) You want the heads of the trichomes to be cloudy/milky. The trichromes have a few stages of maturity. Clear is the first stage, and the cannaboids (what gets us high) aren't mature so you won't get as high. Cloudy/milky gland heads are when they are at max THC content. An amber hue can mean the cannaboids have peaked, and are now degrading, the darker they gland heads the further into this stage they have gone. For peak ripness you want to see a 50% mixture of milky/cloudy and light amber gland heads for a cerebral high/stoney buzz. Indica's should be harvested when most gland heads are a light amber hue, this will give a great body stone. Don't forget to flush your medium atleast a week prior to harvesting so all the sugars, and starches are removed from the plant. To know the flush is going properly the leaves will turn from dark green to light green, then to a yellow color due to lack of nitrogen. Trust me the smoke will be so much better.
thanks man +reps
Stranger you know your grow. I don't want to hijack anyone's thread, just want to get clarification on a point. I may be missing something with the trichromes turning amber in color. I have a good microscope 40-100-400 and I have yet to see a field of little amber colored water towers. They get to 'cloudy stage' just fine, all neat and orderly, what happens then is that the trichomes explode, what is left is something resembling a deflated amber balloon laying on top of the stalk of what was a nice shiny, pretty trichrome. This is consistent with every grow I have checked closely (4). Plants are healthy, no problems. Checked 2 grows inside and 2 out. What happens to the ball of cloudy thc? Thanks, peaceGet a microscope of 50x to 100x. Check the trichomes (frosty looking stuff
This "explosion" of the milky gland heads turning to amber is the break down of the THC. If your not seeing them this is a good thing because cloudy/milky heads are a prime ripeness, and THC content. Suposably (sp?) if you let indicas grow till 50% of the gland heads are amber it will induce a heavier body stone...Im not sure of this because the grows I've helped with we harvest when its a healthy mixture of clear-cloudy heads.
