How long does it usually take for buds to start forming after 12/12?

[jonezin]

How long should it take for buds to start forming after switching to 12/12? Today is day 12 and I still don't have any forming yet. I have Northern Lights (feminized White Label), White Ice (feminized White Label) and Power Skunk (regular G13 "brand" freebies). I thought you would be able to see buds forming by now??? But all there is are the preflowers. There's more of them than there was and they've gotten bigger somewhat, but you can't really tell from looking at the plants that they're on 12/12 yet. I don't think I have any light leaks, but just to make sure I don't really go in the room that these are in during lights out, but sometimes I have to. But I usually use a flashlight in the room to see. I have noticed a couple of times though that light may be getting in one of the windows and very dimly shining towards one of my vents on my DR120 and I don't have them totally lightproof. The two vents that could get light if I open the door to the room I have covered during lights out. But one of them on the opposite side is near that window and might be possibly letting a tiny bit in.

If they are getting any amount of light at all during lights out they'll just never bud right?

My power skunk is totally out of control going nuts and has grown over an inch a day since I switched to 12/12 and I'm about ready to tie it down or something. I have to keep raising the light and raising my other plants up since they're so much shorter. It's becoming a real pain.

I hope I start seeing some buds forming soon.

 

[tube dude]

You dont have buds until after the strech period. It usually takes from 2-3 weeks.

 

[jonezin]

So 2-3 weeks after switching to 12/12 then? The power skunk was 44 days old (just over 6 weeks) when I switched them to 12/12, and the other two strains were just over 4 weeks old. I definitely waited too long and didn't expect that power skunk to get so tall. Here's a picture from a couple days ago. Those are 3 gallon pots.

 

[swampy_nz]

Yep 2-3 weeks bro.don't sweat it.
check out my grow bro.i take pics every couple of days.im 28 days into flowering and you can see the huge difference from the first 2 weeks where there are no buds to the last 2 weeks where they are going nuts.

 

[jonezin]

Thanks guys. Your plants look really nice swampy_nz.

What would happen if I topped that power skunk now? Would it screw it up? I probably should have done it 2-3 weeks ago but I didn't expect that thing to get so tall. It's kind of a pain for me to raise my light further up than it is right now since I'm using that semi rigid ducting. But I can either cut some of it off to make it easier to raise the light, or I can use that insulated ducting instead because I bought some of that last night. Should I raise the light and let that thing go as high as it wants? Ive got about 16" left that I can go up with the light. Do you think that will be enough? Or do you think that I'll end up having to top it or tie it down (or something) anyway? Dutch Passion says that their power skunk grows 43"-59" tall. If it doesn't get much taller than that (this G13 version of it) I should be ok.

 

[IE2KS_KUSH]

Hey always wondered this, kinda a related question. Does everyone count Day 1 of flower as the first day you flip, or do you count day 1 after they stretch and actually start to flower? Just wondering. Not trying to hi-jack.

 

[swampy_nz]

I would try bending the last third of the plant over so the top is just below 90 degres.if you top now you will lose the large top cola.

 

[L-Thirt33n]

Thanks guys. Your plants look really nice swampy_nz.

What would happen if I topped that power skunk now? Would it screw it up? I probably should have done it 2-3 weeks ago but I didn't expect that thing to get so tall. It's kind of a pain for me to raise my light further up than it is right now since I'm using that semi rigid ducting. But I can either cut some of it off to make it easier to raise the light, or I can use that insulated ducting instead because I bought some of that last night. Should I raise the light and let that thing go as high as it wants? Ive got about 16" left that I can go up with the light. Do you think that will be enough? Or do you think that I'll end up having to top it or tie it down (or something) anyway? Dutch Passion says that their power skunk grows 43"-59" tall. If it doesn't get much taller than that (this G13 version of it) I should be ok.

