The flowering stage is one of the last stages before harvesting and enjoying your home grow! This is the stage where you get to really see how much your hard work has paid off. In this stage, your plants will start to “blossom” their buds and with the proper steps, you will have a bountiful harvest.
During the flowering stage, you need to put more emphasis on caring for the plant. Little things can turn ugly real quick if not handled correctly and the results might not be as fulfilling as you had expected.
The Flowering Stage And How To Get The Most From Your Grow
What To Expect During the 1st-3rd Week:
When you are ready to begin the flowering stage, the first step is a pretty simple one. Instead of keeping your lights on for 18 hours and 6 hours off will now make a shift.
The real-world environment is roughly 12 hours on and 12 hours off. When you change the grow light cycle to this you are telling your plant “alright it’s time to grow buds now”.
While many think that it’s the 12 hours or less of actual light that produces the buds, it’s actually the 12 hours of darkness that give your plant the idea that it’s time to flower. If the light is on the plant during the 12 hours of darkness, that could cause serious problems such as reverting back to the vegetative stage.
Also, during this time your plant will grow exponentially. Typically it has the potential to double in size. Get ready.
3rd-4th Week
Budlets will begin to form. Your plant will start to showcase its buds and indicate to you, the grower, that you either have a female plant getting ready to fully bloom OR that your seed seller shafted you and sent you a bunch of male plants. Female plants will have white pestles that will start to show at this time if it’s a male plant then it will showcase a number of pollen sacks.
If it’s a female, great news! From here, your plant will be a little bit more temperamental as to the conditions you have made for its environment to grow.
4th-6th Week
At this stage, your buds will start to grow bigger. They’ll fatten and ripen up. This is when your plants will start to say “hey, it’s time for me to grow as big as I can.” Everything wants to grow in this cycle. Remember to keep your plants healthy by monitoring and checking for yellow leaves, dead leaves mites, and – most importantly MOLD.
6th-8th Week
At this stage, the plant will no longer grow new leaves and stems. It has completely cycled out of vegetative and is in a full bloom cycle. Your plant should be healthy and green.
This stage is one of the most crucial for caring for your plant. It is highly susceptible to a low PH balance so make sure you check on that regularly. If you notice your leaves turning yellow it can typically mean that either the plant is too close to the lights or that there is a nutrient deficiency.
Week 8+
This is the final stretch for your plants before harvesting. This is the most crucial stage of keeping up with the needs and wants of your plants. You’re going to notice that your buds are super fat and are growing trichomes that are milky white and will eventually turn amber.
At this stage, you are looking over your plant to make sure there is no bud rot or mold, and mites. Many growers will do what is often called a “final flush” where, simply using tap water, they will run the process through the plant.
Your plants are going to smell… a lot. It’s best to use the carbon filter to pull the odor out of the tent and filter it. It can be overpowering depending on the strain. When the trichomes on your plant start to amber, then it’s time to harvest!
When it’s all said and done, you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. To learn more about the growing process, check out our video below and also check out our grow library.
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