Hi all,

Occassionally i like to grow a long flowering strain. My favorite is Dmans Red widow 13, (G-13X Black Widow) X Panama Red, but its a 11 week finish of Nov.1. Ive learned to bring it in mid Oct using the following method.
These 3 techniques combined will reduce the finishing time of most strains by at least 14 days and in some instances more.

1. Take a cutting from a seed started THIS year. It has been my experience that clones taken from a mother that overwintered indoors don't finish as early as a clone taken from a plant started this year. I can only guess that this has something to do with auxin buildup but I don't know enough about that to know for sure.

2. Root Binding. After I have a clone from this years stock, I plant that seedling in a 5 gallon bucket burried even with the soil and that has had 1'' holes drilled in the bottom and sides so that moisture can wick into the bucket from the surrounding soil . Rootbinding can take more than a week off of finish dates. Why? I dont know.( i wanted to edit this to be clear about root binding. My efforts lean more to root restriction rather than "binding". I restrict roots by planting in a buried 5 gallon bucket. In my view, any pot smaller than that could result in serious negative consequences for the health of the plant. Without great care, root binding is always a negative condition for the plant)

3. Afternoon Shade. I bury that bucket in a location that recieves morning sun until 2-3:00 pm and then sinks into deep shade. Over the years, Ive had patch after patch that had some plants that fell into afternoon shade, and they always finished several days sooner than the other plants. The plants need 6-7 full hours of light to grow and mature properly, but after that SHADE.

For me, these 3 techniques combined and focused on specific plants, allows me to harvest a couple of females that I normally couldn't finish.
The small personal grower with 3-4 female plants can use this easily. Ive brought in Sensi Star on Sept. 21 using this tri pronged approach.

I hope this will help someone and that others will comment or suggest other possibilites.

[Ulysses]

Yeah that's helpful.

I was told that pollenating the bottom buds will speed maturation... some have even said that the simple fact of having a male in the garden can speed maturation- pollenated or not- seems extreme.

I understand that a big dose of P will improve maturation times.

Any other suggestions appreciated...

Wow Ulysses, Thats very interesting and I haven't ever heard that. Where did you learn it? . Any reading material.? I havent ever done that but now that youve raised it, there may be something to it. I I have felt for some time that fertilization does trigger the desire in the plant to wrap things up but I never knew how to activate that without having a bunch of unwanted seeds. Your suggestion might be the way.

A big dose of P? Have you done that and does it affect potency or flower production?

[Ulysses]

Yeah, pollenating the lower flowers is an 'old school' technique- it was used before sensimilla became the standard... Old school growers ALWAYS made seeds!

I feel certain landrace sativas take on a different more potent cannibinoid profile after being pollenated- the plant wants to protect the seeds with extra resins and speed up budding to insure the seeds are completely formed...

I haven't found that link again. The only book I've ever read on mj was THE MARIJUANA GROWER'S GUIDE
by Mel Frank and Ed Rosenthal and it mentions that seeded buds mature faster but it's a general statement...

[RollinRuger]

How big do you put the clones out? Do they stretch much? and what date are they being put out?

Hey RollinRuger

Over in the outdoor section, i have a thread called 60/60 forced flower approach.

I am running about a week or so behind this year, but I currently have cream caramel from sweetseeds, Sadhu, sensi star and Dr. Atomics BBXNL in a little homemade cloner where they have been since the 15th. They are just starting to get bumps.

In a week or so, ill put them in soil and start setting them outside to harden but only for 12 hrs per day until rooted and hardened. By the time they are ready to transplant in 2 weeks or so, they will be into flower. I will transplant the flowering clones into 2 gallon pots and harvest them 50 days or so later, (depending on the strain.) I usually harvest about 2, 2.5 oz's from each pot.

They will go out on July 10th a week or more into flower and 6" tall. They will be 16" when harvested 50-60 days later. There are some caveats.
Sativa's or 14 week indica's stretch considerably more and are in the pots longer and can become rootbound to the point of concern and damage.
Its a good way to harvest quite a bit of pot quickly. 25 clones equals 60oz's in 80-90 days total time. Again depending on strain. I know a guy using critical mass, which is a 45 day strain. He harvest 40 days after transplant and yield 3 ozs .

sb

[HongKongaTron]

Who makes the strain critical mass? sounds worth lookin into

Mr. Nice. Dinafem makes a femmed version that i hear is very stable and clones well. Its a reworked version of BigBud i think.
California orange from sensi is a good strain for this as well and is also a branch breaker.

[Ganja Smile]

very exceptionally strains I like them. I hope I get this strains next year.
good luck bro and k+4u !

[RollinRuger]

Sounds like a plan silverback.thanks