Why Are My Leaves Growing Three Fingers? Let Me Tell You Why

[Seamaiden]

Cannabis is photoperiodic.

That means that it is the period or duration of lighting phase by which it "knows" whether to grow leaves (vegetative phase) or flowers (regenerative or sexual phase). These growth characteristics are controlled by hormones that are switched on or off by light, and these hormones are what tell the plant whether it should be growing leaves or flowers. It is not the daylight period that induces changes, but the dark period that controls this.

If you have a plant that has gone into flower and the dark phase is interrupted by sufficient light (moonlight is not enough to induce), by as little as a couple of minutes, it *will* cause the plant to go back into vegetative phase.

This growth has a distinct appearance, beginning with the plant growing triple-lobed leaves, often that don't have the normal serrations, which then become singles, then goes back to triples, and finally normally lobed leaves. Little to no bud growth will occur during this period.

Each phase change takes about two weeks for the plant to work through. So if you've got a plant in flower and you see it's started to throw triple-lobed leaves instead of the normal 5, 7, 9 or 11, you know that something has caused it to go back into a vegetative phase, aka reveg. If your plan is to get it back into flowering, know that the whole process will take approximately 6 weeks to get through before you see normal growth again.

I have found that reducing an 18hr lighting photoperiod by as little as an hour can induce flowering, but interrupting it for as little as 15 minutes 1x/night is enough to stop this. This is *not* the same thing as when a rootbound plant begins throwing pistils.

I have not played around a whole lot with photoperiods outside using a reduced daylight (reduced by 1/2hr each day) during flowering and stopped when I hit an 8hr day, so if there are others who've played a bit with photoperiods and what their effects are with other observations, I think this is the place to put them.

 

[juniper]

What happened when you reduced light to 8hrs?

 

[thunderfudge]

There's also the indicator leaves that grow in a circle when the plant kicks back into veg.seen those sea?

 

[PLOOKERKING]

This baby blockhead just went back into veg....

are these examples of the 3 fingers u spoke of??

 

[metaray]

I had a sativa that had several humungous 15 finger leaves. I'm told thats pretty unusual. I never see more than 9 indoor. But the photoperiod is longer indoor than outdoor. So is it genetic?

 

[sixstring]

Thought i would post these here.perfectly healthy chemcookie in flower 5 days.but they do this from seed to harvest.i think its strain related

 

[CelticEBE]

I had a plant not too long ago go down on blade counts while under 18 hours of light, then when I put her back into flower she went back up in blade count. It was a strange plant.

There are also plants out there that are three bladed and stay that way. OrgnKid told me his preferred cut of BlackBerry Kush had 3 blades to it....and I have heard the same thing about a few OG cuts as well.

 

[Seamaiden]

Yes, I remember a thread where someone said it's common in some of those OG lines, but I haven't seen it in anything I've grown out to this point. In my experience, with the genetics I've run, it's a reveg issue. I see a lot of threads and questions, so I suppose the qualifier is that UNLESS it's one of those OG lines (a list might be helpful so anyone else who wants to add their here, I think it would be helpful to others) it's likely a reveg scenario.

What happened when you reduced light to 8hrs?

They continued flowering just fine.

There's also the indicator leaves that grow in a circle when the plant kicks back into veg.seen those sea?

I have seen it, absolutely. Thanks for the reminder!

I had a sativa that had several humungous 15 finger leaves. I'm told thats pretty unusual. I never see more than 9 indoor. But the photoperiod is longer indoor than outdoor. So is it genetic?

It has to be! At least I think so. Also, I've been told that there are some OG lines that just grow triple-lobed leaves, period. But I've never grown one out myself, so I can't speak to it. Again, however, assuming it's true (and I'm assuming it's true), I think it's gotta be genetic, just as the reveg expression itself likely has a genetic basis I would think.

 

[putembk]

I recently took some cuts from a Chemdog #4 about 2 1/2 weeks into flower. They continued to flower in the dome. They rooted in about 10 days with a flower top beginning to form. After removing and going into the veg room they went weird as hell on me. Some new leaves curled into a circle others only had one leaf, then two, three and finally started to look normal after a few weeks. Now healthy and thriving as if nothing had happened.

 

[Seamaiden]

Took roughly six weeks for the whole cycle, yeah?

 

[putembk]

Wasn't keeping track but you are right, it took a while. Learn something every day.

 

[WalterWhiteFire]

I have a plant I revegged 10+weeks ago and it's still throwing blades. It's a Hindu Kush and it puts out mostly trefoils when it's healthy. Anyone ever seen a plant that won't completely reveg?

