28 hour photoperiod

Another interesting observation. The smell characteristic seems to have changed a bit. It still has the same smells, but they smell almost cleaner. Like you could imagine a soap smelling like this. Its like less skunky, and more aroma. The clean smell wears off my fingers after a bit, and leaves a skunkier smell, but initially its more like actual flowers. Is this normal?

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Only smell changes I notice in late flower are the sprucey thc like smells getting stronger and starting to overpower the whatever else, be it grape or citrus or berry. And I start noticing the soil smell a lot less.

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that aroma like soap, could it also seem like fuel or paint thinner or a kind of solvent? I got at least once

In all honesty, my sense of smell kind of sucks. I suppose it could be more like a fuel, but a sweeter smelling fuel. And i dont remember what deisel fuel smells like, thanks to pumps no longer allowing fumes out. Im surrounded by deisel EXHAUST though.

I will be pulling these things in a week and a half. Its as long as i can wait. Im hoping that miraculously the trichomes will start ambering. I am noticing the calyxes on several plants really getting bigger. I saw a couple of them that are about 3/8 of an inch wide. What i wouldnt give for all of them to get that big. As im getting close to the end of this experiment, i want to summarize some of my observations.

  1. The 16/12 seemed to really reduce the stretch. I would say my indicas stretched to 50% of the original size, and the sativas stretched 75-100% of their original size.

  2. It extended the flowering period greatly for the indicas by A LOT! But it seems to keep the sativas about the same. Im betting they would finish at the same time (bizarre).

  3. anectdotally, the buds seem larger than a previous run, after drying we will see.

  4. There is a late flower stretch that happens that did something really weird. My largest bud, had the lower buds of the main cola stretch out and broke away from the main cola, and formed their own colas. Im not upset by this. I was scared it was too compact and was more subject to bud rot. The bud almost self corrected that problem.

  5. The trichomes seem very similar in milkiness, instead of having some milky and some clear, but that may be subject to interpretation.

Things im still watching for.

  1. will the extra time in flower allow the trichomes more time to produce more thc, or do they produce so much and just stop? In this case, my choice in strains might be perfect because they are not high thc strains, so there is a lot of room for improvement.

  2. Yield (of course). But mostly concerned about the grams per watt.

  3. And most importantly, will someone else try this and find similar findings.

I will try to be totally honest with findings, good or bad.

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Too excited? Im ecstatic! I have an overwhelming need to know. I do have to disagree with one point you made though. I hope you will forgive me, but the strongest weed did not come from close to the equator. The strongest weed came from the Hindu Kush mountains. The atmosphere was much thinner in the mountains and could not block the UVB radiation, so the MJ in those areas adapted by producing more THC to block said radiation. Near the equator it was strong because it was technically closer to the sun, so it got a fair share of UVB, but not as much as the mountains because of such a thinner atmosphere. But most of the MJ near the equator was sativa which has a significantly longer flowering period. That is the basis for my theory about the extended flowering period. What strain are you planting? I think the part im most curious about is your stretch. I really think that was the biggest difference. Thank you for indulging my curiosity, and i cant wait to hear about your findings.

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Thought i would share one of my latest pics. These things are really building up some frost.

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The word potent is where we, me too, have different views. THC is quite noticable and what some like :dash: :dash: :exploding_head: An Afghan or Kush that puts a person in a daze or couch lock, a heavy trance, etc is also strong but in a mellow way. Sounds like youre finding alternative lighting better for some strains

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You know, i read that so long ago that i dont really remember where i actually read it. I used to read High Times every month in the early 90’s. (Still have many of the magazines still), and bought the Marijuana Growers Guide back then and read it cover to cover. I remember it was a big thing back then because, at the time, they were saying that marijuana was so bad now because the percentage is so much higher. Weed in the 60’s and 70’s averaged 5%, but now it can be as high as 30%. That was the excuse that the DEA was using to crack down on marijuana back then. So perhaps im running on old information. I do know that using UVB lights at just 1 watt per square meter does significantly increase potency. At any rate, both regions (equatorial and mountainous) have increased UVB exposure. I know that when i went to Jamaica back in 2000, their stuff KNOCKED ME OFF MY ASS! Which Jamaica is both mountainous and tropical. So you may be right. Like i said, im just excited that someone else will try this. Its like being peer reviewed.

