First timers insecurities concerning harvest.

[badumtshh]

This is the the general view of the plant.
The plant is an Afghan, which has been grown from seed to veg with a 23w CFL light. Yes, very small, but as you can see, the bucket aint too big either. Mostly because of the space constraints, it was topped quite early, and thus I have two main colas and a lot of offshoot. 53 days now, since I first spotted white pistils.



This is a closeup (bad lighting thanks to flash) of a lower bud which has reached out of the main stem and into the light.



'Main' cola #1.
This is where I come for you. The red ring is enveloping a leaf, which as of a couple days ago, was still very much covered in resin, but today the resin seems to be... more glassy, for the lack of a better word. Could this be, that I moved the plant under a 125w CFL light recently, where it is ~20cm away from the light. The temperature is a bit warm to the hand at that level, but nothing alarming I should say.



'Main' cola #2.
As you can see, both main colas have had a few cm's of growth recently, which I found a little odd.

Anyhow, since the usual strainguides etc tell Afghan to flower ready in 45-55 days, I'm looking for confirmation on how far this is.
Now, I feel that the lack of light has been influential in this grow in the sense that I'm not infact completely in schedule, as opposed to having grown the plant constantly under ample light. And this is ok, I'm in no rush.
The pistils have ~30-40% of brown amongst them, though I feel the pictures do not show this properly, thanks to my camera I guess.
The trichomes aren't, as far as I can see with my not-so-top-of-the-line magnifier, still cloudy, but clear.

But I do wonder, if I should start flushing right about now and prepare my jars for the curing.

 

[SBR]

don't go by pistil colour, I can burn that colour if I wanted to lower lights. Upgrade to atleast a 400 watt. That looks like shake.. good try though

 

[Twist1]

Hey Badumtshh,

Your plant actually looks ok for how little light it has been flowering under - not a bad effort I would say.

You are right - the plant will take longer to mature since it has been flowered under such low light levels. SBR is also right - pistil colour can be misleading, and is not the best way to gauge ripeness of the plant - although it can give some insight into the overall ripeness.

In my humble opinion you still have a little way to go with this plant - maybe another 2 weeks or so.

It is good that you recently moved the plant under a more powerful CFL, but 20cm is too far away for a CFL to really be effective - looks like you might need a ventilation plan.

Good luck

 

[SuperConductor]

Do you have total darkness at night? Looks like a possible light leak.

I'm assuming the lining in that pot is pourus, ie water can get through?

 

[badumtshh]

Thanks for all the replies guys, appreciate it.

The plant gets a lot more light than the meagre 23W CFL, to be honest. Thanks to summertime, and this particular one being very much odorless, I've been keeping her on the balcony most of the day. She only sleeps in the box, these days. The 125W CFL was only because we had a very stormy day, and I figured since it was nearly pitch black outside, the CFL would've been better.
I can only wish that a 23W CFL would give these results, but alas.

I'm fairly confident that it isn't lightleak, the box she resides in is secluded in a corner of the livingroom, where after the lights are turned out, it is barely moonlight equivalent. Also the box is lightproof, to add to the point.
And yes, the lining is porous and allows the water to freely run through. I mostly tossed that in there, so that changing the medium would be easier.

As for the pistils, I go with them as my friend has said. Start counting flowering days from the first day you spot white pistils, and as a groundrule (nothing definitive, just a groundrule) once the brown pistils are ~50%+ of all, you're looking to be quite near to harvest. His words, not mine.
I've also taken the habit of checking the trichomes for clearness etc.

Fact is, though, since this is my first, the lack of experience shows in hesitation and so on. I figured that it would be roughly couple weeks from now that I could finally harvest her for good, and in that vein, I've not mixed anymore nutrients for her, just going with water in the future.

 

[Twist1]

Ahhh that makes a lot more sense - I thought she was looking too good for just a 23w CFL! I actually do the same with my girls atm - out on the balcony when it's sunny, and back in under CFLs when it's rainy/overcast - works pretty well

One other thing that I forgot to mention - that will definitely slow down ripening - possibly the plant has been getting too much Nitrogen during the later stages of flowering. I have had some experience of this with some of my girls, and it causes long, foxtailing buds like yours... and slower ripening. In fact I have 2 girls that look quite similar to this atm, and I am sure it is down to too much N in flowering. Like you said - just give them water from here on out - they will use up all the Nitrogen eventually and then they will ripen

Peace

 

[Jhhnn]

I'd suggest that if the colas are growing to let it go longer, particularly if there are no amber trichomes. Some strains never really get much amber, as I understand it.

Might try snipping a small sample, testing it. The taste won't be right until after a cure, but if the high is to your liking, that'll influence your decision.

My girls basically tell me when they're ready, with yellowing fan leaves, cloudy trichomes & lack of growth, but I have no experience with low light situations.