Pull time ?????

I started with a 50 50 partner that has more extensive knowledge of out door growing than me and now he's gone on fire's and i got a couple questions ?!?! We have 20 outdoors but there are 8 differnt strains and most finish at differnt times so my question is what are the most obvious ways to tell when to pull ?? Question 2 is i heard a rumor that if you soak the roots in cold water after you pull them or if you stir the roots in boiling water and then hang them that the THC in the roots will shoot to the buds ... is this so ???

There is no THC in the roots. So I would call bullshit on that rumor. As far as if your plants are ready, check the trichs. Depending on the strain and type of high you are looking for.

Lite1up said:

I started with a 50 50 partner that has more extensive knowledge of out door growing than me and now he's gone on fire's and i got a couple questions ?!?! We have 20 outdoors but there are 8 differnt strains and most finish at differnt times so my question is what are the most obvious ways to tell when to pull ?? Question 2 is i heard a rumor that if you soak the roots in cold water after you pull them or if you stir the roots in boiling water and then hang them that the THC in the roots will shoot to the buds ... is this so ???

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Nope.
Read the outdoor section stickies and FAQ's.
I bet if you put the roots of a newly pulled plant in boiling water, you would have nasty tasting bud that was in no way better than if you didn't.

Hops

question 1: the easiest way to tell when to harvest is when about 80% of the hairs have changed colors, and the Calaxes have swollen to about the size of a seed( a calax is the round pod that the two hairs come out of), combine this with the trichome information above and harvest should be good. just remember be patient and when you think its done, prob wait another week.

question 2: yep bullshit. roots dont contain thc, nor will doing anything to them help your harvest, cut plants at the base of the stem and throw the roots away safetly (police can tell that they are cannabis roots). check out a good harvest walkthrough, there are millions of them on this site alone not to mention google

No THC in roots. You'll get limp bud. I tried just so I could say don't do it.

I got the radio shack one 30-100 power. Everyone will say they are hard to use. They are. You can get used to it but there are others. I think the best I've seen is a good jewlers loope. nice field of sight. Sorry not much help.

direwolf71 said:

There is no THC in the roots. So I would call bullshit on that rumor. As far as if your plants are ready, check the trichs. Depending on the strain and type of high you are looking for.

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I know that photo is something of a standard for trichome ID but it is still quite hard to see a decisive difference between clear and cloudy according to pics 1 and 2 AND the first pic seems to have a amber head. What gives?

namtih024 said:

question 1: the easiest way to tell when to harvest is when about 80% of the hairs have changed colors, and the Calaxes have swollen to about the size of a seed( a calax is the round pod that the two hairs come out of), combine this with the trichome information above and harvest should be good. just remember be patient and when you think its done, prob wait another week.

question 2: yep bullshit. roots dont contain thc, nor will doing anything to them help your harvest, cut plants at the base of the stem and throw the roots away safetly (police can tell that they are cannabis roots). check out a good harvest walkthrough, there are millions of them on this site alone not to mention google

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I'm growing a strain called big bud xxl and what I have noticed so far is the the hairs (pistols) seem to change color and shrivel up long before the trichomes seem to be ready. About 6 weeks or so into flowering the hairs changed color, shriveled up and the calyx started beefing up nicely and it confused me because based on the hairs, it seemed that I had let the plant go too long, but the trichomes were still what I considered to be clear. I even sampled the weed and it seemed low in potency, so I let it keep growing.
I've been looking for decent information as to why the hairs basically shriveled up and disappeared just as the plant seemed to be really starting to produce big buds, but cannot seem to get an answer other than go by trichomes and nothing else. Now, I might be the only one, but it is not super easy to be sure at what stage the trichomes are at, even with a microscope. The difference between clear and cloudy is not always - no pun intended - clear! So, it's nice to use the naked eye for a final visual cue and based on my experience with Big Bud XXL, the naked eye will lead you astray. Any thoughts on that?

hahah i just stuck my toe in hot water and thc shot to my heaad

Czechems said:

I'm growing a strain called big bud xxl and what I have noticed so far is the the hairs (pistols) seem to change color and shrivel up long before the trichomes seem to be ready. About 6 weeks or so into flowering the hairs changed color, shriveled up and the calyx started beefing up nicely and it confused me because based on the hairs, it seemed that I had let the plant go too long, but the trichomes were still what I considered to be clear. I even sampled the weed and it seemed low in potency, so I let it keep growing.
I've been looking for decent information as to why the hairs basically shriveled up and disappeared just as the plant seemed to be really starting to produce big buds, but cannot seem to get an answer other than go by trichomes and nothing else. Now, I might be the only one, but it is not super easy to be sure at what stage the trichomes are at, even with a microscope. The difference between clear and cloudy is not always - no pun intended - clear! So, it's nice to use the naked eye for a final visual cue and based on my experience with Big Bud XXL, the naked eye will lead you astray. Any thoughts on that?

Click to expand...

hairs and calax are just a general rule of thumb for easy identification, thats why the trichome identification has come into play recently. originally people would only go by what was visual with the naked eye, but some strains will show swelling and color changing hairs well before peak maturity (as yours did), other plants the hairs wont even die before the trichomes are ready. there are plenty of people on hear now who are saying there plants trichomes are turning amber and asking if their extremely premature bud is ready to harvest. its best to use a combination of the two methods along with better judgement. you cant pick a spindaly plant with tiny calaxes just because the trichomes are turning amber, and you cant pick a plant that looks done with undeveloped trichomes.
also there are cultural problems such as heat that will cause hairs to die pre-maturely, so this can be misleading.

trichome color identification can be difficult at first. a clear trich will look almost see through like a bottled water. cloudy trichs will not be see through but more white as if you added a few drops of milk to that water, amber trichs are easily identified as they stand out. make sure any trichs you identify are well developed with a round head at the end of a shaft, if the trich head is sitting on the leaf or bud, it is pre-mature. keep in mind these are general and some strains will not adhear to this they may have purpleish or other colored trichs.

trich identification is easier in a contolled environment, rather than standing over your plants with a magnifier, snip of a small sliver of leaf or bud and bring it to a comfortable place. if you can use a magnifier/ microscope that is LED illuminated, this makes things easier (i use a Carson MicroMax LED hand held microscope 60-100x that i bought from aqualabtechnologies for $15)
it make is much easier to put your trichome sample (snipped sliver of plant) on a table and study it with your magnifier. if your magnifier is indeed equipped with a LED then its best to place your trichome sample on a black surface so your trichs will stand out. focus well and concentrate on a single trich at a time. with a little experience you will be able to identify the difference. i tought my friend by zooming in on a trich and explaning about the color while letting them see. good luck