Final finishing line questions from people's own experience/preference please. Just trying to decipher the meaning of things as it's my first rou

Just check the first few calyx at the base of the buds, if they are yellow or brown it' should be good to go. Old timer's way of checking without tech. 👍

In a nutshell, it’s the way Sensimillia grows . Sensimillia is Spanish and literally means Without Seeds. The plant is just desperately trying to catch mal pollen

familiarity... observe.. and learn over time. They start to look different too.. color of calyx may change slightly.. pistils show color and coil up... The surface of the bud just looks different and you can see that spread out/progress. So, in general long hairs typically means more fattening to come... Try to use multiple observances to determine harvest... trichomes, pistil coloration and density of buds - the last one you want to limit as much as possible as touching the plant is something to avoid as best possible. But, giving a mid level or lower bud a gentle squeeze isn't going to ruin much of anything.. just don't do it daily, lol. you may need an extra few days to recognize the calyxes are fully plump at first, but that shouldn't hurt you at all as far as when to harvest.. plenty of time between fully fat and maturation of trichomes. It's a good time to start scoping trichomes daily. New pistil growth could be environment (excess heat or light), could be waiting too long and it's over-ripened and starts to grow more, or could be just some odd genetic trait that particular plant displays... 'calyx' is just what those hairs pop out of.. it's a sex organ. It's function is to receive pollen. If you google image search, you'll see diagrams with some wildly different overall shape and size, so add 'marijuana' to that search string. just a little envelope with a pointy top and 2 hairs stickign out. sugar leaves shouldn't die and shrivel up, but if a few do, it's not the end of the world, either... As long as it isn't widespread and prevalent, probably nothing to worry about as long as the plant can live long enough to harvest. Sugar leaves dying can also be a sign of trouble underneath - mold along stem. If controlling climate, should avoid that easily. Use a trellis for support in future. It's much less effort than tying individual branches up for supoprt. You may not always need it, but you'll sure appreciate not dealing with all those yoyos and individual attention and effort to every branch. Simply spread out the branches and they'll lean on the trellis as needed. Again, familiarity of what you expect helps alot with placement of the trellis. I want no more than the last 1/3rd of vertical growth above the trellis.. 6-8" and it won't flop over. If you don't know what to expect, may need to raise or lower the trellis to work effectively if it overgrows or undergrows compared to expectation when you initially placed the trellis. big buds is mostly gentics, but also impacted by how many bud sites are sharing dominance. Can never cause donky dicks if the genetics don't allow it. A single primary cola will result in much larger buds on that branch than several 'equal' colas distributed across a canopy -- yield is not impacted much by this, but risk of pathogens is... good to find that happy zone of bud size that gives high proportion of non-larfy buds without being so dense you worry about bud rot. 2-3 vertical, level branches is all you need per square foot to maximize yield. More just results in smaller buds of same total mass, ceteris paribus. On top of all that... personal preferences ... nobody can tell you exactly when to harvest. You may prefer more or less ripe buds. You'll have to experiment and try new thigns to figure out exactly how you want to do it. Even methods are impacted by your personal needs... maybe you want 1/3rd larf for bubble hash or edibles or other extracts etc. Maybe you want to take clones, so that requires a long enough vege phase to provide cuttings.. so smaller, faster-finishing plants are not an option. When discusing individual parts of growing, we speak of what is optimal, but what is optimal may not always fit what is needed. E.g. i could save a two weeks of vege phase growing a greater number of smaller plants while filling same area, but then i can't take clones for breeding cycles. I want to err on having a bit more larf, because it feeds my bubble hash production, so that is impacting how i train and prune... something that will take a couple grow cycles to hammer out a consistent procedure for a consistent outcome i can depend upon. Easier to adjust than to learn from scratch, but it's fundamentally the same process.

