What Part Of The Plant To Check Trichomes From?

Someone said that sugar leaves are not the best place to check trichomes, and since I have to cut off pieces of my plant to check the trichs, where is the best spot to cut from? Sugar leaves showing slightly milky trichs, yet plants are sucking up all the leaf energy to fatten up buds.

Small sugar leaves right below the top of the main cola are the place tris first show up and is the best place to check them. I use smallish, like 3 inches long, scissors and a 30X mini-scope. Trick is to get the 'scope view steady. I put the small leaf sample on the back of my left hand and set the 'scope right next to the sample. I leave the one corner of the 'scope firmly on my hand while tilting the 'scope back and forth until I get a steady view. It is really difficult to try to hold any 'scope steady without bracing one corner on something. My way works great for me. Another advantage -- I have a perpetual grow so that means I have plants at all stages of development. BY bracing the 'scope I don't have to re-focus every time I check a different sample. All leaves are pretty much the same thickness so I can keep the same focal length.

Good luck, BigSteve.

I first look at calyxes, then sugar leaves. Trichomes always turn amber more quickly on sugar leaves, but honestly I never harvest by trichomes again. I just look at overall ripeness. You need to wait until the calyxes have swollen and pistils have receded.

Hessam said:

I first look at calyxes, then sugar leaves. Trichomes always turn amber more quickly on sugar leaves, but honestly I never harvest by trichomes again. I just look at overall ripeness. You need to wait until the calyxes have swollen and pistils have receded.

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Righto! After awhile one learns to judge maturity by just handling the colas and squeezing them. As I found the question in the new-guy section I figured I'd give the standard book answer. But you are correct. I'm not even sure I could find my 'scope now.

Good luck, BigSteve.

And to even get more specific a indicated dom plant will mature at the top of a plant first while a sativa will mature from the bottom.

I just ordered my scope. So am I not going by the trichs on the bud?
I'm thinking 50 percent amber would be best

Well....that 50% thing doesn't always work on sativas. I think there is a good article on that on growweedeasy.com

bgmike8 said:

I'm thinking 50 percent amber would be best

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That's too much amber, even for most sativas. There are also some strains that don't produce much amber trichome, even when they're over ripe. That's why sometimes it's really illusory to judge the ripeness of a plant by ratio of amber/milky/clear trichomes.

Hessam said:

That's too much amber, even for most sativas. There are also some strains that don't produce much amber trichome, even when they're over ripe. That's why sometimes it's really illusory to judge the ripeness of a plant by ratio of amber/milky/clear trichomes.

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Agreed it's too much for a sativa, but the trychomes have to be mature at least

I've got blue kripple. Mostly indica.
The seed seller says 7 to 8 weeks....

I'm almost done with week 6 so I'm getting close.

What would you guys be looking for?

To see if it's fattened up, if the pistils are turning brown, I would be checking the trychomes on the Calyxs for sure! Honestly if it says 7-8 you would be better off holding on til 8 at least. Remember that you can gain 25% of the bud mass in the last two weeks of flower. And if I were you I would hold off til week 9

Pictures would help

apparently there are strains that produce a lot of amber trichs, but if you aren't growing one of those strains, you want to chop at about 10% amber. while there are exceptions, the general rule is 5 to 10% amber. the darker color indicates that the thc has started to degrade. since trichs are constantly developing over the whole plant, you'll always see a few clears and after a certain point, a few ambers, what you want is 80+% cloudy, 5 to 10% amber, thats the peak of thc content for most strains.
i have a dual 30/60 X jewelers loupe, works awesome, you can get one for 10 bucks on amazon. i look at the top and bottoms of buds, basically ignore sugar leaves, no real science behind that, just what i've always done

Depending on the scope you buy there may be no need to take anything off. I used to use one of these http://www.sensibleseeds.com/black-leaf-resin-guard-microscope-with-led-lamp.html
That way I could just whack it on a bud in various places and couldn't miss the trichs. After a bit you get used to how they look and feel. Far too many folks take them down early and lose out on weight due to breeders weeks guide, which are usually based on SOG grows, many small plants can mature quicker than one large one but breeders like to use SOGs as an example so they can say 600gram per square meter as a selling point.

one thing i have noticed is that you have to find places you can look at the trichs from the side, if you look directly down at them they tend to look cloudy when they aren't yet, really still clear if you can see them from the side

OK, kiddies. This is a learned "art". It'll take time to learn.
First off, for most Indica's and cross's, This guide will be priceless (in my book)

https://www.rollitup.org/t/are-they-done-yet-what-does-done-look-like.853978/

As for sativa's.....There are plenty that simply do not amber! A good sign of "done" can be Foxtailing when they are just beyond the "given norm" for strain finish....If you wait till the plant begins to loose color and starts the die off - you've waited too long....

"50%" is to long. 10-30% fits in the "done zone" for personal preference! Remember that the trichs will still be maturing during the drying and the beginning of the cure!

Dr. Who said:

"50%" is to long. 10-30% fits in the "done zone" for personal preference! Remember that the trichs will still be maturing during the drying and the beginning of the cure!

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>> This is actually a good read by Subcool <<

Thanks guys.
I just ordered a decent digital scope so I can put pics up.

Believe me Im not gonna chop early. The seed company says 7 to 8 weeks so from what I've heard in looking at like 8-9.

I understand how the seed descriptions work. I'm just using them as a guide. So I picked the higher yield and earlier finish.

As soon as I get the scope I'll put pics up of the plants and trichs.
Right now the buds are all white.
This pic is about a week old

Hessam said:

>> This is actually a good read by Subcool <<

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"Subtool"

trichs still turn while hanging also