the older pistils thathave been on the plaant longeast will brown and dry first. Just showing that the pistil and ovary are no longer receptive (able to accept pollen and fertilize the egg cell). Are new hairs forming from new bud growth? Thats what usually happens with mine. If all hairs are brown and you are still growing a plant then chances are there isn't much weight being added.
Forget about the pistils mate. They're an indicator that things are getting closer BUT with autoflowers they can start showing quite early. Whatever the case... follow the trichs... not the pistils. If you like a racey high, about 20% amber/80% cloudy is probably gonna suit you. If you like a more mixed buzz (as I do) go for 50% amber/50% cloudy. I'm growing auto white russian (Low Life) also but under LED as an experiment (procyon 100). I'm quite jealous yours look so advanced compared to mine (though mine are in smaller pots and have been on 18/6 from start). Mine look about 5 days behind yours at your equivalent day 42.. which is the day mine are on. It does sound far to early for worrying about harvest for you. Bottom line though is follow the trichs. They are the only way to truly tell how mature hte buds are (if trichs are clear... then totally not ready... only start to be ready when all have turned cloudy with amber starting to show). Until larger percentage of pistils change colour (maybe 50-80%) I'd sit back and relax... assume you are on schedule or maybe a little ahead of schedule... but not by 3 weeks! Just check on the trichs every now and then. Good luck. Awesome grow! PS oh yeah and make sure you feed her straight PH'd water, no additives for last 2 weeks before you decide to harvest. Fan leaves might go yellow and drop off (this is a good sign... plant is eating up nutes in soil and itself) but you won't be tasting nute in the end product... apologies if you already do this... absolutely tip top advice even if you are using organics in soil... bud tastes much much nicer when cured this way.
Thanks Flippa, I knew some of that info, but was pretty cloudy about how pistil color relates to ripeness. (No pun intended). I will chill out then. I have serious reservations about whether I should try to use that Gravity stuff. Research I have done is inconclusive as far as whether the benefits are worth the risk of killing your plant. Do you guys have any advice? I should have gotten the ChaChing , damn store talked me into getting the Gravity instead.
Never used gravity myself. Nor ChaChing. And all my plants have been most enjoyable. Looking at your plant... it doesn't honestly look like it needs anything extra. What are you trying to achieve? It's v easy to buy into the hype of products but your plant ois looking v nice and fat as is. You're also so close to hitting that 2 week just straight water window... why bother risking anything. I'm more of a minimalist personally. Towards end of grow I like to remove all additives. I want a smooth smoke without any chemicals. What you've been doing till now seems to have worked v well. If it ain't broke... don't fix it. In the best case, your plant may fatten up a little... in a worst case you may harm your plant and it may end up tasting like shit. With just one plant to experiment with I would just stick with what you've been doing. It looks great. That's my 2 cents. Well done on a great grow .
Thanks Flippa, I think your right, I will put that stuff away for when I have more plants to goof around with.
Day 49 Well, I didn't use the Gravity, instead I gave her a good feeding of 2tbsp BigBloom, 1tsp TigerBloom, 2drops of Superthrive, in a half-gallon of water. After adjusting the Ph to about 6.2, I then fed her all that shit. I awoke to see the buds visibly larger, but now I am also seeing some yellowing of the leaves, nothing dramatic, and normal by all accounts. I do see a discoloration on a few of the leaves, and I circled the areas in one of the photos. I think I came close to nuteburning her, and that is just a visible sign of it. If anyone has other ideas, please tell me. She is really starting to fill out and get crystally. According to the seedbank, she will need 48 hours of darkness just before harvest to maximize the sugar effect.
Yeah, I'm noticing the new bud growth popping out of the sides of some of the buds, I sure hope that continues for a while!! Reminds of the Jiffypop thingy as the popcorn inside stretches out the aluminum.
