How long before reducing light?

[badams]

I've read that you should turn the lights down to 12/12 after just 4 weeks from seed. Accurate?
How long from seed to forcing buds. 4 weeks seems to be right after topping the 3rd or 4th node.

If I buy a seed from a reputable dealer that says 8 weeks to flower, does that mean it takes 8 weeks to finish growing buds from the time they start, or 8 weeks before I should force flowering?

 

[spiritsmoker]

I've read that you should turn the lights down to 12/12 after just 4 weeks from seed. Accurate?
How long from seed to forcing buds. 4 weeks seems to be right after topping the 3rd or 4th node.

If I buy a seed from a reputable dealer that says 8 weeks to flower, does that mean it takes 8 weeks to finish growing buds from the time they start, or 8 weeks before I should force flowering?

Yeah they mean 8 weeks from when you flip to 12/12 , although in my experience you can always add a week to what the breeders say, as for when to flip thats down to you, i know some ppl flip to 12/12 as soon as the plant pops up, i wouldnt advise this, generally you should veg at least 2 weeks, i veg for 5-6 weeks, but i like a good size plant, the quicker you flip to 12/12 the smaller the plant will finish, if youve topped them i wouldnt flower them untill the plant has recovered and new growth has begun where topped, so how long to veg ? Depends how big you want them, how much you intend to train them, hope thats helps a bit

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[grimmreefer]

Your plants could double or even triple in size when you flip. Remember this if you have low ceilings in your grow area. I agree with spiritsmoker. Let it grow a couple of nodes from where you pinched it before you flip.

 

[Billyjack]

Like the other said, you can do it when you want. I usually do it 6 weeks after it breaks soil. 2 to 3 weeks for seedling stage (indoor) and another 3 to 4 for Veg stage and then flowing takes what it takes. Those are just averages, it can all depend on strain, RH, temps, nutrients. I also feed veg nutes the first week of flowering,

 

[OlderGrower]

It appears this is your 1st grow so here is my 2 cents on the subject of when to flip them.You can keep them in veg for as long as you want and grow them as big as you like in veg before you flip them given you have the space to flower them but might I suggest you flip them relatively early while they are relatively small even if you have the facilities to grow larger plants. Here is my logic behind this suggestion. If you totally screw up and kill your plant, you have less time/costs involved and hopefully will learn from your mistake. Next, after your plant finishes, you will get to trim her, dry her and cure her. More chances to screw things up, plus if you have never trimmed before, it is very time consuming. I just trimmed and dried a plant that yielded 12 oz and I thought it would never end. My brother even came over and helped trim for 3 hours and it was still a VERY VERY long day of trimming. I would suggest starting out small and build up to it. Trimming and drying a plant that produces 2 oz of dried will seem like a walk in the park compared to a big plant that will produce 12 oz. I would veg in the neighborhood of 4 to 6 weeks depending on when you consider it vegging and when you classify it as still in the seedling stage and flip them when they are say 14 to 18 inches tall. Build up gradually until you are at your full potential. An odd way to look at this is like a builder, say you want to become a builder so you can build your dream home. Sure you could jump right out of the gate and build your dream home but chances are your dream home will be a nicer home if you build the shed 1st then the garage, then perhaps the barn before you build that dream home, that way you can find your short comings and learn from your mistakes before you actually go all out on your dream home.

 

[TheFertilizer]

It appears this is your 1st grow so here is my 2 cents on the subject of when to flip them.You can keep them in veg for as long as you want and grow them as big as you like in veg before you flip them given you have the space to flower them but might I suggest you flip them relatively early while they are relatively small even if you have the facilities to grow larger plants. Here is my logic behind this suggestion. If you totally screw up and kill your plant, you have less time/costs involved and hopefully will learn from your mistake. Next, after your plant finishes, you will get to trim her, dry her and cure her. More chances to screw things up, plus if you have never trimmed before, it is very time consuming. I just trimmed and dried a plant that yielded 12 oz and I thought it would never end. My brother even came over and helped trim for 3 hours and it was still a VERY VERY long day of trimming. I would suggest starting out small and build up to it. Trimming and drying a plant that produces 2 oz of dried will seem like a walk in the park compared to a big plant that will produce 12 oz. I would veg in the neighborhood of 4 to 6 weeks depending on when you consider it vegging and when you classify it as still in the seedling stage and flip them when they are say 14 to 18 inches tall. Build up gradually until you are at your full potential. An odd way to look at this is like a builder, say you want to become a builder so you can build your dream home. Sure you could jump right out of the gate and build your dream home but chances are your dream home will be a nicer home if you build the shed 1st then the garage, then perhaps the barn before you build that dream home, that way you can find your short comings and learn from your mistakes before you actually go all out on your dream home.

