hey guys, so... i got 2 plants growing, and they are looking awesome!!! lots of crystals!!! yum.... anywhooo.... i have to leave on the 19th, witch means i have to cut them down around the 12th. im afraid my plants wont be full mature when i have to cut them down, is there a way i cant get them to mature faster? Here are a few pics of one of the plants in question: Can you guys tell how long they might be?
How long are you gone for? Those look like they could go another 4-5 weeks. If you are back in January, I would wait till then. Otherwise the harvest will be meager. To answer your question, there are two ways to hasten maturation (one which I have used with some success). 1) Give your plants 24-48 hrs darkness before the onset of flowering. -- It is a little late for you given that they are well into flowering. I tried this and only saw the pistils quicker (no actual reduction in flowering time...and no impact on yield) 2) Cut the light back from 12 on/ 12 off to something like 11 on/ 13 off or 10 on/ 14 off. I got this technique from DJ Short. He does warn that quicker maturation comes at the price of lower yield. My experience with 11:30 on/12:30 off and 11/13 is a 2-4 day decrease in flowering time for a 10-week strain. Under my 600, my yields dropped from my usual 11 ozs. to just under 10 ozs. Good luck.
I've also heard that you can use 18 hour cycles like 6on 12off so you get almost 9 "days" of flowering out of a week, but I also heard that it will lower the yield.