so I got me one of them hand held microscopes at radio shack and it works brilliantly! I checked out my plants and found something a little odd I think. I got the two babies at the same time and am pretty sure they are of the same strain but not sure. they got the same water and light and were put into the 12/12 cycle together but one of the plants trechs are cloudy and even a few have turned amberish while the other is still clear. is this normal? does it matter which part of the plant you pick a leaf to look at?

one last question... what happens if you fert a week before harvest? will it make the herb taste bad or affect the high?

There are 3 stages of color in a trichome. Clear, milky, and amber.
Each stage produces a different euphoria. The clearer the trich the more cerebrial and racey the smoke will be. The more amber the trich the more couchlock or sedative the smoke will be. Look at the trichs on the top colas.
Definately do not feed your plants chemical nutrients in the last week.Your buds will taste like chemical.The plant can now use up the nutrients it stored in the first 6 weeks.
Just use water or water with a flushing agent.

When using the microscope I look at the leaf that has the most visible and most (quantity wise) trichomes. If one plant is ready before the other then just harvest the other one first! I know that most people like to stop nutes 2 weeks before the harvest as you may incur foul tasting nutrients as so forth. You want your plants to be free of any additives unless you are growing organically. Good luck my friend!

Here is a good chart to go by for trichomes!! Also available in the GROW FAQs.

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Paulio's post says it all.

well I am going to check it again but I am sure one is ready now... I like more of an up high more than a down one so maybe next week... I can almost taste the waste

anyone else have difficulty holding the microscope steady to really get a good look?

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Prefer an up high as well and harvest when cloudy , if your going to leave the other plant just give it straight water and it should make that much difference unless your a connoisseur .

Yes I did, and when I was a novice I went to the one and only who Videoman told me to just rip off a piece of the leaf. Did that and all was O.K.!!

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Accept who you are and live how you're suppose to....that is freedom.

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Marijuana Light Spectrum
Higher Female Ratio
Foliage Feeding
Drying & Curing Marijuana
Grow Room Ventilation
Usefullness of Males

yea I just clipped off a small leaf as well... thanks videoman... I looked again and sure enough one is more cloudy than the other... I am going to harvest it this week... is it true I should not water it the last week to make drying easy cuz it will freak me out with all the leaves drooping (I like them full of life)? my other plant is now starting to turn yellow I understand this is natural I am going into week 7 and I stopped giving it nutes but it is freaking me out as it had looked soooooo green just a few days ago. the buds are looking very nice tho... swollen and looking almost like it has seeds but I know they dont ... I am pretty sure that is a good thing...

Try watering, using some molasses.
Peace