In nature what would happen, days get shorter, night get longer, days get cooler, temps drop. Chlorophyll main job is to capture light and convert it for growth. Anthocyanin and carotene have different job specifics so to speak, they do capture light but for different reasons. Ripening stage is not about growth any longer, reduced dli, reduced temps, priority shifts from growth to preservation. In a ideal setup the plant would begin sensesceance and start to dump its nitrogen. If you apply rapid growth (peak dli l, peak temps) all way to harvest you will most likely skip senesceance maintain full dark green all way to harvest, with plant constantly trying to fatten because thats what the environment demands. Ignore Calyx. A pistil (the hair-like structure on a flower or plant) will change color regardless of whether it gets pollinated. However, the specific way it changes color and shrivels depends on fertilization or not. Generally will go from bright white or yellow to red or orange which is very much determined by genetics, if it is polinated there is a very distinct visual where the tip turns darker, Pistils kinds act as environmental sensors that gather sensory inputs. However, the plant uses this "perception" to maximize reproductive success for purpose of fertilization rather than actively dictating the physical placement of new buds.... " if I place new buds here with highest levels of light etc, gives me best chances to be pollinatedand I have better chances to keep alive my genetics" The higher the ratio of darknened pistills tells you loosley how much growing the plant has ledt to do. Which can be influenced by how hard you are pushing the environmental metrics for growth as opposed to preservation. One can use pistols ratio alongside trichomes to get an idea of when to harvest, but this is not always coinciding with actual trichome readiness. Trichomes readiness and the rate of decay is linked to the amount of light and heat. Trichomes may accelerate and be ready too soon, but due to the high dli and high heat the plant is still actively trying to pump out new growth (white pistols) because environment says so. True art of a good grow is having everything come together just perfectly, with a understading that what is good for growth is not always what is good for trichomes. Understanding each stage of growth, the needs and requirements of flower especially. 🌼 90-95% darkened pistills with 10% amber 90% cloudy. Perfecto. 50-60% darkened pistils. 10% amber, 30% cloudy 60% clear. Overcooked the entire profile, acceleration of breakdown of trichomes, accelerated heat and light pushing plant for more growth as opposed to ripening. Its all about the sigals she receives from her environment. Vast majority of bud growth is done by week 4 to 5, pushing the plant to absolute limits of growth during this time is essential, pushing for fatter buds week 8/9 into flower is a waste of time imo, to do is to burn off your profile. If you want big cola you need to push the limits of growth and the amount of energy that one converts each cycle. What is optimal for photosynthesis and carbon fixation is not good optimal for cellular respiration and carbon assimilation and until one balances the fixation with assimilation and actually understand what this paragraph means you will never have fatties. Fixating for 18 hours to capture 40dli when you only assimlate 20% in the 4 hours of night under sub optimal conditions with 70 RH% and oversaturated soul. The entire plant is bottlenecked to the 20%. Obviously its not always going to be 20% , butnidea remains. Balance. I give my autos 12/12 from germination 86 days and get over 145g dry per plant. Proof is in the pudding. Pushing bud growth for fattening in last week's is like flushing for 2 weeks and telling everyone your yield is bigger and plant tastes better. Sounds great, but reality is far removed from wishful thinking. Wow that's a long one, I do love a good rant. Best of luck.

Congrats on reaching the final stretch of your first run! The late flowering stage can definitely be a bit confusing with all the conflicting signs, but you're doing great. Here is a breakdown to help you figure out exactly what your plants are telling you. You'll know the buds have stopped fattening when you notice that the overall swelling of the flower clusters plateaus and you don't see any significant daily growth. At this point, the plant redirects its remaining energy away from building mass and focuses entirely on resin and cannabinoid production. To understand the finish, keep an eye on the calyxes. A calyx is the tear-shaped nodule that forms the actual structure of the bud, and it is the part that holds the seeds if pollination occurs. Their significance with the finish is huge: during the final weeks, these calyxes will visibly swell up and look "plump" or "fat," almost like they are hiding a seed inside. When the majority of the calyxes across the bud have swollen up and squeezed tight around the base of the hairs, it is a major sign that the plant is reaching peak maturity. If you are seeing new white pistils growing even though older ones have turned amber and shriveled, don't worry too much. This is often just a genetic trait of certain strains (especially sativas) or a sign of "foxtailing," which can happen if the tops of the buds are getting a bit too much light intensity or heat. It means the plant is still trying to produce new flowers, but you should judge the overall ripeness based on the older, established parts of the bud and the trichomes, rather than these late-coming new white hairs. When it comes to the leaves, you will absolutely see the sugar leaves change. They will usually start to lose their deep green color and fade to yellow, purple, or autumn hues as the plant flushes out its remaining nutrients. At the same time, the pistils will completely shrivel up, darken, and tuck themselves back into those swollen calyxes. As for your heavy buds being on yoyos, that is perfectly okay and actually a great sign. It means you did an awesome job growing dense, heavy flowers that the branches can no longer support on their own, so keep using them to prevent any branches from snapping under the weight. Happy Growing Growmie🌱