POINTY TRICHOMES; fewer new/mostly cloudy/dark amber caps mean ready?

Hello RIU crew! I searched, but can't find a previous post confirming or refuting the theory that pointy trichomes are young trichs, and when fewer are showing, it's an indicator the end is near. Can anyone speak definitively on this? That's question 1.

Basic info on this one plant; unknown strain that strongly resembled Indica when young, and as it got older the leaves got thinner and less dark.
Today is day 63 of flower (from 12/12 switch) and those pictures are freshly taken. 60x through an iphone; not too shabby. She was 72 days old at the switch, 135 total. Long, I know. My first grow. I've learned so much here since the birth.

Trichs and their respective proportions;
POINTY - very few. Up until a few days ago, lots of pointy trichs were in every view in the microscope. Now they are hard to find.
CLEAR/mixed w cloudy - fewer clear than days ago, but still a fair amount of mixed clear and cloudy
CLOUDY - nearly all
AMBER - few - caps only, some very dark amber, and spotted dark amber. Some stalks have amber 'strings' running inside them. Overall % amber approx 5-10% +/-.

Those descriptions are hardly scientific percentages, I know. Some sections you see have more amber trichs in view. Other sections show all cloudy and clear. I looked at 5 calyxes from 5 different buds. But, fresh white pistils are showing at the tops, and swelling out the sides of the buds. That indicates continuing growth.

question 2;
Is she done?

Thanks.

not an expert but i dont think so. did you have flash on during the trich pics? it seems like some of them were from a sugar leaf, which could be more mature than the rest of the bud. by the looks of it id give it at least a week unless you can get some better trich pics. awesome buds though!!

That's not a camera flash, just the led in the pocket microscope. Thanks for explaining that sugar leaf trichs mature sooner than calyx trichs...makes sense. Thanks to rui and other forums I have learned the most common newbie mistakes, and have tried to avoid them. Harvesting early seems to be right in the mix with over watering and too many/wrong nutes.

when you think its ready, give it a week or two more

Father Ramirez said:

Hello RIU crew! I searched, but can't find a previous post confirming or refuting the theory that pointy trichomes are young trichs, and when fewer are showing, it's an indicator the end is near. Can anyone speak definitively on this? That's question 1.

Basic info on this one plant; unknown strain that strongly resembled Indica when young, and as it got older the leaves got thinner and less dark.
Today is day 63 of flower (from 12/12 switch) and those pictures are freshly taken. 60x through an iphone; not too shabby. She was 72 days old at the switch, 135 total. Long, I know. My first grow. I've learned so much here since the birth.

Trichs and their respective proportions;
POINTY - very few. Up until a few days ago, lots of pointy trichs were in every view in the microscope. Now they are hard to find.
CLEAR/mixed w cloudy - fewer clear than days ago, but still a fair amount of mixed clear and cloudy
CLOUDY - nearly all
AMBER - few - caps only, some very dark amber, and spotted dark amber. Some stalks have amber 'strings' running inside them. Overall % amber approx 5-10% +/-.

Those descriptions are hardly scientific percentages, I know. Some sections you see have more amber trichs in view. Other sections show all cloudy and clear. I looked at 5 calyxes from 5 different buds. But, fresh white pistils are showing at the tops, and swelling out the sides of the buds. That indicates continuing growth.

question 2;
Is she done?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hello Father Ramirez,

Since you were so kind as to compliment my efforts I'll give you some thorough answers to your questions.

In regards to your first question; the simple answer is yes.
Trichomes will usually have a sort of pointy shape/structure (even given their cap) while they are still what I would call immature (containing THCA & other precursor acids (in the clear 'state')).
What you usually will see is that mature trichomes tend to bend over by the cap, but while we do not really have any scientific explanation to this, we can draw conclusions from simple chemistry:
The cap contains the main concentration of the specific cannabinoids which are treasured in Cannabis, a combination of the reactions between these and transformation of these substances within the cap might explain why this occurs (structural decay, substance age & general abundance of substances within the cap).

You should however be careful about using such a method to establish the state of the trichomes since some strains appear to have very rigid trichomes which do not bend or degrade until they fully reach the amber state.
Thus leaving you with a horrible harvest but quite a nice estimate of the age of your trichomes.
All in all, every plant is different, and basing harvest on something as variables as this would not serve you well, but it is an indication of general maturity & age of a trichome.


I just read the second part of your post and I now realize you might just have meant the pointy trichomes which do not have any caps, in which case I've just wasted time explaining some rather advance and untested theories regarding trichomes.
If you do mean the thin, no cap trichomes then you are talking about simple damaged trichomes.
Where the cap has been worn off either by natural occurrence (for example leaves brushing against each other causing the trichome to get damaged) or by a variable intervention, aka. you being too harsh with your hands on approach on your plants, squishing trichomes left & right.

Either way, I've covered both bases now.



To answer your second question; almost.

I would give her another week, and pay attention to any calyx swelling and trichome aging.
But then again, I'd trust in and react to what the plant shows you.
If you spot amber trichomes popping up all over and crossing the 10% threshold then I would harvest, but your plant looks like it could still swell up quite a bit, I wouldn't be surprised if it's got another week or two left in it.

What a treat to receive your thorough reply! Thanks, k0ijn. I've listened to her from the start, when we set the estimated harvest date as Sept 19, the harvest moon, but we had no idea how the plant would grow, or even if it was female. We're very lucky our unskilled hands have tended this beauty. The aroma! Grapefruit and pine cones: care to guess at a strain? I wish we could let it fill the house.

Father Ramirez said:

What a treat to receive your thorough reply! Thanks, k0ijn. I've listened to her from the start, when we set the estimated harvest date as Sept 19, the harvest moon, but we had no idea how the plant would grow, or even if it was female. We're very lucky our unskilled hands have tended this beauty. The aroma! Grapefruit and pine cones: care to guess at a strain? I wish we could let it fill the house.

Click to expand...

It's very tough to guess at a strain without either having it smoked it myself or you having smoked it and giving a report.
If I had to make a guess I would say that based on the info you gave it's most likely a hybrid (taking into account the look of the plant and the flowering period).
With regards to the aroma you mentioned and based on the plant itself I would guess that it could be a Grapefruit Kush or a Grapefruit Diesel.

I could be wrong, and I probably am, but once you smoke it it'll be easier to pinpoint.

We've vaped it, mic'd it and smoked it, and other than reporting it is delicious vaped, and potent either way, I suppose we're too inexperienced at IDing strains to know more. The name Diesel has always sounded unappealing, but now that you mention it, the smell could be considered similar. The grapefruit aroma is strongest at lights on. She has been a joy to grow, and now we're committed to a patient cure for a premium product. I couldn't have learned so much so fast had it not been for so many contributors here at RIU! Kudos y muchas gracias.