A Guide to Flowering
If you've done everything right up until now, you should have some strong plants in the vegetative state. You should be ready to start flowering, where you will be able to see the literal fruits of your labor. Between 45-60 days of vegetative state are necessary before beginning the flowering stage. In this section we will give you tips to get ready to flip your plants to the flowering stage, as well as help you care for it during this stage.
Let's Get Ready
Prepping to Flower
It can be helpful to prune the vegetation lower down on the plant. Any leaves that don't receive light require resources from the plant but don't contribute their maximum light to the plant, so it is best to remove them and focus your plants resources where they are needed. If you are more experienced, now would be the time to deploy and preventive fungacides, neem oil, or other natural pesticides if you choose to use them.
Supporting your Plants
Braces and support structures
It can be helpful to create a support structure or braces for your plants as they grow. Now would be a good time to do this; you can deploy netting or stakes in the soil to help your plants stay standing up perfectly straight.
Final Check
Up until this point you should have been running your vegetative plants on 24 hr/day light or only brief periods of darkness. As your plants are getting bigger it is important to ensure your area is not getting over crowded, this can increase risk of mold and stifle the growth of your plants.
The Flip
Starting the Flowering Stage
In order to force your plant to start growing buds, you essentially need convince it the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. To do this, you give your plants about 10-12 hours of darkness per day. This will tell the plants it is time to start producing buds. This process should take about 7-9 weeks before your bud is ready to harvest. Be careful letting your plant flower for too long as it will eventually start to seed itself and ruin your crop.
