Preflower Help!

your clones are at the same stage at the mother plant.. you can put them outside when they're stable enough and they should develop the same as the the big one, though they won't be as tall. If you vegged them out until next year, you prolly wouldn't be able to fit them in the house anymore or they would herm out on you and be useless. Do you have to worry about frost in your area? Does it ever get below 55 degrees? You can keep them outside even in the winter if it doesn't get too cold. We expect our first frost around mid September, do we don't have the luxury of long growing seasons.
Your mother plant is preflowering vigorously. She's getting REALLY close.

so If I plant the clones they will flower when the mother plant does correct? So I might as well let them flower otherwise take the chance of losing the plants to hermie or being really big next year? But in order to get them through to next year I would have to keep them inside after the sun goes down in artificial light CFL'S untill the time changed again correct? then they would be about 8 feet tall before they started flowering and stretch to like 16 feet? So you are saying just let them grow as big as I possibly can this year before the time change and take what can get from them this year? So what if I were to take a clone from the mother just before she flowers? and keep it over till next year? I just don't want to lose this strain it is a very good strain. and I have no idea were I got it. plus I don't want to have to buy any seeds if I can avoid it. Is it possible that I may get some seeds from the mother plant or the clones on harvest? even if it is like 4 or 5 seeds that would be cool if thery were all female oh I took a few pics of the mother today she is about to flower big time.The stock or trunk at the bottom is almost 1-3/4 inches and the bush or plant is about 4 feet tall she is just about ready her tips of the colas are getting all bunched up like they are budding and the white hairs are getting longer and more plentiful. so probably withing a 2 week period it will start her flowering process or will it be later like september a month away ? well hope you like the pics! I wish i could figure out how to work this camera so that i could get a tight shot that is clear and so you could see exactly what she is looking like but the camera does so many things and i don't know how to use almost 99 percent of the functions but anyway she should be close. and you should be almost done harvesting soon huh? well take care have a great weekend, BB2112!!!!

These plants aren't really made to last more then a few months. If you don't have to worry about frost, keep the clones under lights indoors to keep them from flowering. When they are big enough, take some clones from them and stick them outside to flower and keep the new clones inside under lights. By the time the clones you have now are done and ready to harvest, you have some more clones ready to go outside and take cuttings from. Since you are putting them outside later in the season, they should flower quickly (about 60 days till they're ready to chop). Keep this cycle going and you'll be able to keep this plant around for as long as you can clone successfully. You'll have small winter plants and huge summer plants.
It's possible that you'll get some seeds from the mother plant. If you live within a few miles of anyone else who is growing outside and isn't pulling the males, they could seed your crop. Bugs and animals, like bees and hummingbirds, spread pollen when feeding on flowers. Even if she doesn't get pollinated, she could throw a few seeds on her own. Though, from my experience, self seeding plants tend to throw hermie offspring as a response to the lack of males in the area
And yes, I will be done harvesting this week. I think I smoke too much, lol. I've already polished off my first batch, and am half way through my second. I'm glad there's a third batch coming soon.

well at least you have it grown and at your home so you don't have to go buy it and take the chance of getting caught buying. Also you have a nice good strain which is hard to find on the streets unless you really know the person you are getting it from. enjoy and have fun you can never smoke too much!!!! ha ha ha!!!!BB2112!! Thank you, you know I didn't even think of taking clones from the clones duh! maybe i smoke too much LOL!!!! it probably would have come to me soon but thanks for mentioning it so I didn't blow all my brain cells on that big thought. lol!!!

I wanted to ask you about the mother plant!!! you said that she was very close to what? starting the flowering process? which means now she is going to start stretching? or is she just going to start budding? because there are parts of the plant that stick above the rest all the different colas I guess and there are a lot of them at least 30 stems that are looking like they are going to look like the plant that you had and it looks like they are going to pretty large buds. Is there anything besides giving her the nutes that i need to do to make things better for harvest? I know no0t to top her anymore because she obviously close to being totally mature but will she be growing any taller or wider ? and about how much of a harvest would a plant like this put out? I mean how much did you approx get from your plant? this one is about 3- 1/2 feet tall and about 3- 1/2 feet wide and has as I said before about 30 or more stems that look to be flowering and will produce buds, so if all those do produce what am i looking at in a harvest as far as weight in oz.'s I was told up to 8 oz. or more is that possible with one plant ? well please advise about anything i need to do now besides nutes to make her produce as much as possible. Thanks, BB2112!!!!

