Need advice on a plant that isn't maturing

[masterjrn]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum. I've tried searching this topic and wasn't able to find any relevant results, though i may have not been using the right search terms. I apologize for any unintended redundancy in making this post.

I have had four successful soil grows using Northern Berry and Blue Rhino strains. My setup consists of a 3.5x4x4 box inside of my walk-in closet, which is lighted with eight CFL's (six 40 watt red spectrum and two 23 watt full spectrum bulbs). The bulbs are contained in a self-made hood using PVC piping and car windshield reflectors (following a design i found on one of these forums). I have a 120 mm computer fan ventilating the space through a carbon filter, and a bathroom fan hooked up above the box with a duct to pull hot air out of the closet to blow into the space between my ceiling and upstairs floor. A oscillating fan is in the corner of the box blowing air over the plants consistently. I don't have a thermometer hooked up in my closet, but the temperature stays about the same as in my room, between 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. The plant concerned is a Blue Rhino growing in a 12" pot with generic top soil and some organic fertilizer i bought at Lowes. It was started from a clone that i had taken from a previous mother. I water whenever the soil seems dry and needs a watering, approximately every 4-5 days. I have never tested the PH for a soil grow, and wouldn't really know where to start with that.

My problem is that this plant is taking forever to flower. Previous grows with the same strain have taken around a nine-week flowering period, but this one plant is now going on 12 weeks. I thought that it may have been the transition to my new grow box, which previous to installing the bathroom fan was somewhat hot, but a Northern Berry that i was growing simultaneously was unaffected by the change and flowered in the same time it had before. In light of my concerns, I changed the light cycle to 8 on/16 off (before i just kept it at 12/12), and since then i have noticed a slight dusting of trichromes on the buds, thought still not as much as i had seen on this strain before. Some of the fan leaves have withered and died, but the plant doesn't look unhealthy by any means and new fan leaves have grown out to replace the dead ones that i clipped.

Is it normal for some plants to take longer to flower? This is the first i have encountered this and it has thrown me for a loop. I know patience is a virtue, but i just don't want to lose this plant because i am ignorant about this situation.

I unfortunately don't have any pictures to post and it is somewhat inconvenient to do so, but if it is needed than i will try and work something out. Any constructive advice you have will be very appreciated!

[thefloweringman]

yeah man every strain has a diff. flowering period, where did you get the seeds and do you know the genetics about the strain.

[masterjrn]

i started from some clones of a healthy mother that a close friend parted with. The strain is blue rhino, i've already had a successful harvest of that strain previously with a nine week flowering period, so this is why i'm thrown for a loop.

[wizardofaahs!]

Maybe you have light leaks that are delaying flower. just a thought.

[hootskers420]

It may be the same strain, but your plant is a cross, meaning that he has several different phenotypes that will all produce different kinds of bud. You have probably just run across a more sativa phenotype than you have in previous grows.