Staggered harvest from same plant not grow method

[Faic]

Ok I did a search and all I found seemed to be people here reefering to a perpetual grow as a staggered harvest.

To me a staggered harvest is taking buds from the same plant over a period of time instead of taking the plant at once. Makes sense right? So having clarified that I have a fairly specific question.

I took the tops from a plant last night that showed 1 amber trich. I want no amber since I'm trying to be somewhat scientific in my approach.
It's a sativa heavy hybrid in soil, FIMM'd once and poorly LST'd. day 62 of flower.
6x 23w cfl (5x 2700 1x6500)
I flushed and fed with balanced water just before the latest feeding the day before I had seen the amber trich. I am running this out as routine salt flushing and no final week flush before harvest, and I'll compare with the next. First grow I'm not gonna try and get fancy at the end ~^.

I checked on her and there is some serious new growth all over every bud. The popcorn at the base have doubled in size.

So, I did expect to see new bud growth with a staggered harvest. What I didn't expect was every bud on the plant expanding like a blown up balloon. You watch your top coalas mature; but this is like.... ludicrous speed on every bud. But such uniformity and the popcorn have percentage wise, more than twice the growth of higher buds, it's like they're trying to catch up.

Is this normal? Is my obvious first question. I think the answer is an obvious yes, there will be new growth.

Or does that have anything to do with it being FIMM'd instead of topped? Or am I just seeing growth based on 'the top dog is gone and everyone is eating as fast as they can', and the lowest buds being closest to the table are eating the lion's share of soil nutes, and the highest will be feeding much more off itself? What ever scientific name that is, because there has to be some scientific name for that. Right?

I might be able to get some pictures but I don't really want to disturb her right now.

 

[JuanCarlos]

I am wondering if maybe your top buds wouldn't have experienced the same bulking had they not been harvested.

 

[Faic]

I know right. But it's seriously like inflating a life jacket. So I'm sure it was because I cut the tops. I have a cheese starting her finish bulk, and it's nothing like this. If it wasn't so sexy it'd be scary.

 

[Robert Celt]

Good morning Faic

Without knowing how your lights are positioned (all above, or surrounding the plant) I will make a suggestion. CFLs do not have great penetration, so lower parts of the plant will not receive any where near as much light as the parts closer to the lights. By doing a staggered harvest and removing the buds closest to the light, you allow light to better reach the lower buds enabling them to grow faster.

This second comment is speculation based on what I have seen in nature with plants and what I have seen others on here do with their plants in flower to increase bud size.

An annual plant's ultimate goal in life is to produce seed to pass on its genes to the next generation and continue the survival of the species. If it doesn't produce seed, the line of genes specific to that plant die with it. When a plant in late life is damaged, say by a deer eating the top off it, hormones are produced to increase fruiting/flowering before it dies and because there are now fewer flowers to mature, they grow even faster.

 

[Faic]

Hi Celt, my lights are in a array above, I don't have the space to squeeze in side lighting.

Yeah, I know it's hormonal and a response to 'damage'. That's a reason I'm treating her gently, I'm sure too gently. Because I'm concerned that stress will lead to a hermie. Silly perhaps, but you don't know my typical luck....

Part of me wants to figure out exactly how much trimming etc one can do without herms, the realistic side of me says that's of course impossible. One of the other voices tells me, truthfully, that if was all black and white and repeatable, that it would take a lot of fun out of growing.

 

[Robert Celt]

So long as your plants have good genetics, its doubtful that doing a staggered harvest will hurt them any I staggered my first harvest leaving them grow about another 2 weeks after the first cut Soil drying out severely and excess cold temps might stress them enough to herm on you, just like in nature outside, but an inside grow where feed, light and temps are controlled, theoretically you could keep a plant growing, flowering and harvesting indefinitely just as some growers will do a harvest on a plant and then re-vegetate it

 

[Faic]

Yeah, I'm just rediculously paranoid about hermies. HA..... I'm budwhipped.... >.>;

Btw, just bookmarked your soil science 101, great post.