Basically as the title says; What would you recommend for a bud fattener for use during the last two weeks of flower? I currently feed with General organics for liquid nutes, and pre-amend my soil as well. BioBud and Sucanat are pretty much my main bloom finishing nutes, but I really want something with a bang. Not a big fan of Fox Farm...
Sugar. Healthy Plants. Sunlight. Good Care. Time. No bugs. Really look into defoliation - lots of controversy here. IMO, defoliation is something a grower ought to learn over time in response to their plants. Improper defoliation will stunt a plants growth, as well as encourage growth of the tiny one bladed leaves on your buds.
I know some people that swear by blackstrap for the last 2 weeks to increase smell and fatten them up. It's going to be in my gear for next year since I've heard so many good things about it
Thanks for the input guys! Synthetic's got it's grounds, not gonna hate! Not all of them kill organics, and I've use Hydroduece a couple times before. MOAB is one helluva synthetic bloom booster if you're feelin dangerous. I don't use molasses, I use Sucanat for sugar. I feel it's more readily available, and not all charred and quadruple ultra boiled like molasses.
Sounds like you know what you're doing If bugs aren't an issue, just flower till nugs are rock solid. Is there any noticeable difference between sucanat and molasses BTW? I use molasses sparingly but it at times can start to yellow my leaves on some strains. Also, in case you're doing an indoor set up - the closer the lights are, the better the buds will be (duh). But what this means is you should analyze your current light set-up: Is it optimal? Do you have in-line cooling capabilities? Does your light have a heat sink? How low can you drop your lights before it burns your plants? Generally it is recommended you want a gap between the light and your girls. Not so! I had my colas touching my glass without burn issues! And that run yielded me the frostiest most intense bud I've seen, from myself OR clubs. Just have enough fans: inlines to cool the bulb and external rotaries fixed to cool the glass/heat sink.
oh jeez no need my man with a properly built super soil and solid compost and botanical teas i make myself plus Cali sun I get rock hard nugs and lots of it no chemicals or bloom boosters needed. After the proper setup all that dictates bud density is direct sunlight time and genetics.
My medium is; Coco coir, with chips Perlite Azomite Humus Happy Frog Fruit and Flower fertilizer (Not a big fan of their liquid nutes but I love FF's dry stuff) Ancient Marinebird Guano Budswell Mychorrizae (list of species is huge) Blood meal Diatomaceous Earth (keep out the nasties) Can't really compost or make botanical teas in an apartment. Believe me, I'll be utilizing the Colorado sun as soon as I can. In the mean time, I gotta make do.
Best bud fattener would be letting them finish in t the sun. No chems. Save money, spend more time with plants.
Try adding a bit of kelp meal (ascophyllum nodosum) to your amendment mix and/or foliar routine before, during and slightly after the transitional period (veg to flower). Loads of enzymes and phytohormones to help build tighter nodes; the biggest contributor is the load of cytokinins it has, which promote cell division (expansion of nodes, etc.) With properly built soil, suitable environment and well trained plants you should not have yield issues nor need anything "extra" during the last two weeks, other than perhaps trying to elicit hormonal and enzymatic responses. (coconut water, molasses, kelp meal, aloe vera, jasmonic acid, etc.)
Yeah mst of those bud hardening products are just kelp based. Get a sack of kelp meal and make a small batch of tea you can bubble a gallon or 2 easily in a apt.
1; I can't use the sun... I live in an apartment, so I run 600W HPS 2; I'm not talking about chems, I'm talking about organic solutions. Tea seems like my only real choice then. How would you recommend doing it? Never made a batch of tea before. EDIT: I do have the General Organics bottles, and they seem to just be composted sea weeds, kelp meal, etc... Would those be good to add to the tea too?
madam, whatever decision you make I encourage you to consider element ratio's at this stage of growth - flowering - and keep your N:K ratio 1:1 at whatever strength level you choose. A sure winner is a ratio of 2-1-2 or 2-1-1 (1-0-1, 1-1-1 etc.). Feed qtr strength of label directions when irrigating or a schedule of your own choosing and no problems. Try it and I think you'll find it works pretty well. Potassium requirements during flowering are highly underated, easily overlooked, and a balance of 1:1, N:K is the sweet spot. Happy harvests!
Thanks for all the advice guys. Dialing it all in is really the hardest part of growing in my opinion.