How do you like your indoor plants to finish for the best yield & smoking quality?

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

It really isn't off topic... What you're experiencing is the cannabis plants ability to store excess nutes when over fed. You would probably start seeing yellowing near the end of week 3 of plain water... possibly the end of week 4, depending on how overfed and for how long.

You can save yourself some money by feeding them less and cutting out the nitrogen at least a month before chop. Dark green is not a sign of good health in the cannabis plant. If your nute mix is low in nitrogen you'll overfeed on other elements before you get the warning dark green. This is another reason I prefer mixing nutes in the lucas ratio.... overfed is overfed on all elements since the nutes are balanced.

Stay Safe!

Thank you for the response, I don't think I am overfeeding but it is possible. I am using powdered Maxibloom at 1 teaspoon per gallon which puts the EC at 1.4 to 1.6. I don't go over 1.6 EC but I try to keep close to it. My understanding is that Maxibloom at 1 teaspoon per gallon is the same as Lucas. Here is a video of my current plants.

[youtubeif]rTckVW4i2wQ[/youtubeif]

 

[organicterra]

Oh damn, I guess I screwed up big time...

 

[growingcrazy]

I just let mine run. Some strains will feed on the fan leaves more than others.

I would bet that almost all strains will yellow off naturally, its just finding when.

I have a white widow that by week 11 is bursting and has purple veins with yellow middles, with no shortage of food.

I just look at it like vegetables... I don't let my eggplant die off and yellow before I pick, nor do I do that with any other vegetable in the garden. So, why should I do something differently with my indoor? I understand that vegetables and weed are being consumed in very different ways.

 

[VerdantGreen]

Oh damn, I guess I screwed up big time...

not at all, you've got a very high calyx to leaf ratio there and some strains fade out more easily than others. any harsh taste will be improved by a cure. the buds look ripe too.

VG

 

[Bullfrog44]

Oh damn, I guess I screwed up big time...

O yea, totally messed that one up. You better just throw that away, or better yet just give it here so you don't have to look at that horrible plant anymore.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

. I am using powdered Maxibloom at 1 teaspoon per gallon which puts the EC at 1.4 to 1.6. I don't go over 1.6 EC but I try to keep close to it. My understanding is that Maxibloom at 1 teaspoon per gallon is the same as Lucas. Here is a video of my current plants.

Yep... your strain looks like an economy pheno.... meaning it doesn't like a lot of nutrients, or at least not as much as you're giving them. The leaves look really dark green until the light gets on them properly and then you can see they're just a bit overfed.

Personally I would back off the feed just a little bit. Another consideration would be to pick up a bottle of flora bloom as well. Switch to 16 (or 15) ml/gallon of straight bloom for the last 2-3 weeks before your 2 weeks of plain water. The calcium and nitrogen that are present in the Micro really aren't needed and the plant is able to efficiently use what is present in its own tissue during that time.

Less to flush out. Better end taste. Great looking plants though! Very nice

Stay Safe!

 

[supermanlives]

ugly to the bone. the loss of yield is very little. taste great tho

 

[VerdantGreen]

not yet

now it's done

p.s. botrytis attacks DEAD tissue - so unless you have very good ventilation then picking off the dead leaves is a good idea.

VG

 

[guest8905]

i dont mind if the fans get yellow and almost dead i guess, but i never want my calyx's to deteriorate. I dont want to lose any thc or other cannabinoids either.

cravenmore's looks great and a good example imo

 

[VerdantGreen]

losing cannabinoids and terpenes tends to happen if you have your light too close to the canopy, which i would say that many growers have a tendency to do.
raising the light a bit helps irradiate your whole canopy too so overall your plants will grow better.

all the plants in my pics above were harvested with no more than 20% amber trics.

 

[pinecone]

Veradant - I like the look of pics #3 and #4, but I'm not sure about all those brown sugar leafs in pics #1 and #2.

Pine

 

[mad librettist]

interesting tie-in with the living mulch thread - could sowing a living mulch 3 weeks before harvest help tie up nutes?

At 3 weeks, clover is taking N from the soil, not adding to it. That happens later.

 

[Bullfrog44]

I think the botrytis is causing the yellowing, not the other way around. to pick out early signs of budrot, look for leaves yellowing in the wrong order. Nitrogen def should show up on the bottom and work up with no exceptions.

I have to disagree on this one. For me, my outdoor plants start to yellow way before bud rot sets in. Shoot, I can be in a dead sleep, dreaming about naked chicks, and wake up wide eyed the second bud rot starts. I have become very very good at identifying bud rot.

This is why I think a yellow leaf, that dies off, can create a foot hold for mold. If I pluck all my yellow leafs off before they fall off, I feel that helps with bud rot. I have tried this theory several years in a row and I have seen an improvement. However trying "experiments" like this outdoors doesn't tell you much because you have no controls outdoors. Seasons change from year to year, so on and so forth.

I also wanted to point out that any plant, especially a large outdoor plant, wont be able to finish without N present till the final weeks. The plant will just run out of steam and finish at a crawl. If you have too much N that can prolong your flowering time as well. I believe EWC gives just the right amount with 1/2" top dress about 5-7 weeks in.

 

[VerdantGreen]

^^ dead and dieing tissue is where botrytis takes hold so picking off the dieing leaves outdoors is a good idea - preferably early in the day so any little wounds get chance to dry out.
and you're right they do need some N at all times.

