New White Pistils - 2nd Day of Darkness

Hi Guys,

I hope all is well on your side of the world.

I put my 2 Purple Punch plants into a dark room after 72 days of flower. The rest of the batch finished up at 63 days but they seemed to have wanted a bit more time, still quite a few white pistils so I left them. Pistils retracted, well at least like 60% of them, so I decided to move the dark. Another factor I consider is when the plants leaves start fading then I take that as a sign that their time is coming to an end which you can see on some of the leaves in the pics.

Today I came to check on them (day 3 of darkness) and both the plants have shot out new white pistils again. I had planned on chopping them tomorrow but now I am thinking maybe I should give them another couple of days in the dark? Should I consider putting them back under the light? Or do I just ignore the new pistils being pushed out and chop them anyway?

I know I can check the crystals under a microscope but I am just thinking from an overall perspective if I chop them tomorrow, am I stopping the plant from that final push it could be making and possibly losing out on some more terpene production? It seems like she is ready for more light which is confusing the hell out of me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

She wasn't ready.

She is beautiful but In my opinion she is not ready!
May I ask why the darkness?
If you do it for resin production I warn you that it is not true at all. Some time ago I listened to a podcast where they explained that if you really want to get more resin in the last days you should on the contrary keep the light on for 48-72h in a row (of course 48-72h before cutting). I think it was Mr.IgrowIt's podcast with a professor from cornell and they had already conducted tests on it

Not ready, keep running them 12/12

Blackketch said:

She is beautiful but In my opinion she is not ready!
May I ask why the darkness?
If you do it for resin production I warn you that it is not true at all. Some time ago I listened to a podcast where they explained that if you really want to get more resin in the last days you should on the contrary keep the light on for 48-72h in a row (of course 48-72h before cutting). I think it was Mr.IgrowIt's podcast with a professor from cornell and they had already conducted tests on it

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So the only thing is that this plant has already gone through 73 days of flowering, which from the genetic info is already 10 days over. So do I just keep flowering?

So with my set up its not possible for me to do the 48-72 hours straight as things are rotational. So from some of the content I have come across, they explained that it had been trialed and tested to increase THC production in one of the industrial grows in Holland. I do not understand the exact science but I do understand that the plant goes through different processes during the day vs at night and I really like the idea of just having complete darkness for a few days before the chop.

I have the space and I don't see any harm in it. It is part of my process and at the moment the quality is very good so I have just stuck with it.

I am interested in learning though ,could you link me the talk? I have search Cornel University but nothing has popped up.

Reap911 said:

So the only thing is that this plant has already gone through 73 days of flowering, which from the genetic info is already 10 days over. So do I just keep flowering?



So with my set up its not possible for me to do the 48-72 hours straight as things are rotational. So from some of the content I have come across, they explained that it had been trialed and tested to increase THC production in one of the industrial grows in Holland. I do not understand the exact science but I do understand that the plant goes through different processes during the day vs at night and I really like the idea of just having complete darkness for a few days before the chop.



I have the space and I don't see any harm in it. It is part of my process and at the moment the quality is very good so I have just stuck with it.



I am interested in learning though ,could you link me the talk? I have search Cornel University but nothing has popped up.

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It's done when it's done. Plants can't read a calender.

Trichomes won't lie. Stop the guess work and take a look, may be the difference between good weed and REALLY good weed.
Sure is pretty!

I have put them back under the light now...

driver77 said:

Trichomes won't lie. Stop the guess work and take a look, may be the difference between good weed and REALLY good weed.
Sure is pretty!

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So when I look under the microscope, what am I looking for? I understand the 3phases, clear, cloudy and brown. Do you have a recommended ratio? I have a 40x zoom but bro I struggle to actually get like a full picture of what I am looking at. Is it just roughly 20-30% amber?

Reap911 said:

I have put them back under the light now...

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I think you made a good decision. The trichomes gods will reward you!

Reap911 said:

So when I look under the microscope, what am I looking for? I understand the 3phases, clear, cloudy and brown. Do you have a recommended ratio? I have a 40x zoom but bro I struggle to actually get like a full picture of what I am looking at. Is it just roughly 20-30% amber?

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Make sure your looking at the buds not sugar leaves. The ratio is kinda up to you....more ambers = more couch lock like effects.

Reap911 said:

So when I look under the microscope, what am I looking for? I understand the 3phases, clear, cloudy and brown. Do you have a recommended ratio? I have a 40x zoom but bro I struggle to actually get like a full picture of what I am looking at. Is it just roughly 20-30% amber?

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Trichomes are the least important part of telling ripeness imo. Want until the white hairs change color and recede into the buds. You'll notice the buds swell up the last few weeks.

Here's a nice guide to set some base lines. Trichome Harvesting guide

Nope_49595933949 said:

Trichomes are the least important part of telling ripeness imo. Want until the white hairs change color and recede into the buds. You'll notice the buds swell up the last few weeks.

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I am familiar with this process. The thing is that these plants have gone through that and have produced new hairs. I know that LEDs, which I am growing with, can have this effect on plants when the light is too strong but this shit happened when they were in the dark.

I mean with this in mind, do I just keep flowering until the plant stops producing pistils?

Reap911 said:

I am familiar with this process. The thing is that these plants have gone through that and have produced new hairs. I know that LEDs, which I am growing with, can have this effect on plants when the light is too strong but this shit happened when they were in the dark.

I mean with this in mind, do I just keep flowering until the plant stops producing pistils?

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Then they aren't done yet.

As far as “ breeders “ say on length of grow - they lie.

Plants give zero shit about calendars, what week it is or what seed packet said.

They finish when they finish - no matter how long it takes . Period.

Your skill , grow environment for them also plays into it. Those plants are “ telling you “ they have more growth potential by expressing pistil growth. Plant will continue to swell and harden off at end. Reading triches is a very small part compared to a fully developed flower.

Lack of patience wrecks most grows.

OP what are you lights on and lights off temps? In our old set up we have a romulan x Cherry bomb that would take 13 weeks from flip. Now it's down to about 10 or 11. The 3 things we changed are smaller tent, larger light (far red on the light and a UVA add on) bar, and venting outside. Our lights on temps are now in the low 80s. Lights off low 70s high 60s. So not "perfect" but growth and ripening speed have improved.

Budzbuddha said:

Lack of patience wrecks most grows.

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All these "deadlines"....
Like, is the cartel going to come murder people's families if their plants aren't done at 60 days or something?

Sure looks like it wasn't done. The brown pistils hadn't receded yet, they're still mostly sticking outwards.

If you truly believe it was done, then the only thing I can think of is heat stress. Excessive heat can cause buds to foxtail and continue to throw out new white hairs. But in your case, I think it just wasn't done.

You say 73 days. Thing is, there's no way the breeder's stated flowering time is accurate for every grow environment and situation. I see early flowering, like the first 2-3 weeks as the biggest variable. When the specific plant/pheno begins to flower could be different in your tent vs someone else's. Nutrient levels, temps, etc. all can play into that.

The other big variable is the plant's maturity/age when you flip. If you flip a seedling, you're probably going to be waiting a while before you see pistils, so how many days of waiting would you count as "days of flowering?"