The
flowering stage of growing marijuana plants
Cannabis Buds | Important: Nutrients & Patience
(click to enlarge ANY
images)
 The
flowering stage of marijuana growth is probably the most satisfying, as your hard work
and devoted time begins to show a pay-off. It's
also a very telling time for the sex of your plants. Once
your plants have reached 20" inches or so and look
strong and green (well nourished), it is then time to change your lights to 12
hours ON
and 12 hours OFF. This makes your plant think that Fall has come, and
that it is
time to begin flowering (budding).
This is a separate room in my garden. You do
not want ANY light when it is in it's OFF cycle (none).
Schedule your gardening time for when the lights are ON.
You can garden in the night cycle, but you need to get
green light bulbs - it's enough for you to see, but does
not harm the plants at all.
 You
may notice, I DO cut off some large fan leaves as the
plant grows (just a few), which allows more light to get
to the lower buds on the plant. Depends on your set-up.
Remember what time your "dawn" was? This is where I
want you to keep that the same. In other words, if
you were running 18 hours ON and your dawn was at 4:00
a.m., then we still want your dawn at 4:00 a.m. So
set your timers to 12 ON and 12 OFF starting at 4:00
a.m. (my time example).
This adds no additional stress to your plants, and
has their "sun" coming up at the same time as in the
vegetative stage. Anything that does NOT promote
stress is very good.
Sexing: Unless
you are planning on breeding (not cloning, but
breeding), then you will be destroying your MALE plants
as soon as you can define their sex. Here is an
excellent photo of the female marijuana plant. You
will distinctly see two pistils at the branch "joints",
you will generally see this difference within 10 days
after moving into this flowering stage light period. We
want female marijuana plants (sensimilla) only - High in
THC, low (to no) seeds.
Lights: We have
changed our lights to 12 hours ON and 12 hours OFF. This
now makes the plant think "Fall" has come, and moves it
into this final flowering stage. Keep high intensity
lamps about 2 feet from the plants... fluorescents can
actually be touching the plants. Put a thermostat by
your budding tops to see if they are too hot - that
would mean the lights are too close.
Temperature & Humidity:
We still attempt to maintain 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit
when the lights are on. Too HOT is NOT good in
this phase.
Watering: Same
applies, water when plants are dry (reference
germinating for more watering frequency
information). Crusty top dirt dry.
Air Circulation:
Keep the air circulating with fresh air. Do not 'blow'
the fans directly on the plants for extended periods...
blow the air 'around' the cannabis plants. They require
the fresh air exchange.
 Nutrients:
Stop with Nitrogen nutrients at this time. The plants
need more Phosphorous and other nutrients during this
stage. PH level affects all the stages of marijuana
growth - on a scale of 1-14 - seven (7) is neutral. The
ideal PH range for cannabis is 6.5 - extremes above or
below this level will slow growth and be a give-away
that something is not right.
You want Phosphorous, Potassium, Magnesium and some
Sulfur (there are other micro-nutrients usually found in
good blooming feeds).
Once a plant 'shows' slow growth
or visible symptoms of any kind, it has already
experienced nutritional stress. Allow some time (once
diagnosed & corrected) for the plant to recuperate to a
vigorous growth stage. This is an entire science
and I do not have enough space here to cover it all -
but I want you to know the important stuff.
Length of Flowering Stage:
This will vary for every type of marijuana plant.
Generally, the seeds come with an indication of the
flowering stage length. However, that is not
necessary in knowing the best time to harvest your
cannabis plants. You should have (or buy) a small
30X magnifier (my recommendation) - or, you can also
view the buds with an 8X magnifier, but you DO want a
good magnifier to help you distinguish the absolute best
time to harvest your marijuana plants.
You have noticed the "snow" like effect all around
your buds - these are the trichomes that actually
contain the THC we are seeking. When magnified,
these tell you exactly when she is ready for harvest.
Which brings us to
harvesting your marijuana.
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