everything is looking great, you shouldn't worry. i was going to bring up you might be feeding too much, which i think you just confirmed. do a good flush with some RO water (you should be using RO water anyway) and next feeding do it half the strength as you've been doing. and to address your pistil issue... it's really not an issue. it's just doing it's natural thang . pistils die back into the calyx as the plant matures throughout the flowering cycle and the calyx continues to fatten up following that. some genetics do it sooner/later than others but it'll happen throughout the whole life of the plant.. you'll likely still even have fully white pistil by the time harvest comes around. OH and get a microscope to view the trichomes for peak harvesting times. NEVER go by what the breeders say on the seedbank site. but overallllllllll don't worry about the leaf issue too much, i've seen REALLY good grows where all of their water leaves are completely fucked by the end of it... not saying it's okay for the leaves to be doing that... just trying to reassure you. sorry for the long post. i'm by no means a pro, but i do know some things. great pics, have a good'n!
after reviewing the pics it actually seems like the plant needs some nitrogen and less of something else.. idk man.. hope better help comes around!
I have been feeding her 2-8-4. I also have some 6-4-4, although that is supposed to be for vegetative growth. I can't imagine it would harm the plant to give it an N boost.
Looking good! The N deficiency is fine. The plants natural process is to due, remember that. The N you provided 2 used for vegetative growth, fight the urge to save the yellowing leaves. Your four weeks into flower, the plant is now using flowering nutrients which are very low N. Think of it this way, tight buds packed with resins and trichomes, or airy popcorn buds with elongated stem growth due to nitrogen additions? She looks awesome bro! Your gonna have some tight Colas. Just watch you're ph. One question, how tall is the soil level in your planter? Is it shorter than the plant itself? As a worst case scenario, she may be outgrowing the planter.
Day 69 Total, Day 29 Flowering Slightly more bud mass, but still more yellowing leaves. I understand that feeding her 2-8-4 is causing a N deficiency that is producing yellowing/dying leaves. I am at odds between giving her a dose of 6-4-4 to stave off starvation and just hoping she stays alive another 18 days before harvest. Realistically, she only has 2-3 feedings left to go, and I think that one dose of 6-4-4 will help more than it will hurt. I just don't want the plant to die too soon due to an inability to perform photosynthesis. No growth at all. Still 15-1/2" tall. Notably, the top cola is about 7" tall (almost half the total height of the plant). One of the weaker side branches with a fair amount of bud is a little wobbly now. The main stem seems really strong, though. There are a few more brown pistils, too. I am targeting 10/23 for harvest. There are 12 significant colas, and about 12-15 little "mini" colas beneath the canopy. Her next watering is supposed to be right now, but I am going to do some more researching before deciding what to do about the yellow leaves. Her next watering will be tomorrow morning at "sun"rise.
I felt one of the colas, and this bud is packed real tight; almost solid bud mass. My thumb got a little sticky too when I tried this. The soil level is about 8" in a 3gal pot. I'm pretty sure she's close to rootbound if she isn't already. I already plan to use 5gal pots next grow.
Day 72 Total, Day 32 Flowering Wow, it's been a whole month of flowering already. There are still more yellowing leaves. I have decided to stay the course with nutrients. I found that tree leaves change color due to the photoperiod. Do MJ plants also show "fall" colors during later parts of 12/12, or is this definitely a nutrient issue? The pictures are very kind. The plant looks a lot worse in person. Slightly more bud mass and a few more brown pistils. I'm seeing less difference from day to day. I do have one dilemma: I have to unexpectedly go out of town right around my expected harvest day of 10/23. I can either harvest four days early and get all the work done and bud in jars before I leave, or I can wait until after I get back to harvest, which would be a week later. I am skeptical that my plant will survive an extra week, especially with me being away for so long. I'm leaning more towards harvesting 4 days early. I really hate that this came up. I guess an alternative would be to harvest 1 day early on 10/22 and just let the plant dry out while I'm gone for 5 days. Would 5 days of drying after trimming be harmful/helpful/insignificant?
i'd soak the plant and leave a bunch of run off at the bottom.. that should last a week depending on your medium. it's better to harvest bone dry anyway
Day 74 Total, Day 34 Flowering Still looks about the same, except for a few more dying leaves. A little more bud mass. I took a small sample last night from one of the lower "mini" colas. I didn't feel anything, but I did have the motivation to do some housework. I have decided to harvest on the evening of 10/21 evening or 10/22 morning, and have the trim party 10/24 evening or 10/25 morning.
Do you have a microscope? Hobby stores sell some for bug watchers. The reason is that your 10/24 date may not coincide with the harvest date for your plant.Studying the trichomes is the best way to gauge peak harvest time. For the optimum balance between euphoric head high and couch lock high, the trichomes start clear.they then overtime start to cloud over in the mushroom head part of the trichome. This cloudiness is a sign of optimum thc production. As the degradation of the trichomes continues, the mushroom head turns amber. The perfect mix is with a 30% amber 60% cloudy 10% clear, roughly. As the trichomes degrades to amber, most may think this is the thx going bad, close but not yet. Actually, the increase in CBD's during this stage is what causes the couch lock high, something that i don't necessarily enjoy myself but the medicinal purpose is increased with the increased CBD level. Your plant looks fine. The yellowing leaves is normal and any increase in nitrogen at this point may affect taste of your final product. Before leaving on your vacation, check those trichomes on your plant, study her. If she is clouded over with no amber, you should be save for those 5 days with no worries, just water her moderately and she will be ready for another trichome check when you return. Of course all this is simply IMHO, just can't find any harm in spreading knowledge. You've done exceptionally well in this grow, and harvest will reward you with some quality bud.
Day 76 Total, Day 36 Flowering I'm really tired, so this is going to be brief. The yellowing seems to have slowed down some. I'm less worried about the plant surviving until harvest. I'm going to try to obtain a magnifying glass this weekend to analyze the trichomes up close. I read about that somewhere else too, and it is probably the most accurate way to measure. I am hoping that she is ready before I leave (and it's not a vacation, I'm afraid). I tried a little larger sample the other evening. I *definitely* felt it this time. It was a very relaxing stoney high. I was good and chill for about 2 hours. It had been a long time since I had smoked, so I had already forgotten how great this herb really is. It was a little hard to light, since it was still very moist. Looking forward to the finished product. I'm also already planning on my second grow to start either on harvest day of this grow or soon after. I want to start that grow by the end of this month if possible.
You may start to see some yellowing in the next coming weeks. Some will happen since the plant will start to focus most of its energy on reproduction or bud production towards the end. The lack of daylight hours might have something to do with it also since thats what happens normally in the fall to trees. Not as much photosynthesis so they turn yellow.
Day 79 Total, Day 39 Flowering It's been a few days since I have posted pictures, so I tried to get a few extra to make up for it. A few of the trichomes on the top cola have started turning brown/amber. I still haven't obtained a magnifying glass, so it's still a little hard to analyze the trichomes. I changed the photoperiod to 10/14. I may switch it to 9/17 or 8/16 in a few days. So excited
I forgot to mention: the smell is starting to permeate the grow room. I just noticed this yesterday. I'm afraid of how smelly four plants are going to be with my existing setup, so I may need to change things up during the next grow. It is a very pleasant smell, though.
Day 82 Total, Day 42 Flowering Harvest time is approaching! It's only 3 days until the 45-55 day range starts. I will likely harvest on day 49 (1 week from today) and let her dry out while I am away. More amber trichomes are present. I am going to reduce the photoperiod down to 9/17 tonight and down to 8/12 a few days later. She is getting ~60% of the water she is used to, so that she will be easier to dry.