Flowering Behind Schedule

I have a Critical Mass currently on day 59 of flowering. Everything I've read on flowering time for Critical Mass says it's 7-8 week flower. Now into the 9th week, the trichomes are still an immature clear, short and few in numbers. And look at the pistils! She looks more like she's in like week 4 I think. At any rate, I would like to know what causes late development like this. I wasn't aware that it could indeed take plants significantly longer to flower than typical.
In the same room I have a Blue Dream which is a 10 week flower, and it seems to be flowering at a more typical pace. More of it's pistils have turned, it has more developed trichs, and has many more of them than the CM.
Using Black Gold Waterhold Cocoblend in a 17gal storage tote drilled for drainage.
Happy Frog All-Purpose fert: light recommended dose about 30 days ago.
(2x) 1000w Hortilux multi spectrum HPS
Used 12/12 lighting but stepped down an hour at a time to arrive at 10/14 in effort to hurry the CM to finish.
Any ideas???


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Forgot to attach the pic on the original post.

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Hello Rebel , first of all normally you need to take off the 1 or 2 weeks from the switch to 12/12 and then make your count , and there are others factors that can play big role on your plants maturity , such as temperatures , stress , type of lighthing etc ...
but anyway bro , you said you have 2x 1000 W HPS dual Spectrum ?? i dont want to be a buzz killer but something is wrong over there , that plant doest seem at all to be growing under a 1000W even at a mid flowering.
and also the bud seems airy and overall leafs are droopy.

Lysergicpt said:

Hello Rebel , first of all normally you need to take off the 1 or 2 weeks from the switch to 12/12 and then make your count , and there are others factors that can play big role on your plants maturity , such as temperatures , stress , type of lighthing etc ...
but anyway bro , you said you have 2x 1000 W HPS dual Spectrum ?? i dont want to be a buzz killer but something is wrong over there , that plant doest seem at all to be growing under a 1000W even at a mid flowering.
and also the bud seems airy and overall leafs are droopy.

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Thanks for the input, I figured there would be some blanks to fill in.
Firstly, I had never been told of the waiting 1-2 weeks but makes perfect sense as I have seemed to be just a bit ahead of schedule in most of my completed harvests. So, thank you for that. I'm thinking that alone could account for a lot as this critical mass has really become vigorous in its growth in these last weeks of flowering.
I could definitely see temperature being a problem as it is rather hot in the grow room, and that is at this time unavoidable. To reduce heat, I run the lights from 10pm - 8am currently, switched down from the 12/12 about a week ago as I read that this can speed up flowering at the cost of yield. In my case I was guessing that the buds have grown to a reasonable size, it's just that the trichomes don't seem to be maturing nor do the pistils. (However, tonight's inspection showed pleasing progress on maturation in gemeral on the CM. And hell the Blue Dream I had figured to let go as close to 10 weeks as I can bear before I gotta get some bud back onhand.
Another thought I've had is maybe low co2? I have no options for adding ventilation to my grow location, it is being borrowed with the specific agreement that I am to have no permanent fixtures and no modifications to building. In order to black it out for the dark, I have hung a black plastic curtain inside to shield light from the door opening occasionally in the day time while the plants are asleep. Inside of the black plastic is a box made of Mylar suspended around the plants. I open the bay door and the man door after the lights come on and place fans at both. I draw back the curtain and Mylar to let fresh air flow in all night til I get up at 7 each morning and close it up before lights out. So for more than half of the plants 24 hour day is spent with zero airflow. Would that do it?
As for my lights, I assure you thy are exactly as I say they are. I was busy with school while rushing to set the room up for a second time, (another story) and didn't get any Mylar walls hung up until week 4. Perhaps that is responsible for the light production u detect? Thanks a lot for the help!

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lack you fresh air its a big problem for any living soul .. and cannabis its not as exception.. your plants may not be breeding as they should and that can be a big a problem for her .
another thing to have in mind , if your plants aren't healthy you can't feed them like a healthy plant .. you need to short on the feeding .. too much N can give that aspect that ur critical mass have , i already had the same problem with a northern lights with N Hot Soil. and it may be from my eyes but ur plant do seem a little dark green.

can you put an air intake to your grow ?? it doesn't need to be from the outside .. from the room from anyway outside the grow .. that will help alot.
and how about the out take ? dont you take air off your grow ?

