First Attempt, 4 wk Flower

Well this is my first attempt. Random seeds I collected. Used 6500k CFL for 3 months 24hr light. Switched to 2500k CFL 12/12 light about 4 weeks ago. About a week after flowering the leaves started turning yellow and most of the lower leaves dried up and died. Not sure if this is normal. Other than that the buds look and smell good and are really sticky. Just noticed some of the hairs are turning brown from white. Cant really tell the color of trichs yet, they seem too small to see even with a crappy magnifying glass.

PIC3 - Top of plant 1
PIC5 - Top of plant 2
PIC7 - Some of the lower buds that are starting to change color.

Any idea why the yellowing is occurring? I was going to try fertilizer but I don't want nasty tasting bud.

Should I be able to see trichs w/ the naked eye? They look like super small sand particles now

Also, when do you think a good time to harvest these will be?

The first 2 pics look like burning, but given the third pic makes the leaves look more yellow-ish it may well be a nitrogen deficiency. If you are able to, you should check your soil pH to make sure it's inside the optimal conditions and isn't locking out the absorbtion of the nitrates in your fertiliser/nutrient solution. It's only a guess though, I'm sure someone will clarify before long.
The buds look pretty nice otherwise, for a first time grow you should be pleased with yourself. In all honesty, you're looking at maybe another 4 or so weeks before they will be close to being able to harvest. You can't put a timescale on these things unfortunately, they will be ready when they are ready. Also, you will need a high level of magnification to see the trichs 60x-100x ish will give you the best way to spot the colours.

Get some mother's black molasses and mix 2 tsp into a little warm water and then add to a gallon. Water with this for the next 2 weeks then flush. You will not be able to see the trichs without the 60x-100x scope. It's $14 at radioshack. Its hard to use but works and will help you watch for the amber to develope in the trichs

Sorry for the double post...... P.s. - Im not sure the molasses will help but it's the only thing i've heard to use during flowering thats not a chemical or harmful in any way.

SimplySmoked said:

Sorry for the double post...... P.s. - Im not sure the molasses will help but it's the only thing i've heard to use during flowering thats not a chemical or harmful in any way.

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I just used a weak dose of miracle gro, hopefully that will resolve the nitrogen issue. I don't really want to use it again but I figured since I have a month or so to go it won't harm the buds. Hope I'm not too wrong!

you can use organic nutes if your worried about the taste. i use fox farm and have had no issues. there is also earth juice and many others. your buds are looking right on track. some yellowing is normal a little later in flowering, but still a little too early for that. good job!

you need some sort of nutrient to get decent buds if ur worried about taste just flush 2 wks before harvest

looks like you growing a kush or a kush hybrid.

they look great for 4 weeks.

although its not that visible yet your about to have some nute deficiencies.

i would step the ppm up by about 300-400 for about another 4 weeks while its filling out. plan for 10 weeks although you will be able to tell when its done

Thanks for the info!

I soaked them with the houseplant concentration of regular Miracle Gro (1 teaspoon per gallon of water) about 48 hours ago. I _think_ I see the leaves getting greener. I could just be anticipating it though! I plan on watering with a very very weak Miracle Gro mix (1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water) for about 2 weeks then only using distilled water for the last two.

Hopefully this will be enough of a flush so the buds are not harsh.

btw, if this is kush I'll be soooo psyched. I remember some of the bag seeds I got were from some rocket fuel herb I got in the spring so who knows!

Well, I started noticing some very thin webs on some of the buds a few days ago, and today I noticed these wicked small white things crawling in the webs. I decided to harvest today and cut off all the big leaves and as much of the little ones as I could without damaging the buds. I had some white hairs left but most were brown on the buds so I don't think I did it too early. I'm sure I could have waited another 2 weeks but oh well.

Now I have all the bud stalks hanging from a rope in a dark open closet with a small fan on for air circulation. Is there anything else I should be worried about or am I out of the woods with the microscopic critters? I've read that 2 weeks is a good time to let them do this first drying stage before I start curing. Is that accurate? How would I tell if they are ready for curing? Can I smoke some of the bud before curing to sample it?

it is definitley nutrient burn but its not bad u should be fine

i think you are mistaken bout the nute burn,that is classic spidermite symptoms,
you can see some of the webbing in the 1st pic of the first post,you really need to get your room clear of these before u do anythig else.

you may be right ive never had a bug or fungi problem so i woudlnt know, but that is classic sign of nutrient burn my friend if you look closely at the leaves the burn runs along the edges right in the tissue of the leaf, you see as the water and nutrients run through the excess salt build up makes the leaves dry and and in turn chlorophyll dies and plants yellow, again it could be mites ive never had them but usually dont leaves become spotty? i just see burn there i could be wrong

if you look closely you can see that the leaves are infact "spotty",this is caused by the mites chewing on the leaf surface,
and sucking out the juices,thousands or tens of thousands of these tiny bites causes the leaf to take on a yellow appearance,
similar to certain deficiancys,but its the webs that really give them away.

Now that they have been harvested (see previous post + pics) is there anything else I should do or will the mites just die or move on during drying and curing?

they will leave the weed as it drys,as its no longer a food source for them,
but you should defo clean your room top to bottom(neem oil),also try to find how they came to be there to start with,
usualy they travel in air currents so filtering air entering your room may be an idea,dry dusty conditions are perfect for there reproductive cycle,
so keeping the room at a slightly higher humidity may help also.

i have the same problem with my leaves turning yellow in the fourth week of flowering, i was told its NORMAL but then i was told it was not.. i thought it was a Nitro issue so i added some blood meal to my soil.. see if that helps..

this is an empty bedroom that hasn't been used for years so yea dusty and dry! Plus this house is really old. I've put in a fan and leave the door open now so it gets the air circulation the rest of the house does. What would you recommend to get rid of these things? Tomorrow I'll vacuum and dust in there. I'd like to avoid bombing or anything really toxic because an older woman lives below me and she has fish and a cat and I don't want to make any of them sick.

the best thing to do is examine the leafs with a magnifying glass,look for the mites under the leafs,
the damn things are tiny,like a speck of sand with legs and its easy to miss them until they infest the plant.

doing a search on spider mites will get u all the info u need to combat them,
it may not be easy to wipe them out in one go,but it depends how well u clean/disinfect the room.
i would try to find possible sources for the infestation,when they got into my room i put it down to
being in close proximity to agricultural land,filtering the air intake&cleaning the room sorted it for me.
good luck.