Tied my colas down....Good or Bad?

[TOKABIGONE]

Today is end of week 5 flower. In an attempt to get even more light to the sides of my colas and my lower buds closer, I decided to try some more LST on my colas. What do you think? Was this a mistake at this point in flower? Do you think they will turn back up? My 3 100 watts actual, 300w total combined lights were at about 10 inches above the tallest with no sign of light stress or burn and I believe the stretch is done. Started seeing trichomes about a week ago so I'm wanting them to fatten now as much as possible. I'm in no rush to finish and will not harvest until at least 20% amber on the buds. One plant was looking a bit yellow overall but I've not given them nitrogen for 10 days now. They're due for bloom nutes tomorrow. Should I give them a little nitrogen? It could possibly be a little light stress too as they were closer than the 12" recommended. Thanks again for your comments.

[Farmbuck]

You are just fine sir..! You don't need nitro at this stage so give your girls just bloom.

[TOKABIGONE]

You don't have to SIR me Farmbuck, I work for a living. At least I used to, lol !! Even if I am the oldest 'Fart' around! Thanks for the input!

[crucialbunny]

You nailed it. Looks good and the lower buds will show their appreciation.

[TOKABIGONE]

And I appreciate you crucialbunny for the response and the flowers, lol! Checked the survey lately? Finally a vote in my category! I wish they would have left some comment tho. I might still be eldest, Hah!

[grouchyoldman]

Good Call TOKABIGONE!

I spread my maturing colas right at five weeks into flower to flood the interior with light.The lower budsites are fattening and showing more red pistils. I also removed a few fan leaves that were preventing light from penetrating deeper down. After tying everything down I was able to lower the light several inches without any light burn.

[TOKABIGONE]

Thanks grouchyoldman, I lowered mine this morning back down to 11" above the canopy. I have 3 100w Quantums on a pvc rack I made so the combined footprint fills the entire 30" by 48" space with a high PAR value. Critical Mass strain is a shorter bushy plant with very tight node spacing supposed to have wide short colas. The upper right plant in the red pot is a clone from topping at 3 weeks old with no training except I fimed it when I transplanted. It's a darker shade of green because I had to mix my coco 50/50 with some Miracle Grow to have enough medium to plant it. Didn't feed for the first 4 weeks but it grew like crazy with no issues. Wouldn't do that from seed but the clone seemed to like it.

[TOKABIGONE]

UPDATE: 6 days since I hog tied them again and the even canopy with, close as I dare, even PAR 300w total actual at 11" is showing positive results. The mid cola buds and the bottom buds are all responding to the intense light with enthusiasm. Many here have said that the low buds should be removed to encourage the colas to fatten. I refuse to as these will all be good smoke and treats. There are literally hundreds of them over 4 plants. Critical Mass is 80% Indica, 20% Sativa so is a short bushy plant with dense buds and is slow to veg and flower but a heavy producer. Purportedly 20 to 22% THC and 5% CBD. We shall see...I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken!

Truth be told I can't honestly say that I have not removed any. A few times now I have trimmed 1 or 2 and put them in a tiny jelly sampler jar in the oven at 260 degrees for 45 min to dry and decarb them to just smokable for my glass pipe. I'm not a fan of bongs so most of the time I use a small glass pipe. Buds are far from potent but I get a nice mellow, uplifting and cerebral trip for a couple hours. I think when properly finished it will be a good smoke or edible.

[TheKieftan]

Oh my god I have that exact same Honeywell fan I think can yours go fully horizontal to blow fully vertical too mines been on since early November without a single chirp in complaint

[TOKABIGONE]

You know what they say about great minds, right? I found both of mine at a Goodwill store in Prescott. $9 for the Honeywell and $2 for a 6" clip on. Low budget, high profit! Both have run continuous since late Nov, no issue. Yes to adjustment. It rustles the canopy up toward the exhaust. Clip on blows down 45 degrees to blow air under my 2 1/2 x 4ft catch tray at he bottom. I put a 1/2 inch shim under the back so runoff flows to the front per NebulaHaze tutorial.
Prevents mold.

[dilvish]

Using the GH Flora trio, you should be giving some nitrogen up to a week before harvest. Try a 1/2 tsp Micro with 3/4tsp of Bloom and 1/2tsp of CaliMagic. They are looking good but likely a few weeks away from harvest. They should be allowed to fatten up more.

[TOKABIGONE]

I asked the Nitro question last week. The consensus agreed with my thought on veg gardening, that being Dont Feed a plant nitrogen that is preparing for Harvest. They will be allowed to take their little sweety pie time. I like Big B.....

[TOKABIGONE]

I just read this post again and realized that is almost exactly my nute schedule for the last 4 weeks except the nitro. Good call !

[TOKABIGONE]

I had to swap my lights on from day to nite to fix temp issue as spring is here with 80 degree days. They were off for 27 hours from 6pm to 9pm the next day which was yesterday. This morning when I checked them I saw buds on one plant had doubled in girth during that time from 1" to 2". I gave them their first sip of molasses today so will be watching for that reaction. My question is do you think growth and ripening happens more in dark or light? I believe dark as photo synthesis is not happening so they concentrate on fluid uptake to store for daytime thus refreshing themselves which causes them to swell up with nutrients in the buds. Maybe that's why we flush before harvest? I'm thinking about doing this once or twice per week for 24 hours to give them a pause and refresh period. Any thoughts?

[Farmbuck]

Well maybe it is my imagination but I notice in the mid of blooming once the lights goes on a change of volume(size increase) in them. Is it during light or darkness they get "fat". Just wondering. I'm saying this because during their "night" I'm not in the room. Hummm wondering putting an infrared camera on timelapse for night surveillance to explain that theory.

[TOKABIGONE]

Farmbuck , The proof is in the pudding as the saying goes. At 6 1/2 weeks in I'm experiencing the phenomenon with great joy! Bigger from morning to night. The light at the end of the tunnel is a little brighter, non? Pardon my French, lol!

I so wish I could afford a $1000 plus infrared camera for what I would want. Maybe more as it's been a couple years since I priced them. In the late 60's when I was a Combat Trained Marine Aviation Electronics tech in Viet Nam doing repairs to a then secret classified Infrared mapping system, we saw nothing but transistors to replace daily and then reinstall the box back into the nose of our birds. Unarmed super fast mach 2 Phantom F-4 craft watch over flew suspected jungle positions to detect the enemy. Who's enemy I often asked? Very unstable electronics. Now my $10 digital watch is more powerful and much more reliable! Funny my entire family had to be background checked by FBI before I could be approved as secret classified to make sure we weren't spies. Stable middle class folks, huh? Remember this was ten years before the phrase digital chip was coined.

[TOKABIGONE]

At age 52 I logged 22 hours toward my private ticket before I ran out of money to finish Farmbuck. I've been a space nut and sci fi fan since I was 10. I wonder what it would be like to grow in zero gravity? Heavy colas would not need support. I'm now a bit to old to qualify but would go in a heartbeat if I could. Maybe be buried on the moon? Why not? There might be a fortune to be made as a Lunar Real Estate agent, lol!

[Farmbuck]

Are you following SpaceX TOKABIGONE ?

[TOKABIGONE]

When a child I read a story about a multi billionaire who financed and developed freight carrying rockets more efficient and cheaper than the government could. Sound familiar? Elon Musk is one of a few billionaires who are pursuing this goal and imho is indeed accomplishing it. Within 25 years there could be regular freight runs to both the moon and Mars to service the communities there. Private enterprise has always been more efficient than gov.