Do you count flowering from 12/12 switch or when you see pistil hairs?

hillbill said:

Why would one check trichs on leaves which become trim, calyxes are what we call “bud”.

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Im not checking the fan leaves but the small leave tips that stick out of the buds covered in trichs. It’s hard to check the actual calyx trichs cus my scope usually can’t get in there. The calyx might have maybe 1-5% amber trichs

Maryjane123 said:

I was wondering how do you count the flowering days.

Do you count from 12/12 switch from 18/6

Or

Do you start counting flowering days when you first see pistils?

I always have started counting the flowering period from when I see the first pistils, however I recently have seen a few people counting flowering period from when they switch from 18/6 to 12/12.

see I figured if I switch from 18/6 to 12/12 then it takes a further 10 days for the plant to show sex and I counted them days as the flowering period,that means I could harvest 10 days early as I counted them 10 days as flowering perid, just when the plant will put its weight on in the last 2 weeks.

I hope that makes sense.

Please Feel free to contribute to the thread & leave comments.

Peace
Mj

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So the true answer is, after you flip it’s day 1, week 1 of “flowering”. The first week of “flowering” is a transitional period. By the end of week 1 or shortly there after, most strains have white pistols showing over the majority of the plant (pre-flowering) sometime in week 2, “bud set” happens. (Instead of a couple white pistols you saw in pre flower now are clustered with 10, 15, 20 white pistols and calexes start forming) Weeks 2 and 3 is also the stretch phase where the plant will double or triple in size. This is when you start tailoring down the nitrogen slightly And around day 21 is when some practice a heavy defoliation stripping the plant of every fan leaf all the way up the branches but leaving the last true top set. Weeks 4, 5 and 6 the plant is done stretching and is now completely concentrated on blooming, packing on weight. (This is when you really ramp down the nitrogen and feed the girls full bloom nutes.) Weeks 7, 8 and 9 and even 10 the plant will tell you when she’s ready to be harvested. When you think it’s time to harvest, your probably safe to go another week. Sometime in weeks 7 or 8 you can feed it some bloom boosters to pack on some added weight but save the last week for ripening, flushing and let the plant cannibalize herself of stored nutes.
So to recap, after you flip to 12/12 or 11/13 that IS day 1, week 1 of flowering. So when people say “do this or that at day 21 of flower”, it means 21 days after the flip. But otherwise it’s personal preference, I don’t consider flowering until bud set happens. But I also don’t chop my plant down at 50 or 63 days just because it says so on a seed breeders website. I let the plant tell me when, and that comes with experience dealing with the strains I work with. Hope this helps many people for many years to come. It’s a old thread , but the information here is new to some.

Glad we finally got that all sorted out.

What’s this “flushing” you speak of? Like a toilet?

Its always from light switch. End of story.
If you throw premature plants into flower then there will be a wk ish delay.

dont follow breeder times, follow grow log times.

end

Only possible firm reference for forum discussions is the time of switch. Period, full stop.

Maryjane123 said:

Yea, I know that dude, just wondering how people count there flowering, like from 12/12 or when they see pistils.

Thanks for input tho, appreciate it.

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The thecnically right way to count flowering is to do it when it first shows pistils after switching 12/12. Because it's not technically flowering befor that so why count it as flowering? If anything after you switch 12/12 but has not showed pistils you can call is pre-flower or transition period.

Consider the grower who might be blind or nearly so. Consider the grower that has better optics than most.

Hydrotron said:

when you start the 12/12/ is when you start counting. But harvesting "early" is entirely up to the grower. Use the count to know when your about ready then Use a pocket microscope and check the trichromes to see if your actually ready for harvest. Good luck. you can get one at radioshack for around $12

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Not any more your not their dead And gone lol I do miss the locale RadioShack not guna lie

i veg for 7weeks from seed theirs always pre flowers before I flip when I do flip I see button tops all over plant within 4 days...I run mostly led and cobs so they jump a fair bit faster than hps...I count from first day of 12/12....tricombs have been ripe and ready by week 8-9 from flip...ilgm says 8-10 on that strain and they have been bang on the money with their suggested flowering times on 3 diff strains so I go buy first day of flip as long as their sitting on at least 6vweeks veg from seed

Suggested or stated length of flower in Breeder ads are approximate at best. Learn how to tell when a plant is done to your very own preference.

Breeders don't check much, once they see the first sign of bud they count.

I don't count flowering, I watch the plant and harvest it when its ready.

Maryjane123 said:

I was wondering how do you count the flowering days.

Do you count from 12/12 switch from 18/6

Or

Do you start counting flowering days when you first see pistils?

I always have started counting the flowering period from when I see the first pistils, however I recently have seen a few people counting flowering period from when they switch from 18/6 to 12/12.

see I figured if I switch from 18/6 to 12/12 then it takes a further 10 days for the plant to show sex and I counted them days as the flowering period,that means I could harvest 10 days early as I counted them 10 days as flowering perid, just when the plant will put its weight on in the last 2 weeks.

I hope that makes sense.

Please Feel free to contribute to the thread & leave comments.

Peace
Mj

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I count from when pistols appear. However it is irrelevant because I don't follow seedbank's "flowering time". I always look at the trics. She's ready when she's ready.

Seedbank's flowering time is only really useful for figuring out whether or not a plant is likely to finish before winter kills it for outdoor growers.
Even then it's kind of hit or miss. White Widow from seedsman says 8 weeks flowering time, but end of October outdoors, while Bruce Banger says 9-10 weeks, but outdoor growers on grow diaries say it finished beginning to mid October for them.
I don't bother counting days too much anymore. If you do count, it's really a personal choice when to start, just like what lights you use, or what nutes, or what medium. Someone on the interwebs tells you you're wrong, so what?

hillbill said:

Only possible firm reference for forum discussions is the time of switch. Period, full stop.

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Seriously though. this is true and needs to quit getting people confused by saying what you "think" the breeders time is. The flip is when you count period. no other point is as good as a reference.

I don’t even know the Breeder's flower times for most of what I grow actually.

hillbill said:

I don’t even know the Breeder's flower times for most of what I grow actually.

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Same here....i have NO CLUE the breeder times or the breeder on mine. 9 weeks after flip is done for 3 of the 4 phenos i got now. I been doing this for well over 20 years and have never known the breeder of the genes i get. (in my world thats a good thing, when i get a cut , its always special.) Now in 2020 , i dont have anything special in the room but the genes are good. the main problem with my way is that i have no clue what breeder sells good beans. If/when i run out of good cuts , i have no clue where to get them...

I also make some crosses which may have quite a range of optimal harvest times.

Jimbo the Gael said:

Seedbank's flowering time is only really useful for figuring out whether or not a plant is likely to finish before winter kills it for outdoor growers.
Even then it's kind of hit or miss. White Widow from seedsman says 8 weeks flowering time, but end of October outdoors, while Bruce Banger says 9-10 weeks, but outdoor growers on grow diaries say it finished beginning to mid October for them.
I don't bother counting days too much anymore. If you do count, it's really a personal choice when to start, just like what lights you use, or what nutes, or what medium. Someone on the interwebs tells you you're wrong, so what?

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Yeah I still write down how many weeks the breeders say in my journal, but I don't really go by that, they are done when they are. So if you count when you flip to 12/12 or when the pistils show as long as you don't only go by the breeders time and chop early, it will be the same amount of time to finish no matter how you count the days.