When to switch to flower?

bonsaiboy · Dec 12, 2020

Hi all,
I’m new to this forum and still a novice grower. How do I know when it’s time to switch to flower mode? I have four Grandaddy Purple plants in DWC, four weeks in veg so far. Here’s what they look like today. Any advice is appreciated.

growsince79 · Dec 12, 2020

Dramadon3151 · Dec 12, 2020

I think with a soil medium, a 5 week veg after seedling stage is a good general veg time to flip. Rdwc has a faster growth and more vigor in general. There isnt really a hard fast rule about when to flip. I think it really depends on your preference about the size and overall shape that you want your plant to reach before flip. How many satelites and bud sites you want to develope...and how well it fills your flowering space. The long and short of it is this....do it whenever youre happy with the developement level and health of the plant.

Hope this helps!

Dramadon3151 · Dec 12, 2020

If that was my grow, id defoliate, LP it and give it a couple days to recover, then flip. By the time its revovered from that itll be around week 5 and thats a good general timeline.

bonsaiboy · Dec 12, 2020

Dramadon3151 said:
I think with a soil medium, a 5 week veg after seedling stage is a good general veg time to flip. Rdwc has a faster growth and more vigor in general. There isnt really a hard fast rule about when to flip. I think it really depends on your preference about the size and overall shape that you want your plant to reach before flip. How many satelites and bud sites you want to develope...and how well it fills your flowering space. The long and short of it is this....do it whenever youre happy with the developement level and health of the plant.

Hope this helps!

Yes, that's very helpful. Thanks for the comments.

bonsaiboy · Dec 12, 2020

Dramadon3151 said:
If that was my grow, id defoliate, LP it and give it a couple days to recover, then flip. By the time its revovered from that itll be around week 5 and thats a good general timeline.

Okay, so do you mean completely defoliate? That term in bonsai means remove every leaf, which seems a bit extreme in this case, but maybe you can clarify. Also, what does LP mean? Thanks!

Dramadon3151 · Dec 12, 2020

bonsaiboy said:
Okay, so do you mean completely defoliate? That term in bonsai means remove every leaf, which seems a bit extreme in this case, but maybe you can clarify. Also, what does LP mean? Thanks!

No dont take every leaf. In general never take more than 20% at any one defoliation session. I personally only ever defoliate enough large leaves to open the canopy and allow deeper light penetration to lower bud sites. Neve more than about 20% at one time. Theyll grow back and youll do it again...and on and on. At some point during flower your leaves will slow to grow back. Then stop defoliation completely. LP is lollipopping. We do this to clear te bottom of the stems an stalks of budsites that wont produce anything or will just be parasites and leach energy that wouod be better used in top sites. Stripping any satelite branches from about the bottom that atent goimg to br able to reach the 50% point of the overall plant canopy height. For the same reason. Parasitically leaching energy. It also allows air to love thru the bottom and reduces the chance of md or powder mildews and bugs.

growsince79 · Dec 12, 2020

If it were mine. I'd cut off the bottom leaves and branches only. Total defoliation with a purple light is scary shit. But go ahead I want to watch. Take lots of pics.

growsince79 · Dec 12, 2020

Dramadon3151 said:
No dont take every leaf. In general never take more than 20% at any one defoliation session. I personally only ever defoliate enough large leaves to open the canopy and allow deeper light penetration to lower bud sites. Neve more than about 20% at one time. Theyll grow back and youll do it again...and on and on. At some point during flower your leaves will slow to grow back. Then stop defoliation completely. LP is lollipopping. We do this to clear te bottom of the stems an stalks of budsites that wont produce anything or will just be parasites and leach energy that wouod be better used in top sites. Stripping any satelite branches from about the bottom that atent goimg to br able to reach the 50% point of the overall plant canopy height. For the same reason. Parasitically leaching energy. It also allows air to love thru the bottom and reduces the chance of md or powder mildews and bugs.

What leaves grow back? Not the fan leaves-they're gone forever. The smaller leaves will grow but they cant absorb nearly the light as the big leaves that are gone forever. Does it increase yield? Idk but my best buds always grows under the big fans. I wish the defoliation guys would do a side by side comparison.

bonsaiboy · Dec 14, 2020

Dramadon3151 said:
No dont take every leaf. In general never take more than 20% at any one defoliation session. I personally only ever defoliate enough large leaves to open the canopy and allow deeper light penetration to lower bud sites. Neve more than about 20% at one time. Theyll grow back and youll do it again...and on and on. At some point during flower your leaves will slow to grow back. Then stop defoliation completely. LP is lollipopping. We do this to clear te bottom of the stems an stalks of budsites that wont produce anything or will just be parasites and leach energy that wouod be better used in top sites. Stripping any satelite branches from about the bottom that atent goimg to br able to reach the 50% point of the overall plant canopy height. For the same reason. Parasitically leaching energy. It also allows air to love thru the bottom and reduces the chance of md or powder mildews and bugs.

Thanks much for the detailed response. I've pretty much followed your advice on the defoliation. I'll put up photos later.

When to switch to flower?

When to switch to flower?

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