Started flushing at week 14, fan leaves started to yellow, but no amber trichomes yet. Plants look good… millions of trichomes … but seem clear. is this normal?
Welcome to the forum.
I expect you are citing weeks from seed, which isn’t really relevant. How many weeks has the plant been flowering?
Pictures are always helpful.
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Since Oct 5, so roughly 9 weeks.
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You are close then. Typical flowering times are 8 to 10 weeks for cloudy trichomes. Should begin seeing amber within a couple of weeks.
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Hey @hansum5 , welcome to the forum.
Midwest is spot on. I will guess they are simply not yet finished.
You will learn each cannabis plant is unique and from seed they can take various lengths of time to mature. I have had a couple plants finish up in just over 7 weeks of flower which is rare. Normal flowering time is 9 to 10 weeks. But some plants will take longer than that.
I have had Northern Lights take 12 weeks to mature. You cant grow by stated times from seed sellers. You just have to watch the plant and let it do what it is going to do.
Would love to see some pics. We like pics here!
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Cool, thanks. I assume I will keep flushing till the end.
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Particularly sativa varieties. White widow is a sativa dominant hybrid (60/40.)
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Flushing has little if any effect on the final product.
I feed until I see all milky then quit feeding because it saves nutrients for later grows. Cant tell any difference in the final product either way.
Taste, Harshness, and quality of burn are all improved by proper curing.
Any leftover nutrients in a bud will breakdown and be converted by the plant after its cut down. Plants are not like animals that instantly die. Cut a stem off and all the processes continue for days. That’s why you can clone plants. The growth process continues for quite a while until the lack of water finally dries up the cells and they die of dehydration. Any nutrients in the plant the day it is cut down will still be broke down and used.
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I don’t know many experienced growers that flush at the end of a grow. I don’t flush before harvest, but I do stop feeding the last week or 2 of the grow since the plant doesn’t need a whole lot of nutes to ripen flower in the late stages - saves a bit of time and a few doses of nutes and the plant is done growing at that point. I do it for the time and little money savings and not because I think it makes a difference in the final product’s taste, smell, or smoothness.
I flush only if necessary to address a pH (salt buildup) problem.
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Thanks for the tips. I guess I just stopped feeding, not flushing, and will keep doing that. I use rainwater, which has good ph.
I am now watering with only distilled water.
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Nice job there. My first plant looked much worse than that.
What do you have for a light?
I think moving forward an adjustment to get more intense light will improve your yields.
This was a last year and I had too much light and it caused a phosphorus issue.
That’s why the leaves look bad. No problems once I got a dimmable light and adjusted.
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It is hard to tell from my pics, but it seems like the plants are doing OK. I am using LED full spectrum lights I bought on eBay.
Since I quit feeding and went to distilled water, all the fan leaves are turning yellow and shriveling up.
Since I am in week 9 of flowering, I assume this is normal, and I can’t do anything about it, other than trim the dried up leaves off.
Still no amber trichomes, and it is hard to tell cloudiness.
I will keep doing what I am doing until the end, whenever that happens. Does that sound accurate?
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Some plants are stubborn about turning amber. I grow northern lights and some of those take a long time and a couple never showed amber.
If the pistils are all browned and the trichs are milky/cloudy then you are in the window of harvest. If you really want amber you can continue to wait, If you plan to wait much longer you can feed again and slow down the yellowing.
Thanks for the info. I am going out on a limb and say that I am seeing cloudiness, and the pistils are brown.
Looks like I could start harvesting any time now… maybe try starting feeding on one plant and see what happens.
Check this out…
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I think you are there.
You can wait, or you can take the taller buds now and let the others go another week or two and see if you like the effect better on the early side or late side. Good way to learn how it works. Wont hurt the plant a bit.
Excellent advice and suggestions, thanks a ton!
Greetings. We have reached the promise land. I have one plant drying, and am waiting on the rest to turn a little bit more, doing what you are suggesting.
I assume the first sign of amber indicates you are at maximum thc levels, and that is where I am at now.
This is what the roots look like, using 3 gal fabric pots. Next time, I wonder if it would be better for root growth to put a couple slices in the side of those peat pods.
I started with a light that was far too weak, and it hurt my first grow. Toward the end, I got a much better light from HLG, and my fortunes turned around. No lie when they say the light is the most important thing.