Trouble reading today's article? Click
here: Issue #290 - Sunday, November 5, 2017
Dear Fellow
Grower,
In today's issue... - Learn why your buds are taking so long to mature and what you can do to make them ripen faster!
- Do you only want plants that finish flowering quickly? We have the answer for you!
- A first-time grower from Brazil sent us some downright formidable pics of his Skunk #1!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of
GrowWeedEasy.com) "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." ~Ralph Waldo
Emerson
Why are my buds taking so long to mature? by Nebula Haze |
Sometimes you'll run into a situation where the buds of one or more of your cannabis plants don't appear to be maturing as fast as expected, even after you've been in the flowering stage as long as the breeder has estimated. Why isn't your plant ready
to harvest yet and what can you do about it?
Let's go through some of the most common reasons your cannabis may be taking a long time to mature. Then I'll explain exactly what you need to do to speed things along so your buds ripen faster!
Strain Some cannabis strains just take
longer than others to finish ripening in the flowering stage; especially Sativa, Haze, and "XXL" strains (the fact these plants spend longer in the flowering stage is part of what makes them yield so much).
Another thing to consider is that some strains are "lazy" and their buds don't look ready for a long time, but then suddenly look mature almost overnight. I think of these end-heavy
flowering plants as "procrastinators" :) Make sure to keep a close eye on your plant if it's taking a while because you might be surprised to look one day and realize it's just about ready to harvest!
This cannabis bud looks like it's a long way from harvest even though it's been 10 weeks in the flowering stage - look at all those white pistils!
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Here's that same cola only 7 days later. It has almost completely matured in that time, and it's also gained a significant amount of weight. Nearly
all the white pistils have darkened and curled in, and the trichomes have turned cloudy. I think of strains that do this last-minute spurt as "procrastinators" :)
This impressive growth right before buds are mature is one of the reasons why you don't want to harvest early; you could be losing out on potency
and yields when you only need to wait a few more days!
Unrealistic breeder expectations The speed at which your plant grows can seem faster or slower depending on your expectations. If you expect your plant for
flowering for 8 weeks but instead it takes 12, your plant will seem slow. But if you expect 13 weeks of flowering and only need 12, 12 weeks seems faster.
When looking at the estimated flowering time for a strain (information you can find with nearly every strain from a trustworthy seed source), remember that most breeders start counting when first flowers appear, not after the switch to 12/12. That might be fine for outdoor growers, but indoor growers should add two weeks to the breeder's listed time for a more accurate estimate.
Even when doing that, in general, most cannabis plants take a little longer than the breeder's recommendation to be "fully" mature. This is partially because people are more likely to buy "fast-maturing" strains.
Heat or Light Stress High heat or very bright light levels can cause your plant to keep putting out new waves of growth as a result of stress.
If the top leaves of your plant are starting to look yellow or burned and you keep seeing the tops of your buds closest to the lights put out new white pistils or foxtails, it's a sign of possible light burn or heat
burn. This can cause the plant to keep trying to make new, "fresh" buds that aren't getting stressed by heat or light.
If you keep seeing more and more new growth on the buds closest to the lights (especially when combined with all the top leaves being yellow) it is likely a sign of heat or light stress. Buds like this will keep getting thicker and thicker on top closest
to the lights.
Another example of the plant making new buds in response to heat or light stress is when you see "foxtails." Don't pay attention to the trichomes on this type of new growth
when determining when to harvest. Make sure you're checking the trichomes on the sides of the buds with older growth. And of course, make sure to fix the temps and/or raise your grow lights to prevent further damage until harvest! LED Grow Lights Some LED growers have getting odd results with flowering times, and certain plants seem to take much longer than expected for buds to mature. This seems to happen more often with auto-flowering strains though this issue can also affect photoperiod (regular) strains. In either case, you can get plants to mature faster by reducing the number of hours of light they're getting each day.
For
some growers, LED grow lights seem to be associated with longer flowering periods Reverting Back to the Vegetative Stage
One possible reason your buds may have stopped maturing
is the plant is "re-vegging." This means it's reverting back to the vegetative stage in which the plant only grows stems and leaves.
This happens most often when plants are somehow getting light during their 12-hour dark period. Sometimes it can take just a small amount of light to trigger the plant to reveg (for example an indicator light, or a small light leak).
Re-vegging will cause buds to stop maturing and if the plant isn't but back into flowering the buds will turn brown and die after a few weeks. If you see new round or "smooth" leaves appearing on the buds, and buds stop getting bigger, it's a sign the plant is revegging.
Sometimes an extremely heat/light stressed plant may show similar symptoms. How can you tell the difference? In the case of heat/light-stress, your plant puts out lots of new foxtails/buds,
while a re-vegging plant stops making new buds or fattening the ones that are there.
In the example below, you can see the strange leaves are appearing on new buds/foxtails. If you're seeing the plant make lots of new, strange looking buds, it's most likely heat stress or light stress because a re-vegging plant doesn't make new buds. These are more like out-of-control sugar leaves.
By the Way, Check Trichomes on Buds, Not Leaves
Make sure you're looking in the right places! Check the trichomes only on buds, not any of the leaves including the small sugar leaves. If plant keeps putting out new white hairs (pistils), check the trichomes on the sides of the buds where there is older growth, instead of looking only at new growth.
Ignore trichomes
on leaves because it's the buds you want to harvest on time! Wait, there's more! Click any of the links below to learn:
Feverishly Fast-finishing Flowers!
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Do you hate waiting for your cannabis plants to finish flowering?
Do you ever ask them, "Why can't you just go faster?!"
If so, be nicer to your plants. They're trying their best!
But next time, you can get some strains that finish quickly and you might be harvesting weeks earlier!
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"This is the best and complex site about this subject ever. A lot of information very useful about anything.
Keep up the good work! ;)"
~Lucian |
Trophy Picture of the Week! |
"Hello,
Firstly, I want to thank you! I started cultivating with the help of your site, even with the difficulties of Brazil. I also did a course in cannabis training university, anyway your website is much more detailed and so enriched my knowledge much more. I am sending photos of the first plant I have collected in my life. It's a "Skunk No.
1".
Best wishes!"
-kmoura |
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to
make it easier for new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We are updating and adding articles every single week and our goal is to eventually build a comprehensive growing resource so anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone :) |
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water
doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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