flowering is the hardest part because there's so much that you want to do to help it along. The best thing to do is just provide her with the water and nutes that she needs. Sit back and let the sun do most of the work. If you really want to do something, trim off some small stems from the bottom of the plant so she can focus on producing big dense buds instead of lotsa little ones since every single branch will produce something. The stretch happens as the buds develop, you'll see what I mean soon enough . She'll easily be double the height and width by the end.
I managed about 1.5oz from my plant. You're going to have much more better bud since you let it flower in the sun. I wish I had the space for a sweet HPS light setup, almost as good as growing outside. I've heard of some people pulling lbs off their plant, so 8oz of outdoor sounds about right.

Wow! a whole pound off one plant? I would love to have seen that but hey 8oz.'s is ok by me for almost 9 months of work, yes, I noticed that alot of the smaller branches on the bottom the leaves are turning yellow and falling off because they never see the sun or not very much of it because the plant is so wide and round so the bottom leaves aren't starting that little budding miracle going on around the whole plant she is getting all these white hairs growing out and you can tell where it is going to bud all the way down the branch except for on the bottom they are small leaves and no buding beginnings except where it gets to see the sun. So maybe or I will try doing that and just cut the branch off at the stock or main trunk? if so that would only be like 2 small branches they are kind of hanging down near the dirt anyway and everytime i water with nutes they get wet and are probably not turning yellow because of the sun but are probably getting nute burns and turning yellow because they get the nutes right on them not through the soil and they were always really low anyway and i thought about cutting them off along time ago and making a clone out of them but I was kind of hesitant to ask if you could make a clone out of a branch but it's too late now anyway but you probably could after what i have seen making clones.! I think you can clone anything on those plants. Anyway thank you for letting me know and i will do that and then just let her bloom. She looks like she could start any day now but she seems to be waiting for something special to happen before she starts fully going into flowering mode , it must be the light change !!!!!! Thank you soooo! much, she is doing so well after everything you have told me and she has really grown into a really healthy plant. I think i showed you pictures of the stalk a few weeks ago and it was about 1-3/8 thick now she is about 1-1/2 inches thick. it doesn't look like a bush anymore it looks like a small tree. Well thanks, take care and talk to you soon, BB2112!!!

I cut the bottom branches out there were only 2 of them the rest are growing buds off each node all over the plant she has got to be close to letting go and fully blooming? When I cut the branches off they had little popcorn buds on it but of course not fully formed but I took them off just to dry out and see if it is going to be as potent as the mother plant (the 1st one) the little white haired buds will they have any potentcy? I would think they would because even some of the new nodes when I topped it were pretty strong!!!!! so I am trying out your drying technique on these pre buds and see how I do. But hey why waste right? So I am going to see how it is progressing!! How will I know when she is totally ready for harvest? she looks very close but i can tell by other pictures of fully mature buds that she still has about a month or so before she is ready but how do you know for sure? If you know can you fill me in. I am sure you know because you just harvested yours and I am sure it wasn't a day early, LOL!!!!!, BB2112!!!!! Thanks!

Hello, hey I wanted to ask you a question about the plant and why some of the leaves have been eaten by bugs only a few have been eaten and I found these little green grasshoppers on the plant, could those be the ones eating the leaves? they were only about 1/2 of an inch long and about 1/4 inch tall I guess and totally green and there were 2 different kinds one was a kadydead(spelling?) and the other was smaller but still green probably 1/4 inch long by 1/8 high. so I just wanted to know if the grasshoppers are good for eating spiders and other stuff or if they eat the leaves as well? should I get rid of them or let them stay? I mean they haven't done much eating maybe 5 or 6 leaves have a few holes in them but never have they eaten very much!!!! I just noticed them when i got back from Palm springs a few days ago tuesday, so I just wanted to know what to do with these little green grasshoppers. I only found about 4 total and I took them off and threw them on another plant in the back yard so if you know let me know, OK? Thank You, BB2112!!!!!

Spiders are actually good to have around your plant since they eat problematic bugs. I never kill spiders I find in my house. I let them set up shop and do their thing.
If your only seeing some damage on a few leaves, then the few little hoppers aren't doing much harm, it's when they swarm is when they become a problem. They do eat leaves but tend to leave the flowers alone. What you really want to look out for is mites, aphids and tunnelers that dig into your leaves and eat it from the inside out. Though a healthy plant tends to resist harmful pests rather well.

