Ideally when should the leaves be turning color?

[Penguin59]

Hey there DrFever! That's an interesting point you raise above. I had always been a "keep the leaves as green as you can" type grower until I came on here and people were telling me the opposite.

I suppose logic would dictate that a plant that can use its green leaves to collect more sunlight in its final stages of flowering rather than using them up because it's running out of energy should add to potency and yield.

What's your opinion on greener leaves at the chop affecting taste though? Having a chlorophyll taste etc.?

 

[DrFever]

Hey there DrFever! That's an interesting point you raise above. I had always been a "keep the leaves as green as you can" grower until I came on here and people were telling me the opposite. I suppose logic would dictate that a plant that can use its green leaves to collect more sunlight in its final stages of flowering rather than using them because it's running out of energy should add to potency.

What's your opinion on greener leaves affecting taste though?

Greener leafs has nothing to do with taste its genetics ,, and proper drying and curing of the final product that determines taste Slow dry is key one thing is to grow a plant to harvest but most importantly is drying and curing which is a whole new ball game and which many growers Fail at

 

[gingerale]

Flushing = stupid

Keeping it green = stupid

The right way to do it? Taper the nutrients over the last few weeks, not cutting them off completely, but keeping a small flow going which is less than the total amount needed by the plant--which will cause it to continue swelling and absorbing nutrients from both soil and leaves. Cutting off all nutrients 2 or (God help you) 3 weeks before the end is a GREAT way to end up with a stunted plant that looks like shit and yields like shit. The plant should not be flushed for more than 4-5 days tops, at the very end. If you are successfully getting fully swelled nugs out of a 3 week flushed plant then you are way the fuck overfertilizing the plant, or something.

 

[gingerale]

DrFever I'll say it bluntly: you dont know what the fuck you're talking about. Seriously, you are a total noob who has no clue. This is the third thread you've decided to chime in with your bad advice while pretending to be an authority. I'll ask you once again to kindly shut up and listen for once, and maybe educate yourself instead of giving out bad advice.

 

[gingerale]

If you taper the nutrients right then damn near every leaf will yellow out right down to the stalk, even the bud leaves just like Hydro-Soil said, even while the bud swells the fuck up to maximum size. Give a few days flush with plain water to get the tiny bit of remaining nutrients out and it'll look something like this.....and be the best damn smoke you ever tasted.

 

[DrFever]

hahahaha go have your self a gingerale idiot just scroll thru my thread i will teach you a thing or 2 in my signature but know worries there in 6 weeks i will school you in yield owe and i forgot i will post final harvest pics hahaha we will see hey )

PS nice tent grow

 

[Penguin59]

Hey fellas, it would be good to have some actual scientific evidence brought into the discussion as to the benefits of green leaves vs. yellow leaves at the chop.

Until then we're all just talking from personal experience.

 

[Penguin59]

*Double Post*

 

[gingerale]

Hey fellas, it would be good to have some actual scientific evidence brought into the discussion as to the benefits of green leaves vs. yellow leaves at the chop.

My God man......do you think there are leagues of scientists who sit out there studying this type of shit, just waiting to give you some kind of proof to whip out in a discussion like this? Like if you search long and hard enough in a reputable journal you will find 37 independent peer reviewed studies of "Flushing with water in cannabis sativa"? Come on man. We are on our own, all alone out here. This is why it's even more critical to use your brain and learn from doing and what makes sense and works in the real world, instead of relying on someone to just hand you proof.

Of course we are speaking from personal experience. And my personal experience tells me that those who flush for weeks are just as utterly wrong as those who say it's totally cool to fertilize up until day of harvest and let it stay dark green. In one case you get improperly swollen, unfinished buds, and in the other case you get chemical tasting garbage. Like in so many other things the answer lies somewhere in between. Do what you what; I know what works and what doesn't. I already explained in my post why I think it's important to taper, if you read carefully enough. Cutting off all nutrients shocks the plant and will kill yield. If you don't believe what I'm telling you, then do an experiment and prove me wrong. Isn't that what science is all about?

 

[negative37dBA]

The tapering off of nute content near the end is the proper way to go. Your nute schedule should look something like a pryamid. Start out easy, move on up till top, then back down the other side till the end.
I am getting close to finishing a round of MKU. Started at around 200 PPM then moved up all the way to around 800ppm, then back down slowly at the end to around 300ppm again.
I think if you just cut off the nutes it will shock the plant a bit. Slowly down is the way.
Actual time that it will take is really strain dependent. My MKU packs on alot of wieght in the final 2 weeks.

