I Need A Drink & A Quick Decision!

[ShadyWays]

Hey folks! Somewhat of a noob in this arena, skilled in mycology, however.

I've got two kush plants that are in 4 gallon pots, a trial run if you will. Now that the autumnal equinox has arrived, I want to bring them inside.

Based on some reading I plan to immediately bump them to an 18/6 light cycle. I'll have them under two 105W 5500K fluorescent photog lamps with reflective umbrellas.

I've attached photos, but I'm not certain where I am in the life span, though I can offer that they're 14 wks old. They appear to be thickening, so I'm inclined to say they're in the vegetative stage. I have a 60x jeweler's loop and have been advised to look for orange-ish glandular trichomes to know when the girls are ready.

What will be the impact of the planned move indoors and extended light cycle at this stage?

 

[ShadyWays]

 

[Bud Good]

You're pretty far into flower from the looks of it, at least a few weeks. Definitely don't put them into a veg lighting schedule or you'll waste a bunch of time waiting for them to reveg. The trichomes will go through three stages - the first, clear, won't get you much affect from the buds. Then they will turn white, which will give a more uplifting high. Eventually they will turn amber, which will give a more "couch-lock" high. The ratio is up to your preference, most people wait until about 50/50 white/amber.

Considering the low wattage and high color spectrum of your indoor lights, I think it would be best to leave them outside for some real light.

 

[Icemud]

I agree with Budgood, since you already have them what looks like 4-5 weeks or so into flowering, I wouldn't put them under 18/6 or they will gradually go back to Vegetative state, unless that is your goal is to keep them vegging...

If you want them to finish flowering, either leave them outside, or switch your light to a 12/12 schedule which will maintain the 12 hours of dark they need to continue flowering.

Plants look really healthy though!


You will see this progression as they mature and get ready for harvest:

-White pistils forming (which you see now).

-The calyx's (place where the white hairs come from, looks like a teardrop shape) will start to swell up.

-The white pistils will start to turn orange.

-Trichomes will continue to form and will be clear when looked at up close.

-Once about all of your pistils (hairs) turn orange you will continue to see the calyx's swell.

-The pistils (hairs) will start to turn from a orange, to a rust brown and start to slowly shrivel
At this point the plant is nearing peak maturity. Take you your jeweler's lupe, and look at the trichomes. What you are looking for is the heads of the trichomes to change from clear, to a milky/cloudy color. When you see this you can choose to harvest if you like a nice uppity high, a racy type energy type high.

-If you like more of a sedative (couch lock) high, where its more of a relaxing feeling, then you want to wait until the trichomes change from cloudy/milky to about 15-25% amber. This is the point where THC has actually peaked and is starting to oxidize into CBN which causes the sleepy/heavy couchlock feeling. If you like this type of high, then this is the ideal time to harvest.

-If you wait too long, you will see a 2nd set of white pistils starting to form, but instead of coming out of the buds randomly, they will appear more in small clusters of pistils. At this point the plant realizes its time is coming (fall/winter) and it starts to prepare for reproduction and it may create "bananas" which are male parts that release pollen to self pollenate. You don't want this, unless you want to create feminized seeds as the pollen will drop and the plant will self pollenate.

Usually I pull my plants at the 10-25% amber color as I enjoy the heavier high.