectfully, can you please cite a source? The only reason I ask is because I can't find anything about this. I only have the internet as a source for information, so I am limited. I will however, purchase any book you might suggest that covers this subject. I want to read what others have done. I have a 60X scope. Tell me if I understand you correctly; by your experienced estimation, peak harvest time supposes there is only one type of effect to be striven for from any strain, and that peak is at the maximum concentration of THC.

Whodoo said:

Been done? Respectfully, can you please cite a source? The only reason I ask is because I can't find anything about this. I only have the internet as a source for information, so I am limited. I will however, purchase any book you might suggest that covers this subject. I want to read what others have done. I have a 60X scope. Tell me if I understand you correctly; by your experienced estimation, peak harvest time supposes there is only one type of effect to be striven for from any strain, and that peak is at the maximum concentration of THC.

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people do it all the time to check the sex, and its been disscused in great lengths on this forum. The reason you cant find a plethora of info on this is because it is not a good thing to do to your plants, the mix of flower and grow hormones running through the plant causes stress which can in turn make the plant herm or effect potency in a negative way. as far as peak harvest time when you see about 5-10% amber thrichomes you are in the harvest window, early in the window will give you more of a heady effect, later more of a body.

I'm aware of the early sexing and re-vegging, but although sort of the same thing it's not really. I've been asking about taking a single branch to full maturity 3 weeks ahead of the rest of the plant. That is what I can find no info on. And yeah, herming and other plant confusing stress effects are one of the issues I wished to educate myself about. I always felt there was risk involved with this.

I appreciate your input.

Whodoo said:

Been done? Respectfully, can you please cite a source? The only reason I ask is because I can't find anything about this. I only have the internet as a source for information, so I am limited. I will however, purchase any book you might suggest that covers this subject. I want to read what others have done. I have a 60X scope. Tell me if I understand you correctly; by your experienced estimation, peak harvest time supposes there is only one type of effect to be striven for from any strain, and that peak is at the maximum concentration of THC.

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I'm 100% positive that at least one person has tried what you're asking about. I do not know of any documentation however.
My suggestion would be, if you have the room or an extra plant standing around that you wouldn't mind experimenting on... Go for it. I'd be interested to see how it goes.

Sorry for the bump. I have done some searching and not really found a whole lot about it. I know that it has been done, but to what extent and for what purpose are not well documented.
I am doing this now in an attempt to use Colloidal Silver to self a plant. When doing so, in order to make viable pollen available at the same time as viable pistils, one needs a 2 week or so delay on the flowering of the non CS treated plant/limb. I have made a small box that encloses a limb in darkness when the lid is closed. The limb is being treated with CS. I will do this for 2-3 weeks depending on the development of pollen sacs. Once ready, I will remove the box and let nature take over and pollinate, giving me feminized seeds.
I will let you know how it goes.
Best Wishes.