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uaFlowering of Cannabis
Bob Marley
When Should Indoor Marijuana Be Switched to Blooming?
Photoperiod-dependent cannabis stretches (increases in size) when flowering starts. The biggest it can get eventually is twice as big as before blooming. That’s why indoor growers are advised to launch flowering when their plants reach half the size that the setup allows.
Certainly, automatic-flowering strains do not require your help to start blooming. Having a little part of Ruderalis genes, they switch to flowering automatically after 3-4 weeks of vegetation. Why did Ruderalis develop such an ability? Because it descends from regions with short summers and cold autumns. A plant that would wait for the day to get shorter wouldn’t leave any offspring in such a climate.
How Long Does Flowering of Marijuana Take?
That depends on what kind of strain we’re looking at. As you’ve read in the previous paragraph (or you may, very likely, know this without saying) the behavior of cannabis depends on what region it is native to.
- Sativa originates from tropical locations like Thailand, Jamaica, Hawaii, Cuba etc. That’s why a bush that is pure Sativa (Kali Mist, Satori USA) may have a very long flowering period of 11 - 14 weeks.
- Indica strains come from dry and hot places (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Southern India). Under such conditions, even cannabis has to be down-to-earth. Hence, marijuana like Kabul or Afghan Original tends to finish blooming within 9 weeks.
- For hybrid strains with different percentages of Indica / Sativa in their genealogy, flowering period is about 9-10 weeks. Interestingly, Pablo Escobar (90% Sativa) takes 10 weeks to finish blooming – just 1 week longer than Pineapple Express (80% Indica). That’s what breeders should be thanked for.
What are the stages of blooming?
Yes, flowering can be divided into sub-levels. We can speak of pre-flowering, floral growth and ripening. Pre-flowering. This happens when vegetative stage is over. White hairs appear in the nodes of the plant – during the next 1-2 weeks they will turn into the first buds. At pre-flowering male plants can be distinguished from female ones by having no white hairs (and also being taller). Male plants are usually removed. Pre-flowering is marked with extensive vegetative growth (stretching) – in fact, the last outburst of foliage and branches growing.
Floral Growth. When marijuana has its first buds and the stretching is finished, new calyxes start to appear. They spread along internodal space. This process is very beautiful! Well-handled plants gain volume substantially during floral growth, which may take 5-8 weeks depending on the strain. The scent is becoming really strong – but compared to the final weeks, it can’t be called pungent. If you take a look at resin glands (trichomes) through a microscope, the “bulbs” at their ends will be transparent.
Ripening. When new buds or trichomes are no longer appearing, the plant gets busy producing cannabinoids, terpenes, resin, essential oils and sugars. Technically, it’s exactly during the last 4-5 weeks of flowering period that cannabis gains features that people value: psychoactivity and flavor. During the ripening stage, nitrogen is relocated from lower leaves to buds, resulting in the leaves getting yellow. Ripening can be considered finished when about 60% trichomes have white “bubbles”, while the rest 40% has gone brown.
The last week of ripening means giving plants no nutrients (just plain water – this is called “the flush”). Once it’s over, the time comes for harvesting, drying and curing your marijuana.
16.08.2016
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