White widow flowering
- Thread starter Angelus
- Start date
Its not that easy. New growers tend to chop way early. If you buy a pack of seeds and it says 10 weeks, there is no guarantee you are going to get it done in 10 weeks. I bought a pack of The Hog once. The flowering time is supposed to be 55 to 60 days. The best pheno finished in 12 to 13 weeks.
As the flower ripens the trichomes will turn from clear to cloudy to amber. I let mine finish at 20% to 25% amber with the rest cloudy. The more trichomes are amber the more of a stone you'll get. Some people cut before they see any amber trichomes at all, but that is before peak potency and can give you a racy high.
In short, the peak harvest window is fairly short, but there is a big window where you will still get a really good product.
There is an easy way to judge the best time to harvest. You can get a $13.00 microscope at Radio Shack.
As the flower ripens the trichomes will turn from clear to cloudy to amber. I let mine finish at 20% to 25% amber with the rest cloudy. The more trichomes are amber the more of a stone you'll get. Some people cut before they see any amber trichomes at all, but that is before peak potency and can give you a racy high.
In short, the peak harvest window is fairly short, but there is a big window where you will still get a really good product.
There is an easy way to judge the best time to harvest. You can get a $13.00 microscope at Radio Shack.
If you are doing proper organics then you don't need to flush at all. If you are using synthetic nutes then you should start two weeks before harvest. Its hard to get perfect the very first time you flower a strain. I would probably start flushing when you have about 25% cloudy/75% clear.
I only do organic growing so someone else here might have a better suggestion for flushing.
I only do organic growing so someone else here might have a better suggestion for flushing.
The WW I've worked with can flower a very long time and quality improves as it gets older. It resins up early, and the nugs become dense early too, so the choice of when to pick is rather wide. Because of the potential for long flowering, it's easy to let WW run out of nutes, or 'flush' if you like. You can get some very pretty fall foliage colors and associated flavors. Here's a pic of some nice colors on my WW remix, "White Wizard".
It depends on the lights. I have a 400W and it takes a few weeks longer than advertised. People with 1000W have finish times closer to those advertised...at least that's what I've learned from reading grow reports. Less light...longer finish time.
The WW I've worked with can flower a very long time and quality improves as it gets older. It resins up early, and the nugs become dense early too, so the choice of when to pick is rather wide. Because of the potential for long flowering, it's easy to let WW run out of nutes, or 'flush' if you like. You can get some very pretty fall foliage colors and associated flavors. Here's a pic of some nice colors on my WW remix, "White Wizard".
It's sad how many people ask for help when an old lady get's looking a little ragged. And it's sadder how many people tell him to give it this or that to "fix" it.
To the OP...you'll get to know when to take weed that's to your liking. I prefer just a hint of amber. Like a good grade A maple syrup. Some prefer the clear/cloudy with no amber speedier/racier high, I'm middle of the road with a few clear, mostly cloudy, a few amber. Others like a sleepier, stonier, high with a lot of amber. I've never been a fan of that.
Go get your cheap 40X scope and grab a few random sugar filled leaves and take a look. Notice what you see...smoke a sample and experience the high. If you love it...chop away and remember what it looked like through the scope. I would leave some on the vine though...get a few more ambers and see what you think. You may let it go longer next time...
Good luck!
ibjamming mentions light, made me think of something else. I run a sort of perpetual 1K flower room. I rotate plants further out to the edges as they get mature. I've noticed that it's a good way to help let the ladies wind down gracefully. Plants don't need very direct, bright light as they get advanced in flowering. Matter of fact, I think they prefer weaker light.
