Trich Color Discussion

I've have done a lot of research on when buds should be considered "finished" and I want to get different growers opinions on why they wait until "50% amber" trichomes..Don't amber trichomes mean that the THC is already starting to break down and convert to CBD? I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any amber trichomes at all (as it would NEVER happen that way), however, I thought the goal to achieve maximum potency was as close to 100% cloudy as possible? I know this is all relative depending on the strain and the type of high that you are looking for and that you can bring out certain potential for, say and indica, by letting it go a little longer with more amber to give it more of the "indica couch lock"...BUT 50% amber?! that's 50% broken down trichomes that have gone past their maximum THC development. Isn't the plant, once cut, hung, dried, and curing, going to continue to ripen all along this process anyways..As in THC is continuously breaking down until put into air tight containers with no oxygen? Am I off my rocker or is there more reasoning behind this? THANKS GUYS!

Who are these 50% amber people you speak of? lol I'm pretty sure most people shoot for as close to all cloudy as possible, but some people do other variances depending on how they want the mj to affect them

Trichome color is science. Knowing when to harvest is experience.

If your looking at trichome color solely as a basis to harvest, your doing it wrong. Just look at this harvesting section alone. How many people are saying their trichomes are ready, when their plants OBVIOUSLY are not done?

If you dont know ( not implying you bob) what a ripe, ready to harvest bud looks like... you need to do more research. Stop jumping the gun because you "dont like getting that kind of stoned". If thats the case, grow a lower grade and stop breaking the bank buying top shelf seeds.

thanks for your inputs, very well said..I have been growing for a couple of years now with a perpetual grow, and have harvest numerous plants of different strains (not tooting my own horn or anything like that at all, because I am BY FAR no expert) I just like hearing different growers opinions, but I have heard over and over again that 50% trichs is the way to go...or even like 20-30%...and to me it just seems crazy that you would wait all that time for flower just to let it go past ripeness....Me personally, my main strain that I do is OG13, and I know that right when I see any amber at all...even the smallest trich head with amber...it's time to come down...as far as the "50%-ers" Ill call them...haha...I just read a post on RIU today where people where showing pictures of buds with WAY more amber trichs...imo...that's all. Just trying to get some clarification of what other people are doing, thats all...and not trying to put anyone down on their growing style or anything like that...just seeking more information from people who have been growing longer than I have...I Love Information

Mr. Bitti said:

get a 30x hand scope and look at the heads of the crystals on your leaf/buds. if 50% or more are amber colored you should chop it...

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here's one..i know there are tons more if you look through, but I also think that different growers' environments are going to make a big difference as well, even when growing the same strain...trichs are going to mature at different rates based on the life cycle of the plant with the environment that it's in..

There was an article in High Times a few years ago that recommended harvest when trichs were mostly clear still and no amber. Idk, if I harvest the whole plant at once, I'm sure I will get a variety and can either mix them or use them at different times for different desired effects.

DrKingGreen said:

Who are these 50% amber people you speak of?

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From what I read (some article) many Spanish and Portugese. They take CBD to another level. In the Netherlands 20-30% amber is common (at least amongst hobbygrowers). From what I've seen so far, in the US it's harvested earlier (little amber as possible but also as little clear trics as possible). I think in NL the 20-30% is used because that's when you can be fairly positive it won't add a lot of new trics and max milky has at least been reached. I prefer a little earlier as I like my weed high and fresh (green).

A common approach is to harvest early if you want (head-)high, and more amber is more body stoned up to couch lock. That's a rough approach though, as it differs per strain as well.

not the most experienced grower here by a long shot
but i'll put in another vote for watching the whole plant, and be aware not all genetics are going to do the clear - cloudy - amber walk
i had a NL that more or less refused to amber, it yellowed instead
and there are posts/pics i've seen of many variations of trichome appearance

i agree that you should harvest when the plants look ready e.g pistils recede, colour change, swollen calyxes etc but in some cases the plants never look ready and just keep growing and throwing out pistils. i recently chopped a kalashnikova at 15 weeks flower and she was still full of white hairs but harvested at around 30% amber.. majority of the time tho you can tell ripeness by just looking at the plant

Ive been growing for a while and I dont pay too much attention to trichome color. When I have looked before I dont see a lot of amber,if I really look for it there will be an amber head here or there but not many. I go more by how swollen the calyxes are and if the pistils have dried up and receded, and the texture of the bud..how it usually gets kinda hard and rough towards the end.