Week 2 of Flower | Week-by-Week Guide to Flowering Cannabis (2024)

FAQs

Can I defoliate in week 2 of flower? ›

With the explosive vertical growth, these plants also bush out with fan leaves galore. The sheer amount of foliage can make it difficult to work with. These plants must be defoliated during the flowering stage to achieve the best outcome. The best time to start is either at the end of Week 2 or during Week 3.

The buds aren't really big, but they're starting to produce a lot of resin. The buds have to get hard and heavy over the next weeks. They won't get much larger in size, but will become heavier and of better quality.

The flowering stage is the final stage of growth for a cannabis plant. This is when plants start to develop resinous buds and your hard work will be realized. Most strains flower in 8-9 weeks, but some can take even longer, especially some sativas.

Week one is the transition stage between pre-flowering and full flowering when your plant switches from growing tall to producing buds. During this transition, some strains will double in height from what they were a week earlier. Because of this rapid growth, week one is commonly known as “the stretch”.

In week 2 of flowering, you may spot the first white pistils growing on your female cannabis plants. These fine and wispy white hairs will develop at those locations where the big fan leaves meet the main stem. It is these fine hairs that will later become buds.

More growth and stretching of the plants in Week 3

You will notice continued growth and stretching. You can see in the video how bushy everything has become. This rapid, almost non-stop growth is all a sign of the post-vegetative stretch that these plants go through after switching to the 12/12 light cycle.

At week 4 of the flowering stage, your cannabis plants will likely have stopped growing altogether and are now spending all their energy on growing buds. There will still be white hairs sticking out from the buds, but the buds themselves will become bigger and fatter with each day.

THE FINAL 2 WEEKS OF FLOWERING. If you grow strains with an average flowering time, the majority of bud development will occur by the 6th week of bloom. In the last two weeks, the buds will mostly be ripening and not really growing much more in size.

The last three weeks is when your buds can actually gain the most weight – that is if you feed them Overdrive^®. After your peak bloom phase, your plants enter their late bloom phase (the precise timing and length of which depends on the strain of cannabis you're growing).

You can remove fan leaves during flowering in much the same way you do during veg. Prune away large leaves that are overshadowing bud sites, as well as dead or dying fan leaves. One thing to keep in mind is that you should prune in intervals, giving at least a couple weeks between each session.

How can I speed up my flowering? ›

FEWER HOURS OF LIGHT PER DAY

You can significantly speed-up the growing cycle of a photoperiod strain by exposing it to around 10–11 hours of light each day. Reduced light exposure will trick your plants into thinking autumn is just around the corner.

Trimming fan leaves during flowering helps you manipulate the growth cycle of your plants, and sometimes you'll find that entirely removing fan leaves during flowering or vegetating is the right move for what your plant needs.

Weeks 3-4: Buds Form. The stretch of your Cannabis plants will slow as we reach week four, but expect the upward growth to continue. At this stage you'll finally be able to see the buds as they continue to develop. The pistils will still be white at this stage and sticking straight out from the buds.

Week 7: The calyxes in the seven-week varieties swell to near bursting as THC is produced in the glands. At the end of the week they will be ready. The trichomes stand more erect and the caps swell with newly produced resin. At the end of the week the flowers reach the peak zone.

During week two, your plant may develop pistils. Pistils are extremely important to marijuana maturity, more on those a little later on. The growing and stretching will slow down during week three. You may also see the first signs of developing buds.

Once between the beginning of Flower and the 3-week mark. 3 weeks after beginning flower is the last time you'll want to defoliate.

The nutrient requirements will change dramatically when the plants enter the flowering stage, and this may be a little hard for new growers. You can feed your plants 1-2 times every week, gradually increasing the nutrients, but at the same time pay attention to your plants' reactions after each feeding.

Days to 50% flowering was determined by recording the number of days following transplanting (DAT) until 50% of plants in a plot had at least one open flower. Height at first branching, plant height at maturity (4 MAP) and canopy spread were measured with the aid of a metre rule.

To some degree, more light translates to fatter buds and higher yields (you'll need to pay attention to the distance between your grow light and plants or your plant may suffer from light burn). Increasing light intensity is the most effective way to fatten up buds.

3. Flowering Plants: The humidity levels of cannabis plants at the beginning of the flowering stage should be lowered to 40 to 50 percent. At this stage, the plants have created a robust root system to meet their water needs. They still absorb water through the leaves.

How long after switching to 12 12 will I see buds? ›

When you're ready for plants to start the flowering stage, change your lights to a 12/12 cycle (12 hours with the light on and 12 hours with it off ). You will see signs of flowering in 1-3 weeks. On average plants will be ready to harvest after 8-11 weeks of flowering.

