Should I be patient?

Hi there folks,

First off some pictures....


And now some background...

Lights : 1 x 15w CFL - 5600k & 1 x 21w CFL - 2700k - 12/12 from seed.
Soil based grow. Strain unknown, as from 20 year old bag seed.
Germinated mid September, planted Sep 28.

So its been about 14/15 weeks total...So I'm thinking I must be nearing the end. However two days ago, a whole bunch of new white pistils came out of nowhere see pics 3/4/6. I've read in a few places that this means she knows shes nearing her end, so shes giving one final push...Feel free to correct me on this though.

I'm well aware that my lighting setup is rather underpowered, but I never had high hopes for this project, more of a foot in the door to see if its viable. More to the point though, any advice on how long she /may/ have left? any tips on getting that little bit more out of her in the last leg? and whether or not its actually going to be worth waiting for it (10grams+), or should i just cut her down and go out and buy some.

Oh and since its my first post..."Hello Rollitup.org community!"

It would be tough to predict anything about the grow when you are only usin a mere 36 watts. I am surprised you are getting anything really.

um....see my problem is that i dont see no buds? you know once you hang it to dry , 80 % of buds goes away. that leaves you with hmmm nothin?
anywho, a good way to get an idea on when its done is to look at the lower leaves. when the start to yellow its gettin there

That plant is really a testimony to what a tough weed this really is. It has been severely starved for light its whole life, but it still struggled to survive.

Go ahead and cut it now. Any thc in it is probably being degraded by now. The main thing you should get from this is an education. It is very much worth it to give plants what they need, and they will return it. It really isn't worth the effort to do it inadequately.

I don't mean to be rude but I think you want an honest answer. There's plenty of help available here and really not that hard or expensive to do it right. Welcome and chalk this up to learning and try again!

Holy cow. If you were able to grow that with 1 cfl bulb imagine what it would do with about 100 watts actual of cfl bulbs? Have you got a scope or magnifying glass and examined the trichomes to see what color they are, might be advisable. If they are already turning you might want to go ahead and cut it. Here is some info:
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/harvest-preparation-curing/110449-determining-harvest-time.html

Stinkmeaner said:

anywho, a good way to get an idea on when its done is to look at the lower leaves. when the start to yellow its gettin there

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Sorry forgot to mention that the bottom leaves started yellowing about a week ago.

Illegal Smile said:

Go ahead and cut it now. Any thc in it is probably being degraded by now. The main thing you should get from this is an education. It is very much worth it to give plants what they need, and they will return it. It really isn't worth the effort to do it inadequately.

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I don't know if degraded THC makes it look /less/ frosty, but it defiantly looks less frosty then it did last week.

rollinbud said:

Have you got a scope or magnifying glass and examined the trichomes to see what color they are, might be advisable.

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Yes I've got a handheld mag glass, from what i can tell, they are mostly cloudy now, however with this most recent growth spurt of pistils there are new clear trics.

Sounds like it wouldnt hurt to give it a bit more time then.

At 14 weeks in 12/12, it has done all it is going to do and is on the way downhill, IMO.

This is a good thread. As soon as I can, I'll post the pics of my grow with a flashlight powered by DD batteries and an LED swiped out of my cell phone charge plug for side lighting (its also "red" for flowering). Im in week 27 now. I think its almost ready.

Illegal Smile said:

At 14 weeks in 12/12, it has done all it is going to do and is on the way downhill, IMO.

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Yes but that is 14 weeks 12/12 from seed. I was under the impression a normal cycle was 5 weeks veg with (16/ + 12 weeks flower (12/12).
Meaning I /should/ have another ~2/3 weeks left, if you count my first 5 weeks as veg time.

BenRound said:

This is a good thread. As soon as I can, I'll post the pics of my grow with a flashlight powered by DD batteries and an LED swiped out of my cell phone charge plug for side lighting (its also "red" for flowering). Im in week 27 now. I think its almost ready.

