6’6” Auto in 60 Days

[chaosvox]

Okay so I germinated some auto flowering seeds on January 25, 2022. Three strains Critical Purple, Drandaddy Purple and Sour Diesel. All germinated fine and had them in pots within a week. Once they hit a size they could be considered Vegetation stage I transplanted them into 3 gallon cloth pots. Two weeks later I started to see little white hairs right on time. Well for 4 of them anyways. The Sour Diesel (SD) was already about 6 inches taller than the others and no sign of flowering. 4 weeks (2 weeks into Flowering) and all is well and as expected except for SD. They were now twice the size of the other plants and still no signs of flowering. This continued until about March 25 when I noticed some white hairs just trying to poke out. By this time they were approximately 5’6” and large distancing between nodes. Similar to what happens when your plants aren’t getting enough light but they were getting like 1,000PAR. Now they are 6’6” and only have a small little bush of white hairs at each bud site. The plant is growing like crazy and appears to be slowing down and the buds are finally starting to form but very slowly. Since the auto flowing genetics are in their infancy I am hoping that I have stumbled onto an opportunity to create a 6-7 foot auto flowering strain that may take 4-6 weeks longer but will produce or yield a monstrous amount. So what’s the deal? Is the plant confused and not sure what to do? Should I just do nothing and let it do what it’s going to do or do I switch to a 12/12 light schedule in case that is what it needs to fully cross over to flowering stage? Is there something I can do to help it along and create a monster auto? I am so hoping someone can tell me what I can do and what happened.

[chaosvox]

Sorry here are some pics

[chaosvox]

I just did a little research and learned that my situation isn’t that uncommon. Apparently I am right about the plant needing some encouragement to flower properly however the veg time is vastly different for each strain and could take up to a long time before it decides to flower. So…. I guess it is and should be looked at case by case. In my scenario I NEED the plant to flower asap because I have run out of vertical space. I have learned that plunging the plant into 48 hours of continuous and total darkness will flip the switch then go to a 12/12 lighting schedule. (Btw why plunging? Is this just to make it sound more dramatic or is there an action or motion that is considered the proper way to plunge a plant into total darkness? If so, Could someone please post a video to illustrate how this is done?

[SoOrbudgal]

Bend it over tie it down and how many watts from the wall do your lights draw?

[Rwise]

There are autos that take up to 8 weeks to start flowering now, instead of the 3-5 weeks. But there have also been mistakes at the seed houses and photos shipped in the place of autos. In that case 12/12 would be needed.
With a plant that tall, what are you doing for lights? Or how deep into the bush does the light penetrate? Maybe time to study up on plant trimming/training and maybe cloning if its a photo.

[Ckbrew]

You sure it is not a photo sent by mistake? Either way, if the height is an issue, top it, bend it over, hit it with a broom.

[chaosvox]

Ha ha …. Yes I am sure it is an auto. Why because it’s been flowering kinda for the past five weeks on an 18/6 lighting schedule. The best way I can explain it is the plant never stopped growing their flower didn’t know whether to really flower or not but so it kind of does but doesn’t. I am setting up the room so I can go to a 1212 lighting schedule but I need to remove some other plants that are still in veg then I can do that. I’m also going to plunge it into darkness for the first 48 hours. Unless somebody knows something and has a better idea. I have already conceded that I’m going to need to bend the top over and actually should have done so already. However I am dealing with a flooded house due to an idiot plumber as well. So I really appreciate your input and advice. That’s how we learn right?

[chaosvox]

Rwise… you are thinking like me which gives me more confidence in my decisions. I have the light mounted to the ceiling with no pulley giving the plant the most room I can. But it is now too close in which I turned down the lights which means less penetration. Luckily it is not a bushy plant and I have enclosed it in walls of Mylar sheeting to spread the light around mor evenly. I will be training/bending the top over to give it more room before the plunge. I have read about how some strains take much longer to flower but either way it has grown enough and needs to put all its energies into flowering not growing. Hence the plunge.

[Rwise]

IF its truly an auto, 12/12 will not make any dif. What does the breeder say about its time line? I grew a Himalayan Blue Diesel auto that took over 130 days to finish and grew nice and tall. So in todays world an auto can finish in 60 days or take upwards of 130 days. Light penetration is a concern, you may consider doing a double harvest, take the ripe fat buds and let the lower larf fill out. Others would take off what light cannot reach so the upper buds get fatter.
Have fun!

[chaosvox]

Thank you for your response. It appears you might be right. I just posted an update to my plants with heading “Amber tops and white pistils help!” These are the strangest plants I’ve grown by far and I love it. But I’m at a crossroad as they appear done almost but pumping out a lot of new white pistils still. I germinated them 1/25 so they have been in flower 14 weeks or so.

[SoOrbudgal]

You can take those amber tops an leave the rest to ripen.

[chaosvox]

Yeah that’s what I usually do but the amber tops are on the same buds as the white pistils. I have harvested the buds that have a lot of red even though they have white pistils too. But again this is not normal and I’m not sure if I should just wait or disregard the white pistils and look at the trichomes as an indicator along with older pistils that have turned orange and have curled in. It appears that everything is on track with the trichomes, orange pistils, appearance smell etc… all but the white pistils. Like they did not get the instructions to stop growing new ones.

[GroBuddy]

You should look at trichomes second plant first, it sounds like you may have been looking more so at sugar leaf trichomes as they will turn amber sooner and be misleading. 10 to 15% amber when looking through a microscope considering theres millions if not billions of trichomes is hard to see the full picture. The plant needs to be ready not a top growth. All plants basically look the same when ready and you wont have pistils sticking out. First pistils will change color then pistils will curl. Next calyxes/ buds will swell and pistils will recede into calyx. That's a finished plant once that happens you can look at trichomes but you wont have to. Another thing not mentioned as much is watering at harvest. When it gets close a couple weeks out the plants stop drinking. You'll go from every 3 or 4 days watering to 6 or 7. When looking at trichomes look at the calyx/bud itself. Mainly middle and lower sites as growth or top buds closest to light will ripen sooner as well. Photos add 2 weeks to breeders flower time before even considering pulling. Flower times dont start at 12 12 light flip but when the plants actually transition into flower generally taking around 2 wks. Most photos will run 12-14weeks autos will generally run 110 days from sprout some more few may run a tad less

[Rwise]

If she is still loading up she is not done.