counting days

[KUSHMAN901]

hi all i have a quick question when counting days do i start counting when i see pistils or when i see actual buds

 

[farmerjohn]

What day to start the countdown

:icon_dizzy:It's a good question. I have always started counting days when I flip the switch to 12/12. Interested to know if that is what everyone does or if there is another way. I know if I started when I saw pistils I'd be counting during veg. I see pistils all the time there.
:boogie:

 

[Big Buddy]

Its really up to you, you'll notice folks that count from the start of 12/12 will always say at the start of 12/12(crazy original eh, lol), and the first sign of flowers would be the start of flower. I'm sure you know this already, but for the folks that dont. So when you buys seeds, try and find out what they count by, its the reason so many strains advertised as 9 weeks actually take like 11

 

[devious d]

when the lights are flipped to 12/12 is the only time to start counting in my opinion, like farmer john said pistils can come on in veg or at least the little hairs around the base of new growth. :character0027:

 

[FileError404]

I don't think that's right, dev d, it really depends on your growing style imo. If you flip them when they are not "technically" ripe as in a SOG grow, you can add a week of flowering time as opposed to when you veg much longer and flip with lots of pre-flowers already.
As always, I could be wrong :D

 

[JayBee]

Already said this in another thread, but it has got to be from start of 12/12 if for the purpose of sharing info. Anything else is to subjective. From start of 12/12 is a point of reference everyone has in common.

Of course this is mature plants that have been vegged till branches are asymetrical.

Like file error, i could be wrong though.

JayBee

 

[farmerjohn]

Another question

That's the answer then. Makes sense to all use the day the switch is flipped because we all do that. It's definitive.
:confused0054:
But that brings up another question. Is a female plant that has been sprouted for 35 days qualify as mature? It was put in 12/12 to sex 20 days ago & is female, so I am letting it go after taking some clones. I am considering it an experiment, but perhaps some1 has hands on experience with budding out such a young plant. Am I in for a pleasant surprise or misery?
:character0029:

 

[KUSHMAN901]

i usually count from the first day the cycle of 12/12 is started but from reading here i have read where alot of people say once you see flowers thats why i asked

 

[farmerjohn]

:giggleIt has been my experience that claims made for flowering time tend to be optimistic. There can be a lot of reasons for that, such as environment, nutes, etc., but one reason may be that the breeders start counting when it's obvious they are in flower. It would shorten the days by 10-14 in most cases. So instead of saying this strain buds in 70 days from flipping the switch, they say it buds in 55-60 days. They just don't mention the fact that that is 55 days after flowers appear.
:flower:flower:flower

 

[hubcap]

we've always counted from the onset of 12/12

reason being....we can tell how many days a plant starts to 'pistil out' and how sensitive certain plants are to the light change. (haw many days after 12/12 do pistils/calyxes form.)

ive found that europeans tend to count from first pistils as opposed to 12/12

either or, imo, is fine, as long as its clarified.

but we use 12/12 to determine how sensitive plants are.

-cap

 

[Seamaiden]

hi all i have a quick question when counting days do i start counting when i see pistils or when i see actual buds

Is this for indoor growing, or out?

If indoor, I start counting days at the first day after flip.

If outdoor I start counting when I can see what I call 'bud-set'. That is to say that I treat it like a potential flower or fruit, and only start counting (in weeks) when it's apparent that area will become a bud (flower).

I don't rely on a time-line for anything more than general guidance, though. I prefer to go by feel.

Make sense?

 

[hubcap]

this makes perfect sense, considering, when outside they are left to mother natures light cycles.

good addition, farmer seamaiden.

 

[farmerjohn]

:mad0223:Why did't I think of that? Yes, of course, outdoor ya gotta monitor them when ya can. Never sure when the days got short enuff for the plant to flip the switch, so to speak. Although, you could say Sept. 22, Autumnal Equinox, except many varieties begin their budding outside far earlier than that.
:character0180:

 

[dican01]

yeah, i think it is best to go by when you swtich to 12/12. and even then, the days to maturity isn't exactly right on all the time.
a lot of commercial farmers use something called "growing degree days" to better gauge plant maturity. i just did another post about this in another thread.


i used to have a farm in eugene oregon and first noticed this when ordering from seed catalogs.
example...
territorial seed company (in oregon) says that their brandywine tomato matures in 85 days.
johnny's select seed company (in maine) says that their brandywine tomato matures in 78 days.
you will find differences like this in a lot of catalogs and there is a reason.

both territorial and johnny's test run all of their seeds and the dates come from their experience. this is why some growers are using growing degree days instead of days to maturity. i believe that maturity has to do with how much light a plant takes in, and not actual days.

i don't know if this translates over to indoor growing (don't know why it wouldn't), but it certainly means something outdoors.

 

[dican01]

Is this for indoor growing, or out?

If indoor, I start counting days at the first day after flip.

If outdoor I start counting when I can see what I call 'bud-set'. That is to say that I treat it like a potential flower or fruit, and only start counting (in weeks) when it's apparent that area will become a bud (flower).

I don't rely on a time-line for anything more than general guidance, though. I prefer to go by feel.

Make sense?

yeah, i like to go by feel too. you should have a pretty good idea when a plant is getting ripe. that is when i start checking trichomes in my 30x microscope. i like to harvest most varieties when most of the trichomes are milky and some are starting to turn amber.

you have a window of harvest also, about a week to two weeks depending on variety. what stage the trichomes are at will also help determine the high. more milky/clear trichomes = more of a head high. more amber trichomes = more of a narcotic high. somewhere in the middle is good for me.

better to pick when ripe than to go by days.

 

[420king-spaded]

we have always used this as a rule of thumb from seed wait 2 weeks into the 12/12 schedule before counting flowering days and from clones one week before we start counting days now if your working with an equelatarol sativa you mite have to wait upwards of 4 weeks before counting days from seed and clone also this has worked for me and the guy who has been teaching me says that the old-schoolers used this as "THERE RULE OF THUMB"

 

[l0g1c4l]

This is a great thread... As many stated before we all have a starting base in common - when we flip the switch. We cannabis afficionados should demand a standard from breeders!

 

[blackduck]

Agreed g1c4l

 

[Tat2420]

Even though this is an ancient thread haha...figured I'd chime in. For outdoor I don't count any days...expect flowering to begin mid to late September...indoor I count 2 ways. 1 from flip over to 12/12 this gives me a baseline for when sex is pronounced and pistils are forming. Then on day 14, I start a new count. This count is recommended flowering time. For instance...if it's a 60 day flowering time, it's actually closer to 75 overall as day 15 would be day 1.
Either way, it's all down to trichs in the end anyway.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Even though this is an ancient thread haha...figured I'd chime in. For outdoor I don't count any days...expect flowering to begin mid to late September...indoor I count 2 ways. 1 from flip over to 12/12 this gives me a baseline for when sex is pronounced and pistils are forming. Then on day 14, I start a new count. This count is recommended flowering time. For instance...if it's a 60 day flowering time, it's actually closer to 75 overall as day 15 would be day 1.
Either way, it's all down to trichs in the end anyway.

oh man, thanks, I've been waiting 7 years for someone else to chime in };-) meh, I just start counting after flip, but your second count after 14 days to match the seed vendors flowering recommendation is probably a good one!!!