Flower schedule question

Hey everyone,

In the past I use to count flowering as from the moment of the switch to 12\12 but people seem to call it from the moment the buds appear.

My question is, when looking at flowering schedules for different strains online (ex. 7-9 weeks), Does this count from the switch or from sight of flowers?

I currently am close to harvest and it's been about 41 days (almost 6 weeks) since flower (or 51 days since 12\12 switch) and wondering which I should be going by. They look pretty much ready for harvest to me but maybe i've always cut them early and i'm missing something. I just don't want them to go too long and degrade, some of my leaves don't look too good either so i don't know if i'm doing any harm by letting them go longer.

I took a few pictures with my good camera, i'll post those soon, just gotta upload them to the computer.

Any advice\thoughts are welcomed and appreciated! Thanks!

Pictures :



You can see more pictures in my grow journal here :
https://www.rollitup.org/t/new-grow-from-seed.984785/page-3#post-14890663

From the time of light switch to 12/12. Flowers you posted look like they could use a couple more weeks.

Xul said:

Hey everyone,

In the past I use to count flowering as from the moment of the switch to 12\12 but people seem to call it from the moment the buds appear.

My question is, when looking at flowering schedules for different strains online (ex. 7-9 weeks), Does this count from the switch or from sight of flowers?

I currently am close to harvest and it's been about 41 days (almost 6 weeks) since flower (or 51 days since 12\12 switch) and wondering which I should be going by. They look pretty much ready for harvest to me but maybe i've always cut them early and i'm missing something. I just don't want them to go too long and degrade, some of my leaves don't look too good either so i don't know if i'm doing any harm by letting them go longer.

I took a few pictures with my good camera, i'll post those soon, just gotta upload them to the computer.

Any advice\thoughts are welcomed and appreciated! Thanks!

Click to expand...

Ok so here it is. It doesn't matter when you count the time from, the plants are done whenever they are done. Breeder times are notoriously inaccurate because their grow and plants are different then yours. I stopped counting days years ago because I run multiple strains that all finish whenever they are ready .

"Flowering time" and the flowering stage, begin when the plant starts forming flowers. This is simple biology. The plant takes time to transition form veg to flower after you switch lights. How long that is depends on your environment, and the genetics of the plant. Most mature plants will transition in 7-14 days, but if there are other issues with the environment or with the maturity of the plant, then it can take much longer to transition.

The only people I've ever seen claim that flowering starts at 12/12 flip are indoor cannabis growers. Some people seem to like to ignore the biology in favor of having one set day they call the beginning. Outdoor growers wouldn't say the plant is flowering on a specific date, they say its flowering when it starts flowering! Just because you grow a plant indoors does not make you a GOD that can just instantly control things. It takes time and your job is to provide the best environment to minimize how much time that is.

Most breeders also know that flowering starts at flower formation. So even though their flower times aren't super accurate, they are in fact referring to actual flower time, NOT 12/12 flip unless stated other wise. Some breeders will state however many weeks of 12/12. Breeders are trying to sell seeds to they say all sorts of stuff though. Many autoflower breeders list a time from seed to harvest, and that is 99% bullshit.

Your plants are looking close. The stigma have receeded nicely in those last 2 pictures. It looks to me like the bracts(calyxs) could swell more. The last 2ish weeks you don't see much outward growth, but the buds are still swelling internally, and they are ripening. I learned years ago, to let plants fully ripen. Thats where the best flavor, yield, and smoke are at!

The only way youll know if they are ready is looking at the trichomes under at least a 30X loupe etc.

Thundercat is dead on the money , they definitely state flowering times from first true formation of buds , and this can be anywhere from a week to 5 weeks depending on all the variables just like he says. I have 6 Daiquiri lime autos and a gigabud auto that are lets see....day 87 from seed and they are no where near fucking ready in a pretty decent environment under a 600w HID.If you went by guidelines like I did with my first super lemon haze grow , youll be missing out , If anything I add 3 weeks on to the start and 3 weeks on to the end of a breeders guidelines , gives you a much better idea (but still always play it by ear , as it is and how the plants are)

What strain are they? Supposedly is better to harvest heavy leaning Indicas about 5-10% amber , Sativas 15-25%.........let my last super lemon haze go around 20% and its the bomb bomb.

51 days from 12/12 would be hilariously fast. I see some are eating their fan leaves , definitely close those ones.

Thanks for the replies guy, much appreciated! I will let them go a bit longer based off what you're all saying, I must have been harvesting early in the past, usually was about 7 weeks from flip. Still learning lots! I was just basing off pistils. I have a jewelers loop i got the other day and i believe i'm seeing some clear, mostly cloudy and no amber trics.

There's 4 different strains : California Orange, Cheese, Blue Dream and Chemdog

Xul said:

Thanks for the replies guy, much appreciated! I will let them go a bit longer based off what you're all saying, I must have been harvesting early in the past, usually was about 7 weeks from flip. Still learning lots! I was just basing off pistils. I have a jewelers loop i got the other day and i believe i'm seeing some clear, mostly cloudy and no amber trics.

There's 4 different strains : California Orange, Cheese, Blue Dream and Chemdog

Click to expand...

The stigma are the FIRST sign that the plants are getting close. Then the bracts swelling and trichomes . Lots of new growers harvest early.

Make sure you check them out of the main light area , at least shaded from them , preferably with them off in some other light or natural , way easier to tell. Theres a few strains there I see and depending where there from , check their Indica/Sativa ratios and then you can go from there.

A few strains there so look them up the exact breeder ones and go from there with harvesting by trichomes , id imagine you wouldnt want to let a heavy Indica go 25-30% id be some real couchlock stuff , but a Sativa would be quite fine there (it really depends on how the trichomes change and all the plants are different) , for extracts tho no idea , I just smoke flower.

I definitely think the amber trichomes containt a lot of terpenes and flavinoids , you know the shit you want too and they definitely do not appear until the plants are ripening/ripe.