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The sarcasm isn't really necessary is it.....This is the Newbie section afterall. either help out or don't.

empscape said:

The sarcasm isn't really necessary is it.....This is the Newbie section afterall. either help out or don't.

Click to expand...

There is an asshole in every crowd.

A total of 36 watts? Why'd you stop at just 36 watts?

14 weeks of 12/12 of an unknown strain, and being you used just 36 watts of CFL, the plant is not physically at 14 weeks, it's taking longer to finish because it has no real usable light.

Oh, when you start a plant right away on 12/12, that doesn't really mean that is the day flowering started.

So, if that strain happens to be one of those 16-18 week+ sativas or sativa dominant hybrids, with 36 watts of CFL, I would guess that plant will actually be ready, sometime in the year 2150.

Really though, can't you add some more CFLs? $20 more dollars in CFLs would have actually grown a plant with smoke-able buds.

Live and learn I guess.......

Eraserhead said:

A total of 36 watts? Why'd you stop at just 36 watts?

14 weeks of 12/12 of an unknown strain, and being you used just 36 watts of CFL, the plant is not physically at 14 weeks, it's taking longer to finish because it has no real usable light.

Oh, when you start a plant right away on 12/12, that doesn't really mean that is the day flowering started.

So, if that strain happens to be one of those 16-18 week+ sativas or sativa dominant hybrids, with 36 watts of CFL, I would guess that plant will actually be ready, sometime in the year 2150.

Really though, can't you add some more CFLs? $20 more dollars in CFLs would have actually grown a plant with smoke-able buds.

Live and learn I guess.......

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Well there are two reasons why I didn't go bigger than 36w.
The first being this was an experiment to see how viable growing was.
The second being cost.

My current calculations on cost are... with 35w for the length of time they have run, it has cost me roughly 9/10 pounds or like 20 dollars.
On the street 10 pounds can buy about half a gram in my area, so provided i get more than half a gram from the plant, then it's paid for itself.

So if i use 100w...in the form of 4x25w as these can be found cheap. I would use up 3x more power so roughly 30 pounds or 60 odd dollars. Which I could also spend on the street and get about 2.5grams....not to mention I could get in in half an hour vs several months time.
So I guess the question is how much more bud would i get for 3x as much money?

Smart guy, I see your point. Be sure and post how much you made! Here's one thing to consider. If it wasnt economical to grow it yourself your street costs would be much higher than what it is.

wow you pay that much for 2.5gs of weed. Damn for your own sake please stop buying weed now. Look how you just grew that plant from start to finish with supplies that most ppl would say arent enough to keep a plant alive at all. Man spend like 300 bucks and get yourself a hps and in a few months have 400 grams of dank

When I grew with CFLs, I averaged about 1oz per every 100 watts I used (the actual watts, not the equivalent).

One of my smaller CFL grows when I first started using CFLs, I had three 26 watts CFLs on one plant. I kept it short and compact, it finished at 12 inches tall. I got 6 grams once dried.

As is right now, you'll get more than a 1/2 gram. I think more like 2-3 grams.

I'd look into maybe adding four or more 26 watt (or about) CFLs to the plant right now if you can afford it, it will definitely add weight to your plant, how much, it is too late to tell for sure. But even if it didn't do anything too noticeable, at least you'd have some CFLs for next time you grow. Even if you end up buying a different light, like an HPS or LED. You'll have the CFLs as backup lights in case your new light breaks.

empscape said:

Well there are two reasons why I didn't go bigger than 36w.
The first being this was an experiment to see how viable growing was.
The second being cost.

My current calculations on cost are... with 35w for the length of time they have run, it has cost me roughly 9/10 pounds or like 20 dollars.
On the street 10 pounds can buy about half a gram in my area, so provided i get more than half a gram from the plant, then it's paid for itself.

