# THC at peak when trichomes are clear?



## kagecog (May 7, 2014)

Here's a segment from a high times article I recently discovered

"Dr. Paul G. Mahlberg who found that THC in the resin head is at it's peak when it's still _clear _- not opaque and certainly not amber. Dr. Mahlberg stuck a tiny syringe into the bulbous head of the trichome and extracted it's contents, then analyzed it for THC. The result: Without a doubt, THC is at it's highest *before* the trichome turns opaque."

I've always harvested when the majority of my trichs were cloudy and about 10-20% were amber. Does anyone have any experience with buds that were harvested when the majority of trichs were still clear? Other than the fact that the bud was probably a lot fluffier, how was the high like?


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## puffdatchronic (May 7, 2014)

That might be, but the high is not dependent on just thc. There is more than 60 cannabinoids and thc is just one. That is why if you actually harvest at all clear, it will be early and the high will suck.

I have experience of harvesting too early also. I took a lemon skunk at 56 days one time and it should have went to about 70 days . The high was just a tease if you know what I mean. There was hints of a killer body high that *could * have been there to go with the head high, but I only got it in a few of the buds. I was left thinking... damn if i had waited 2 weeks I would be getting this high every time. Tolerance was also quick to build.


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## racerboy71 (May 7, 2014)

puffdatchronic said:


> That might be, but the high is not dependent on just thc. There is more than 60 cannabinoids and thc is just one. That is why if you actually harvest at all clear, it will be early and the high will suck.
> 
> I have experience of harvesting too early also. I took a lemon skunk at 56 days one time and it should have went to about 70 days . The high was just a tease if you know what I mean. There was hints of a killer body high that *could * have been there to go with the head high, but I only got it in a few of the buds. I was left thinking... damn if i had waited 2 weeks I would be getting this high every time. Tolerance was also quick to build.


 well said puff, and i completely agree. some people look at strain descriptions and see, oh, 26% thc, this most be the most potent weed ever, when imvho, the thc % number is only one small aspect of what affects the high or stone from cannabis..
there is something about old school strains that were tested at only say 5% thc, compared to today's strains that test in the mid 20's regularly.. you can't tell me that old school strains are 5 x's weaker then new school strains just because the thc % says so..


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## puffdatchronic (May 7, 2014)

Yeah my thoughts exactly.


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## Po boy (May 7, 2014)

puffdatchronic said:


> Yeah my thoughts exactly.


ditto............................


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## OGEvilgenius (May 7, 2014)

I've harvested sativas while trichromes were still clear and the results were fucking stellar. I pretty much always hate cannabis that has a lot of yellow trichromes. I tend to like it more when the majority are still on the clear side. 

I think some folks like the buzz from CBN a lot. And yes, the terpenes definitely play their part - and some plants the terpene profile changes as they mature. I'd say it's really going to depend on the plant and the effects you're looking for. There's no one size fits all here IMO.

Also, something that needs to be considered is these trichromes exude resins that coat the plant. If you leave a plant longer, presumably there will be more resin - but of course whether that resin is still within the profile you're looking for is the real question. No easy answer.


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## kagecog (May 7, 2014)

Hmm, interesting. I guess I might harvest part of a plant at 50% clear 50% cloudy and see for myself the results! Anyone else have any personal experience with this?


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## racerboy71 (May 7, 2014)

kagecog said:


> Hmm, interesting. I guess I might harvest part of a plant at 50% clear 50% cloudy and see for myself the results! Anyone else have any personal experience with this?


 i made the mistake of harvesting early... once.. that's all it took for me to never make that mistake again.. nothing worse than premy bud imvho.. i hate sitting there and thinking how good it could have been if i had only waited another two weeks or w/e..
i also don't believe when people say if you want more of a sativa high, harvest early, and if you want more of an indica high, harvest later.. no, imvho, if you want more of a sativa high, grow a sativa, if you want an indica high, grow an indica, and grow them till they're mature..
my $.02


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## OGEvilgenius (May 7, 2014)

Some sativas you'll be waiting for like a year before you see a yellow head. Or at least it seems that way.