You should see flowering begin any where after 2-3 weeks...Sometimes it can be longer. However, longer doesn't always mean there's a problem! Care should always be taken for the fact that it can be a number of deficiencies or not at all. Investigate accordingly. It could simply be weak hormonal response. In most cases you can shock the plant with a slightly longer dark period. (12/12.5 or even 12/13)

Well, you could top it now with it being Sativa dominant. But generally it's definitly a bad idea to top this late, as you guessed. Sativas usually grow a little more when flowering begins compared to it's Indica sister. Although, if you do top it this late it could make the plant top heavy which would cause it to topple over when it flowers...They are bad enough with that as it is. But you could work around that...Topping it now may reduce yield significantly. It may stunt the growth of the plant which would pause flower production...

Problem with letting it grow is that your other plants won't get as much light. You can work around that by simply raising the other plants... Also, with it obviously showing dominant Sativa phenotype, it could easily grow more than the alotted 16" that remain...

I would bend her over to be quite honest with you. Tie her down. Get some lateral light exposure and give you a good 6"-1ft of extra growth. BUT BE GENTLE! At this point that main stalk snaps and you're little lady is done.

 

[swampy_nz]

Hey always wondered this, kinda a related question. Does everyone count Day 1 of flower as the first day you flip, or do you count day 1 after they stretch and actually start to flower? Just wondering. Not trying to hi-jack.

Most of us count from the 12/12 switch.

 

[L-Thirt33n]

Hey always wondered this, kinda a related question. Does everyone count Day 1 of flower as the first day you flip, or do you count day 1 after they stretch and actually start to flower? Just wondering. Not trying to hi-jack.

No, not personally. I never have. I start timing the flowering cycle when I see my first flower after the light cycle has changed on each strain. Each strain may flower at a different time.

Switching to 12/12 doesn't begin flowering, it INDUCES it...After which your preflowers will begin to swell and flower production will begin.

 

[kongbud]

i count from the switch and see buds forming in about 14 days

 

[ScottsBlown]

just make sure you dark period is DARK and undisturbed!

 

[jonezin]

I've noticed that my tent has a lot more light leaks now than it did the day I set it up. The zippers leak light a little, the seams leak, and the window on the side leaks. When I turn the lights off in the room that the tent is in and if you look at the small side window you can clearly see it lit up, where the rest of that side is dark. Maybe I'll try taking a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about. I don't think it's a huge deal, but I'm pretty sure it didn't do that when I first set it up. When I first set this up I turned the light on inside the tent and let it warm up totally and turned the lights off in the room and I couldn't see any light at all coming out of it.

 

[IE2KS_KUSH]

I've noticed that my tent has a lot more light leaks now than it did the day I set it up. The zippers leak light a little, the seams leak, and the window on the side leaks. When I turn the lights off in the room that the tent is in and if you look at the small side window you can clearly see it lit up, where the rest of that side is dark. Maybe I'll try taking a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about. I don't think it's a huge deal, but I'm pretty sure it didn't do that when I first set it up. When I first set this up I turned the light on inside the tent and let it warm up totally and turned the lights off in the room and I couldn't see any light at all coming out of it.

Well, as long as your room is light tight and you have no light at all during your dark period not a big deal. If there is any light in there, and your tent is not light tight, that's probably not good.
I use a tent. It's not light tight. It doesn't matter though, the room is, and I have 0 light in there during the dark period. Pretty much the tent is great for controlling the environment and reflecting light, but I do not count on it to ever be light tight. Sounds like you should do the same, and if you have any light in that room outside the tent during your dark period you need to kill it, yesterday. Good luck.

 

[KUSHEATER1]

don't worry about those little light leaks they won't do anything...

 

[jonezin]

Well I finally have buds forming. Here's my one and only Northern Lights plant...

 

[jonezin]

I can't figure out how to add a pic to my previous post so I'm posting again, this is the same plant.

 

[K.J]

We count from the switch and on our latest grow saw flowers within 10-12 days on a few plants (The Pure), and within 17-18 on the other two (Blue Mystic).

 

[LolaGal]

Bend the top over!

 

[jonezin]

Bend the top over!

That's what I ended up doing. Thanks. It's slowed down now. Hopefully it decides to stay short enough so I don't have too much more of a problem with it.