I have one girl in her 10th week of flower and still shows 85%-90% white pistils....everything done by the book. At the present rate of growth on the 12/12 she may get into her 12th even 13th week before ready... Any ideas why? Should I be concerned? Should I harvest at 50/50 instead of 80/20? I am thinking of switching from 12/12 to 9/15 with 15 being dark... Thoughts? Anyone else flower this long?
Sounds like you have a sativa. You can't judge when a plant is ready to be pulled by the pistils. You HAVE to get a magnifying glass or a jewlers loupe to know for sure. 10x-30x will do fine, and you can find them on the internet (eBay) or some stores for very cheap. Sativa's can be hard to find a "final" day to harvest. If you're checking trichs, one day they'll look ready to go, and then the next day they can put on another shoot of growth, and continue budding. This is really just common for a sativa, and basically how they all grow. I wouldn't be concerned about it. Sometimes sativa's just take a long time to finish flowering. However, I wouldn't switch to 9/15 because all you're going to do is make her stretch more, and stress her. EDIT: After looking at your pics, you have some nice plants. They're also very sativa like I thought. You just need to pick up a loupe and check them. They look like they'll be ready in 10-20 days. Also, remember that just because you switched to 12/12 does NOT mean that you "started" flowering. Flowering doesn't really start until you see some pre-flowers. So, if it took a week or two for your plants to show some pre-flowers, substract that time from your flowering time. Keep watching her, and get a magnifying glass/loupe and she should be done in a couple weeks. Remember that if the seeds you have are from a seedbank, the times they give aren't really spot on. They may say 10 weeks of flower, but it could take 12. Remember, it's 10 weeks for professional growers, under pristine conditions. Not to say your growing techniques are bad (I'm sure they're good if you got this far) but it may take a week or two longer than what the seedbank says. Be patient, and you'll be paid off. I know it's hard, but it's worth it.
OK..Cool! I am using the Radio Shack Microscope to view daily and I would guess 20% cloudy, but this is my first attempt looking at trics... Will stay 12/12 as that makes total sense.... AND I forgot about that first week or two....so you are correct and I am only in the 8th week...probably....so that makes me feel as they are nicer than I first thought and will only get better over the next two weeks. They are starting to smell very sweet and yummy.... Yes I did trim the leaves, but only if they showed yellowing, drying out, etc as I read that if you leave dead or dying leaves on the plant, it uses energy to try and revive and/or suffocate the area. So now i have to go and read about Sativa vs Indica Thanks much !
Yea, you have some very wonderful looking ladies, so I would not be worried. Looks like you're going to have some nice bud when you're done too. I know around this time is really the hardest because you're actually at a point where you look at your plants, and you realize you actually have some smokeable bud. They're not fully ripe yet, but you could certainly smoke from her. So, it just makes it even harder to want ot wait! But, like I said another 10-20 days and she'll be ready for the chop! Be patient, tell her how beautiful she is, and keep the good vibes coming at her. Pretty MJ plants are just like pretty ladies, they like to be complimented, and in turn, they might let you take them out for a good time after a while . You're doing well, just keep it up!
don't worry buddy, give her some time. i have a shaman (sativa dom.) in her 16th week and she still has time to go. pay attention to the calyx/pistol formation and that will tell you the time is getting close but it wont determine when to harvest. get at least a 10x micro and look at those beautiful tri's turn amber. longer you let fermentation on the plant the better.
Just remember when talking to your plants and giving them positive vibes, don't call them "ladies". Some photo period plants prefer the they/them pronouns! You don't want to piss off the little snowflakes!