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## OGEvilgenius (May 7, 2014)

racerboy71 said:


> i made the mistake of harvesting early... once.. that's all it took for me to never make that mistake again.. nothing worse than premy bud imvho.. i hate sitting there and thinking how good it could have been if i had only waited another two weeks or w/e..
> i also don't believe when people say if you want more of a sativa high, harvest early, and if you want more of an indica high, harvest later.. no, imvho, if you want more of a sativa high, grow a sativa, if you want an indica high, grow an indica, and grow them till they're mature..
> my $.02


I think this probably has to do with resin production from the heads.

I actually haven't grown an indica indoors in a long time so my opinion on them is not all that valuable.


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## fatboyOGOF (May 12, 2014)

puffdatchronic said:


> That might be, but the high is not dependent on just thc. There is more than 60 cannabinoids and thc is just one. That is why if you actually harvest at all clear, it will be early and the high will suck.
> 
> I have experience of harvesting too early also. I took a lemon skunk at 56 days one time and it should have went to about 70 days . The high was just a tease if you know what I mean. There was hints of a killer body high that *could * have been there to go with the head high, but I only got it in a few of the buds. I was left thinking... damn if i had waited 2 weeks I would be getting this high every time. Tolerance was also quick to build.



this!


thc is only part of the buzz. 

i cut when the trichs are mostly cloudy. i've tried cutting earlier and later and for me, this is the best.


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## GroErr (May 12, 2014)

30+ years, countless strains, early and late picking, cloudy trichs, amber if you want more of a punch/less of a head stone. Has never failed me, early/clear sucks. My neighbour took his outdoor plants early last year, against my recommendation, a buzz but barely. A few outdoor plants I had to leave alone last year went late, potent stuff but not the nice head stone I was used to with that strain, and definitely couch lock material.


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## MightyMike530 (May 15, 2014)

I think there is a difference between buds that were harvested early (prematurely) and buds that were harvested early within the window to harvest.

Buds harvested prematurely are going to suck, period. Buds harvested early in the window still kick a lot of ass. Im still a noob but I pulled an Indica early my first grow and the high was still amazing, total head high that finished in the body, versus the typical full-on couchlock body high if they wouldve been harvested later in the window.

Essentially, if you grow good buds, harvest within the proper window, and treat them right prior to smoking you're going to get a good high.


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## Blindnslow (May 15, 2014)

Every time I've harvested early either due to my own stupidity or thought the plant was dead and might as well cut it, I've always been disappointed and kicked my self in the ass...Always sub par.. I like what I read the other day on RIU..."When you think it's done, Let it go another week.". I've never been disappointed in one that went a little too long...


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## DemonTrich (May 16, 2014)

I had to harvest this last one a bit early. by my estimate, I was at 5% amber, 80% cloudy, 15% clear. I normally wait a couple weeks longer, but ran into some issues (flipping timing was wayyyyyyyyy off this cycle). all 3 strains are very nice. all my patients love the quality. all said it was more of a head high. this next harvest will be harvested on their normal schedule (80/10/10 cloudy/clear/amber)


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## Tricksfouru2 (Apr 24, 2017)

racerboy71 said:


> i made the mistake of harvesting early... once.. that's all it took for me to never make that mistake again.. nothing worse than premy bud imvho.. i hate sitting there and thinking how good it could have been if i had only waited another two weeks or w/e..
> i also don't believe when people say if you want more of a sativa high, harvest early, and if you want more of an indica high, harvest later.. no, imvho, if you want more of a sativa high, grow a sativa, if you want an indica high, grow an indica, and grow them till they're mature..
> my $.02


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## Tricksfouru2 (Apr 24, 2017)

Bump! Exactly!


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## MrGreen23 (Aug 3, 2017)

MightyMike530 said:


> I think there is a difference between buds that were harvested early (prematurely) and buds that were harvested early within the window to harvest.
> 
> Buds harvested prematurely are going to suck, period. Buds harvested early in the window still kick a lot of ass. Im still a noob but I pulled an Indica early my first grow and the high was still amazing, total head high that finished in the body, versus the typical full-on couchlock body high if they wouldve been harvested later in the window.
> 
> Essentially, if you grow good buds, harvest within the proper window, and treat them right prior to smoking you're going to get a good high.


