Harvest early?

So I’ve got a Thai Stick plant about 9 or so weeks into flowering and things are coming along pretty well. (Few small hiccups but generally OK)
I’ve been reading a bit about early harvesting for a less sedative high which seems to suit what I’m after although it seems to have fallen out of favour lately.
I’ve taken a couple of popcorn buds off over the last few days as a wee test and to be honest I’ve really enjoyed them. Nice, up-high stone, no couch lock. Just like I like it.

Just wondering if anyone else had experience with early harvest buds to keep the high high, so to speak? Is it worth waiting the minimum time recommend by the seed bank (12-14 weeks) for some extra weight or am I risking them getting a bit more on the sedative side of things if I do?

Follow up - the pistils are about 10-15% orange now and trichs all still look clear.

i tend to ignore the seed bank estimates, the only time they're accurate is when they get lucky.
there a several signs, you have to look at them all and weigh them, pistils drawing up, trichs getting milky, the general state of the plant....
some strains will still have a lot of white pistils when the trichs are all cloudy, and some will have all drawn up brown trichs while the trichs are still clear. i use trichs as the final word, but all of it enters into it. when they're at least 80% milky, thats when i like to chop. some like to wait longer, but i find waiting longer makes the weed put me to sleep.

Roger A. Shrubber said:

i tend to ignore the seed bank estimates, the only time they're accurate is when they get lucky.
there a several signs, you have to look at them all and weigh them, pistils drawing up, trichs getting milky, the general state of the plant....
some strains will still have a lot of white pistils when the trichs are all cloudy, and some will have all drawn up brown trichs while the trichs are still clear. i use trichs as the final word, but all of it enters into it. when they're at least 80% milky, thats when i like to chop. some like to wait longer, but i find waiting longer makes the weed put me to sleep.

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Thanks mate. That's what I want to avoid! That nasty sleepy weed that ruins all your plans So I'm pretty good to keep it going for another week to 10 days until trichs start turning cloudy? Just want to keep the high about where it is now but don;t want to miss out on too much weight if she's going to start packing on the pounds with a bit more time.
Do you tend to see a lot of extra weight put on over the last week or two?

Yet To Be Named said:

Thanks mate. That's what I want to avoid! That nasty sleepy weed that ruins all your plans So I'm pretty good to keep it going for another week to 10 days until trichs start turning cloudy? Just want to keep the high about where it is now but don;t want to miss out on too much weight if she's going to start packing on the pounds with a bit more time.
Do you tend to see a lot of extra weight put on over the last week or two?

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yeah, usually about three weeks before they're ready, they'll swell, put out a few new pistils, and get denser. they do that for about two weeks, and i just like to give them an extra week, make sure they got it all out of their system. most of the time, that's when the trichs will be ready, but not always

I wouldn't follow the outdated advice that says harvesting early will give you a more heady high and harvesting later will give a more body high.

It's more accepted now to harvest when ripe. I would never suggest to anyone to harvest early for any reason.

If you want a more heady high, grow a sativa (like you're doing) and be patient.

Yet To Be Named said:

Thanks mate. That's what I want to avoid! That nasty sleepy weed that ruins all your plans So I'm pretty good to keep it going for another week to 10 days until trichs start turning cloudy? Just want to keep the high about where it is now but don;t want to miss out on too much weight if she's going to start packing on the pounds with a bit more time.
Do you tend to see a lot of extra weight put on over the last week or two?

Click to expand...

There's really no way for people here to tell if your plant is ready without pictures.