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Im not sure i would say “better”. Since the indicas had their flowering time extended so long, i was dreading that with the sativas. I thought, “my god, if the indicas are taking so long, then these sativas are going to take FOREVER!” But that doesnt seem to be the case. My haze plants are getting fall colors now, at the same time that my indicas are fading. Im wondering if i discovered another difference between indica and sativa. Its like indica cares about “days”, and sativa cares about hours of light. Its so weird that i have an almost pure indica, an almost pure sativa, and a 50/50 hybrid, and they look like they will all be ready at the same time.

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Ready or not, my deadline is arriving quickly. Monday morning, the lights go off for the last time for 72 hours. A couple of plants could have used more time, but almost 14 weeks for an indica is pretty crazy. If there are not some benefits from it, then it might prove that a shorter day could be more beneficial. Like i said, on one of my grape apes it made very large buds, with the other one the buds are not as large, but they are impossible to touch because they are so pungent and sticky, that its like tree sap covering it. That one doesnt photograph well because its so leafy, that the buds are kind of hidden. I should be able to get these tested, and can see if they exceeded their strain specifications. Plus i have people that are like weed sommeliers, and review strains with the best of them. At any rate, they have just over a week left. Its kind of liberating knowing its almost done though. Not gonna lie.

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Three outta four of my new grape apes died. Well I killed them, they didnt grow for a month… I either killed them with too much light or topped them too early. I just thought to tell ya because earlier you said the variation… I had three deformed, one stretched, one runt. No big deal life grows on

Shit man. That sucks. Thats why im almost glad i have this deadline. I have just one week to keep them alive. They may not be at their finest, but a lot of my worry is gone. Grape ape is an interesting strain though. You say life goes on, but i will mourn for your loss.

Yeah all of that stuff was part of government propaganda to make weed seem so much worse than it is. Of course we know all the lies that were told in demonization of this almost devine plant. A PhD huh? Wow, playing with the big boys now! The scientific method is in full swing now. I think the stretch has become my biggest infatuation with this. I could almost conceive of the idea of starting a flower with 16/12 for 3 weeks, and then moving to 12/12 afterwards to limit stretch, if that is truly what happened. My head is swimming with ideas about this, and im sure yours will be too, if you find differences from normal grows. However, if you find no differences, then oh well i guess. At least you will have quenched some intellectual curiosity.

I had deformities with my first run of the grape ape. I had some sort of polyploid. Weirdest thing ever. It has a thick flat stem, and about a thousand leaves stacked into about an inch of space. I kept it just to see what it would eventually do. Maybe grape ape is just prone to mutations.

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I think that sometimes a lot of secrets to biological functions can only be unlocked through extra-ordinary conditions. Just the idea that this flowering stage is so expanded really makes me wonder if it slowed the function of the trichomes. Indicas evolved to be in such a hurry to get done what it needs to get done very quickly due to a quick transition to wintery conditions. Did the trichomes continue their quick pace, or did they slow down? Another thing i noticed is that the lower buds seem to be finishing at the same time as the tops. I mean, what if the trichomes just kept producing their essential oils at the same pace as they normally do? I keep having this almost fantasy about getting test results back, and finding out that i have the most potent buds ever recorded. Probably a pipe dream, but what if? Then i also think the opposite could be true, and i could find out that the extra time degraded everything. This is sort of a stream on consciousness post, but i think if you do attempt this, it could give you a headstart. All i know right now is by comparison to the first grow, the buds are way bigger, way more dense, and went through an evolution in their smell. Im going to beg my wife to let me try this again.

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Do you ever feel like if you try to keep these things alive any longer, they are all going to die on you? This tent is unruly. Buds are falling on their own weight. Leaves are yellowing. I wonder if i have to chop now. If i chop now, they HAVE to take 3 weeks to dry. Any advise would be appreciated.

On monday i was turning the lights off for 72 hours. Which i have never done that long before, but its a way to prolong it. I was going a little longer between waterings trying to stress them a little to finish. I think ill water them each day until sunday.

This could just be my severe anxiety. I get freaked out about things real easy, and start having panic attacks.

Yeah its just constant stress managed to rewire my brain to overreact to stress. Now its just like a constant feeling of guilt. It sucks. Anyway, this is their penultimate day of life they will see. Lets hope everything goes well. I will not have anything to report after monday, but im going to post some pictures at the beginning of their last night.