Flowering And Ripening At The Equator

Hi,

I wonder if anyone knows techniques that work for speeding up ripening?

Also, I wonder what makes tropical savitas flower, considering there is no change in daylength at the equator (all days and nights are 12 hours, all year), and they are not autoflowering (some seem to never stop flowering).

So I wonder how sativas ripen in the tropics. Are they made to ripen by the growers, and if so, how?

TanzanianMagic said:

Hi,

I wonder if anyone knows techniques that work for speeding up ripening?

Also, I wonder what makes tropical savitas flower, considering there is no change in daylength at the equator (all days and nights are 12 hours, all year), and they are not autoflowering (some seem to never stop flowering).

So I wonder how sativas ripen in the tropics. Are they made to ripen by the growers, and if so, how?

Click to expand...

Well I'm not the best person to answer this as I've only done indoors in the tropics. But my mates who do outside(right on the equator) say that you just leave in outside and they will flower when ready. They are not ripened by growers; this occurs naturally just like 12/12 indoors. Not sure of what would help them ripen faster. Sats can veg+flower at the same time hence the large amounts of stretch they have. A guess would be 2-5 months of veg in 12/12 before you see preflowers.

Very strain specific. In the late 70's, I found 2 seed in 5 Thai Sticks. Very creeper, trippy. At 31 degrees N, I could hardly get them to bloom. It took about 8 months, and the blooming was a scraggly bunch of long skinny-I have trouble even calling them buds. I see why they came in Thai Stick form. They wrap the skinny things around a stick.

Crossed it with an early indica, and in a green house, the F1's didn't bloom until December, and were scraggly. I gave up on those genetics. Obviously, the tendency of most Sativas to be less tight is an adaptation to the humidity at low elevation at the equator. At altitude, where the humidity is lower, it is not necessary. -granger

some african farmers "ring" there plants - but that dont really speed up maturation, just ends it life.

They do it to make a golden product...

Some farmers ring there plants - but that dont speed up flowering just ends the plants life.

In my book there is only good care and lots off love that counts.

But small pots would also set the flowering time down

Plus some countrys in the equator has tropical moonson climate, with a dry periode in the middel of the year, plants adapt to those kind of variations.

I wonder how old some plants can get in the tropics, at some point the must wither off

Your premise is flawed.

Your premise is flawed.

TanzanianMagic said:

Hi,

I wonder if anyone knows techniques that work for speeding up ripening?

Also, I wonder what makes tropical savitas flower, considering there is no change in daylength at the equator (all days and nights are 12 hours, all year), and they are not autoflowering (some seem to never stop flowering).

So I wonder how sativas ripen in the tropics. Are they made to ripen by the growers, and if so, how?

Click to expand...

On the equator, the day:night ratio is only 12:12 twice a year.
in the Spring and the Fall.

On the longest day of the year June 21st, the ratio is about 13:11.
Shortest day, Dec 21, it's 11:13.

For Indica kine strains it's best to either veg indoors, or add a couple hours of light outdoors until they are ready to flower.
For Sativa leaners, planting date is critical.
Hawaii is just north of the equator so we get 4 seasons, technically.
But in reality we have a short season that is best used for breeding seeds.
And a long season that is the envy of the rest of the states.

Aloha,
Wee tropical 'zard

So does it make sense to flower Sativa plants on 11/13 when trying to get them to ripen properly?

Thanks for all the responses, and please keep them coming.

11/13 makes sense. Is it known what exactly makes them flower, and more mysteriously, what triggers ripening?

There is no switch from blue light to red light on the equator. Also, considering the equator has no real seasons (winter/spring/summer/fall), but usually has hot and dry, hot and wet, and cool and dry 'seasons', are there other factors that cause flowering or ripening, such as humidty or temperature?

TanzanianMagic said:

Thanks for all the responses, and please keep them coming.

11/13 makes sense. Is it known what exactly makes them flower, and more mysteriously, what triggers ripening?
There is no switch from blue light to red light on the equator. Also, considering the equator has no real seasons (winter/spring/summer/fall), but usually has hot and dry, hot and wet, and cool and dry 'seasons', are there other factors that cause flowering or ripening, such as humidty or temperature?

Click to expand...

Yes, it's not a mystery.
Just requires some reading.
The day:night ratio triggers flowering.
It does so with chemistry.

Google photoperiodicity and all will become clear.