Breeders flowering schedules are based on "optimal growing conditions" and you probably got a different phenotype than the breeder used to make the flowering guide. Remember not all beans are the same you could get a 14 week flowering plant from beans that are "7 weeks" if you get an unlucky phenotype (or lucky if you like really sativa weed). Also like this other guy said don't listen to these jack asses on this forum you wait until you see flowers to start counting as "flowering time"

Mylar walls wont do shit for a 1000w hps to be honest you don't even need mylar most dispensaries around here use 1000w hps on scrog tables with nothing around them. 1000w hps is basically the most intense light there is so you don't need to reflect that.

could have just gotten a mutant plant, it happens.

anyway bro , dont be concernd about any of that now , from what i understand of what you said , you lack of air circulation and fresh air ... and thats a MUST(and i cannot stress this enought) .... probably one of the most important thing in a indoor grow room .. for cannabis or any other plant

Lysergicpt said:

anyway bro , dont be concernd about any of that now , from what i understand of what you said , you lack of air circulation and fresh air ... and thats a MUST(and i cannot stress this enought) .... probably one of the most important thing in a indoor grow room .. for cannabis or any other plant

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Ok, good to know. I am aware that my current and *temporary* location lacks a lot. I grew there in the wintertime when I was just starting out and things were way easier - heat was no concern so opening a window kept the room at About 75 degrees with plenty of fresh air; bugs were of non-concern.. I'm just trying to learn from all the bullshit I'm encountering during this in between time.

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509Rebel said:

Ok, good to know. I am aware that my current and *temporary* location lacks a lot. I grew there in the wintertime when I was just starting out and things were way easier - heat was no concern so opening a window kept the room at About 75 degrees with plenty of fresh air; bugs were of non-concern.. I'm just trying to learn from all the bullshit I'm encountering during this in between time.

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Can't you find any solution to bring fresh air to your grow ? i don't mean from the outside(Street) it can be from another room?

Lysergicpt said:

Can't you find any solution to bring fresh air to your grow ? i don't mean from the outside(Street) it can be from another room?

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No that's not an option. My grow is in a metal outbuilding with dirt floors which have carpeting laid over. (And I have Mylar covering the carpet in the cubicle I set up to grow in. The shop roof is insulated but the walls are not. There is a 12×8 bay door, a man door, And a single screened window. I have a curtain of black plastic at the front truss to seal out light that comes in through the gaps on the bay door and any incidental light coming in thru the man door which is used occasionally. I have the window covered w cardboard to block light. Lights are on at night only so I keep the building shut up to keep light out in the day time and roll up the door and position fans to blow fresh air in all night while the lights run. To my knowledge that's the best that I can do without installing permanent fixtures or modifying the building in any way as those are terms I agreed to in order to have use of the building. I guess my situation is somewhat unique in that I am aware of things that could be and ideally should be done for the best results, unfortunately my hands are bound for most part. I have been on the hunt for a better grow location but as u prolly know, it's an awfully daunting task.

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thats fucked ;( ... how many plants you have there growing ?

I'm down to my last 2 flowering, have a clone I might allow to die due to lack of comfortable growing conditions for me, and 1 HUGE kings kross outdoor in their backyard which I have another thread about that I believe has broad mites.
I've been growing almost a year now and in the latter 6 months is the only time I have had any problems caused by something other than my own hands. I had a continuous rotation going with a full script at all times: 9 in flower, 5 in veg plus the mother. I prepared to and was within 3 days of changing locations when the deal fell thru. I was lucky to renegotiate a 3 month extension at my current loc, but I had completely disassembled the great and familiar setup I had. So what I have going now is like a temporary, superficial setup so to speak. The good thing is as I said all the problems I've run into have made very good learning experiences so that when I am in a loc that I can make use of as I see fit, I should know how to set it up flawlessly.
I do leave oscillating fans running on the plants in the dark, but there is still no access to fresh air other than that which gets in through gaps in doors. It seems like in the dark the 'fresh' air for the plants is significantly limited, but not completely absent.

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you have 2 plants under 2x1000w ? One lamp only would be more than enought
Hows your temperature over the top of the plants ?

Yes lol I actually just hAd that realization earlier today. I had 4 to begin w. I have the lights at the peak of the shop ceiling, 10 feet from the floor. My Blue Dream is the tallest at 5'6 so it's a good distance from the light. Which is why I felt the Mylar was necessary. There is about 3 feet of space between the top of the Mylar and the ceiling, so overhead there is open air up to where the black plastic is hung.
To actually answer ur question, it stays at around 75-80 in the day time and w the ventilating I do at night w lights on, it stays at 70-75

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in that case your plants , have higher temps during lights off then lights on , that may also be stressing them a little .
all those little things put together are not letting your plants show their full potencial , i also understand that your plants are about 4 feet away from the bulb right ? .. thats already too much even for a 1000w bulb . but i'm afraid if you get them closer you will burn them , if you already talk about 75 F as they are ...
you'r in a tuff spot bro

Your flowering is not behind schedule. Your expectation is ahead of schedule. Plants grow and bloom as they mature, you can't make them finish sooner. Just have patience, and as stated above, the first 2 weeks after the flip don't count as flowering days.

Hadn't considered the temp differential as a problem. I have assumed that as long as it stays as close to 70 as possible I'd be fine.
The good news is that lowering the lights is something I CAN do. I placed them where they are for two reasons: I figured the blue dream to reach a height of about 8' but it stopped at 5'6 oops! Lol.

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