Hey man... I would ease of the nutes now. I think you may have overfed her. Nothing drastic though. Normal reaction is to then go and feed yet more nutes. You're on the home straight. Leaves will discolour. No big deal. It's a weed and it can take quite a beating. If i were you I would now leave off feed.. possibly till end of the grow. But certainly for the next watering. Looking great. Good stuff! BTW how big is your plant? Mine is over 2 foot just. I can't tell the size of yours. Would be curious to know. Cheers
Thanks Flippa, I haven't measured her accurately, but I would say she is about 14-16 inches tall. I will measure her though. I thought I had overdid it a bit with the nutes, but like you said, I am going to give her straight water for certain, (I always alternate straight water/nutes anyways). I am thinking I may just give straight water tomorrow, then water with a tsp of molasses in a half gallon of water, then straight water the rest of the way. I don't see the damage spreading, so I think I just came close to overfeeding. Hell, maybe the stress of the slight overfeeding will cause some sort of panic bud growth pattern in the plant. I swear I was seeing pistil growth while intently observing the buds, but I very likely was just stoned.
Hey one last thing... if the large leaves start to yellow and drop off... do not panic!! (I've had plants where all the larger leaves fall off and bud is totally wonderful). It's perfectly normal and a good sign. Means the plant is starting to feed on nutes in itself and the nutes left in the soil. What this will mean for you is a really nice smooth smoke. Even when using organics... a lot of growers... myself included... enforce a minimum 2 week water only window before harvest. Cos if you don't... you'll end up tasting whatever feed you gave the plants and it does not taste good if it's fertiliser. Can really wreck the taste and leads to the smoke burning with little black bits in the ash. A good 2 week window pure PH'd water only followed by proper curing of the bud... will give you a nice white ash which is how we like it . You must be chuffed man. I'm a little behind you grow-wise but will be ready just in time for Christmas. Gonna be a green and tasty Christmas . I also gotta say... out of the Low Life Ak47, Low Life Blueberry and Low Life White Russian I'm growing right now... The White Russian is my absolute favourite to look at. What a plant. Let's hope it smokes as good as she looks. If you really want to make the white strain crystal up... I'm sure you know (since its on the instructions!)... leave the plant 48hours in the dark... then chop her! She'll then be truly "sugar" coated. Cheers.
Thanks Flippa, if I could give you more rep I would. I am done fertilizing, just going to let her relax.
I will probably post more pics tomorrow, gotta charge the batteries. The buds are looking great, fattening up and getting more snow encrusted with every day. The foliage on the other hand, is beginning it's death spiral. I see many fan leaves that will leave this world in the next several days. But the the sugar leaves and buds all look green and vibrant. It looks like I will likely double the yield from my first grow. I think it is mostly due to the elite genetics of my current plant. For those who may be interested, she is automatic white russian, which is (AK47xwhite widow) x original Lowryder. Just typing that makes me want to smoke a bowl, which, alas, is nothing like that...just some low/mid poop.
I know exactly what youre going thru. My plants right now are nothing special, esp compared to that fuckin russian cutie you got, but its soooo much better than anything i could buy right now. Its just not ready yet. I should go back and find out for myself, but how many watts of cfls you got.
don't freak out about the bigger leaves falling off! Sounds perfect from your description. You're doing real well. Looking forward to seeing some more pics. good luck dude!
Day 52 I wasn't worried about that, but I WAS worried about the strange spots and yellowing on the budleaves, on the COLA. You can see the nasty stuff in the photos. I looked around the forums for a solution, and figured it had to be ph. I haven't checked my runoff in a while, and although I do adjust my ferts to be around 5.8-6.2, I realize now that was a mistake. I checked my runoff today and the water coming out was rust colored and had a ph of 5, maybe slightly lower. (I use the drops and color chart method). Of course I then decided to flush her. I had a 5 gallon bucket of water, (I use tap water, but I let it set for at least 24 hours before I use it.). I gave her a thorough flushing at the utility sink, at one point my hand slipped and I almost dropped the baby. She did shift slightly in the pot, I hope I didn't damage her roots. I then topped off the pot with some soil, (after almost dropping her, a bit of soil sloshed out of the pot.) She is almost done draining and I am going to put her under the lights with a blankie and a teddy bear. Well, I just checked the last bit of runoff, it appears to be a solid 6, so we should be okay as far as that goes. I will definitely check runoff only as my real indicator of ph, the shit going in means nothing if your soil is like battery acid.