So you are in the vegetative stage, and you are preparing for the transition from veg to flower. You want to make sure everything goes smoothly. After all, the flowering stage is the end all, be all, and will determine the quality and quantity of the bud you get to smoke. So it’s kind of important!
It’s best to have a plan before you switch to the flowering stage.
Our last article gave you some ideas on how long to veg your plants before flipping. We explained how your strategy might be different if your were going for huge yields per plant versus maximal amount of yields per year.
In this article, we wanted to give you some additional tips and things to consider as you transition from veg to flower.
Ask these Questions before Switching from Veg to Flower
How can you ensure your flowering period goes well? Here are some things to consider before flipping your plant:
- Is your plant large enough?
- Your plant will double, even triple, in size during the flowering stage. But it still needs to be capable of that kind of growth.
- Is it in the right pot size?
- The size of the pot determines how wide and deep the roots can grow. The roots control the destiny of the plant, as your growth potential is reliant up root development.
- Have you topped it yet?
- Topping your plant is how you control the shape of it. If you want a plant that looks like a Hanukkah candle and not a Christmas tree, you must top your plant.
Before Flipping to Flower, Visualize the outcome you want
Visualize the end scenario before you decide what to do.
The moves you make during your growth cycle depend on the outcomes you want, and your overall cultivation plan.
Because all of the above factors – size of plant; size of pot; topping the plant – are all dependent on your goal. Once you can see the big picture, it becomes easier to make these kinds of decisions.
- Are you wanting to flip a lot of tiny plants, because your strategy is maximum number of flips in a year?
- Or are you wanting to maximize your per plant yield, and therefore you go with longer veg cycles.
Take the time to answer these questions, and then come up with a plan to execute that goal. This blog is full of articles to help you on the second step, which is coming up with a plan.
But no matter your end goal or what cultivation style you choose, these three tips will help you during your transition from veg to flower.
Three Tips Before Flipping to Flower
Here are three tips for you to use before flipping to flower:
- Prepare your space
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- Get you table or your tent or your room cleaned up and ready. Double check your equipment.
- Hang your trellis. Get it strung tight and ready to be lowered on to the plant.
- Defoliate your plants in veg
- Always recommend this, unless you are running a super short veg cycle.
- You can get ahead of the stretch period by lollipopping your plants in veg. We always do this and this is one thing that we consider mandatory for our veg department.
- Check out this video of how we lollipop our plants during the last week of veg.
- Have your nutrient regime outlined.
- Be ready for the post-veg stretch
- During the first few weeks, the plant will stretch and reach for the stars. While you want to control this, you don’t want to stunt this natural growth spurt.
- Therefore, you want ample nitrates for that growth.
- So whatever nutrient mix you used for veg, you will want to maintain but also add your bloom nutrients to it.
Crank it up during peak flowering
Once you are in the flowering stage, you will want to have your plants trellised and be ready for them to take off.
Once your plants take off, you start to increase the bloom, and then back off the grow nutrients. This usually starts to occur around week 4 or week 5.
Those are some tips to employ right before you flip your plants from veg to flowering.