The Triangle kush and Legend i run also put out trefoils consistently when they are perfectly healthy.

 

[happy b]

Cannabis is photoperiodic.

That means that it is the period or duration of lighting phase by which it "knows" whether to grow leaves (vegetative phase) or flowers (regenerative or sexual phase). These growth characteristics are controlled by hormones that are switched on or off by light, and these hormones are what tell the plant whether it should be growing leaves or flowers. It is not the daylight period that induces changes, but the dark period that controls this.

If you have a plant that has gone into flower and the dark phase is interrupted by sufficient light (moonlight is not enough to induce), by as little as a couple of minutes, it *will* cause the plant to go back into vegetative phase.

This growth has a distinct appearance, beginning with the plant growing triple-lobed leaves, often that don't have the normal serrations, which then become singles, then goes back to triples, and finally normally lobed leaves. Little to no bud growth will occur during this period.

Each phase change takes about two weeks for the plant to work through. So if you've got a plant in flower and you see it's started to throw triple-lobed leaves instead of the normal 5, 7, 9 or 11, you know that something has caused it to go back into a vegetative phase, aka reveg. If your plan is to get it back into flowering, know that the whole process will take approximately 6 weeks to get through before you see normal growth again.

I have found that reducing an 18hr lighting photoperiod by as little as an hour can induce flowering, but interrupting it for as little as 15 minutes 1x/night is enough to stop this. This is *not* the same thing as when a rootbound plant begins throwing pistils.

I have not played around a whole lot with photoperiods outside using a reduced daylight (reduced by 1/2hr each day) during flowering and stopped when I hit an 8hr day, so if there are others who've played a bit with photoperiods and what their effects are with other observations, I think this is the place to put them.

Hey sea maiden.so why is my root bound cuttings throwing pistils,is it starting to bloom?what can i expect from plants like that when potted on?any and all help is really appreciated.thanks.

 

[WalterWhiteFire]

Just snapped these pics out of my veg room.

Hells angels OG

Chemdog 91 skunkVa

Legend OG

Triangle Kush

 

[Seamaiden]

Isn't Triangle Kush another name for The White? My cut of The White never did that during veg, only when revegging.

I have a plant I revegged 10+weeks ago and it's still throwing blades. It's a Hindu Kush and it puts out mostly trefoils when it's healthy. Anyone ever seen a plant that won't completely reveg?

The Triangle kush and Legend i run also put out trefoils consistently when they are perfectly healthy.

I have only seen that when I had soil that was way too acidic, and at that time I was observing other weird problems as well, really bad lockouts and shit.

Hey sea maiden.so why is my root bound cuttings throwing pistils,is it starting to bloom?what can i expect from plants like that when potted on?any and all help is really appreciated.thanks.

You know, I really don't know *why* root bound plants tend to go into flower, I only know that the smaller the container the more likely they are to go into flower, and when put in flower they will finish more quickly. I wish I had a definitive answer on why, but what I do when I see it is I get that girl repotted. If she's in the biggest size pot I can physically handle (3gals for me), then the green material on top gets whacked down hard, then I go at her roots and whack those down hard. I've take away as much as half the root material (sides & bottom) without causing a problem.

 

[Bulldog11]

I believe there are two different things going on here. A re-veg will throw out 3 leaves, and even 1 leaf. However I don't believe every plant that throws three leafs is because of re-veg issues. I have grown many og's that throw 3 leaves all the way to harvest. My og twist and Goji og both do this.

 

[Seamaiden]

Yes, that's been part of the discussion. I personally have not grown out any OG or cross that does this from the get go and there wasn't another issue going on, so it's not something I can speak to. My experience with all other strains over the years says this is a reveg and it will go from 3, to 1, back to 3 and finally normal. :)

 

[Bulldog11]

That is why supplemental lights is needed on most outdoor grown plants from clone. They start to flower before the days reach full length, then go back into veg. I have had many plants that go into re-veg and never come out. 3 months of one leaf growth with tiny popcorn nugs that barely pass for making hash.

 

[Seamaiden]

Indeed! This is what many of us who've been down that road try to explain to newbs who see it and don't understand what's happening and while they're certainly understandably excited about getting their first crop, going down this road leads to a pretty poor crop, I think I can say, "In our experience" yeah?

 

[Saguaro]

Isn't Triangle Kush another name for The White?

Nope…. Triangle Kush and The White are two different plants with somewhat similar characteristics.