When do you think these will finish?... tips appreciated...

This is my first time growing females (last year I had all males).

I just put these two Afghan (Indica) ladies into the ground (from the pots they grew up in). They've been outside their whole life though. I'm at 34 degrees latitude (the same sunlight patterns as central California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina... that latitude line).

I started to notice white hairs (indicating female sex) around July 15. However, the pre-flowers were not formed enough for me to be absolutely sure of their sex until I visited them again back on Aug 1 and took the close up pics below. The final pics (of the plant in the ground) are from a couple days ago (Aug 11). On that same day I hit them with some 10-52-10 bloom booster.

My question is this: The site I bought the seeds from says they flower for 8 weeks. Do I count from when the pre-flowers first started forming? That would be July 15, which would mean they are to be finished around September 15. But that seems early. Is that early in your experience?

All the websites that indicate "finishing time" seem to say mid-October.

I guess I'll just keep an eye on the trichomes with my 30x microscope. They say to harvest when they go from clear to cloudy or even when some of them are amber. So I'll try to judge all that. However, I'd feel more comfortable if had some sort of time table in my head in case I don't know what the fuck I'm looking at when I examine the trichomes.

I want to get some good quality, smokable bud this time around.... Any tips or help from experienced outdoors indica growers would be appreciated... thanks!

Yeah, I never go by the weeks or the amount of time they've been flowering. I use eyes to determine when they're ready.

Golden Ray said:

Use your scope on a daily basis, so you can see the change. Indica's you want them to have more amber than cloudy, Sativa's you want Cloudy not Amber. Beleive me you can tell with a scope, and when you think its time wait one day, and check it again. That was you do not second guess yourself while she is drying.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll bring my scope next time I go out there to start getting the hang of examining them.

I definitely want to try the "body buzz" indica has to offer, and I've heard harvesting at "more amber trichomes then cloudy" is the way to get that. So I want to try to do that. That's actually why I grew... because my dealer could only get sativa.

However, I'd like to harvest some at more cloudy then amber also, because I'm curious as to how harvest time will effect the high.
If I harvest some of the buds when they are cloudy (instead of amber) that won't degrade the quality just because it is an indica plant, will it? I've been assuming that will just turn it into more of a sativa type of high.

Sometimes I wonder if harvest time has more to do with the type of high then strain. I'm wondering if harvesting an indica at "cloudy" will produce more of a sativa type high. So I was planning on harvesting some buds at cloudy and some at amber... good plan?

Early october sounds about right.

i harvest around end of sep to mid oct. this year mine wont be done till mid oct

Ok here's what you want to do, Being its a Indica you will not get a sativa high if you harvest too soon (cloudy) so when you get your buds cloudy take a nug off and fast dry it~~ Cut it up and set it on a pie tin over a light. You will get high but how high? Then the next day find a nug with Amber in it and do the same. You must remember not to let it go too far, once you see mostly amber harvest or if you see Trichs are drooping there heads Harvest. You see indica is a body buzz so how intense do you want it.

I definitely want to try the "body buzz" indica has to offer, and I've heard harvesting at "more amber trichomes then cloudy" is the way to get that. So I want to try to do that. That's actually why I grew... because my dealer could only get sativa.

Harvesting early or later is not ideal for how you want your high to be.You go by the traits the strain has to offer then you harvest at peak potency,or right around it,to early you loose potency,and too late you will loose potency.There this big misconception going around you can change your high by harvesting early or w/e buts its all myth.The reason your early harvested buds feel like they give you a head high is because your smoking the non -matured flowers.let them go until there done,and don't alter the process if you want the best grade A buds.

Thanks for your advice everyone. I really appreciate it.

So it sounds like you're saying Indica's should be harvested when they have mostly amber tricomes, because Indica's have mostly the type of drug that gives a "body buzz", and those peak at amber. Is that right? So for full strength Indica, harvest at amber?

So then Sativa's, I guess, should be harvested at mostly cloudy tricomes because they have mostly the type of drug that gives a "head high", and those peak when the tricomes are cloudy. Right? So for full strength Sativa, harvest at cloudy?

I guess I just don't mind if some of my buds are less potent. So I'm going to try harvesting some early at cloudy. Because in theory, even Indica's still have some of the "head high" drug in them... and whatever small amount they have probably peaks at cloudy. So I'm thinking if I harvested some of my Indica buds at mostly cloudy it would be like having some weak sativa. That would be fine with me.

I don't smoke much weed, and to be honest two plants will probably produce enough weed to last me more then a year (even if I just get 1/2 and oz. off each plant. Truth be told, this grow will probably produce enough to where I have to freeze or refrigerate some of it after I dry it. So I don't mind if I weaken some of it in order to have the option of the head high every once in a while (or to at least try to see if I can get that).

Then again, maybe these pure Afghans will have such little of the "head high" drug in them that the bud will be so weak as to be almost useless if I harvest it at cloudy. If that is the case, then I'll just be glad I only harvested a little bit at cloudy and not the whole plant! I want to at least try some of them at cloudy though. I was hoping to have some sativa and indica this year, but a flood wiped out all my Orange Bud plants.