During the different phases of flowering, your green beauties will require different care to make the most out of the harvesting point.
Keep reading to find out how to make your cannabeauties truly flourish (and what crucial mistakes to avoid!).
Cannabis Flowering Stages: the Ultimate Breakdown
1 – Start of Flowering
The flowering stage of cannabis begins with the 12-12 light-darkness period.
This is the time when you will make your marijuana plants exit the vegetation phase.
Typically, the transition to flowering can last between 1-3 weeks.
That depends on the strain you are growing, as well as the conditions you provide for your green beauties to flourish.
Fortunately, while your weed plants are still at the brink of flowering, any possible issues are very easy to handle.
That’s because your cannabeauties will still act like any ordinary weed does – growing vigorously!
Interestingly, due to the rapid growth of marijuana plants during this particular period, experts call the phase “flowering stretch”.
You can see your emerald princesses (almost) double in height.
The flowering stretch phase is the perfect time to apply low-stress training techniques.
One of the most common low-stress training methods includes gently bending some of the branches by tying them to a suitable surface.
Doing so allows you to attain a much more compact and bushy appearance of your canopy.
But what’s more, with some patience and care, you can easily increase the yields by up to 40%!
The flowering stretch is also a crucial period for recognizing male marijuana plants.
You can spot these by the tiny sac pollens your green babes will grow instead of the notorious pistils.
It is important to remove any males away from the females.
If you get a male cannabis plant pollinate your females, you can forget about harvesting any of the green medication.
Instead of nurturing multiple buds, pollinated plants will produce numerous seeds.
In the case of growing autoflowering marijuana strains, though, the flowering stretch looks completely different.
First off, there’s no need to keep track of the 12-12 light-darkness hours.
Autoflowering marijuana varieties are made by using the amazing genetics of Cannabis Ruderalis; Cannabis Ruderalis is a unique type of cannabis which grows despite its unfavorable natural environment.
Thus, possessing the strong genetics of Cannabis Ruderalis, autos do not need any extra attention for triggering the flowering.
You just need to keep in mind that you will have to be extra careful with your autoflowering beauties once the flowering has begun.
Do not stress them too much and stay consistent with the attention you provide.
2 – Formation of Premature Buds
The formation of buds usually takes place for between a week an up to 10 days.
Those freshly-formed buds will not look like the buds we are used to seeing, though.
It will be mostly the presence of perky, sticking straightforward pistils which will indicate the start of this period.
Remember to be extra attentive once you notice the white hairs forming in bundles.
This is a time when your green babies will stop being babies, and start acting more like teenagers; they will be picky about the surrounding environment and they will also become less forgiving to your mistakes.
It is especially important to watch out for nutrient burn, too.
I know it sounds tempting to start feeding more bloom fertilizers to your green princesses as you notice their pistils popping.
However, this can only cause more harm than any good. It is best to play safe and give them only half or even less of the recommended dosage of nutrients.
3 – Buds Maturation
Ah, the moment we are all waiting for!
On an average of between 1 to 2 weeks after the end of the premature buds formation, you can finally see the buds fattening!
During this particular period, it is important to put a stop to any low-stress training techniques. Right now, all you want to focus on is shower those hungry buds with love and light.
However, be extra careful not to place lights too near to the fattening buds, as this will only have the opposite effect.
4 – Buds Ripen
At the point of buds ripening, you will also notice a change in the color of the pistils.
Pistils will start turning brownish in about 1 single week. Although short, this period is no less crucial.
Your marijuana plants will be focusing all their hard work and attention on one final nurturing of the buds.
Watch out for imbalances in the pH levels of your growing medium and the water you feed to your plants.
The roots will be especially susceptible to damage due to improper pH levels. Some of the bottom leaves may become yellow.
That is absolutely fine but keep a close eye on more leaves falling off as this is not okay and may signalize a nutrient problem!
5 – Final Flush + Harvest
At this point, you stop feeding any additional nutrients to your marijuana superstar plants.
Now, you only want to make them feel terrific for just a one more week or so. Many leaves will start falling off at this point but this is more than welcome.
Happily, you already know what makes your green princesses happy; so it is only a matter of time before you lay your hands on the fruit of your efforts – the magnificent buds.
The Bottom Line
Cannabis flowering stages are just like the phases we go through from childhood to adulthood.
There’s some teenage fuss, there’s maturation and finally – the sweet rewards.
As long as you give your marijuana plants the attention they deserve – you will be able to spot and treat the possible issues and obstacles even if you are just a beginner.
It all depends on your determination. You can do this, bud-buddies!