Are these ready to switch to flowering?

[GrumpyOldMan]

These are all right at 6 week of vegetative state, I planted them on or just after November 5th, they've been on an 18/6 schedule from early on.
Should I wait until I see flowers forming, or should I force them into flowering with the light schedule?
Or should I wait longer? I've got several sets of the leaves like I show in the close-ups on each plant
They're LA Peyote Kush Fems - NOT autos
Any thoughts?
Thanks
GrumpyOldMan

[Ckbrew]

They are photos, so they will not flower until you change the light. In general plan on flipping them when they are about .5 the final height you want / have room for. Usually around 8 weeks but it is totally up to you when to do it. I would say they need a trim. Start with the damaged leaves. Open it up more and spread out the branches. In the third pix near the top bunch of leaves it looks like something white is on the leaf. It looks like something maybe spilled on it, but make sure it is not white mildew. Don't think it is but pix can get distorted when posted in a format like this. Hard to tell how tall they are, but it looks like they could grow out a bit before you send them to flower. You are in control of them. Make them do what you want them to do, but listen to what they are telling you what they need to do what you want.

[Gingerbeard]

There is a mark on one of the poles in my tent that tells me when to flip. Any taller in veg and I run the chance of growing too tall for my tent.
I'm growing twice-topped and topless LST. It looks like either way I go, 8-10 weeks is enough time vegging to get to my mark. You can do yourself a disservice by flipping too early.
In your grow information, you say you're using FFOF and brick coco. Can you expand a little more? Ratio? When?

[gbauto]

I find that most of the hybrid strains I've run in the past that have been topped a couple of times will get to about 12-14" above the pot in about 5-6 weeks.
I flip to flower at this stage.
It's not uncommon for the plants to finish 36-40" above the pot when using this method.
Obviously, it's strain-dependent but this is what I have seen.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Thanks everyone for the input, Ckbrew, you confirmed a few things, I'll wait a week or two before I switch the lights,
They're not very tall, about 6", but you can't really see it, but I've been doing LST for awhile now, so the plant would be about 12 - 14" tall standing upright,
which also confirmed that I DO need to trim some of the fan leaves, I'm just a little leary of whacking away on my plants.
I'll trim them up and post better pictures, and as far as the white spots, that was indeed spilled food, not white mildew.

Thanks again
GrumpyOldMan

[SoOrbudgal]

Great idea

[Ckbrew]

As long as they are still in veg, you can do a lot to them, even abuse them and they will bounce back. I think they actually grow stronger, faster when leaves are removed. The plant thinks leaves gone, must grow more. Rule of thumb, take 30-40% of leaves, never more than 50%. You will be amazed at the amount of growth after a good defol. If you listen they will tell you when you have taken the right amount of leaves.

[dilvish]

if you are okay with their current size then yes go ahead otherwise let them go as long as you want...remember though that you are growing 3 plants in a 4x4 tent so you can run out of room real quick with photos if left too long. Then the issue becomes light and air flow....

[gbauto]

Good advice.
Things can get really crowded in a hurry.
These trellis nets are @ 13" & 26" above the lid.
I have learned to not let them get too large in veg because some strains will get HUGE.
Here are examples of my rig and the consequences of vegging too long.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TTapk8sAnFegfbHu9

These were flipped to flower when the six main tops reached the first net.
Everything else is resulting growth from stretch.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Well, I think the first thing I need to do is to defol them, I've noticed the fan leaves were getting outta hand anyway.
Thanks for the tip on how much to take off, that was my biggest question - how much to remove...
As far as switching them over, they're still a little small, so I'll probably wait a week or so, that would be 8 weeks total veg time
I'll see how they do after I trim them up.

Thanks again
GrumpyOldMan

[Ckbrew]

First time I did this I couldn't believe what I was doing. Now I'm used to it easy. I start with damaged leaves, then thin out what ever is interfering with other leaves. Everyone develops their own style.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Ok, now I have another problem, heat...I had to re adjust my lights since I was planning to go to flowering mode soon, and now my temps are running on the upper 70's and low 80's (82 is the highest I have recorded) at the top of the plants
I've opened my tent, added a box fan and a 12" oscillating fan to go with the other 2 - 6" fans
No matter what I do, my temps are in the upper 70's and low 80's with my humidity running in the low 40% range

What it too hot? I've read that anything under 85 is ok?
Please Help,
Thanks,
GrumpyOldMan

[billyboy]

Low 80s are no problem in flower, particularly early flower. If you are getting a good 10-15 degrees difference between day and night, they will love it. I do try and get the highs under 80 in late flower and closer to 75 and the nights between 60-65. RH @40% is great IMO.