Now to answer two questions at once:
The potency of a plant is determined by the % of THC and other cannabinoids in the heads of the crystals that cover the buds and parts of the stalks and leaves. What I have experienced with early bud is that it gives me a quick buzzy high, since it's all pretty much a low concentration THC in there. If you used a microscope to take a look, you would see those crystals are small and clear. The other ingredients in a good stone is CBN and CBD, which are in charge of that "couch-lock" effect. Those are produced as THC breaks down and the crystals start becoming cloudy and amber in color. If you wait too long to harvest, all the THC breaks down and you'll just feel tired with not much high at all.
The perfect time to harvest is up to your preference.

The mature crystals are called capitate stalked glandular trichomes.
Here is a good thread that explains the difference rather well.
http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/f34/harvesting-your-trichomes-36014/

Though you will need a little lighted microscope to see them. I got mine at radio shack for $12. Anyone I asked didn't know what I was talking about, so I just asked where the magnifying glasses were. The lighted microscope was right next to it. It's a 60x-100x magnification scope.

View attachment 1744469

You can also go by the hair color. If they're pretty much all turned color and have started pulling back into the bud then its time to chop. Though I find this method hit or miss, as each strain is so different.
I really dig your waste not attitude

Why Thank You, I figure i have given this plant so much attention why waste any of her. I treat her well and she will treat me well!!!! Yeah I have even tried some of the leaves at the beginning and to my surprise they were alot stronger than I thought. The last time i tried the leaves was back in High School. there wasn't much good stuff back then, it has changed so much. I remeber when we used to sit around and pass the bong around like 10 passes before we stopped and i don't remeber getting any higher than the first hit but we probably wasted so much by smoking it when we were already high but kids are young and dumb. It was expensive back then too!!!! Now you go to these dispenseries with your card and get some really good stuff for 20.00 a gram and that you only need a hit or two to get you pretty F'd Up. Anyway Thank You for your awesome info as usual. I guess now would be the time to go get that microscope and you just take a sample of a bud and see if the crystalls have formed and then go by that chart? That sounds easy enough, take care and Thanks again, BB2112! have a great weekend!!!!

here are the pics of how she looks as of today 8/21/11 Sunday

These may be a little clearer!!!!8/21/11

Hello, I wanted to ask you about the fact that i found a seed pod on the mother plant, on one of the buds that are growing I thought it was just one of those things i was telling you about before which usually don't have anything in them but this one did it was a seed I plucked it off and peeled off the cover and it was a seed, so does that mean she may have gotten some cross pollenation or could she be hermieing? Do male plants produce buds like a female but the males have seeds and the females have maybe a few cause some of the buds or most of them didn't have any seeds on them but I have found one and do I keep looking for more evidence of more? how do you know if she is hermie ing? Thank You, BB2112!!!

maybe better pics these are at night and the buds were more visible without all that sunlight. I am curious at about how long you think it will be from now till they are ready? So if you have any idea's please advise Thank You, BB2112. I think that is about as good as the detail is going to get. it should get better than that it was an expensive camera but I lost the owners manuel and I don't know how to set it to get the really good close up's but I think you can tell pretty much , I hope so Anyway take care and talk to you soon 420garden. this message was for you. BB2112!!!!

