Tangerine dream; is she ready

Here I have a tangerine dream plant, all the leaves have turned yellow and have started dropping. I have only a few orange hairs showing right now but I feel like the plant is at the end of its life and not sure if i should let it go any further. What are your thoughts

Hard to tell, but it looks good.

Mkultra81 said:

Here I have a tangerine dream plant, all the leaves have turned yellow and have started dropping. I have only a few orange hairs showing right now but I feel like the plant is at the end of its life and not sure if i should let it go any further. What are your thoughts

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Shit man, can't tell from those pics, get your glass out and take a look at the tric's. Get us some close up pics so we can zoom in!

What are the trichomes telling you?

Lights are off right now but will get closer pics for tomorrow. Just confused as hell, supposed to be an autoflower tangerine dream. I topped her a couple of weeks in and it just took off. About three weeks ago it started yellowing so I started feeding more but it didn't do much. Right now I'm at 2100ppm (0.5) and don't want to go any higher. Ph was pretty stable up until a week ago, seems to dropping all the time now. Don't have a microscope as I would usually go just by the look of the plant, it just seems that the plant is right at the end but mostly white pistles. Confused

PH is dropping from over feeding. IME in dwc no higher than 1000 ppms was ever needed, in dtw coco I don’t go over 800 with multiple feedings and that’s still too much most of the time

From what I have read online, when your ph is dropping and the water level is going down aswell, this means the plants internal ec is higher than the nutrient solution so therefore the plant leaches back into the nutrient solution which is then dropping the ph. I could be wrong but the plant is showing no ill effects from overfeeding, if anything not enough, I'm just not confident about going any higher than what I'm at already. Overnight she has started showing way more orange hairs now and is looking like it will be ready in the next couple of days maybe a week. Here are some closer photos.

That plant has 2-3 weeks left. The stigma are nearly all fresh and white which means the plant has still been growing new growth. The bracts in those last pictures don't look swollen at all either.

It may be yellowing from lockout or ph issues would be my 2 guesses. Overall it doesn't look terrible, and the buds look nice and frosty.

Most plants go through a fairly consistent pattern. Yes sometimes you get a weird exception but that doesn't happen as often as some will make you think.

Stigma redden and receed, showing the plant has stopped fresh growth and is focusing on beginning to mature. Then the bracts begin to swell internally. You won't notice the buds getting much larger, but when you look close at each bract, then you will notice them getting plump and fat.

During this last 2-3 weeks of life the plant packs on weight and finishes ripening. Letting it properly ripen ensures the best quality and yield from your plants. I've watched buds get heavier and bend over sturdy stems in only 2-3 days.

Don't cut early it is the biggest reason new growers aren't happy with their crops.

Thundercat said:

That plant has 2-3 weeks left. The stigma are nearly all fresh and white which means the plant has still been growing new growth. The bracts in those last pictures don't look swollen at all either.

It may be yellowing from lockout or ph issues would be my 2 guesses. Overall it doesn't look terrible, and the buds look nice and frosty.

Most plants go through a fairly consistent pattern. Yes sometimes you get a weird exception but that doesn't happen as often as some will make you think.

Stigma redden and receed, showing the plant has stopped fresh growth and is focusing on beginning to mature. Then the bracts begin to swell internally. You won't notice the buds getting much larger, but when you look close at each bract, then you will notice them getting plump and fat.

During this last 2-3 weeks of life the plant packs on weight and finishes ripening. Letting it properly ripen ensures the best quality and yield from your plants. I've watched buds get heavier and bend over sturdy stems in only 2-3 days.

Don't cut early it is the biggest reason new growers aren't happy with their crops.

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Cheers for the reply. So should I up the nutes even more to stop the ph dropping all the time and just keep going for another couple of weeks?

Mkultra81 said:

Cheers for the reply. So should I up the nutes even more to stop the ph dropping all the time and just keep going for another couple of weeks?

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Don't up the nutes more. I would honestly think they are not eating any or much of what your feeding them right now. I would probably just try to ride it out the next few weeks.

By a jeweler's loupe to look at trichomes. That's the best judge..."is she ready?"

Thundercat said:

Don't up the nutes more. I would honestly think they are not eating any or much of what your feeding them right now. I would probably just try to ride it out the next few weeks.

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I hear what your saying mate. I think I'm just getting impatient with this one, hoping it's done when it's not even close. It's just the yellowing leaves throwing me. I've seen plants do this before at the end of its life but not to this extent.

COtransplant said:

By a jeweler's loupe to look at trichomes. That's the best judge..."is she ready?"

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I think I will invest in one this weekend

I totally get the patients issue . It's yellowing because of an issue not because it's done growing and maturing. If plants have enough food and the right conditions they will stay perfectly green until they are matured beyond the point of being able to reproduce. Then they will die. I dont mind if my plants get a little leaf fade the last week or so, but when it happens they have already stopped making new growth and are using every last bit they have to swell up and try to ripen.

Your plants are using everything they have to survive. I think as high as your ppm are the plant is probably locked out and is feeding off it self to try to make it to the end.

You honestly might get away with just giving it ph'd water till the end. It have tons of nutes in the medium right now.

The trichomes say a lot about ripeness but really are the last thing to look at after the plant has given you other signs.

Thundercat said:

I totally get the patients issue . It's yellowing because of an issue not because it's done growing and maturing. If plants have enough food and the right conditions they will stay perfectly green until they are matured beyond the point of being able to reproduce. Then they will die. I dont mind if my plants get a little leaf fade the last week or so, but when it happens they have already stopped making new growth and are using every last bit they have to swell up and try to ripen.

Your plants are using everything they have to survive. I think as high as your ppm are the plant is probably locked out and is feeding off it self to try to make it to the end.

You honestly might get away with just giving it ph'd water till the end. It have tons of nutes in the medium right now.

The trichomes say a lot about ripeness but really are the last thing to look at after the plant has given you other signs.

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So the yellowing is caused by a lockout of nutrients. Would you suggest putting a pile of ph'd water through the top at this late stage and a water change to correct things before it gets out of hand?

I don't really think I would flush them with a ton of water that can damage the roots and they are already dealing with a tough time. I don't know if you will see a difference if you keep feeding nutes or stop feeding nutes and only give water. I would just give normal waterings with only ph'd water at this point though.

I could be wrong about the lockout, it just seems very probable from the way it looks and how you've been feeding it, inconjunction with the ph issues. It doesn't seem like it's eating what your giving. Most of my plants get fed about 6-700 ppm. I've had some that eat up to 1000-1200, but I've never needed to or even wanted to push anything higher.

With how high your feed levels are it shouldn't be that yellow if it's eating properly. I would honestly expect it to be dark green and burned.

Cheers for the input lads So for now I'll just hold off for the next couple of weeks and hope it turns out alright.