How soon to Flowering Stage? Any thoughts?

[ontimemom]

Hello All -

I am new here. All input is welcome. Would like to LST my girl but I’m not sure if it’s too late. Any thoughts? I’m a bit nervous that I may damage the stems. I’ve done a ton of reading and spent money on supplies. Just not sure of myself on exactly when and where to start cutting MY girl. She’s about 11 inches tall. Been growing since March 23. Any other suggestions appreciated.

[MeEasy]

I want to first welcome you to the neighborhood. As for the ladies they're looking happy n healthy, timing to switch em to flower is mostly about how much space you have because once you switch them they could double in size. I would measure the space you have total then subtract the space for your light the distance you need between the light and plants and your pots. This will tell you how tall you can let them grow.

[ontimemom]

Thank you very much! This helps a lot. I have a ways to go as my girls are about 11 inches tall and I’m shooting for a height of at least 14-16inches before switching to flowering.

[MeEasy]

ontimemom I would say it's about time to start cleaning up some of the lower growth that is not getting any light and is eating food that could be used by the growth up top. I copied this below from an article on the main site, I recommend reading the article but this is the part that explains what I'm talking about and the pic shows you about where to clean up to. Your plants might get a little droopy right after but will recover quickly and most of the time the top will start growing faster.

I included a before n after of one of my plants just as an example mine are trained different so yours won't look like this but it gives you a visual. Mine has been trimmed many times before so you don’t need to be so aggressive if you aren't sure if you should cut something off just leave it there you can always cut it off later but you can never put it back on

https://www.growweedeasy.com/defoliation

copy paste..... from article
If your plant starts getting so bushy that no light is making it down to the floor through the plant, it’s time to “clean” the bottom of the plant. First start by removing any tiny growth tips on the lower part of stems that will never be able to reach the light anyway. These will only create wispy buds at best, and you don’t want these tiny buds to steal from your main buds

[alltatup]

I totally agree with Meezy: you will avoid potential problems by opening up air circulation.

[DeadlyFruit]

Don’t be afraid to LST, the plant can take it, and better to do it now when it is youngish because the stems harden as it grows. After it starts to flower you should be pretty much done with the major training. Try to judge so you don’t damage the plant but if you happen to crack a stem just be careful not to let it separate completely and wrap it with a bit of duct tape. The tape will support it while it heals itself. It will end up being fine. Same concept as supercropping.

[SoOrbudgal]

Hello and welcome to the forum ontimemom LOL laughing as to your name. I would do LST now and remove severl of the large fans blocking those growing stems with future bud sites. Give them a drink after helps in my view with recovery. Wait a couple days and look at the ties as they will pull up/shift. Are these photoperiod or autos?

[Farmbuck]

Welcome to the family. Don't be afraid to LST her you are not in flowering stage yet . Bend her to expose some branches and yes remove a few fan leaves.

Happy growing

[ontimemom]

My lady is going through a tough time. Please assist.

I’ve done quite a bit of reading and narrowed the issue down to either too many nutes or overwatering.

Several leaves are super dark in color and the droopy. Not wilted but droopy.

So, after reading so much I’ve just left her alone. I did attempt to LST a bit after our last conversation. However; a week after the LST, I switch to 12/12 to force flower since the height is now where we want her...about 24 inches.

Again, since the dark green and droopy leaves appeared I’ve just been reading and staying hands off.

Should I.....

Flush if you all suspect too many nutrients? (GH trio - 1 teaspoon each weekly/per gallon of h20)

or,

Let her dry out if I’ve overwatered? Aerate with wooden stick to loosen up soil. Dang it. I’m in trouble. (Watering each Thursday and Sunday/one gallon at ph 6.0)

All responses are appreciated!

[UndergroundFarmer]

With enough perlite in the mix, you shouldn't have to worry about aerating the soil. Probing too much into it might damage roots. The first thing I'd suspect with dark green leaves would be nitrogen toxicity. If it is, it's an easy fix with a flush and some time to dry out a bit. Your plant may look rough for a few days after but once it gets its equilibrium back it should be fine. Luckily nitrogen can be moved around by the plant to places it is needed such as new growth.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Your issue could also be Magnesium toxicity too, but I'd still recommend the same fix. Steal this pic for later reference.

[DeadlyFruit]

The cut leaves look dark but not so much the growing plants - is that the picture lighting or do the live plants not look that dark? When I cut leaves off they wilt and look darker so that may be it. Assuming they don’t look too dark in real life they may be relatively good, although they could use some defoliation. If they are darker than the picture makes them look then it is probably nitrogen - if it is bad then a flush should set you on the right road but if the tips of the leaves are not browning then it may be you can get away with just lowering the nitrogen levels and letting it adjust without a flush.

EDIT took another look at your photos and the leaf tips are not brown, so it is likely not nitrogen toxicity. I think you may just have a genetically dark plant. It may be a hint of purple showing up or just naturally dark green. Keep an eye n them but you may not have to take any action.

[ontimemom]

Thanks for the feedback!

An update and a few photos to share.

We allowed Betty to dry out considerably. Watered her with ph (6.0) only water until at least 1/2 gallon of runoff was produced. Seems like she has grown at least two inches.

The soil used is by Roots Organic (https://www.htgsupply.com/products/r...15-cubic-feet/) and it seems to have plenty of perlite and pumice included to ensure an optimal root system. I don’t believe we were watering enough as we were only getting about a half cup of run off. Flushed her with 3 gallons of ph water (1/2gallon) of run-off and she appears happy again!

With plenty of perlite, how often should we be watering during flowering - week 2. Also, any information on nutes during flowering would be super helpful. No white hairy forms yet!!!!

Strain Grandaddy Purple

thanks!

[DeadlyFruit]

If it is organic soil you probably shouldn’t water to run off as you are washing away the natural nutrients in your soil. Are you adding anything to the soil like teas or compost? I noticed you are using liquid nutes in an organic soil so that might have made it a little too nutrient rich. People typically go in one direction or the other (organic soil with compost and worm poop etc or coco and liquid nutrients in the water) - if you are going to continue with liquid nutes then it makes more sense to water to runoff but otherwise you shouldn’t. I think I saw cloth pots? With cloth pots and a lot of perlite it is very difficult to overwater as it just runs out the bottom and evaporates off the sides, especially if you have fans blowing (which you should) so I wouldn’t worry so much about that. It also depends on how much you water and how humid your room is. I am not in the norm but I water daily with just enough for a small amount of runoff (cloth pots). I balance the volume of water and nutes so it is starting to dry a little by the next day. I occasionally skip a day if it isn’t dry enough. I I’ll use nutes most times but about once a week I use plain pH’d water to avoid nute buildup. I tend to use the nute guide on the GWE site so I am usually at about half strength or a bit above.