So if i use 100w...in the form of 4x25w as these can be found cheap. I would use up 3x more power so roughly 30 pounds or 60 odd dollars. Which I could also spend on the street and get about 2.5grams....not to mention I could get in in half an hour vs several months time.
So I guess the question is how much more bud would i get for 3x as much money?

Click to expand...

Man your costings are off I think.... Should cost approx £30-£40 PER MONTH to run a 400w HPS system. and with that you could easily pull 1-2oz's a plant with 4 plants with a bit of practice.

empscape said:

Well there are two reasons why I didn't go bigger than 36w.
The first being this was an experiment to see how viable growing was.
The second being cost.

My current calculations on cost are... with 35w for the length of time they have run, it has cost me roughly 9/10 pounds or like 20 dollars.
On the street 10 pounds can buy about half a gram in my area, so provided i get more than half a gram from the plant, then it's paid for itself.

So if i use 100w...in the form of 4x25w as these can be found cheap. I would use up 3x more power so roughly 30 pounds or 60 odd dollars. Which I could also spend on the street and get about 2.5grams....not to mention I could get in in half an hour vs several months time.
So I guess the question is how much more bud would i get for 3x as much money?

Click to expand...

Question for all, is it feasible for the OP to add bulbs and put this plant into veg...or will it begin to self-pollinate?.

I'd just cut it, dry it out, and pull everything off the stems, put it in a crocpot with a lb of butter, and enough water to cover the butter plus one inch, and simer it for 12 hrs. Pour the mixture through cheese cloth into a bowl, thow that into the fridge.
Next morning, take a knife and run it around the edge of the bowl, gently push on the green butter so you can drain out the water.

After you do that, lay the butter upside down on a cutting board, take a spoon, and gently scrape the crap off the bottom. Now you at least have some butter for your time spent.

BTW...use a shortbread recipe that calls for 1lb of butter, and make that. It tastes like shit, but it's strong, and lasts all day long. IMO the best way to use what you have.

When you get some scratch to spend on growing.....order some seeds from Attitude or somewhere, and we'll hold your hand through the process to having good herb that you grew!

Welcome to RIU!

djlifeline said:

Man your costings are off I think.... Should cost approx £30-£40 PER MONTH to run a 400w HPS system. and with that you could easily pull 1-2oz's a plant with 4 plants with a bit of practice.

Click to expand...

Can you clarify how I've gone wrong on my math.
Surely its just...
36w x 12 hours = 432watts per day.
432 x 90 days = 38,880 / 1000 = 38.8Kwh
38.8kwh x 0.25p = £9.72

so a 1x400w HPS would mean over 90 days a cost of.... £108
Someone may notice if my home power bill goes up by 100 quid a quarter, considering I live in a single flat.

400 x 12 = 4,800 x 90days = 432,000 / 1000 = 432
432 x 0.25 = £108

And a 100w CFL would be about £27

bowlfullofbliss said:

I'd just cut it, dry it out, and pull everything off the stems, put it in a crocpot with a lb of butter, and enough water to cover the butter plus one inch, and simer it for 12 hrs. Pour the mixture through cheese cloth into a bowl, thow that into the fridge.
Next morning, take a knife and run it around the edge of the bowl, gently push on the green butter so you can drain out the water.

After you do that, lay the butter upside down on a cutting board, take a spoon, and gently scrape the crap off the bottom. Now you at least have some butter for your time spent.

BTW...use a shortbread recipe that calls for 1lb of butter, and make that. It tastes like shit, but it's strong, and lasts all day long. IMO the best way to use what you have.

When you get some scratch to spend on growing.....order some seeds from Attitude or somewhere, and we'll hold your hand through the process to having good herb that you grew!

Welcome to RIU!

Click to expand...

That does sound like a good idea actually, however on all other occasions that I've cooked with buds, I've not felt the effects or found the taste way too overpowering and unpleasant... its just my preference, but I'd much rather smoke it than cook it.
However if after its dried and cured, theres not really anything to speak of, ill go ahead with your plan!