leaving for vacation but plants not done...need help!

gtbuds2332 · May 8, 2009

I am planning on leaving for vacation in about a week and i had tried to plan for this run to be ready to harvest before i leave but it doesn't look like they will be ready. I will be gone for a week and thats about how long I think they still need. I really do not want to have to harvest early and there is no way for anyone else to water them while im gone.

I figure i have three options...

1. Leave timer on as normal and let them just run out of water and die which would happen pretty quick with the light still on. I dont know if a dead plant under the lights would be bad...would the bud just dry like it would have if i had chopped it? I also don't think this would give them much extra time to mature.

2. Turn the timer off and let the plants sit in darkness for a week. This way they would stay alive longer because the water would last longer than with the lights off. Would they still mature with the lights off?

3. Harvest early right before I leave, which i really do not want to do.

Anyone have any experience with anything like this or have any suggestions? Any help would be appreciated.

CMoon · May 8, 2009

hey gtbuds........as your very close to finish its possible to get away with a few tricks......a close lamp over dryed out plants could fry them, so my first step on day of departure would be to lift the light 2 to 3 feet from the tops, an hour before you leave I would water to the max includeing any run off trays, depending on your meduim type and density this should give you 4 or 5 days with the higher light.

Personelly I use a self watering system thats good enough for a couple of weeks without maintanance (troph blummat) and if you dont mind spending the cash they can be installed at ANYTIME

hope it helps........Cmoon

LiLWaynE · May 8, 2009

id say fuck it -

flush them with tons of water... then let them wilt away...

hell the buds might even be dried and ready to be smoked by the time you get back! (ive grown plants out and just said fuckem and let them dry out when they were ready to come down...mostly it was when i was sick and tired of trimming, so i'd let them dry up and when they were dry id just chop the buds off as i needed them)

no biggie

MOneYMiKe · May 8, 2009

i second lil weeze F.U.C.K.E.M....

gtbuds2332 · May 9, 2009

CMoon thanks for the good ideas...do you know if any stores around town would sell the troph blummat or would i have to order them online?

CMoon · May 13, 2009

gtbuds2332 said:
CMoon thanks for the good ideas...do you know if any stores around town would sell the troph blummat or would i have to order them online?

yer m8 theres quite a few places on both sides of the pond that sell on line :woohoo:

check this thread for some other views

http://http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111046

hope it helps, cmoon

DeebeeAhhSee · May 15, 2009

Soak them to high hell before you leave. Raise the lights and pray that nothing goes wrong.

My fear is in turning off the dehumidifier before you leave and then coming back to moldy plants.

I'd chop it. Abird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. Chop, cut, reset.

customelement · May 15, 2009

I'd have to go with lilwayne on this one.. Water the FUCK outta them before you go, then leave them under the raised lights and timer. While anything CAN go wrong the week you are gone, if you have your setup dialed in then it should run fine without you.

If you are really worried about the watering, you can buy these wierd upside down raindrop looking things (sorry description sux but I dont remember technical name) and you fill them with water, plug them into the soil, and it auto-waters as the plants need. While I wouldnt suggest using these for a whole grow.. a week or two at a time I couldnt see doing any harm and it'd allow you to finish off your grow without issue.

dragunn · May 15, 2009

if the plants are in soil,you can lay them on top of a fresh 6 mill sheet of plastic(no leaks), duck tape all the corners up tight so there is no slack,at least 8 inches deep.your trying to make a cheap tray.fill it with water 6 inches.yea your roots will sit in stagnant water a few days,after a few days it will get low fasts.i have kept plants alive for 10 days in an emergency.if you have only a few plants buy deep tupperware containers.

gtbuds2332 · May 17, 2009

thanks for the good ideas guys...

i think im gonna raise the light and put some kind of small tub under the pots filled with a few inches of water and hope for the best...

But lets say it runs out of water in like 4 days and dies and i wont be home untill day 7, so it will be under lights for 3 days while already dead, what do you think will happen? will the buds burn or just dry out?