Here's a sample of the treasure you will find for your mind;

"
Photoperiodism is a physical response to photoperiods. A photoperiod is the length of day versus the length of night. When talking about the circadian rhythm in people, we generally think of getting sleepy when the sun goes down and then waking again when the sun comes up. In plants, it isn't necessarily that they sleep and wake. However, the amount of daylight influences other aspects of plants.
The most commonly influenced response in plants when it comes to photoperiods is flowering. Plants that flower only under certain day-length conditions are considered to be photoperiodic. There are three classifications of photoperiodic plants: short-day, long-day and day-neutral. Before we look at these three classifications, let's first identify what is meant by a critical length. In regards to photoperiodicity, the critical length is the length of daylight a plant requires in order to produce flowers. We will look at the three plant classifications regarding critical length in just a minute, but let's first look at some general aspects of this critical day-length.
Some plants require just one day fitting in with the critical length requirements in order to flower. Others need the critical length requirements to be met for weeks before they will flower. Additionally, the critical length can be influenced by the temperature and location. For example, the same plant may require 12 hours of sunlight when it is in a more northern location but only 10 hours of sunlight when it is in a more southern location.
While plants don't have eyes to watch the amount of sunlight, they do have specialized cells. These photoreceptors are able to monitor the amount of light and help the plant determine the correct time to flower.
Even though we've been talking about the amount of sunlight and how that regulates when some flowers will bloom, plants are actually more sensitive to the length of darkness. Plants use photoreceptors to monitor light, so when a period of darkness is interrupted, the photoreceptors sense this change in the environment. Scientists have been able to determine that if the dark period is interrupted - even for just a minute - the plant will not bloom even if the critical length for sunlight has been met. However, if there is an interruption in the light period - for example, if it's dark for a minute - the plant will continue to flower according to its regular requirements for the critical length of sunlight. This information is very useful for growers. Growers can regulate when plants will flower by regulating or interrupting the consistency of the dark period. . . ."

at

http://education-portal.com/academy...al-annual-and-biennial-plant-life-cycles.html

Enjoy,
Weezard

Hours of day light at the equator

Hours of day light at the equator

12/12 … Not to argue, but this needs to be corrected.

Please look at this link:

http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/daylighthoursexplorer.html


It’s a nice tool to determine the hours of daylight at any latitude.

Adze said:

12/12 … Not to argue, but this needs to be corrected.

Please look at this link:

http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/daylighthoursexplorer.html


It’s a nice tool to determine the hours of daylight at any latitude.

Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks very much for the tool. What I wonder is if that one hour difference is really enough to make plants flower?

It is obvious that there is a change in light when you go from 18/6 to 12/12.

However, going from 12/12 to 11/13 doesn't feel to me that it would be enough to start flowering. Maybe it is, but could there be something else going on? Even if you go from 13/11 to 11/13 it seems like a very subtle differnce for the plants. It would imply that tropical sativas would start flowering at the drop of a hat, and we all know they don't.

howdy

how you do?

one perspective perhap cannabis adapt with respect to such miniscule change to photoperiod

such near equator environment within such to include photoperiod for create such variety for adapt within such environment

similar far of equator similar adaption and variety for create unique with respect to various environment

at when light to dark not change much, small change seem signifigant....indeed perhap for extend such flowering duration with to compare with area more far away to equator

adaption with respect to extend flowering are for illustrate at when analysis between such various variety each adapt unique

seed latency....hehehe

one perspective

positive vibrations

TanzanianMagic,

I won't tell you I know for sure because I don't, but plants that are used to 12/12 year round are very likely going to react to even a small change. Have you considered a "black box"? Of course, if you're growing trees that may be impossible.

howdy

how you do?

with respect various variable such drought and flood and within such indeed one perspective for at how unique variety for adapt and illustrate such trait within form
am keen with respect to research and analysis with respect to drought and flowering
much analysis within such drought for correlate with respect to flowering

indeed perhap plant for to achieve wisdom with respect to such and such with respect to flowering and seed viability preference

with respect to flowering, with not for analysis to form
such equinox and solstice one perspective perhap such and such celestial flowering signal

one perspective florigen adaption within seed latency with respect to various unique environment

positive vibrations

Interesting....

bump, I know this is a bit old now but thought id offer my 2 cent anyways

I am currently growing some pure sats, the first reply seems correct. A pure sat will still flower at 12/12, although 11/13 or even 10/14 seems to quicken the process slightly. They in in a sense flower and veg at the same time. when put into flower a pure sat doesn't start to flower for some time, but instead keep vegging until they are sexually mature, usually takes about around 5 weeks from12/12 in pots. however they are also coaxed into flower when roots hit bottom, so I suspects they would veg longer outside

stimp said:

however they are also coaxed into flower when roots hit bottom, so I suspects they would veg longer outside

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In essence you're saying that they start to flower when their access to new soil or new nutrients becomes restricted.

I wonder if anyone has observed when flowering starts, outdoor in the tropics.

sorry tanzanianmagic, I misunderstood. Although I see you now you are talking about outdoor, I thought you meant indoor because of the wording of the first question. not sure why lol. All I have heard about outdoor sativas is that they ripen when their ecosystem starts to run out of nutrients to support them. No idea if that is accurate though.