It's the same with anything cannabis plants should be treated like grapes to produce a fine wine, .....not on topic but I saw a weed wedding the other day.....dudes and dudettes...that shit made this cracker cry!


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## GrowJay (Dec 14, 2017)

kagecog said:


> Here's a segment from a high times article I recently discovered
> 
> "Dr. Paul G. Mahlberg who found that THC in the resin head is at it's peak when it's still _clear _- not opaque and certainly not amber. Dr. Mahlberg stuck a tiny syringe into the bulbous head of the trichome and extracted it's contents, then analyzed it for THC. The result: Without a doubt, THC is at it's highest *before* the trichome turns opaque."
> 
> I've always harvested when the majority of my trichs were cloudy and about 10-20% were amber. Does anyone have any experience with buds that were harvested when the majority of trichs were still clear? Other than the fact that the bud was probably a lot fluffier, how was the high like?


Hey man....I recently had to harvest my buds while 10% were milky and the rest clear. The high is very different.....very busy. Still good though. Next harvest Im going milky though....no amber.


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## Bigdog1980 (Mar 10, 2018)

OK guys its close to harvest but i'm not sure how close. I have a 60x jewelers scope and there looks to be more cloudy than clear but I don't want to wait for amber as I have been told that is to late. What should I do........ I want to harvest but don't want to mess up. This is a first grow and the seeds came out of a bag of bud......HELP ME


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## projectinfo (Mar 10, 2018)

Bigdog1980 said:


> OK guys its close to harvest but i'm not sure how close. I have a 60x jewelers scope and there looks to be more cloudy than clear but I don't want to wait for amber as I have been told that is to late. What should I do........ I want to harvest but don't want to mess up. This is a first grow and the seeds came out of a bag of bud......HELP ME


 Wait till their all cloudy. 

Don't bescared if you see some amber. It can just be from damage or stress 

Make sure you look at multiple spots and take an overall guesstimate. 

You want cloudy tho man, you waited this long don't jump the gun now. Their putting on weight and thc right now. 

Small children in Jamaica are starving right now and your going to throw away all that thc. 


Shaaame


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## projectinfo (Mar 10, 2018)

Bigdog1980 said:


> OK guys its close to harvest but i'm not sure how close. I have a 60x jewelers scope and there looks to be more cloudy than clear but I don't want to wait for amber as I have been told that is to late. What should I do........ I want to harvest but don't want to mess up. This is a first grow and the seeds came out of a bag of bud......HELP ME


Take some plant pics, let's see what she looks like


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## Bigdog1980 (Mar 10, 2018)

This is what she looks like, sorry about bad pic's, shit camera


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## projectinfo (Mar 10, 2018)

Ah so it's you posting in multiple threads. Please stop. 

It clogs up the forum and everyone can see your post when they click new posts, it doesn't need to be posted multiple times.


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## 70's natureboy (Mar 11, 2018)

I'd say you are pretty close. When testing a new strain I will still take the number of days into account. If it doesn't look done but it is over 70 days I will start to get ancy anyway. I always harvest a couple early in the window and some on time and a few late ones. The late ones always seem to be the best imo. I would be patient until about day 80 and then that's it.


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## Bigdog1980 (Mar 11, 2018)

projectinfo said:


> Ah so it's you posting in multiple threads. Please stop.
> 
> It clogs up the forum and everyone can see your post when they click new posts, it doesn't need to be posted multiple times.


Sorry mate will stop posting shit


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## projectinfo (Mar 11, 2018)

Bigdog1980 said:


> Sorry mate will stop posting shit


Just stop posting the same shit in multiple places.


