Harvesting Question

I have a quick question regarding harvesting. I am going in to week 7 of flower. I pulled a sugar leaf and checked with my 100X scope to see how the trichs were looking. To my suprise, I saw a decent amount of red trichs. I am wondering if this is too early to harvest? Most of the buds have swelled and the pistils have receded. I was told this is a 9-10 week flowering strain so I am not sure if I should let it go another week or so.

I am unsure of what pheno/strain it is. However the thin leaves suggest its a sativa, which I thought take longer to complete flowering.

I know the last couple weeks the plants put on the most weight so I definitely dont want to miss out on that.

Any advice?

I generally go by pistil hairs so if most have receded or have died, I would harvest. If you have both happening that's a decent sign it's close. However, without pics and strain info I really can't say.

I can give you a couple of examples as you may not be able to post pics.

This one has most of the hairs receded



This one a moderate amount of hairs died without receding.


I generally look for something similar, when harvesting.

Here is a pic

If most look like that, I would say you're close, a few more days to week may make it more of a couch lock high.

And nicely done.

Edit: I take that back I would give it another week, then re-evaluate. There are a few more hairs left then I first realized.

Most people I know aim for 50/50, but that's a very loose rule. It's really up to you when you feel it's ready. I always sample buds and use that as my true guideline. The amber to cloudy rules help, as does just looking at the overall appearance of the buds, but sometimes you just got a feeling and your gut says go ahead and do this one early or let this one go a little past the 50/50 mark. This is where the science of growing ends and becomes art, mastered by experience, skill, and your personal tastes.

You also want to keep in mind that it's really a lot more difficult to tell under 200x, because your viewing is so much more narrow. Its a lot like trying to read the letters on a coin through a needle.

A 10x loupe (like what you use for jewelry) would give you a much wider view. After all, your trying to judge the ratio of amber to clear on the entire plant. The more trichs you can see the better.

Also bear in mind that sugar leaf trichomes mature before the buds. It ain't so pratical but you should check your buds instead.

Shadeslay said:

If most look like that, I would say you're close, a few more days to week may make it more of a couch lock high.

And nicely done.

Edit: I take that back I would give it another week, then re-evaluate. There are a few more hairs left then I first realized.

Click to expand...

I figure ill give them another week. No use is rushing right?

Thank you!

adower said:

I figure ill give them another week. No use is rushing right?

Thank you!

Click to expand...

There are so many ways to evaluate it that the best one is when the plants seems to have nothing left to improve. There's no point in harvesting one plant that has cloudy/amber trichomes if it still looks as if it has a way to go (lots of pistils, if it is still enlarging buds, putting weight, etc).
Anyway, either way you'll have a good smoke, now or a week from now. If you want, you can harvest a few buds now and the rest later, then you'll have a way to compare it and see what suits you better!

Cheers!

Shadeslay said:

I generally go by pistil hairs so if most have receded or have died, I would harvest. If you have both happening that's a decent sign it's close. However, without pics and strain info I really can't say.

I can give you a couple of examples as you may not be able to post pics.

This one has most of the hairs receded
View attachment 2310394


This one a moderate amount of hairs died without receding.
View attachment 2310385

I generally look for something similar, when harvesting.

Click to expand...

Look Great!
MORE! MORE! MORE BUD PORN!!!!

when in doubt wait it out lol

you can cut half now and half when its done and see if you can compare the difference =) looks good bro!

They look great. If it was me I would wait another week (like you already said). Then take a taste test and see where to go from there.