Outdoor flower times

[ButterflyGuru]

First time poster, long time lurker. I learned everything I know about growing from the organics for beginners thread on ICMag. (Thanks burn1 and LC). My approach has evolved away from guano since but that is my foundation.

First time outdoor grow in flower in Colorado. I’m coming from an indoor 4x4. I love outdoor so much more than indoor, so far.

I’ve read a ton about outdoor flower times including Backcountry’s sticky. I’m still left wondering if flowering times on seed packets provide any guidance on when to start checking trichs or if they are completely meaningless outdoor. I’m growing Blueberry OG from Barney’s and Critical Purple Kush from Seedsmans, both using coots mix. Both say 55-65 days. I saw the first pistil on August 20 on both plants. Blueberry is way ahead of CPK. 55-65 days is Oct 14-24. Should this still be my window of expectation? I know that it depends on phenos and all sorts of variables. but are seed packet times still useful? Thank you, this is the best community of knowledge in the world that I’ve found.

 

[Switcher56]

First time poster, long time lurker. I learned everything I know about growing from the organics for beginners thread on ICMag. (Thanks burn1 and LC). My approach has evolved away from guano since but that is my foundation.

First time outdoor grow in flower in Colorado. I’m coming from an indoor 4x4. I love outdoor so much more than indoor, so far.

I’ve read a ton about outdoor flower times including Backcountry’s sticky. I’m still left wondering if flowering times on seed packets provide any guidance on when to start checking trichs or if they are completely meaningless outdoor. I’m growing Blueberry OG from Barney’s and Critical Purple Kush from Seedsmans, both using coots mix. Both say 55-65 days. I saw the first pistil on August 20 on both plants. Blueberry is way ahead of CPK. 55-65 days is Oct 14-24. Should this still be my window of expectation? I know that it depends on phenos and all sorts of variables. but are seed packet times still useful? Thank you, this is the best community of knowledge in the world that I’ve found.

I find them on the shy side by a couple of weeks, but that is indoors. TBS, growing outdoors it is "mother nature" dependent. Since you guys are legal, take the pulse in the "local" (on the ground) community

 

[ButterflyGuru]

I moved to CO recently and am shocked at the insularity of the growing community. It’s rare to find a bud tender that knows anything about the growing practices at their own dispensary - Very common to not know if hydro or soil let alone outdoor. It’s like the sales staff and the growing teams are completely isolated entities. Outdoor non-commercial is technically illegal in CO so people don’t want to talk about it. There aren’t any flower coops of home growers or resources available for growers. It’s really not that open, even the grow shop peeps won’t talk about stuff. There is still some prohibition residual stigmatizing of cannabis as bad even in the first state to legalize.

 

[St. Phatty]

There are so many variations outdoors.

The last few weeks of flowering, when the plant is harvest-able and you are waiting patiently while it puts on trichomes ..
it gets Cold. And in some locations, you lose a lot of "direct sun hours".

That doesn't happen indoors.

Last year I managed to push most of the plants till after October 15 but this year, don't think it will last that long.

Of course this year I have more "Grow Rip Anxiety". Had an attempted burglary in May.

 

[therevverend]

The flowering times on packets are usually for indoors and they're rough guidelines. They won't translate well to outdoors because plants transition differently. Indoors you go automatically from 18 or 24 hours light a day to 12. Outdoors you lose a few minutes a day, from June to September not reaching 12 on and 12 off until late September. Even branches will finish differently depending on how much direct sunlight they get and what side and height of the plant they're on. We're in main run harvest time when most plants will be finishing but that doesn't mean much. You're going to have to go by how ripe the flowers look.

Most people harvest their outdoor plants too early. They get paranoid about mold, weather, and thieves. See the big buds and sparkly resin and want to chop. Weather and security are always a factor, I watch the weather reports daily and watch for trespassers and use security precautions. It's best to be on top of things so you can let your plants fully mature. It seems ridiculous to spend 6 months and more tending a plant every day only to harvest it a few days or a week early. After waiting all that time you were too impatient to wait for it to finish? This is why outdoor often has a bad reputation, people will say 'outdoor all smells the same'. This is because all premature buds smell the same. Properly harvested and dried outdoor should smell and look just as good if not better then indoor.

If mold isn't a factor I wait for the calyxes to swell completely. Almost all the hairs change from white to brown or red or whatever. Even if the bud is mostly done if it's still throwing clusters of white hairs it can go a bit longer. A lot of people go by crystal change, you can use a loupe, magnifying glass, or your phone to check them out. If they're mostly clear they aren't ripe, if they're cloudy it's about done. If they're turning amber it's harvest time if not a little late. I'm one of the few growers that doesn't worry that much about crystal change because I get a lot of rain and wind. This will cause the glands to turn opaque early.

There's also a lot of personal preference and experience involved. Some people wait for all the hairs to turn amber. Some people like the effects of clear resin glands. Nobody likes the effects of premature buds, when the hairs are all still white and the buds smell and taste greeny. Plants will enter a stage called 'senescence' when they're finished. The plant puts the last of it's energy into producing seeds (or buds if it's sinsemilla) and doesn't need much water or any fertilizer at all. Some people call this 'the flush', it's similar to a migrating salmon, they simply don't need any food. I stop fertilizing 3-4 weeks or more before harvest because of this factor. Usually around the start of September depending on how long it looks like they're take. Otherwise your plants will take longer to finish and produce unevenly.

I usually harvest the tops first and let the bottoms go longer. Or harvest a couple branches and let the rest go. Since you're not sure about harvest time you may want to spread out your harvest. I'll take a sample nug, hang it for a couple days. Then examine it and smell it. Once a flower starts to dry it's much easier to see whether it's finished. Usually it's too wet to smoke still but I can get an idea of the structure and smell this way. Every couple days I'll take a nug or two (I also like to sample my plants early) until I think it's ready.


Bud tenders and the other people who work at shops don't know anything about growing. You'd be better off doing the opposite of what they tell you. It's like asking the cashier at a grocery store how to grow an apple.

 

[ButterflyGuru]

Thanks for the thoughtful, helpful reply. I appreciate it. I also like your comment on bud tenders.

 

[grayeyes]

Revv, I think the same thing can be said about curing. I recently found some Affie #1 still in the sealed bag after 2 years. When I gave it a month or so cure it was so-so. Now I would definitely grow it again. Amazing how much it improved.

 

[Switcher56]

Revv, I think the same thing can be said about curing. I recently found some Affie #1 still in the sealed bag after 2 years. When I gave it a month or so cure it was so-so. Now I would definitely grow it again. Amazing how much it improved.

Yup! Far too many folks focus on THC degradation (the chart that is floating around), and recommend using it within the year. Bollocks! THC is only one component amongst many others, and in my humble opinion, far too many foolks focus on the THC providing the high. Nothing can be further from the truth

 

[grayeyes]

Switcher, I tend to agree with you. There is more going on then just THC. I find terpenes can definitely change the high. My example is the difference between 22 wks Malawi and 16 wk. 16 wk was much more flavorable and had a different high then the longer flowering one.