I went to the hydroponics store around the corner from my house, which I love having an excuse to go there just to look at all the stuff that is so cool!!! But anyway I asked the guy what would be the best way to look at the trichomes on the plant that is almost ready so I know when to harvest her? He said (I told him that you said to get a small cheap microscope and take samples off the plant every week and look at them to see if the trichomes were the right color)That yes i could do that but I have this thing they call a loop and it is a small hand held led light assisted microscope or really strong magnifying glass that is ther same magnifying as the microscope you told me about and it was only $10.73 after tax. It is so cool!!!! I went out and checked the bud on the plant without having to take any samples off the plant and saw that exact picture you sent me with the clear and Amber trichomes, I could see them so clearly and they were just clear and the guy asked me when It started to flower or the first preflowers and he said that it will probably be another 6 weeks to 8 weeks depending on when the first preflowers were seen and he said with this little magnifying glass with the led light on it you can see exactly when they are the right color you want them!!!! So thank You for pointing me in the right direction and that is how I found this cool light magnifying glass cool thing now I won't have to waste any of the buds to samples, pretty cool huh? Well enough of patting myself on the back that picture you showed me didn't really make sense untill I saw it through the magnifying glass and saw exactly what those trichomes were and it is so awesome looking under that magnification you can see so much different stuff, like all the white hairs and all the leaves are covered in all that sticky stuff that is the stuff that gets you high. planting this plant has been a very excellent form of learning, fun, and also how to make the clones it was just alot of fun and not too expensive I think I spent about 75.00 dollars but almost everything that I bought can be used in the future except nutes and soil. but I am definetely going to plant the next plant in the ground asap so it will grow faster, bigger and better!!!!! So the next time I will be able to use the nutes all the way through and the big bud stuff and it will be a nice payout not that this one is going to be any disapointment but it will be much easier next time because I have learned so much, "Thanks To You", Thanks, BB2112!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. next time I can just compare journals with you, if that is cool with you? are you going to grow another one this year? or have you already started? well take care.!! BB!!! That hydroponics store is the coolest place those guys know everything and have pamphlets on every stage of growing, I just found out that they had all this stuff today. thee clases are going to start in 2 weeks so they said I am one of the first on the list so I am in. C-YA!!!

those night shots are very nice, i can see all those nuggits forming nicely. I agree with the hydro guy, 6-8 weeks sounds about right. I cant believe how big and bushy shes gotten. Looking so happy

dont worry about a seed or two. Its possible that you got a little pollination from buzzing bugs, but some plants do push out seeds on their own. Males only produce pollen and don't make buds or seeds. The only uses I can think of for male plants are making hemp and breeding.
This is a branch on a male plant. You can clearly see his balls (pollen sacs).
View attachment 1752288

The whole process of growing is quite fun if you enjoy the learning curve. Half the joy I get is just sitting with my plant, smoking near it, pruning it or just inspecting the branches. I thought I would be excited when it was time to finish my harvest, but now my room seems dark, quiet and empty. No fans or air pumps running, no bright light spilling outta my closet. Let me know when you start your next grow and I'll start around the same time. Are you doing a winter crop? I find I have an easier time growing when it's cold outside, so the heat inside doesn't get too outta control.

after pulling them off the plant and a trim

And a pic of the final harvest after it has dried and being put into cure.

and the next generation of clones.

yes Definetely, I will start as soon as this season ends and I get a few clones going or plant that seed!! How can you tell if it is a female seed? aren't there dots on them and even is female and odd is male or visa versa. but i guess that is just how they can see feminised seeds or was that a joke because the seeds do have little dots on them. Does that have anything to do with the sex I saw it on here but it could have been a smart ass remark from someone. Anyway, I will let you know as soon as i get a clone started or a seed growing and we will see what we can get by putting our heads together with me going to these classes in the next 2 weeks, I may learn some new things, like scientific stuff to make them grow better and i will take notes on the hydroponics for you if you want in case you need some question's asked I can ask them in the class. how about that you can join the class 3,000 miles away from me. That would be very cool. let me know when you want to start and I will let you know where I am but I still may have a few more questions on the harvest. You have been a really great sorce of some excellent information and I want to be able to help you out sometime I hope that I can . take care and growing together and talking about it woukld be very cool. well have a nice weekend coming up and I am checking about every 4 days to see if the trichomes change in color. I think the 50/50 color would be best, I don't like those couch lock highs unless I am with funny people or fun people. I don't like buzzing that hard for that long it gets too intence. Well talk to you soon, BB2112!!! and yes she is getting so big and she is so healthy the best she has ever been. Thanks so much!!!!!!

lol my energy will be in that class, wish I could be there in person. I would love to learn more about different hydro techniques and mediums. Like how to get a plant to grow as fast as in hydro, but taste like it was grown in high quality soil. That's where I've found the tradeoff, sacrificing taste and smell of the final stash for speedy growth and decent yield.
At least I get to start my classess on Monday, finishing up my associates degree this year.

There is no way to tell if a seed is male, female or feminized just by looking at it. The dots are just visual traits, like freckles or hair color. You will see all diferent kinds of seeds; striped, spotted, wrinkled, big, small, dark, white, and any combo of colors and markings. Only by looking at the parent plants could you get an idea what the seed might contain, and the only way of sexing a mystery seed is growing it out and sexing it yourself.