I have been growing my plants for about 4.5 mths now and I vegged 24/7 lights (GroLux Fluoro) for about 2 months. The plants have been through two periods of starvation due to the breaks we take in school. I started flowering around Jan. 17th and I have noticed that my plant started developing at the top first. The cola pistils are turning an orange-reddish color while the lower buds are small and the pistils are still white. The cola is also a little small for the time its been in flower (58 days). Any explanations as to why this is happening?

The upper parts will mature earlier, if the lower part of the plant receives significantly less light. How tall are they? The most accurate method of determining harvest time, is to look at the trichomes through a scope of at least a magnification of 30x. Many growers harvest the upper half of a plant first and the lower parts, a week or more later.

btw. welcome to GP.
Pappy

HelloAlwayshigh,The top of the plant is the closest to the light,so with more light the faster and bigger she will grow. Under cfl lights or fluorescent tubes, how many and how close to the top of the plants are they.You can put in side lights to help give her more lumes.You are growing in soil, what is the mix?What nutr are you using. If I can help you give a holler. PEACE

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Go to radio shack and buy a cheap microscope to check your trichomes. That is how you tell when your plant is ready to harvest. Check FAQ for details and pics on harvesting.

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What I freely have been given let me freely share

Thanks for the welcome Pappy. This is my first grow (from bag seed) and I got 2 females. I am using 2 GE 40 Watt Plant and Aquarium tubes (output 1900 lumens each: 3800 total) and 3 regular 20 watt fluoros (output 1200 lumens each: 3600 total) for a total of 7400 lumens generated from 140 watts. The additional 3600 lumens was just added today to the lower portion of the plant so now it is entirely illuminated on all sides. I'm growing in a regular soil mix (no nutes just perlite, bark and other natural plant matter.) with 2.5-3 inches of Vermiculite in the base. I was using Expert Gardens Bloom Burst Plant Food but I think I overfed...so I flushed the past week and now I'm giving them SUPERthrive to correct the problem. Hope this helps.

Keep Tokin

I forgot to specify in my last post but one plant is 3ft X 1ft and the other is a little dwarf. My tubes are about 2.5 inches from the cola top and my bulbs are 3 inches from the plant sides.

When you say you have vermiculite in the base, do you mean the bottom of the container? You shouldn't have straight verm in the bottom. It retains moisture. You should have, if anything, straight perlite in the bottom. You need good drainage. I'm not a big fan of vermiculite. I like my mix to dry out fairly quickly, so I use quite a bit of perlite in my mix. Just my opinion. Do whatever works for you.

Pappy

Yes there is vermiculite in the bottom. I will try the perlite on my next grow because I plant to grow Kush and Strawberry Haze. The plants are looking alive again. I think the extra lumens may have done the trick and the flushing. They are growing new long white hairs, the calyxes are growing everywhere and swelling and my trichs are like clear glass poles on the bud and leaves. She's becoming a woman. I will post pics as soon as I can get clear shots.