Yeah I have to say I can agree with a lot of this. I grew my last harvest 12/12 from seed ( spriitsmoker is on the money with that ) and they grew really small. I got about 60 grams off 9 plants ( some of them were only a quarter a plant ) and while it may seem like a waste of time I did learn a lot about the strains, what they like, etc. and if I made a mistake on one then the redundancy of having 9 other ones helped a lot. If you have 4 big plants and you hurt one, that's going to stunt 1/4 of your harvest. Then the trimming it makes a lot of sense too, i was able to knock out the trimming of each plant in an hour or two. Compare that to it taking a whole day for me to get through 8 oz once.

 

[Croatsan]

Then the trimming it makes a lot of sense too, i was able to knock out the trimming of each plant in an hour or two. Compare that to it taking a whole day for me to get through 8 oz once.

Normally, I'd be treating this as an ironical statement but I don't see a smiley in sight

So, in other words, it makes a lot of sense to have smaller plants because you have less trimming to do?

Or did you just forget to add an emoticon?

 

[deptrai]

Normally, I'd be treating this as an ironical statement but I don't see a smiley in sight

So, in other words, it makes a lot of sense to have smaller plants because you have less trimming to do?

Or did you just forget to add an emoticon?

Agreed. I hope my plant is so big that I have to trim for 2 days straight.

 

[OlderGrower]

Agreed. I hope my plant is so big that I have to trim for 2 days straight.

Obviously you have never trimmed bud for a whole day straight let alone 2 days. I started trimming at 7 AM and took a 2 hour break at 11:00 until 1:00 pm then trimmed till 7:00 PM at which time my brother showed up to help, he stayed till 10:00 PM at which time he bailed out, I continued to trim until 1:00 AM at which time I stopped trimming and started the clean up since y wife was going to be home the next morning from camping and she would have thrown a fit seeing trim all over the dining room table and pretty much everywhere in between. I cleaned up till 3:00 AM and called it a night. I only ate one meal during my break between 11 and 1. Here is to hoping you can have the fun of trimming 2 days straight,t better yet make it 3 days straight

Growing is much like fishing... growing the plant is like fighting that big king salmon and scooping him up with the net. Harvesting is like having to fillet out that big ole salmon and get him ready for the smoker. Not so much fun.

When it is just you trimming and you have no help or very little, trust me, it gets OLD really really fast,

 

[badams]

I'll be happy to get a few oz's! From what I've read I'm SO not looking forward to trimming. I understand it's real sticky?

Brings up a couple questions. I haven't seen anyone using vinyl gloves. Can't I?
Also, why trim before it dries. Wouldn't it be easier after it's all dry?

 

[spiritsmoker]

I'll be happy to get a few oz's! From what I've read I'm SO not looking forward to trimming. I understand it's real sticky?

Brings up a couple questions. I haven't seen anyone using vinyl gloves. Can't I?
Also, why trim before it dries. Wouldn't it be easier after it's all dry?

As it dries the leaves will droop against the bud, makes it harder to trim, some ppl do trim after its dried, personally i find it easier to trim while fresh, i also dont bother with scissors or anything, takes way to long, i just pinch the leaf off the buds with my fingers, so much quicker, but gets sticky

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[Croatsan]

You're missing the point OlderGrower...

No one says trimming is easy. It's a pain in the butt, alright. But I've never trimmed for two days straight, simply because I never had that much bud to begin with. I wish I had. So, stop whining and don't expect me to pity you because you had to burn the midnight oil trimming your plants

And, IMO, your analogy is a bit misplaced - you're not supposed to fight anything during your grow. If you do, it's a sure sign that something's not right.

Growing is nothing like fishing.

But I will, gladly, fall victim to your curse and trim for three days straight

 

[OlderGrower]

You're missing the point OlderGrower...

No one says trimming is easy. It's a pain in the butt, alright. But I've never trimmed for two days straight, simply because I never had that much bud to begin with. I wish I had. So, stop whining and don't expect me to pity you because you had to burn the midnight oil trimming your plants Hmm you have never had to trim that much bud in one sitting? I return your comment, stop your whining and do not expect me to pity you because you have not grown bigger plants yet. See how that works both ways?
And, IMO, your analogy is a bit misplaced - you're not supposed to fight anything during your grow. If you do, it's a sure sign that something's not right. apparently you have the perfect grow (assuming this fact since you believe if you have any kinds of issues you must be doing it wrong) and have never once ever had spider mites or perhaps had to deal with high/low temps or high/low humidity. Not everyone can afford to build the perfect grow area with AC, heat, dehumidifiers and humidifiers and a completely sterile atmosphere that is completely bug proof.

Growing is nothing like fishing.For most growers, it is a lot like fishing, not all growers have perfect grows like yours. Though I can see how you would not see the connection since you have never had so much as a bug in your grow or had issues with temps or humidity.

