Day 51 of flowering and the ladies have really matured since the last update 18 days ago. As hoped for, they survived the 9+ days between feeding/watering without any significant issues. It appears that the ladies started to sacrifice some of the lower newer leaf growth but all of the main productive fan leaves are in good shape. The pre-buds are now full-on buds fattening up day by day. Approximately 25% of the pistils on the side shoot buds have matured but more pistils are sprouting out of the buds each day. The pistils are less mature on the top colas which are already at least 6" in height and I expect they will lengthen as they fill-out. The photos below are as I found them after 9+ days of being left alone to their own devices and before I fed/watered each lady with one-half gallon of D&S Step 3 and Molasses, both at 1 Tbsp/gallon.
Group shot of the ladies on day 50 of flowering -
Single shot of the left lady on day 50 of flowering -
Close-up shot of the top cola of the left lady on day 50 of flowering -
Close-up shot of a side-shoot bud on the left lady on day 50 of flowering -
Single shot of the right lady on day 50 of flowering -
Close-up shot of the top cola of the right lady on day 50 of flowering -
Close-up shot of a side-shoot bud on the right lady on day 50 of flowering -
For the remainder of flowering, until about 2 weeks prior to harvest, I will feed/water the ladies as needed since there is no longer any need to force upon them a strict schedule and I want them to have as much food/water as they can consume during the last stages of flowering. I will still feed them every watering with D&S Step 3/Molasses at 1 Tbsp/gallon. Based on my observations, it looks like I might be able to harvest later this month but given the sativa-like nature of these ladies it might be well into May before they are ripe enough to harvest.