Greetings! I have been wrestling with this for quite some time, and am almost out of ideas. Was wondering if someone looking on the outside in might offer something that I'm not seeing. Basically, here is what 'i think' my I see. At the last 3 weeks of flowering, my girls seem to ripen fine, but don't seem to gain much size in bud swell. Here is a rundown of my current conditions.... 1. House and Garden nutrients, plus calmag, molasses at the last few weeks, sea green every few waterings. I have used both the soil and coco versions running at spec , and above spec. 2. Temps in flower are consistent. 78-82 lights on, 65 or so lights off. CO2 at 1100ppm, 12/12 cycle, plenty of air circulation. The room is a closed co2 system. I have tried exhausting for 10 mins every couple of hours, but see no difference. 3. Plants are in a scrog setup with 2.5x2.5 screens. 1000w hps bulbs (light is not my problem I dont' think), I have ran various heights above canopy with no change in results. Currently at about 20". 4. Watering every 3 days or so depending on need and stage in flower. Humidity at 50-60%. 5. No light leaks. 6. Ph at 5.8-6. 7. Soil. I have ran in coco and promix. 8. Plants come from Clones from my mothers. I have 4 different straings. Northern Lights, Jock horror, amnesia, and afghani. They all seem to have the same characteristic with the lack of swell, so I don't think it's strain dependent. 9. 10 Gallon pots,. plastic. Tried 4 grow bags this time, no difference. Lastly, the only thing I have not isolated is my water. I use well water. I think it is around 120ppm, but I don't really know if it's heavy in one thing or another. I did buy a tall boy this weekend to put in today, and use that to filter it into my mix tanks. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased with my results, I just don't think they are as good as they can be. I would just expect more swell during the last 3 weeks of flowering rather than just ripenning. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. I feel like I can't see the forest for the trees. Thanks bros' w00
I normally don't see much new growth the last couple weeks but more a swelling up of what is there. Like the pistils will shrivel up and fall back into the calyx and the calyx will get 3-4 times the size it was originally. TBH I really don't think you gain much real weight over this period either, but that is my opinion and contrary to what others would tell you. I base that on my dissection of a fully ripened and dried calyx in which I found a lot of empty air space in the middle. So although the buds appear to get larger, they are but not really gaining weight just inflating. Once again this is my opinion, not popular opinion, and based on my own unscientific research.