Question about cola formation?

[transcend]

Hi all,

I'm at week 3 of flowering and I think the majority of the stretch is finished now, decent budlets formed and first sugar leaves (I think) appearing.

I've been scouring the net looking for an answer but haven't found anything definitive. I hope it's not too dumb of a question, but this is my first grow so uncharted territory for me..

Do the colas form on top of the new post-stretch growth (making the plant taller still) or do the existing bud sites down the stems fill out and form the cola that way?

It's more curiosity than anything, I still have plenty of headroom in my tent just in case it's the former.

Thanks in advance for the info!

[alltatup]

There may be a liittle more stretch in them, but what you see is what you gonna get as far as colas go. If they get good light, they will just get ginormously phat over the next 8-9 weeks...

[Puglover1]

Week 3 - If I remember correctly, it's been a while, they keep forming more growth on top, fill in between buds to form big colas, then they get fat and hard.

[gbauto]

I've found that overall height seems to be more of a genetic expression, so there is a large difference in how sativa and indica dominant strains stretch and flower.
Your girl seems to be indica dom, so I wouldn't expect much more overall stretch, but the individual colas will continue to add bracts for weeks to come.
I'm currently running 2 strains-a very indica girl along with a trio of sativa-heavy hybrids.
The indica stopped stretching after about 4 wks, but the sativa's are still heavy with fresh pistals.

[Ckbrew]

Once the stretch is over, what you see is what you get. The buds will get larger and fatter. If you want super large colas, trim off the lower bud sites. This will give you large "show case" buds but will lower the overall yield. I only trim what will never see light, spread out everything you can to make sure light is available to all the bud sites.

[Gluteous]

Agree with Altatup and Ckbrew, after about week three you've achieved 'bud set' and WYSIWYG. But they'll fatten up like mofo's. Hopefully.

[transcend]

Cool thanks for the info people!
Think I'll follow your lead Ckbrew and keep the vast majority of the bud sites. There's a handful right down the bottom that are looking rather wispy compared to the rest so they might go..
As cool as the idea of getting some pinup colas on my first grow is, better yield takes the win at the moment!

[Puglover1]

That bottom stuff is good to add to the top bud when you're rolling joints. Get some inventory then first go for the trophy pics. I harvested the tops of my plants first, then a few weeks later I harvested the bottom halves. It was worth it.

[Rwise]

Another way to go is let those lower bud stay and when you harvest (the big fat buds) leave them again and let them fatten up, yes it does take time.