Flowering time line

[NewGrow2019]

I read an article that the flower cycle starts when first buds are seen. Is this true? I've been going by the day I switched to 12/12 and my flowers are smaller then every other I see in same week. Would be a relief if my timeline slid back two weeks.

 

[Dwight Monk]

You will find a mix of folks that go by when they flip or when they first see flowers forming after flip (either will tell you "their way is the right way"). Either way it is just a number and has no real meaning far as "when they will be done". There are so many variables (Strain, Lights, Grow Medium, Experience, etc..) that trying to compare to another grow can be like comparing apples to oranges, along with it will make you crazy or stress you out . Very few times do folks just jump right into growing and have killer results as it can have a sharp learning curve (do it wrong to find out how to do it right), and if they do they either really lucky or just flat out lying.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I read an article that the flower cycle starts when first buds are seen. Is this true?

Some people would consider it so. Those who write official breeder descriptions of a strain and choose to list overly optimistic flowering times, for example, lol.

Assuming that a plant is mature enough to flower (in other words, not grown under a 12:12 light schedule from seed, or otherwise too early)... When the gardener "makes the switch," he/she should be able to observe that, almost immediately, growth takes off, so to speak. This is referred to as the following stretch. If the light remains on that schedule and remains constant (no significant addition/removal of lights) throughout that 12:12 lighting period, one will probably be able to observe that this stretch phase lasts for the first 40% or so of the overall flowering period, with approximately 60% of that flowering period left to occur after vertical growth more or less stops. If one is paying attention, this can be used to predict the remaining time via simple math. This is subject to the grower's will (whim?) and personal taste, of course; not everyone chooses to harvest at the point of peak potency when the maximum number of trichome heads (on the flowers/buds) are cloudy. Therefore, "generally speaking." As an example - and using numbers to make it easy, lol - a plant with a true 100-day flowering period will stretch for the first 40 days of it; if that flowering period length is known, the grower can observe the amount of stretch per day, calculate the length of the stretch period (100 * .4), and make an estimate about how tall that plant will get. On the other hand, if the flowering period length is not known, but the grower has kept track of things, he/she can count the number of days from when the light schedule was changed to 12:12, to the last day of visible vertical growth, multiply that number by 1.5 (to calculate the remaining 60%), and make a pretty good estimate as to when he/she should be observing the trichome heads under magnification to determine the actual day off harvest.

So... Yeah, the flowering period starts when the 12:12 light schedule does.

 

[NewGrow2019]

So basically a schedule is a basic timeline and let plants tell you the rest I'm gathering. Well, they've told me I screwed up a few times and I figured maybe I stunted them and will have little finish. Which is I fine I don't smoke it, sell it, anything, I'm just setting the bar for the next go. This is a fun challenge for me being bored with my garden veg and herbs. I've kept notes on all the good and bad, next time should be better. Dwight, you are right about everyone having "the right way" and I learned trying something on someone's advice is best to be tried on one plant, not all. I think for the remainder of this grow I won't look at the calendar but more look at health and tricomes and see how it goes.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Dwight, you are right about everyone having "the right way" and I learned trying something on someone's advice is best to be tried on one plant, not all. I think for the remainder of this grow I won't look at the calendar but more look at health and tricomes and see how it goes.

Also varies on where someone gets their information probably less than 10% chance of getting steered wrong in this Forum whereas some of the Facebook groups it's about an 80% chance of getting crappy advice least what I have seen on some of them groups (same goes for some of the Youtube stuff out there).