I have 3 auto flowering plants getting close to harvest time. Well, one plant is close. The one bud in the middle looks way better than the secondary and tercerary, (spelling?), buds… That one bud in the middle looks somewhat like the pics of the buds in the seed shop… The rest do not yet. I do not have a smart phone or any way to post pics on here… Can I harvest, or cut off the middle, (main) bud, on an Auto. plant, and then wait to harvest the rest of the plant? Has anyone out there ever tried this on an Auto. before? Do the secondary… buds ever look as good as the middle bud, (or even close), on an auto that has never been topped…? Used to grow photos a really long time ago, and I would top them, and clip off a bud here and there to smoke, but these auto’s are a different story… Everyone says I can not do things I used to do with Photo. plants, so I assume that most people would say not to do this…?
Absolutely. I have done this with white widow autos. Also invest in a jewelry loupeto determine the colors of the trichomes
I have take bud colas that were mature and keep the plants growing longer. I don’t think it’s going to stunt the growth. Never grew autos so I can’t answer that question. I usually test buds anyway.
Thanks @Sixpackdad!!! So, it worked fine on ur w.w. auto’s then? It had not ill effects on them? Did not seem to shock the rest of the plant, or slow down the growth of the other buds at all? Or nothing negative at all? I was thinking, that I will not be able to do this with Auto’s…!!!
Will have to look into this jewelry loupeto thing…, that is a new one on me!!! lol Sounds interesting!!! Thanks again!!!
What do u think @OldSkunk, and @blackthumbbetty…, U two like to grow auto’s, I believe…? Have u ever tried this or heard things about doing this? My middle buds are way ahead of, and look way, way better than all the other buds on the plants…!!! But, my plants did get really stunted when they were young… I think that might make it more exaggerated in this case… Or maybe this always happens? Been a long time since I have grown pot…, and those were not Auto’s, of course.
No issues. In theory when you cut down part of the plant it naturally turns it’s attention to othe growth. You should be good. I have cut down parts of plants that have a lot of cloudy and some Amber, and other parts later as those transition to the right color. The loupe is key
I just harvest when I get 30% or better Amber at the top. No different than feminized for me dude.
Can I get one of those Jewlery Loupe things on Amazon @Sixpackdad ? How much magnification do I need? Mind if I ask where u bought yours, or if u guys can suggest where a country boy can get a decent thing to look at color of trichomes online? I see some little jewelry loupe things on Amazon for five bucks or so, but that must not be what u guys would suggest? lol Is that what u use too @OldSkunk? So u cut off the buds that are ready on auto’s too @OldSkunk? And then cut others off when they start to turn 30% amber? I assume the main, middle bud will turn amber first,(if one never tops the plant), then others later…? (No need answer that one, if my assumption is correct). lol Or do u harvest the whole plant all at once? Sorry about all my stupid beginner questions!!! I need to learn how to do this right!!! So many things I did not do, and did not know, 20 or 30 years ago!!! lol Thanks a lot for all the help!!!
I harvest everything at the same time on autos. I usually don’t have to do any pruning of the lower buds on autos like I do on fems. I use a x40 loupe and a x60/x120 viewer I got on Amazon. I snip off a piece of sugar leaf and use the viewer on a flat surface to look at trichomes. It’s not very good for looking at the plant. Too hard to stay in focus.
Thanks @Sixpackdad!!! 60 x’s is enough then… Looks like u can just hold it up to a bud while it is still growing… I will get one of those… I figure that one middle bud is no doubt ready! See how fast I can get that loupe… Dropped my ph meter in the water today… It seems to be ruined… How stupid of me! lol Better get a new one of those asap too. lol Really needed to water today too! Maybe 2 of them!!! lol Thanks again!!!
I too have lost a pH meter in the water. The $75 Apera pH meter is waterproof. I am on my 5th cheapo pH meter. Hindsight is 20/20, but I should’ve just gotten the good one to begin with and would’ve saved me some aggravation.
Oh, they do make a water proof one…!!! I have heard that Apera makes good meters too… Can’t really afford that right now, but might just do it anyway! Sounds like ur cheap ones did not last too long @Sixpackdad? Even when u did not drop it in the water…? lol I have heard that before too! I think I heard that Apera’s are good and last a loooong time too… Thanks Amigo!!!
Two stopped working, one was dropped in water, one was lost and then found (deronwear) and the latest is a vantakool. I still have the deronweer and vantakool, and they have lasted. I have a 7pH reference solution that I can use to detect if they are falling out of calibration. I make sure to wash them in distilled water during and after uses. I also have had a Deronweer tds meter that’s lasted along time. I also have a 1500ppm reference solution for that, but it doesn’t seem to ever fall out of calibration.
Ah, reference solutions!!! Now that is a good idea too!!! I should get some of that too soon!!! Must have that on Amazon too… Thanks for all the great ideas @Sixpackdad!!! That one middle bud has almost all red, orange hairs…, so must be ready! Was trying to wait to harvest whole plant at once, but lower buds are not really ready… Been reading up about when to harvest a bit… The pistols coloration/percentage…, and the trichomes and all… Did not even know about the trichome coloration thing!!! lol Had to water that plant early this morning, so might clip that off in a couple days! Prob. best to wait till it is a little dryer, I suppose? U would laugh if I told u the way I grew 40 years ago…!!! Some of these new things, I thought people were just kidding around with me!!! lol
I am ready to harvest at least one plant, finally!!! In fact, I was having trouble seeing my trichomes real good with my new loupe…, so I might be a little bit late on this one plant!!!
So, lets say I would normally use one liter to water that plant, how many liters of water should I use the last week before harvest? How many watering’s should i do this? I did water with plain water, last time, just with one liter or so, the regular amount…, but now I see that my nute schedule things say, to flush the last week!?! Well, one says the last week, and one says the last 2 weeks I think??? I should have harvested that plant already I think, but want to do the flush before harvest, I think!?! Oh, should I take that plant away from the lights, so too many trichomes don’t turn amber…!?! So, it does not get past it’s prime harvest time, as it might already be a little bit late!?!
What do u folks think, what does everyone do right before harvest normally? What if it is getting to be late? If at least 30% or more of trichromes (sp.?) are amber already…?@OldSkunk, @blackthumbbetty, @raustin, @Budbrother, @Sixpackdad, @dbrn32??? Thanks in advance for the help everyone!!!
Why are you watering with one litter of water? You should be watering to runoff every watering and feeding.
When I flush for harvest I wait till the last 2 weeks and just water, no more nutes. Then at one week I do a flush using Sledgehammer.
That is just an example… Just trying to get an idea how much more than a regular watering people water when flushing…? It takes more than one liter of water, to get them to have proper run off, closer to a liter and a half, i suppose… My pots are not very big, 3 or 4 gallon pots maybe. Sometimes it only takes a little over one liter of water to get to 10 or 20% run off, I think, especially for the one in the smallest pot… , (That pot might even be smaller than 3 gallons though…). I think that is the amount of run off to water to, the nute schedule thing I use said to water to… Should I be watering more than 10 to 20% runoff? I suppose sometimes more than that does come out the bottom of the pots actually Thanks @raustin
I don’t flush plants, sorry.
Yes, 10% runoff is plenty, you’r good.