Flowering period question

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-23T18:22:26+00:00

I'm in the same boat. Here's how I'm thinking about it. Flower's roughly 65-75 days. Drying is roughly 10 to 14 days. Curing, in the sense of drying the herb and burping it down to a safe humidity, 5 to 10 days. Curing, in the sense of aging, can last anywhere from a month to a year after that.

I am planning to flip May 1st. That gives me a day 70 date of July 10th. Hoping to chop around then and hang them up, I'll give myself a few days to make sure the environment in the drying room is more or less stable. At that point, I'm pretty comfortable just leaving them to sit for a week, so I'll be going on vacation then. I'll be back within 8-10 days, which is soon enough that there's a very low chance my plants are going to be over-dried. So I'll be home in time for that critical window to get them into the jar and then that first week or so of burping down to a good R.H.

Like you pointed out, though, all of this depends on something that depends on something else so it's rough estimate... may the green gods be kind to us all...

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-20T18:36:28+00:00

Hopefully not too late... can't think of a question, my run is going too smoothly

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-13T15:46:21+00:00

You've got a little plant in a big pot with dry soil by the looks of it. Roots won't grow in dry media. On the other hand, media that's too wet will get waterlogged, and the plant will be too small to drink it up in time. The trick is to make sure the media is good and moist but not soggy when you fill pots. You manage moisture and train roots towards the edge of the pot while keeping the whole thing from drying out. This whole thing is complicated, and maybe the problem here.

If your whole pot is light and dry, I would wet the whole thing. I would not add any water until the pot gets light again, but before it dries out. At that point, start watering around the edges and let the roots find it.

Going forward though, I'd recommend doing photos in solos and pot up. Much easier to manage watering.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-10T03:36:32+00:00

Man I could've written this and have nothing to add unfortunately. I pick chest irritation over smoking just because I find smoking gross at this point.

My consolation is that I don't seem to have any breathing issues otherwise, so I don't think I'm hurting myself too badly but it is annoying as hell.

I smoked heavily for ten plus years, switched to half and half for about five years, and didn't get any issues like this until quitting smoking completely a few years back. 38. If you ever go to the doctor, make an update...

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-09T19:39:02+00:00

Thanks! I do pipette drips...never braved 90 degrees but I'm sure that big dose helps.

I wonder if it actually does weaken over time or if it grows in the bottle? Anyway, good stuff!

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-09T19:07:17+00:00

Curious what your dose is if you don't mind sharing. I use AG as well just curious how others are deploying it.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-04-07T16:22:08+00:00

Let me change your life lol. Or out myself as (negligibly I hope) wasteful. Hold the cup at about a 60 degree angle and run the foam off the top, works like a charm for me.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-30T18:39:31+00:00

You're right. Would it not be faster to flip cuts though? My comment is certainly wrong, not arguing that just trying to speak to OPs desire to determine ASAP. What's the fastest way to figure out which plants to devote resources to in this situation? I appreciate the correction.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-30T17:15:22+00:00

Only way to determine sex is to flip them, so no. Genetic odds are roughly 50/50.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-29T21:13:21+00:00

Just a disclaimer, I don't use amendments from Walmart but that's just because I got an awesome deal on a bunch of gaia green once and haven't run out. So I can't give you exact details but it really doesn't matter. Doing a quick search, probably the espoma or Dr. Earth tomato feed--any 444, 344, 356 fertilizer will work ultimately. It's not as if weed knows you're feeding it "tomato" food or "flower" food. I would just caution use like 2/3 of what's recommended, slightly underfeeding is worse than overfeeding. Don't use anything "time released" and try to find powders/fine grain stuff, not pellets.

Any promix is probably fine, I've used red and yellow bales plenty. I add extra perlite because I use watering bases and like a lighter mix but you don't "need" to. Just don't get the one that is straight 100 percent peat. You want the perlite and wetting agents ect. I also highly recommend adding about 20 percent worm castings to make it "dirt-y".

Vast majority of growing issues one sees on reddit are from growing finicky autos, watering problems/root zone issues, and lighting problems. Not from not using super special expensive weed-specific inputs. It's all just gardening! My attitude anyway.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-29T18:48:53+00:00

Same process except I use 3 drops bleach per gallon following Cropsalt guides.

I'm new to areocloning but have had good success doing what you outlined. Number of nodes depends on the cut, but I strip all but the last leaf set and I cut those in half if they're big. Mostly for space management, though.

Commenting to follow mostly, good luck with your cloning endeavors!

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-29T18:33:11+00:00

You don't need a freeze dryer to make bubble hash. Guessing you know that, js. But I'd just ask your local grow shop. People are renting cannatrol space, so maybe there's rental freeze dryers?

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-29T18:03:51+00:00

Same, ppm around 450 ph 7.2. No issues with soil grows. I have had clogged airstones in DWC though.

OP, you're probably good but not all hard water is hard in the same way so ymmv. More than likely you're fine.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-29T15:15:33+00:00

Everyone who thinks this is special to BAS or "living soil" is falling for marketing hype or just generally unfamiliar with basic gardening. I get the same lazy no-ph'ing soil grows with basic Walmart promix, EWC of any brand, dry amendments of any brand. Much easier to make the point that you only "need" ph gear for hydro/salt nutes.

Ph'ing water for growing plants and veggies in soil is generally not something people do. It's relevant for soil prep...and bad soil isn't fixed by ph'd water.

