Later Stages Questions

[Ren79]

So I have a few questions at the end stage of my first cupboard grow ever (after not growing for years).

1. Popcorn Buds:

I have three plants growing in the same cupboard under the same lights, and with the exact same nutrient cycle/quantaties. They are Pineapple Express, Trainwreck, and Bubblicious. The Trainwreck is INSANE. I had to train it constantly with LST during the grow, to make sure it stayed within the constraints of the cupboard, but the buds are plentiful and they are big (thanks to the LST I have many main colas). The bubblicious isn't as robust as the Trainwreck, but still at least 6 main cola sites, from LST too, putting out healthy buds. The pineapple express though is putting out lots of bud sites, BUT they are all popcorn sized. i always heard that was due to light issues and penetration, but like I said, it grew in the same cupboard as the other two, under the same conditions. What the heck?

2. Trichomes

All the plants started flowering a week after I switched them to 12/12. That was Aug 10. So they've been in full flower for a month. How long is the usual ballpark figure before they are ready to harvest oncce they start flowering? Also...everything I've read and heard said that the trichomes start out clear and turn milky then slowly amber. BUt even from the beginning until now, the trichomes have always appeared milky to me under a microscope. Do they start milky, go clear, and then milky again? I'm confused.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Hey congrats on your success so far. It sounds like they are doing good. We would love to see them.

The difference you are seeing in the budding is due to the phenotype difference of the plants. I have noticed with all of my different strains that the buds have some variation in how they grow(and how they finish). You will probably be suprised at harvest with the way the Pineapple buds fill out, or they may turn into rock-hard nuggets of stoney goodness. My last harvest of a strain called "Bluehell" had literally hundreds of budsites all over the plants. It looked like someone strung ten thousand popcorn necklaces all over the plants. I thought it would be awful harvest, but it turned out to be amazing as they all plumped up into giant masses of sweet, sticky bud strings.

I have some that start growing big and fat early then kind of stop growing halfway in then get dense toward the end, while others grow more numerous "acorn" buds that wait until the last 2 weeks and then nearly explode to 3x in size.

The trichomes probably look milky to you because of the way the light is hitting them, but when they really start to "cloud up", you will see the difference. And you will not miss it when they start to turn amber. If you didn't get any timing information on the plants for flowering, then figure right off the top with 9weeks from the flip. I know my plants now so I start looking at the trics under the scope at 7wks so that I have a basis to time their maturation from, while allowing them to go the full 9 weeks till harvest.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Different strains have different growing patterns. I don't even expect the same strain to grow the same due to different phenotypes within strains. As to flowering time.....Go online and check each strain you have growing for approx flowering times as they will most likely differ. They will most likely take a week or 2 or 3 longer than the breeder's estimates. Also, if your space is underlit, it can take longer to finish. I'm with Hushpuppy that the trichs are probably not milky yet--it is a trick of the light or something. Plan on your plants taking 8 weeks or more to finish.