Okay, I've posted this a couple times, but I though it deserved its own thread.


Is it ready yet?: SpruceZeus's take on marijuana ripeness.
This is by no means meant to be the definitive guide to knowing when to chop your plant, only my views on the subject.

I'm personally of the opinion that 90% of the growers on this site (And probably in general) harvest too early. By letting the plants go a little longer you're ensuring that the've plumped as much as they're going to.
Despite popular opinion to the contrary(and don't fool yourself, the jury is still out on this one) Recent studies have shown ;contrary to what was previously believed, that THC itself (And its predecessor THC-A) are quite guilty of causing the confusion and drowsiness associated with burnout and other cannabinoids (our friend CBN, and a handful of others) to be the catalyst (along with THC) to being 'high' rather than 'baked'
Regardless, whether or not theres any substance to the aforementioned study, its easy to get the high you want.
If you want a soaring 'cerebral' high: Get yourself a tropical sativa that contains a high level of THC-V and grow it until it is ripe.
If you want the narcotic couchlock stone, grow a rugged indica until its ripe.
Notice a pattern of growing it until its ripe? Its a really good rule to live by.
OF course we have to remember that there is more to a good high than just THC. At last count there are at least 66 cannabinoids, and we don't know what most of them do.


Now alot of people will tell you that you should harvest based on the colour of your trichomes. But (again, in my opinion) that is far too simplistic and there are too many variables to make that an effective strategy. I've made that point a million times before and i'm not going to re-hash it here,(maybe just a bit) but rest assured there is more to the picture than just trich colour.


A ripe marijuana plant will be filled in, will have an amber tinge to the buds. The pistils should have browned (or orange-d) off and receded into the buds. The seed bracts should be swollen and the trichomes should be sticking straight out with bulbous ends. Also, because you're coming close to the end of plant's life cycle, the leaves should have yellowed off and started to die.


one of my plants, 3 days before chop-chop.


Another very important (imho) reason to let your plants mature is Terpenoid production. Terpenes are responsible for alot of the complex (And enjoyable) flavours that cannabis produces. Some of the most intense flavours are produced on the "downslope" of cannabis's life cycle. My personal experience with this first came when i was growing GH cheese. One of the plants i harvested at 8 weeks and it tasted pretty nice and had pretty dense buds. The other i grew until about 9 1/2 weeks and it had most amazing, sour, skunky, delicious taste with rock hard buds.


Here is my interpretation (and maybe exaggeration) of a scenario i see all too often...

That plant is 4 weeks into 12/12. Granted not all of the trichomes are that far along. And most people arent going to harvest weed that looks like this. But my point with this is that you have to look at the big picture. Stop being so scientific and start being practical.
I'm not anti knowledge, i just cant stand these "rules" that more often than not lead people down the wrong path.
Lets cut through the bullshit and spread good information in a way that is not so absolute. Or at very least explain the growth stages of cannabis making sure to mention that the pistils should have receded back into the bud before you chop. Regardless of trichome colour.

If I could offer one piece of advice on picking the right time to harvest, it's all about watching the pistils. Not so much the colour, but the movement. They should have receded into the bud and the seed bracts should be swollen.

It should look less like this

And more like this.


Trust me when I say, it is worth the excruciating wait.

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My "Journal" When do I harvest? a no bullshit approach.

nice post, zeus. +rep. very informative!

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i'm guessing your take is based on personal experience??

i agree with the pistils receding into the bud...i seem to wait for this as well.

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"Get busy living, or get busy dying." -Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption

It is based on personal experience, and research!!!
I'm just really tired of the only answer to "is it done?" being "get a scope" There is so much more than just the colour of the resin gland heads to take into consideration.

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My "Journal" When do I harvest? a no bullshit approach.

Thank you very much. I am getting close to harvest or thought I was due to the amount of time my plants have been growing. That is until you cleared it all up for me. I have one plant in particular, big fat cola but little trichomes. If I am hearing you right in due time she will explode with resin glands.

great thread very informative +rep for you lol

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Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyking i once filled a condom with weed and smoked it. not the latex kind though. that stuff is bad for your throat.

WTF......??

That first picture is sexy!!!

Great post! I see a lot of people harvest prematurely on this site. Everyone is afraid of hermis and THC degradation or they want a pure indica to act like a sativa.

"I'm not anti knowledge, i just cant stand these "rules" that more often than not lead people down the wrong path.
Lets cut through the bullshit and spread good information in a way that is not so absolute."

Amen! Way to many 'rules'. Us noobs need more lessons in developing our natural sensible intuition about growing and harvesting. Very nice post.

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Gastanker's 1st Grow 6 plants 2 months 388w CFL 5.4oz + Current 700w CFL SCROG.

New double tent 50 plant grow started 9/29/09

great post

thanks n praise

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Boycott kellogs,eat generic ricekrispies!

Great info. Makes a lot more sense than buying a microscope to tell if your plant is ready to harvest.