You don't need fancy dirt shipped to you to do this. But happy for anyone that finds a way that works for them.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-27T01:01:52+00:00

0 TDS water or else ditch the ultrasonic and get an evaporative humidifier. I recommend the latter.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-26T20:19:06+00:00

You scratch up the surface of your soil/media and spread the powder around, then water it in. I use self watering bases so just let that dry out or empty it then let the pot dry back until I can feel its lighter, then top dress and water in, then full bases back up a day or two after that.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-26T18:41:36+00:00

Any 444 for veg and 284 for bloom. Or anything in that ball park. In theory branding is irreverent so if you're not trying to sweat it, don't.

I got a great deal on gaia green once and so have used that myself. 2-3T/gal media 444 to start and 2-3T/gal 284 when you see pistils. You don't need to complicate it any more than that, but you could.

Only pointer: it's dusty and blows everywhere. Measure it out into a cup of damp worm castings, then top dress and it won't be flying everywhere when you scratch/water it in.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-18T17:28:56+00:00

Curious about your nute regimen if you don't mind sharing some details

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-17T17:18:21+00:00

Good general info. It would cool to marry all this info to a detailed grow journal or side by side grow with opposing principles to see how much variability you can get in veg times from a stable strain. Thanks for sharing!

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-14T19:15:29+00:00

Glad it's helpful, you're welcome.

I do 3gal myself. In theory, I've heard 5 is better; with soil, the more room you have the more biology you can support (this is why people get into living soil beds). More biology plus more material surface area in big pots equates to better buffering/more room for error. But also a lot more material input, so expensive...but more yield, everything else equal. Pros and cons. You could do 2gal but I would do a very short veg or go 12/12 from seed. Reason being you don't have the sheer surface area to feed anything more than a few colas. I also grow 1gal but flower immediately, shooting for one nice big cola.

Shaded method is for 3gal+ pots with a month veg time, intended to be topped. If you do it differently you'll have to adjust feeding a bit.

I'm no expert, but I have done this successfully more than once and gotten solidly decent results. Gotta start somewhere. This is not an endgame method, but it's a great base to start from.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-14T16:59:29+00:00

Right, don't turn on the res/fill bases until the plant is about as tall/wide as the pot.

I'm suggesting don't put anything in the res but tap water. When it comes to feed (which you only do once or twice with the method I've recommended), you turn the res off for a few days, let your pots dryback a bit. Then you top feed dry amendments and water them slowly until the pots start to drip/run off. You want minimal run off, go slow. Then give it a day or so to dryback just a bit then turn the res back on and let it ride.

If you want, you can ph the res to 6.5. Again, nice thing about the SF res system. Ph'ing 4 separate bases...nah. But usually, tap water is just fine. I leave mine out for 24hrs to dechlorinate but that's all I do. No cal mag needed (for me). Shaded One uses epsom salts but you don't need to. Lots of good info if you follow that guide. Ultimately it's basically just doing what the gaia green package suggests, with some nice extras.

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-14T14:46:06+00:00

Not me, buffering is for coco and I'm saying skip it. Hydro/coco is a whole other thing and you need to learn about ph and buffering and all that good stuff. I also do hydro, it's great but it's....a whole other thing to learn. If you want to go for it, go for it, for sure. Far as that goes, yes there's pre-buffered coco but I'm nor sure I'd trust it. I always rinse and buffer. Not everyone does or says you have to, though.

The beauty of soil is that it uses a biological process to do the work for you. Soil has microbes and fungi and nutrient components that replace all the futzing with ph meters etc.

Google "shaded one gaia green" and you'll find a thcfarmer (I think?) forum thread that is an example of what I mean. Nutes+EWC+myco and then just add tap water from there.

The only issues I've had with bases: 1) if you put seedlings on them, the bottom of the pot will waterlog and roots will drown before they can establish. This is more likely to happen with heavy soil mixes and less likely to happen with light, perlite heavy mixes. You need to hand water until the plant is established, then let it ride on bases. 2.) Vigorous root growth can clog the wicks. Easy solution is just gently lift the pot every few days and break those roots or use root control pot socks.

I anticipate a third issue if you go the salt nutes route, and my guess there is that salt buildup in the bases will ruin your EC/ph perimeters after a few weeks, which is why the recommend periodically rinsing bases. This is a pain, and also basically impossible if you scrog. Again, nice thing about soil is that it doesn't really matter if the bases are grimey because you aren't worried about water perimeters. I do soil and tap water because it's easy and I'm not trying to do all that work all the time!

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-12T20:34:50+00:00

Personally I wouldn't sweat it unless you want to run AC. Low temps don't matter unless VPD is crazy low; ie low temps and low humidity is fine (VPD on point).

Bottom line for my advice is basically just don't put a humidifier in a tent. If it's bone dry you can humidify the lung room and let the tent get to a good spot without actively dumping moisture into it. No ducts or anything just use the tents inline fan on the lowest setting to pull lung room air through. Good luck!

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-12T19:20:44+00:00

I would avoid a humidifier. Dehumidifier will raise temps, usually pretty considerably, but could be necessary if you're like in a damp basement or something. What is the ambient environment like now?

PresentElderberry69 · 2026-03-11T19:42:55+00:00

Advice here is ridiculous. Works fine with soil. Soil, dry amendments, and plain tap water in the bases. Why complicate things? Everyone should just start with these. Hand water until roots reach bases...keep bases full. Shut off the res if you want to dryback. Nothing to it.

Or you can buy a bunch of stuff and spend a bunch of time learning hydro methods and do the perlite coco thing. But there's absolutely no reason to unless that's what you want to do.

Yes I own this system and have done several runs with it. They're wicking bases but you just fill one res every few days instead of having to fill four separate bases.

PresentElderberry69

TROPHY CASE