Plant Goes From Flowering to Vegetative State, Should I Harvest?

[jrogern]

I have never grown a weed plant before and just moved to Colorado. I purchased a plant at a recreational store thinking it would just fit in with the other house plants and grow slowly (yeah, dummy me). The plant is an 818 Headband. I purchased it around March and put it in the window and watered it, also fertilized with Microlife Liquid Organics, Maximum Bloom 3-8-3, just like the other house plants. I honestly did not know what I was or am doing and really did not have any expectations except to own my first weed plant.

So, the plant grew and grew and I finally replanted it in a 3-4 gallon pot. It then started flowering beautifully with white pistils,, etc. But once the season changed and the daylight grew longer and night grew shorter I noticed that it started growing again. At first I was surprised but then started wondering what the heck was wrong with it. I decided to go to the GWE site and do some research. I found out that the plants need at least 12 hours of darkness, or some scheduled strategy to grow and flower successfully. My plant has just sat in at very sunny window for the whole time it has been growing.

The only other thing I can find on the site are people asking about re-vegging their plants after harvest, but nothing about what to do with a plant that is currently going through this stage. I also read about re-vegetated plants becoming male/female, I looked carefully today and it looks like it is getting balls (forgive me if that is the wrong term), but can't be sure. I took the attached pictures to show both the plant and what it is doing and some close ups to show what I think maybe balls.

My question is, even though the pistils are still white, should I go ahead and harvest it or just let it grow. From what I read, leaving it to continue growing, it will eventually begin to flower again, is that correct? Or, should I just go ahead and harvest the poor thing? Appreciate the feedback.

[berrypilot]

🌱 There's nothing to harvest yet unfortunately. You don't really have buds. If you keep giving it long days, it will completely revert back to the vegetative stage and start growing new leaves and stems, getting bigger, though the shape is getting very tall and thin so I'm not sure if you want it to get bigger. If you want it to make flowers you just need to make sure it's getting 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every night. The easiest way to do that is to put it in a light-proof room or closet with your grow lights on a timer. If you are going to keep giving it light from the window, you need to move it somewhere completely dark every night. Once it starts getting 12-hour nights, it will start making flowers again, though it will revert again if it starts getting light at night. It needs 12+ hour nights all the way until harvest day. Here's a page that shows what buds look like when they're ready to harvest. If you harvest too early they won't have any potency. Here's a page that shows the difference between male and female pre-flowers, though if you see pistils it's almost certainly female! 🌱

[jrogern]

Thank you very much the feedback is greatly appreciated. Prior to the revegetation stage it looked like it was forming buds, then all of a sudden that changed. I will begin the process for the 12+ hours of darkness tonight and see how things work out.

[berrypilot]

🌱 Let us know how it goes! 🌱

[jrogern]

Well, it has been about one month now since I started putting the plant in the dark for 12+ hours. It did stop the vegetation process and the plant started flowering again. Unfortunately, I don't believe that it is going to be salvageable. We are definitely not going to get any buds. So, my question is, should I cut it down and dry it out to see if I can get some Shake out of it or is that also a waste of time? See new pictures of current state. Thanks again.

[GenghisGreen]

My plant is an outdoor plant. I took into consideration the flowering stretch because I can only allow it to get so tall for opsec purposes so I forced it into flowering by bringing into my 1st floor bathroom for its 12 hours of uninterrupted light. Depending on my work schedule, some days she gets a little more light or a little less light than 12 hours per day but I attempt to stay as close to 12 hours of darkness as possible. And she is doing great other than some issues on fan leaves.

so if you can get her somewhere for 12 hours a day of uninterrupted darkness, force the flowering that way as I have.