Veradant - I like the look of pics #3 and #4, but I'm not sure about all those brown sugar leafs in pics #1 and #2.

Pine

yeah the blueberry in the last two pics has colour other than green in the leaves so you get the purples etc as they fade whearas the fist two have plain green leaves and fade yellow then brown.
they were the most extreme examples of finishing ugly i could find in my gallery - but i assure you the smoking quality of the buds was superb, incredibly smooth and aromatic

 

[mad librettist]

I have to disagree on this one. For me, my outdoor plants start to yellow way before bud rot sets in. Shoot, I can be in a dead sleep, dreaming about naked chicks, and wake up wide eyed the second bud rot starts. I have become very very good at identifying bud rot.

This is why I think a yellow leaf, that dies off, can create a foot hold for mold. If I pluck all my yellow leafs off before they fall off, I feel that helps with bud rot. I have tried this theory several years in a row and I have seen an improvement. However trying "experiments" like this outdoors doesn't tell you much because you have no controls outdoors. Seasons change from year to year, so on and so forth.

I also wanted to point out that any plant, especially a large outdoor plant, wont be able to finish without N present till the final weeks. The plant will just run out of steam and finish at a crawl. If you have too much N that can prolong your flowering time as well. I believe EWC gives just the right amount with 1/2" top dress about 5-7 weeks in.

A couple of things here - removing dead stuff gets you inside the bud so you are inspecting daily. However during my inspections I have found botrytis starting up on living tissue. In grapes it is the same story. Healthy fruit is attacked due to environmental conditions. Botrytis pokes little holes in tissue through which water escapes. Leaf will turn yellow when the stem is attacked, moving on to a gray color for the surrounding flowers.

When you remove dead leaves, take a peek inside to look for rot.

Regardless of the minor details, my technique of looking for "yellowing out of place" will help you spot botrytis early. I promise you will be pulling still living leaves with mold on them. Be careful and use sharp scissors to remove the stem of that leaf at the base, along with surrounding tissue. What's left should have clean borders.

Here is something I suggest for outdoor: if you crush stems of budsites, they tend to branch instead of forming a cola. Small buds are easier to manage. Instead of doing surgery, you can just remove the infected bud. It's also easier to spot botrytis on a small bud.

This is why I think a yellow leaf, that dies off, can create a foot hold for mold. If I pluck all my yellow leafs off before they fall off, I feel that helps with bud rot. I have tried this theory several years in a row and I have seen an improvement. However trying "experiments" like this outdoors doesn't tell you much because you have no controls outdoors. Seasons change from year to year, so on and so forth.

removing dead material sandwiched between living tissues is just plain smart, not just for avoiding botrytis. Regular old mold will grow as well when you have dead material kept moist. Just make sure you don't leave the leaf stem in there. If the leaf s trying to hang on, don't pluck it, cut it off at the base. If it was yellowing in the wrong order, chances are you can find rot at the base, which needs to be cut away.

 

[Microbeman]

When we first initiated the no till indoor beds, it was from taking a clue from outdoor beds. Having grown naturally in the outdoor beds for several years successfully without fertilizers we moved the practice indoors. Outdoors we experienced natural yellowing towards end of life despite there being more than sufficient nitrogen in the soil to support new plantings the following spring. Mad, you'll be pleased to know that we had lots of volunteer red and gold clover in these beds. [I wish I'd had the forethought to plant some indoors] Obviously our indoor beds were not as large and as I recall in our first season [wish I'd taken more photos] we did have more green leaves when the flowers ripened but over the next five or six years they behaved pretty much the same as the outdoor beds had.

In retrospect I'm 'guessing' that this may have had something to do with the alfalfa meal mixed into the original soil when we first set up the beds. Perhaps something similar is happening with OT and over time as the soil matures he may get differing results. Alfalfa has the unique attribute of releasing available for N, something I learned the hard way in my worm bins

We had very little issue with bud rot but lived in a very dry climate.

 

[mad librettist]

We had very little issue with bud rot but lived in a very dry climate

I can ignore bud rot type issues completely except in the summer/late spring

very dependent on environment

 

[Classy@Home]

I concur w/ you VG - I want every last nute used up so there is nothing left in the plant, but the plant...

Slow starvation - just H2O for last couple weeks, nothing coming thru roots but water, and force plant to eat ALL it's reserves.

Last few decent harvests done this way smoked light as air - barely a wisp of ash...

These aren't people or puppies - not being cruel by flushing and eliminating nutes. It's a consumable, a plant, and to harvest at best it should be through with it's metabolic processes...

IMVHO

 

[nukklehead]

I like ugly girls too... ... two words.. Mellow Yello

 

[Microbeman]

I concur w/ you VG - I want every last nute used up so there is nothing left in the plant, but the plant...

Slow starvation - just H2O for last couple weeks, nothing coming thru roots but water, and force plant to eat ALL it's reserves.

Last few decent harvests done this way smoked light as air - barely a wisp of ash...

These aren't people or puppies - not being cruel by flushing and eliminating nutes. It's a consumable, a plant, and to harvest at best it should be through with it's metabolic processes...

IMVHO

I just don't believe this occurs in a living soil but I do agree with applying only water up to harvest unless you see reason not to. We have at times applied ACT right up to the end but still had yellow dying plants.