A link to my current MKU (G13xOG Kush) grow diary.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=235661

 

[Penguin59]

The tapering off of nute content near the end is the proper way to go. Your nute schedule should look something like a pryamid. Start out easy, move on up till top, then back down the other side till the end.

Not disagreeing with what you're saying here negative and gingerale but if I'm growing organically, there is no way that I know of to effectively taper off nutrient release to the plants at exactly the right time that they need to run out of them. Particularly if I'm growing several strains that I've never grown before and don't know their nutrient requirements and how quickly they go through the nutrients in the soil.

In organic growing it's not really practical as far as I can tell. Other than what was said above by cutting back the nutrient content in each batch of soil one makes until it's perfect. But I don't prefer guesswork personally.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Not disagreeing with what you're saying here negative and gingerale but if I'm growing organically, there is no way that I know of to effectively taper off nutrient release to the plants at exactly the right time that they need to run out of them. Particularly if I'm growing several strains that I've never grown before and don't know their nutrient requirements and how quickly they go through the nutrients in the soil.

Stop and think.

Yes... you can 'time' it. If you put in 1 cup of nitrogen product and you're green at harvest... use 3/4ths of a cup the next run.

You really want to know your strains and feed them exactly what they need?

1. Write down everything you do. Temps, amendments, amount of soil in bucket, amount of water and when, lighting schedules and humidity.

2. LIGHTLY amend the soil for your next run. Say... half what you would normally use.

3. Chart how long it takes for them to look like they need food and use teas between then and the 'flush/fade' period.

4. Switch to plain water 2 weeks before you know your plant is usually finished.

You'll get an idea of how long your amendments last, your plants will be fully fed and they'll get a 'fade' to finish as the water helps the last bits of nutrients be used.

Does that make more sense now? Organic is more complex and takes longer to 'dail' in. Most folks just 'go organic' and you get a disgusting end product that they preen over. *bleah* Don't be like that.

You can figure this out... right?

Stay Safe!

 

[Penguin59]

Haha you guys are funny, thanks for the info Hydro.

Will give this a red-hot go!

 

[OZZ_]

This is a problem Ive been trying to figure out how to handle too penguin.

That is .... how to time finish when using soil with organic, granular ammendments.

This round I have a multi strain tent. The AK47 started showing a deficiency around week 3, all the sweet tooths are still green. Im at about 4.5 weeks and the blue widows are just starting to turn a little yellow/amber. Yesterday, before reading this, I top dressed them with 1 tablespoon each of organic, granular 3-4-6.

After reading this I think Im going to let them go a good week and then give another molasses watering or two at week 6 and 7... then let them go straight water through to week 8 and 9. Im expecting them to be done around week 9.

Hopefully it will work out. We'll see I guess. Seems that AK wanted to be fed heavily, but shes also the heaviest yielding out of the bunch (so far anyway)... go figure.

 

[de145]

Something relevant to this discussion caught my eye recently, I was watching "No Reservations" and in it a guy had started an organic winery in France. He said that they had to plant a certain type of grass all throughout the vineyards because he claimed the soil was "too rich" and the grapes were eating too well which resulted in poor tasting grapes.

There is also much evidence to suggest that terpenes in non cannabis crops are enhanced by stressing the plants in various ways.

I think there might be value in slightly under-nuting the plants and I intend to experiment with that once things settle down here and I have a consistent setup to try it with.

I realize there might be more yield in pumping a plant to black-dark-green with nutes throughout the bloom but I personally don't give a shit about yield, I'm not selling this stuff it's for personal medical and recreational use and I want something I can be proud to share.

With only one exception, I've never in all my years tasted dark green harvested weed that wasn't harsh and unpleasant to smoke no matter how it was cured.

The only exception was a water cure experiment to salvage dark green weed and it worked perfectly to smooth it out but it had no flavor, none at all, all terpenes pretty much gone, so it's an emergency measure at best for my tastes.

I don't think a dark green harvest can be cured into being flavorful, I just don't see the mechanism that can make that happen. On the flip side I think if it's yellow right into the bud at harvest it almost doesn't matter what you do when you cure, it's going to turn out good if the pheno has it in it and you don't bake it while it's blooming with too much heat and boil off the terpenes before harvest.

I agree entirely with everyone that said it's best to ramp and taper nutes to perfectly finish without any need to flush, not only is that probably best for the plant but it saves money as well.

That being said, that's hard to get right, a slightly colder temp can cause less nute takeup and screw with your schedule entirely (for one example) and I think knowing how and when to flush is an important skill to have when it's nearing harvest and everything is dark green to almost black.