Around week 8 of the flowering stage, buds will start fattening quickly. Likewise, you'll see that trichomes and pistils are maturing and changing colors. Usually, when trichomes turn from transparent to a milky / white-ish color (and maybe 5-10% of them turn amber), your plant is ready for harvesting.

If you're looking for medium-quality bud, or simply trying to dodge the bad stuff, look for these traits: Appearance Lighter shades of green, a shiny coat of trichomes, a healthy bulbous aesthetic, protruding orange pistils. May feature excess sugar leaves to bulk up buds.

Your buds in Week 7 will be noticeably frostier, as the plants begin to finish out. These plants are beginning to look smokable! Seriously, at this point, you will want to rip off a nug and go smoke! That is how appealing your plants begin to look as you get into Week 7.

Whether wet or dry trimming, check drying buds or branches after two days by bending a branch or stem—if the stem snaps, that means buds are fully dry. If they don't snap, leave them and check the next day.

Are Small Buds more Potent? Small buds are generally the same potency as large nugs of the same strain. Small nugs come from the same plants as large nugs, they're simply pieces of flower that tended to get less light and thus didn't grow as large.

Changes from Week 4 to Week 5

The biggest changes that you will witness in the fifth week of your flowering cycle is not so much in total plant growth (as in Week 4) but in the maturity of the buds. It is in Week 5 that the buds really begin to fill out. Even more growth will occur in Week 6 and beyond.

By providing the right amount of light and keeping the lights the right distance away from your plants, you'll keep your grow happy, resulting in the desired bigger buds. If growing outdoors, make sure your pots or trenches are spaced far enough apart so that the sides of the plants can receive full sun.

Will buds grow without fan leaves? ›

Remember that fan leaves removed during flowering won't grow back, and removing too many can throw off the plant's energy balance, stunting bud development in turn.

We recommend defoliating vegging plants just before you switch them to bloom: Start by removing big, hand-sized fan leaves first. These tend to overshadow almost anything below them, making it hard for light to properly penetrate your plant's canopy.

Usually, growers trim the fan leaves weeks before harvest, which is a period that leads to senescence, a phase in the plant cycle when the larger leaves start fading away. It is safe to start removing these dying leaves and continue until harvest. However, the main trimming processes commence after harvest.

Watering during the flowering period

During the pre-flowering and early flowering stage, the plants don't require additional watering. However, once the plants enter the peak flowering stage, the buds start sucking the soil dry. The buds are filled with water; it's logical that more watering is required.

Phosphorus (P) promotes root growth, promotes flowering & fruit set, and disease resistance.

Potassium is an essential element for plant growth, and high levels are required during the fruiting and flowering stage. Although potassium isn't physically part of any plant tissue, it activates many key enzymes for plant growth and reproduction.

It is easier to remove the fan and sugar leaves while they are wet. When those leaves are left to dry, they shrivel up. Easier trimming means it takes less time to trim. Cannabis buds dry faster without all the leaves attached, as the leaves retain moisture.

Schwazzing involves stripping all cannabis fan leaves beneath the top two or three nodes at two key times: Once at the start of the bloom phase, and again at the beginning of the third week of bloom.

Trimming fan leaves during flowering helps you manipulate the growth cycle of your plants, and sometimes you'll find that entirely removing fan leaves during flowering or vegetating is the right move for what your plant needs.

What to do the last 2 weeks of flowering? ›

Often growers will plan a cannabis defoliation around the third week of bloom. After this point (in the second half of bloom) many growers feel the the plant shouldn't have to endure too much stress and should be allowed to focus her growth and energy towards bud/resin production.

Usually, growers trim the fan leaves weeks before harvest, which is a period that leads to senescence, a phase in the plant cycle when the larger leaves start fading away. It is safe to start removing these dying leaves and continue until harvest.

They are essential to photosynthesis. Removing all the yellow leaves is not recommended surgery, especially for young plants. Correct identification of the source of the problem and swift remedial action can restore marijuana. Senescence is when plants will naturally yellow off and die.

Remove fan leaves only when you feel that they are affecting your plant in a bad way. Because of this, if your plant is too bushy and you think it is affecting it in a bad way, it is recommended to slowly remove around 20% of the fan leaves to allow a better airflow and light absorption to the lower part of the plant.

The last three weeks is when your buds can actually gain the most weight – that is if you feed them Overdrive^®. After your peak bloom phase, your plants enter their late bloom phase (the precise timing and length of which depends on the strain of cannabis you're growing).

Weeks 4-6: Buds Fatten Up

At this stage of cannabis flowering, your buds are getting bigger. They'll still have all the white pistils sticking out, but you'll be able to see the buds getting bigger every day.