Miss Blunted · May 17, 2009

Hey...at least you're only a week away from flower when this comes up. We just went on vacation 2 weeks ago and came home to 6 dead plants that were only a month into flower. Partner was called and reminded 2 times a day while we were gone...he watered 2 times and we came home to our beautiful, organically grown weed drooped down to the floor and 4 of them completely died before finish. What a guy, huh? I told my man a lot of remaining weight isn't gonna make it to the table for review....I'm taking what they WERE worth....karma.

Let them go...you're only a week away. Have a great time on vacation and don't worry about it...you'll still be smoking good.

Miss Blunted · May 17, 2009

customelement said:
I'd have to go with lilwayne on this one.. Water the FUCK outta them before you go, then leave them under the raised lights and timer. While anything CAN go wrong the week you are gone, if you have your setup dialed in then it should run fine without you.

If you are really worried about the watering, you can buy these wierd upside down raindrop looking things (sorry description sux but I dont remember technical name) and you fill them with water, plug them into the soil, and it auto-waters as the plants need. While I wouldnt suggest using these for a whole grow.. a week or two at a time I couldnt see doing any harm and it'd allow you to finish off your grow without issue.

"Aquaglobes"....depending on how many you would need (obviously if you need 50 of them it would be hard) might keep away the wilting that makes your trimming even harder. These guys make a great point in raising the lights too. I don't think you're gonna burn them out though...I would keep your humidity where it is now. Somebody made a good point up there...if you have your shit down, the girls will be alright without you (prepare them a little) :wink:

Natagonnaworrie · May 17, 2009

go with an auto water device or make one on your own.

its simple:

rubbermaid tub filled with clean (flush time) water
medium size water pump
timer, set to go on maybe once a day for a few minutes
tubing and stakes for a drip system

i'm not sure why there is an issue. its your babies last week. let them enjoy it.

just have a tray under them to catch run-off, if there is any.

VerdantGreen · May 17, 2009

if they are that close to finish they dont need too much water - as others have said just water well try and leave some in the saucer, raise lights and leave them.

jordas · May 18, 2009

I recently had the same problem...

So I made a small drip system out of parts I bought from a home supply store...

I used a small pump (300gph), a digital timer, tubing, fittings and drippers...

I filled up an old plastic cooler with plain PH'd water and set the timer to water for 4 minutes every other day and the plants were fine when I returned home...

BotanicalBill · May 18, 2009

Another option on top of raising the lights is to also cut down the lights to maybe 9 hours on. that's 3 hours less per day, which is giving you an extra day every 4 days of plants sucking up water.. obviously you may lose a LITTLE yield but it may squeeze you another day. If you have these in soil containers and live where you can find a Lowes, go buy their black 3'x2' black tubs that everyone uses for DYI ebb/flow trays for $14 a piece. put your plants in there and fill the thing up with 5-6" of water like someone previously suggested. that's how my buddy just regularly waters anyway. He just drops a 5 gallon bucket of water/nutes into a tub that has 6 or so 2 gal containers and he's done. They never wilt or anything from that extra water laying around at the bottom. The 5 gal bucket will put 2-3" of water in it.. and that gets him a good 3-4 days no problem. if you added 8-10 gals you'd get your week most likely. if not they'd be maybe a day into drying by the time you got back. Regardless the plants won't physically burn at all. They'll just start dying and drying out.

Enjoy vacation.

Mr.Hades · May 18, 2009

Id just water them one last time, raise the lights, and leave fresh water in the saucer... Its just your last week, so root rot or anything wont be a problem and the roots will just suck up the water from the saucer when needed...

Then just leave the timer and ventalation on, so that it doesnt get too hot and you should be fine...Remember, Higher temps means increased water uptake by the plant... Keep it kinda cool in there.. like 70-74... You should be good.

Hope that helps! ^_^

gtbuds2332 · May 24, 2009

thanks for all the suggestions everyone...

i ended up just raising the lights and putting the pots in about 4 inches of water and
i just got back and the soil is still wet and the plant is still alive and well and lookin great so i accomplished my mission...thanks again

customelement · May 25, 2009

Glad to hear it! let us know how harvest turns out

Twisted Metal · May 25, 2009

Awesome bro, looks like you chose the right method.

leaving for vacation but plants not done...need help!

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