Harvest time? (with pictures)

BWG707 said:

I tried harvesting the most mature buds first then, as an experiment, I let the small popcorn buds mature for another 2 1/2weeks. The popcorn buds did bulk up some but not a lot. I dried and cured them and was very surprised when I smoked them. The high hit me immediately, straight to my head. It has a very stoney high, good for unwinding and sleep. I was initially going to use it for making hash but after smoking some I've decided to keep it as is. It's a good smoke to have around when I want to relax and try to go to sleep. I try to grow enough different strains to have a choice of different highs. I grow enough to last me for about 1 to 2 years so its nice to have a variety. Sometimes I get bored smoking the same bud for a long time.

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Yeah I have done this several times and I have noticed little to no extra growth, but the buds sure did mature more, which makes it worth it.

Personally I would wait until I atleast saw an amber. Let those cloudy hit their peak. You don't get so much crystal production in the beginning. Those first crystals will be turning amber when the main conglomeration of crystals hit their peak. I basically try to time my cut to where the crystals that were forming during week 6 of flower are at their peak, since that is usually when you are hitting the stage when the most crystals are being produced.

same here.. i am in the process of waiting like you... my first grow... and again yours a pretty!!!

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I'd wait a week my friend

scarelet said:

Its really what effect you want from here on.( couchlock)

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False dude. Genetics determine the type of high not maturity of trichomes. Maturity(among other factors) of the trichomes determines the potency and duration of the high. Contrary to popular belief, a sativa dominant strain will not produce a "couchlock" high if you harvest it past maturity, nor will an Indica dominant strain produce a cerebral high without couchlock if you harvest it before maturity. You will still end up with a cerebral high from the sativa and a body high from the indica but the effects will not be as strong or last as long as when you harvest at the peak of maturity.

Thanks bugbud. I did a fair amount of research before starting (Grow Bible, forums etc) and also spoke to a friend that has just started as well. After that, I've just been careful and checked my plants regularly. The biggest problem I had was getting the seeds to sprout, but I have a system now that worked well (which I used for these two). The result is probably more to do with the seed strain and a bit of luck, than my skill.

I've just checked them and I swear the buds are still growing. I've got a 40x loupe and can't see any amber trics. I'm tempted to get a more powerful one.

My gut is telling me that while my buds are still growing, to not harvest, but that may be me being greedy. One thing I've noticed is that the leafs on the top buds are so dry, you can snap them off in places. This may be because of slight nute burn from a 2 weeks ago, or the plants are just reaching the end of their lives. Opinions?

I'm also getting lovely rich green new leaves with buds forming lower down the plants. Considering I'm not at week 11 since 12/12, I'm a little surprised at this but I'm only a noob. I'm going to leave them and check again tomorrow

all i know is those buds are BEAUTIFUL. keep up the great work.

nooooooo don't chop yet!!!

wait till almost all the hairs are dried/brown. check the trichs w a loupe or microscope (you can get one on amazon for like $40).

i like the trifecta:
1. stopped swelling
2. almost all the hairs are brown
3. starting to see amber trichs

if the buds are still swelling i'd say you have a week if not slightly more. what strain is it? what does the breeder say about flower time? what does the internet/reviews say about flower time for that particular strain?

amber trichomes means the THC in the sap/liquid has *degraded*. now there is more CBD. heavy CBD with little THC exhibits the bleh effect (couch lock). it simply has a different effect on your brain, like how some drugs make you feel one way and some make you feel another way.
lots of amber = lots of CBD = 'couch lock'

Please stop with the red/brown hair stuff.
That is nothing but misinformation.

I grow plenty of sativas that have mostly white hairs and are RIPE.

Hairs have NOTHING to do with if a plant is finished or not.

Just for the record, back when I first started growing I believed that same thing, since so many people falsely say it. But after more grows than I could possibly count, I have seen it to be a myth.

Sativas especially will dispel that rumor.

RockstarEnergy said:

False dude. Genetics determine the type of high not maturity of trichomes. Maturity(among other factors) of the trichomes determines the potency and duration of the high. Contrary to popular belief, a sativa dominant strain will not produce a "couchlock" high if you harvest it past maturity, nor will an Indica dominant strain produce a cerebral high without couchlock if you harvest it before maturity. You will still end up with a cerebral high from the sativa and a body high from the indica but the effects will not be as strong or last as long as when you harvest at the peak of maturity.

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I agree and disagree. You will not turn a sativa into an indica by letting it go longer. BUT, there is no doubt you will get a more stoney type buzz than normal if you let more thc degrade. You arent going to turn an energetic, trippy buzz into couchlock, but you will get a little more body buzz from your energetic, trippy buzz.

OK, so this is a little confusing; everyone says different things about when to cut.

I'm starting to see more hairs on the top buds change to orange so will harvest tomorrow or the next day. I'm still seeing bud growth so don't think I should cut yet but also going by what everyone is saying, wouldn't exactly do any harm in cutting today. It's very hard to see how many trics are still clear with a 40x loupe, but I think quite a few still are, so another reason to leave them be for the moment. I'll post updated pictures tomorrow and see how they've changed

Yep, you got tricked into thinking hairs turning colors matters. Ah well. False information rules.

Hi all. It's now 3 days since I posted the pictures and here are todays. For the first time, I think I can see some amber trichomes, and more hairs on the top buds are turning orange. I also don't think I've seen any new growth during that 3 days. Surely, it's got to be time to cut now - what do you think?

Not yet. Way too many white hairs in pic one, and the overall haze of crystals is too white, needs to be closer to light brown sugar than the color of table salt.

OK, thanks. They seem to be changing faster now so will give them a few more days.

And here's how they look today. Definitely more amber trics now but I'd guess at less than 2% have turned amber, and still have quite a few white hairs.

There seems to be a real mix of people on here saying that hair colour is not important in judging harvest time, particularly so, if the plants are sativa. Mine are Power Africa which is apparently 50:50 sativa:indica.

Is tric colour the only / best way to judge harvest time or is there another way?
Judging by these pictures and info provided, would you say to give the plants another few days? Thanks

Ok basically what has happened, thanks mostly to internet, people have taken something kind of general and tried to turn it into some kind of rule...

In your basic 8wk flowering 100% indica, your hairs will SOMETIMES be around 80% red/brown around the time that your trichomes are peaking.
Keep in mind, this in no way applies to every strain available. So to use that as your guide is only going to cause you a problem at some point in the future.

I will point out once again.. I have a Sour Cream that will be cut tomorrow that is around 15% amber and NOT ONE RED/BROWN HAIR on the entire plant. Every single hair is white. NOT ONE RED/BROWN hair....

So if I were to take advise from people who don't really know, in about 6 months from now, I would still be sitting around waiting on my hairs to turn colors.

Fortunately for me, I have grown so many strains that I know that the brown/red hair shit is nothing but bullshit, so I check my trichomes.

My Caribe that is now 11 1/2 weeks in flower has been solid red for atleast the past 3 weeks, SOLID RED, yet at this point I am about 70% clear and around 30% cloudy. A few weeks from finishing regardless of what color "hairs" it has.

OK. So is the only reliable method for telling harvest time through trichome colour? Or does that not apply to different strains. Thanks again for your help with this.

You also don't dont want the hairs to dry and die.