Went into flower November 16th - Still nothing!

uptheholler2;2794945 said:

Hey Noobie! The weird looking leaves are from over feeding. My gut tells me that is some of your long flowering time also. I run into this kind of thing all of the time. New growers should never take cultivation advice from a hydro store without doing your home work first. That's why this site is so great. Back off of the nutes. At this stage the plant is not really using much and you are just wasting your money. This goes back to what I always harp on and that is the growth stages that a plant goes through. Here is a very simplified breakdown and what you game plan should work around.

Germination through first true leaves- Physiologically your plant is just beginning the processes necessary to life. It is growing root tissue searching for water. It is still mainly living upon the energy stored in the cotyledons. As the cotyledons shrivel and die the plant begins to the next stage. Do not feed during this stage.

Juvenile seedling- This begins as the cotyledons die and eventually drop off. The first true leaves begin to develop and the photosynthetic processes start to fire up. This is a gradual thing as evidenced by the leaf development. The plant is actually developing more leaves and node in an effort to increase it opportunity for photosynthesis. It is during this stage that you can begin a balanced feed program starting at lower ppms and increasing as the plants frame increases. This is also the time to begin any plant sculpting program that you have in mind.

Adolescent plant- Now you are looking at a plant with several growing points. The photosynthetic processes are banging into high gear and the plant actually begins to store energy in it's root system to be utilized later in life when it tries to reproduce. Now is the time to finalize pruning techniques and continue any training game plan that you have in mind. This is also thw time to start pumping the nutrients. You can see the plant is kicking into high gear. You are looking at her every day and you say, " Wow! She's growing every day!

Mature vegetating plant to pre flower- The plant now has started to slow down in growth. This by the way is when many growers make their over feeding mistakes. The plant is telling you that it is shifting into its flowering time. But, a lot of folks think I need to feed her more. The nutrients generally are not all being utilized by the plant at this time and are left in the soil. This is the time where if you are not careful levels can rise to toxic amounts. The stems gradually become less plyable and more woody. You are starting to get more odor especially when you rub the stems. Finally you may begin to show a few pre flowers even though you haven't flipped the light schedule yet.

Active flowering- Ok you have flipped the lights.... for the next 10 -14 days the plant is shifting gears. Begin light feedings of higher Potassium and Phosphorous fertilizers. Phosphate especially takes a while to become available to the plant in most common formulations. It also doesn't translocate through the soil very easily so I like to subsoil a few applications. The plant will begin to actively flower shooting out numerous flowering sites! This is what you have been waiting for. You get excited and this is where a lot of folks again start loving their plants to death! Keep on a regular feeding schedule. If you are feeding her correctly she should show a little lag in growth before her next feeding followed by a leap frog after ward. This is true less in Hydro set ups than in soil grows. She is now trying to reproduce that's Mother Nature at work...the ultimate goal for every plant is to reproduce. Steady is the course.

Senescence-Harvest- Ahhhhhh! You can hardly keep out of the room! You just sit there staring like you have never seen any plant grow before! You know I am talking about you!!! We are all the same whetehr you have been growing 40 years or this is your first grow. That's what makes this hobby so great! Nature is now taking some of the control from you. The plant is using more of what is stored in it's roots and making much less use of what you are feeding. You can keep feeding just realize that you are reaching the return on investment plateau. The plant begins to shut off certain fan leaves as it slows down it's photosynthetic processes. Leaves begin to turn yellow and drop. It really is a wonder of nature and one of the reasons that I am a creature of the woods and fields. To watch natures cycle of life and witness things big and small that plants and animals do in realization that the season is ending and in many cases that their lives are ending. It is truly a humbling grounding part of life. I truly feel sorry for people who aren't tuned into it. The plant is striving to attract pollen and it may indeed begin to shoot male flowers. Resin development is just that.....the plants response to not being pollenated. It is trying to make sure that it has a chance to trap any pollen that is available.

In conclusion...For sake of brevity.....yeah right brief Huh? I have not discussed feed strategies, grow budgets and maximizing yield for your buck. People feed every thing under the sun to plants and most of them have their benefits. I will state that often it is not what you feed but...WHEN...you feed it that is critical to the results that you achieve. That is why specific note taking is so important in any grow. I hope that I have been of some help to an obviously talented new cultivator. Best of luck in all you grow!

Click to expand...