But I will, gladly, fall victim to your curse and trim for three days straight

I am just a little surprised you do not get that much from every harvest since you never have any kind of issues when you grow, but if it is the curse you seek it is the curse you shall get. Go get a job as a trimmer making 20 bucks an hour.

 

[OlderGrower]

I'll be happy to get a few oz's! From what I've read I'm SO not looking forward to trimming. I understand it's real sticky?

Brings up a couple questions. I haven't seen anyone using vinyl gloves. Can't I?
Also, why trim before it dries. Wouldn't it be easier after it's all dry?

You can buy Nitro gloves at places like Harbor Freight for like 12 bucks for 100 pair. Cheap and keeps your hands clean. I prefer to trim fresh while the leaves are still perky, I normally only cut as many branches as I can trim before they start to wilt. Makes bud washing much easier as well.

 

[Major PITA]

Meanwhile....

I usually veg for 6-8 weeks from germination, but as already said, it comes down to how much space you have, how many plants to fill that space, and the strain(s) involved.

I grow 4 plants in a 3'x3' area but have 8' of height. In my last grow I had 2 sativas and 2 indica dominant plants. I veg'd exactly 38 days from germination. The indicas ended up all of about 16" tall. Meanwhile, one of the sativas was pushing 6'.

These are broad generalizations, but it really does help to know the growth habit of what you are growing.

Indica

Sativa

 

[deptrai]

Growing is much like fishing... growing the plant is like fighting that big king salmon and scooping him up with the net. Harvesting is like having to fillet out that big ole salmon and get him ready for the smoker. Not so much fun.

Not a salmon fisherman, but we do regularly put 50 Albacore on the boat. I keep them on ice and they're easier to clean the next day.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Not sure how badly I want to wade into this, lol, but...
Croatsan I just want to point out that, from my experience, OG is anything but a whiner.
MP that Golden Tiger is beautiful- nice to see it again. I've got a mini one going but it fell on hard times. Better luck next time- I may reveg it.
OG I totally know where you're coming from - trimming is brutal and I've done lots of epic full day/late night sessions that made me feel pretty much like I was run over by a truck. I dread it. At least half of me is happy when a plant has issues and I have an excuse to throw it in the hash trimmings pile.
But you'll never convince these guys that they don't want a huge pile of bud to trim. They'll figure it out.
The vinyl gloves are great -if you don't to be all sticky and smelly.
I do a lot of hunting and fishing and food gathering. Just finished making 30 pounds of candied king salmon today. Was about 20 pounds by the time got it in the freezer because I tried to eat it all over the course of making it, as usual. I get the analogy. The fun is fleeting. It's hard work . Lucky I have such a short memory. Hitting the ocean again tomorrow - and looking forward to it too. Will regret it later.
Blah blah blah.
Peace guys.

 

[OlderGrower]

Not sure how badly I want to wade into this, lol, but...
Croatsan I just want to point out that, from my experience, OG is anything but a whiner.
MP that Golden Tiger is beautiful- nice to see it again. I've got a mini one going but it fell on hard times. Better luck next time- I may reveg it.
OG I totally know where you're coming from - trimming is brutal and I've done lots of epic full day/late night sessions that made me feel pretty much like I was run over by a truck. I dread it. At least half of me is happy when a plant has issues and I have an excuse to throw it in the hash trimmings pile.
But you'll never convince these guys that they don't want a huge pile of bud to trim. They'll figure it out.
The vinyl gloves are great -if you don't to be all sticky and smelly.
I do a lot of hunting and fishing and food gathering. Just finished making 30 pounds of candied king salmon today. Was about 20 pounds by the time got it in the freezer because I tried to eat it all over the course of making it, as usual. I get the analogy. The fun is fleeting. It's hard work . Lucky I have such a short memory. Hitting the ocean again tomorrow - and looking forward to it too. Will regret it later.
Blah blah blah.
Peace guys.

Oh I am not suggesting that they do not want a huge pile of buds to trim I am merely saying if given the choice I would prefer to have a staggered harvest over the course of a few weekends, say the same strain that were put into flower 1 week apart from each other that way I only had to trim 4 oz per week as opposed to 12 in one shot. Nice looking smoked salmon by the way.


Oh and according to my wife I whine all the time, like today when I broke my little toe. I had no idea laying on the floor screaming MOTHERF%^KER who left the vacuum in the hallway was a form of whining but hey the wife is never wrong

 

[badams]

I've never heard my wife tell me I whine. In fact I have never heard any complaints about me at all... I wear hearing aids.

 

[Major PITA]

I broke my little toe.

I hate it when that happens.
Really? I hope you are joking. Hurts like a SOB!