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## MrGreen23 (Mar 13, 2018)

Bigdog1980 said:


> OK guys its close to harvest but i'm not sure how close. I have a 60x jewelers scope and there looks to be more cloudy than clear but I don't want to wait for amber as I have been told that is to late. What should I do........ I want to harvest but don't want to mess up. This is a first grow and the seeds came out of a bag of bud......HELP ME


Best to go for 20-30% amber, I will say for your second grow actually but some seeds so you know the background it will help massively, if you want CHEAP and decent genetics Royal Queen seeds are good and their customer service is first class... when your starting out no point adding another factor in to screw up the grow, though could do what I did and get some autoflowers, stress them so they produce seeds.. got around 1000 seeds and they just stay in my veg tent...trust me they are brilliant for filler plants so your never out of bud....... I’m rambling but shit I’m high as fuck!

What’s your set up?


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## Bigdog1980 (Mar 14, 2018)

I am just running a 250w HP's bulb in a small 3x 3x 6ft tent, mg nutrients. Got to keep it small as over here in the UK its still illegal. Just trying to save myself some coin by growing my own smoke.


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## Jypsy Dog (Mar 14, 2018)




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## Jypsy Dog (Mar 14, 2018)




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## Roger A. Shrubber (Mar 14, 2018)

Bigdog1980 said:


> I am just running a 250w HP's bulb in a small 3x 3x 6ft tent, mg nutrients. Got to keep it small as over here in the UK its still illegal. Just trying to save myself some coin by growing my own smoke.


the leaves sticking out of buds, the sugar leaves, form trichs early and they are loosely packed, so they get damaged and age faster than the trichs that form on the actual calyxes of the buds. disregard what you see on the sugar leaves, and only look at the trichs on your calyxes.
i personally don't care about amber. i like to take them when i see that at least 80% of the trichs are cloudy. they'll always be producing new trichs, so you're never going to see it 100% cloudy.


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## Howard Burn (Mar 14, 2018)

Jypsy Dog said:


> View attachment 4105326


Wow where did you get such a quality pic like this

Beautiful


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## 70's natureboy (Mar 14, 2018)

Howard Burn said:


> Wow where did you get such a quality pic like this
> 
> Beautiful


That was my question too! I'm thinking I need to buy a digital microscope. I have never seen such a high res pic of pistils like that. I had to save it.


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## Jypsy Dog (Mar 14, 2018)

70's natureboy said:


> That was my question too! I'm thinking I need to buy a digital microscope. I have never seen such a high res pic of pistils like that. I had to save it.


Just found it surfin....


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## Gquebed (Mar 22, 2018)

projectinfo said:


> Wait till their all cloudy.
> 
> Don't bescared if you see some amber. It can just be from damage or stress
> 
> ...


I agree.
I think of trichs as fruit. Friut ripens. So do trichs. Clear trichs are like green bannas. They taste sharp or harsh. I dont like that. Not enough banna taste.
Amber trichs are like over ripe bannas... yuck.
Cloudy trichs are like yellow bannas with no brown spots. Yum.

I cant say i can tell the difference in the type of high each trich gets though. Pretty much all the same to me.

What i have noticed though is that when i see amber trichs too early i notice at harvest that ive had some root problems.

My first really good harvest for yield... i took NL#5 (said to be a 9 wk strain) to 14 weeks waiting for 50% amber trichs. Just didnt happen so i just finally chopped at about 10% amber and found pristine white roots...

So i go for mostly cloudy trichs...


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## Carterk1616 (Nov 26, 2020)

Bigdog1980 said:


> OK guys its close to harvest but i'm not sure how close. I have a 60x jewelers scope and there looks to be more cloudy than clear but I don't want to wait for amber as I have been told that is to late. What should I do........ I want to harvest but don't want to mess up. This is a first grow and the seeds came out of a bag of bud......HELP ME


Pics?


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## ElGrandeMongo (Nov 26, 2020)

Carterk1616 said:


> Pics?


This thread is old bro lol. I doubt he's going to show up with pics from a grow over 2 years ago


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## Carterk1616 (Nov 28, 2020)

ElGrandeMongo said:


> This thread is old bro lol. I doubt he's going to show up with pics from a grow over 2 years ago


Ok bro thanks for telling me ig? Lmaoooo


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