When planning to transition plants from vegetation to flowering stage, cultivators should know about various factors and their impact on the final harvest. Doing the transition on time is significant to expanding yield and guaranteeing your plant's success.
Numerous cultivators frequently ask so, “how long should I veg my plants before flowering"? Unfortunately, there is no reliable response to this, because it is dependent on a wide range of factors.
On average, the vegetative phase can last anyplace between 3 to 4 months (or more), depending on several factors, which we will be discussing below.
Therefore, if you've ever wanted to know how long you should veg your plants before flowing, you will want to read this post to the end.
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What Does it Mean to Veg a Plant?
Knowing how long you should veg your plants before flowering is one of the most vital factors to guarantee a maximized yield. But first, what does it mean to veg a plant and how long does it last?
The vegetative stage of a plant is a time of a growing plant’s cycle that occurs right after germination and before flowering.
After rooting the seeds of your plants into the soil, the plants then sprout out of the soil in the form of seedlings. These seedlings are usually characterized by double cotyledons and a short stem.
In the next few weeks(2-3) you should start to notice some leaves, otherwise known as the “true leaves “
Sequel to the production of the first true leaves, larger and more matured leaves will begin to develop and deliver countless follower leaves formed with a lot of chlorophyll, the factor responsible for photosynthesis.
This denotes the start of the vegetative stage.
How Long Should I Veg My Plants Before Flowering?
Now that you already know what it means to veg a plant, let's now talk about how long the vegetative stage lasts so you can understand exactly when to transition to the flowering stage.
The duration of the vegetative stage of a plant is dependent on factors such as the type of strain(s) being grown, the age of the plant, the maximum height that the plant can obtain within your setup space, and the growing method being used, and the source of the plant (from seed or clone).
However, averagely the vegetative phase can last anyplace between 3-4 months (or more) depending on the factors, qualities of the plant's strain, and the goals of the cultivar.
During the vegetative phase, is where most plant growth occurs, they grow and develop explosively during this time.
The beginning of the vegetative phase allows the best time to transplant plants into bigger containers that can accommodate and give their root framework more space to grow. The primary stem will sprout as space between nodes becomes increasingly significant.
For plants under the Indica cultivars, they tend to maintain a short length and put out heaps of sidelong development, though the Sativa variants become taller with significantly less development as the former.
For Photo Period Plant Variants
The vegetative stage ends when the light cycle is shortened indoors when the lighting plan is shortened coercively, the photoperiod plants to flower by force.
Photoperiod plants will transition from the vegetative stage into the flowering stage when introduced to a light pattern of 12 hours on and 12 hours off. While auto-flowering variants start flowering dependent on their age instead of the light cycle.
Conversely, in the outdoors variants, the end of the vegetative stage occurs as the seasons change from summer to harvest time.
Read Also: How Does Mulch Attract Bugs?
What to Consider When Planning to Flower a Plant
Let’s take a look at some of the factors that control how long a plant remains in vegetation.
The Plant’s Age
Does the age of the plant matter when considering how long to veg your plants before flowering? Not really, A few gardeners accept that plants developed from seeds must be given 60 days of development in the vegetative state.
While this may apply for clones because age isn’t an issue but not applicable for seeds, remember that young seedlings can't begin flowering for 2–3 weeks For Clones, you can switch to the flowering stage when the clone has built up a strong root structure.
Planting Strategy: Clones or Seeds?
The planting strategy used for the plants will likewise influence your transition plans hence should be put into consideration.
There is a difference between growing from clones or seeds and this affects the development pace of the plant's root system in the long run.
It is often advisable to always switch based on your growing methods and not another’s, on the off chance that the plant has not set up a strong root framework, at that point, there might be issues and difficulties during the flowering stage.
Clones especially can become tall rapidly, initiating a make belief in the minds of cultivators and compelling them to make the switch to flowering dependent on plant size alone.
So, it is important for you as a cultivator to give your clones the vital measure of time they need to set up themselves before transitioning to flowering.
Conversely, Seedlings can be flowered a lot before, however, recall that they will require 2–3 weeks before having the option to flower properly.
Read Also: How To Fix An Overwatered Plant
Conclusion
The best way answer to the question “How long should I veg my plants before flowering” is to have proper knowledge of what each stage entails.
Apart from that, you also need to put into consideration the factors like plant strains, method of growing, and the length of time after planting, this way you can easily figure out ideal veg time approximations before switching to the flowering stage.
Remember, not to use another gardener's timing on your plants because what happens during this period in plants varies from week to week and strain to strain.
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