Long time smoker, first time grower

Hey guys, I've been lurking around here for a while now, and decided to jump into the fray. I'm growing a couple Chem Dog plants this year for the first time ever. I've been smoking for around 20 years, but have never grown it before... well, once when I was a teenager, but the plants got ripped off before they were ready.

Anyway, I have the two of them in my outdoor garden, and they're just starting to develop buds.

My question(s) is this: How early is TOO early to snip a little sample off? I'd like to see how good they are, or will be. It's really dry where I live right now, and I can't find any smoke. I don't want a lot... just enough to pack a bowl at night.

Also, what should I be using to promote healthy bud growth. I've read about molasses and the different nute types to use during the flowering stage. I'm just not sure which, if any, apply to my growing situation. I live in Canada, and it gets cold a lot earlier here than most places in the US. I know it will be a while yet before they're really ready, but I'd like these babies to turn out as good as possible, and this seems to be the best place to find out stuff like this.

Thanks guys!
BigSlice

(here's a shot of one of my girls, taken a couple days ago)

Canada eh. You got a at least an other month before frost hits you. My advice is those baby's are only in week 1 of flowering and just to let them go, keep your hand out of the cookie jar in other words! Just chop them a day or 2 before your first frost advisory, that's the best you can do my man, and what I'm gonna do as well, I'm in New England.

I've heard that the first frost is OK for the plants, but that you must harvest before the second frost... is that true?
We've had frost as early as mid-September before, and as late as Halloween. So, I know I've got a while to go. They're just such beautiful little ladies, I can't help but be tempted by them!
No worries though... I'll stick to my guns, and wait it out.
No doot aboot it.

Temperatures below 50 degrees slow growth in most varieties of marijuana. When the temperature drops below 40 degrees, the plants may experience some damage and require about 24 hours to resume growth. Low nighttime temperatures may delay or prevent bud maturation. Some equatorial varieties stop growth after a few 40 degree nights.

COLD TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON PLANTS AND VEGETATION
FROST: Damage depends upon length of frost duration.
LIGHT FREEZE: 29 degrees F to 32 degrees F / -2 degrees C to 0 degrees C. Tender plants killed with little destructive effect on other vegetation.
MODERATE FREEZE: 25 degrees F to 28 degrees F / -4 degrees C to -2 degrees C. Wide destruction on most vegetation with heavy damage to fruit blossoms and tender semi-hardy plants.
SEVERE FREEZE: 24 degrees F / -4 degrees C and colder. Heavy damage to most plants.

OK, here's where my ladies are at right now. This is obviously just a close-up of the top bud of the smaller of the two plants I have in the ground.
There's still some time to go, but I think we're getting close now!

Weeks, you are where I was 2 weeks ago and I think I have 1-3 weeks to go.

I'm nervous about the first frost as well but I think I should be drying by then. I'm near Vancouver btw

Frankly, I'm terrified of the frost. I know these ladies aren't quite ready to come out of the ground yet, but it's been getting ridiculously cold at nights the last week or so. We haven't had frost yet, but temps are dropping to 7 or 8 celcius, so it won't be long.

BigSlice,

First off I want to say welcome to the forums. When it comes to flowering you want to have nutrients that are higher in P and K like Dyna Gro Bloom. Nutes with 10-30-20 NPK would be a good blend to use. If you find your leaves yellowing then i would supplement some additional Nitrogen which is commonly overlooked by growers in the flowing stage of plant development. As far as snipping off buds prior to harvesting, wait as long as possible. The plant will be harsh and un-flavorful when quick dried, however it will get you stoned, so that is up to you.

Once the latter half of flowering is reached, a lot of growers like to add molasses to their water which is something that I have done. Hopefully I've been able to help you out a bit,

Smokebros

or just bake a potato that your not going to eat and maybe add in some raisins for good measure

I'm using a 5-30-20 at the moment. My plants aren't as tall as I'd like them to be, but I'm pretty sure that's because a mouse or mole got into the root systems when they were just tiny little clones in the ground. The leaves are a good colour, no yellowing at all. I've trimmed off some of the bigger leaves to allow more sunlight to hit the lower branches.

I've held off testing the stuff so far, so I think I'll be able to wait until the end.

I've heard a lot about the molasses, and I think I'll give that a try.

Thanks for the tips, man... I appreciate that!

Try to avoid cutting leaves until they are yellow / Brown. The leaves are the factories for your plant. They use light as an energy source to convert the raw materials collected by the roots into useable construction material for the rest of the plant. Premature removal of upper fan leaves is more of an indoor technique. Indoor lighting does not compare to outdoor lighting in intensity or penetration of the canopy.

Good call on not testing... I tried a lower bud last night, it did the trick but quick dried it tasted like crap.

I checked them this morning, and something (either the high winds or the hail we got yesterday) had broken one of the branches off. So, it looks like I'll get to test it after all. I've hung it up to dry, and will get to test it out by the weekend.

It smells delicious in my shed right now, and the buds, while smaller than they should be are sticky-icky.

That plant looks like a Sativa.
I would be growing Indicas or Autos in your climate. Shorter flowering time.
I suspect you will be dissapointed by the smoke but I hope it doesn't deter you.
Get some indica seeds and get them going inside in pots ready for next year.
Keep them in the pots (buckets lol) and you can bring them in at night before the frosts and/or put them somewhere dark at night for 12 hours in August to induce early flowering.
Another good trick to induce flowering and/or protect from frost is an upturned trash can overnight (if the plant is small enough)

The strain is ChemDog, which as far as I can tell online is a hybrid Sativa/Indica. The clones were a good price, and the research I did online ahead of time made them look like real winners if everything worked out.

As for the smoke not being that great... well, time will tell, I suppose. I'll know for sure by Friday, once they're all dried and cured.