[Gingerbeard]

Someone help me out with this.
Cooler temps than GrOlMa is having are good. But cooler temperatures at night are better for flowering. Check your temperature when the lights come on to see how they are at night.
If you can, leave your tent open when the light is on.

[Gingerbeard]

billyboy, you posted when I was typing. Thanks for the ° info.

[Puglover1]

Last summer I froze a few empty 28 oz bottles of Powerade filled with water and stood them around in my closet on the hottest days, it definitely helped keep the temps a bit lower and RH a little higher.

[Ckbrew]

So long as RH stays in the low 40% I think an occasional temp increase to the low 80s would be ok. If they both go up then you have to do something different. Did you increase the intensity of the light? Not sure how just moving the lights would increase the temp. You do have an exhaust fan at the top of the tent? Heat rises. I also use a 6 inch fan at the top of the tent pointed down at the light to help dissipate heat from the light and allow it to be exhausted out of the tent. This will also increase the life of the light. Is your exhaust fan turned up all the way? Idk where you are, but in the northern hemisphere, open a window? you have to be more careful of heat & humidity when they come into the last ripen phase of flower. Then do what ever it takes to keep the RH% low, and the heat.

[GrumpyOldMan]

OK, Sorry for the delayed response, Thanks Ckbrew for the info,

As far as lowering the lights, I found that the light manufacturer recommended to lower the lights a few inches from where I had them, and when I did is when the problems began,
my in-tent temps went from mid to upper 70's to 80+, all by lowering the light 4", I even put a box fan blowing cool room air at the plants, but to no avail, mind you, the side is completely open as in the pictures.

I think I've come up with a viable solution, living on the East Coast, not far from DC, I'm able to open my windows and let natural convection cool the room enough overnight to where it stays relatively cool, providing the ambient temp is low enough overnight.

Here are the latest picture of my setup and plants. you can't really see it too well in the picture of the tent, but I have a 6" 390 CFM fan running 24/7 in the top right corner of the picture,
Also there's a second 6" fan in the back corner pointing down just above the back light, and a 12" oscillating fan in the back left corner.

These pictures were taken today, I think I'm going to shift them to flower now, what do you all think?

Thanks,
GrumpyOldMan

[Ckbrew]

Looking at your setup, if it were me I would change; Move your exhaust fan to the top ceiling port of you tent above where it is now so it blows vertical, straight up not sideways. Reposition one of your fans so it blows across the bottom of the tent horizontal across the tops of the pots to increase air circulation on bottom of tent. Don't take the manufacturer's recommendation on light height as absolute, I use LED lights and I have found that I can not keep them as close as mfgr says, they are just too hot and have caused heat stress from the radiant heat. If you think you need to move them higher then do so, you are in charge. A trick I learned is place the back of your hand below the light, then slowly move it up toward the light. Pay attention to the heat on your hand. At some point you will feel a dramatic increase in heat for the distance your hand is. I keep my lights a few inches above that distance from the tops of the plants. Are the lights adjustable? Turning them down will reduce heat. The greatest light intensity is needed during bloom. Do you keep the bottom rectangular ports open on the bottom? If you pump out air from the top if needs to be replaced with air from the bottom. The ambient air temp in the room where your tent is will affect the inside temperature of the tent. Put a fan blowing directly on your lights to dissipate heat. If you want to remove heat from the lights it needs to be transferred to the air first then pumped out. Your thermometer may be affected by radiant heat from the lights. Try moving the thermometer to see if that makes a difference in the temp readings.

As for the plants themselves, I would do a pre-flip defoliation, then let them run about a week before flipping when ever you plan the flip. It is your grow, flip when you think it is ready. As they are now, I don't think you will be dissapointed if you flip now, I believe this is you first grow correct? They could be pushed a little harder, but you are still in a learning curve so either way I think you will be happy with the outcome. The plants look very nice.

[3Berries]

The large temp increase is probably the sensor picking up heat from the light hitting it and not the air. I agree with moving the exhaust fan and I like to stir up the air above the lights.