Would you harvest now?

Yo- what's up growers.. simple question, would you harvest this plant now or would you wait a little longer. Typically i would harvest at this time but I really want to maximize the smell and taste so I wanted to harvest at the best time . I grow good bud but most of the time I don't get the proper taste or smell.idk if it is the seeds I used or I'm not doing something right the buds smell good on the plant but when it dries it doesn't always taste or smell like i expect . When you break it up it smells like it should taste great but it taste Harsh and often doesn't have that taste I'm looking for. What do you think about these?

A couple more weeks, IMHO. Still a fair amount of white pistols, and I think there’s some more swelling in those buds. The biggest factor in taste is the drying and curing. Low and slow on the dry, then jar and burp till you get to around 62% RH.

Still seeing some white hairs Have you checked the trichomes?

You can get a small Carson microscope cheap off Amazon.

Weed that was cut too soon is heady and the high doesn't last very long. It just sucks. You will get high from it, but it will be a bit harsh. The flavor and aroma is all in the dry & cure.

Just based on pics, these flowers look like they maybe have some more time? The right data needed is: what week of flower is this, did you flush, what strain.... most importantly, how many amber trichomes do you see through a jeweler's loupe?

You're not drying long enough I bet. If the RH in the jar is higher than 62% 24 hours after jarring the product, it still contains too much internal moisture. Drying is like flowering. If you're unsure if its dry enough, let it go an extra day or 2. 50% of growers fail to dry long enough, and use excessive "burping" to make up for it.

Grower1974 said:

You're not drying long enough I bet. If the RH in the jar is higher than 62% 24 hours after jarring the product, it still contains too much internal moisture. Drying is like flowering. If you're unsure if its dry enough, let it go an extra day or 2. 50% of growers fail to dry long enough, and use excessive "burping" to make up for it.

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That's probably the case. When I break the bud up it smells great . you would expect bud smelling lIke it does, would taste like it smells but it's not the case sometimes. I wait til the stems snap but when I do that the bud just turns into shake if you squeeze it. When I wait til that point it just seems like I waited too long. This bud I have smells great on the plant now and I just want to make sure I get the desired results. When I harvest I am going to just wait til the stems Crack. I'd rather have dried out bud that tastes great then sticky moist bud that tastes bad

SkEE87 said:

That's probably the case. When I break the bud up it smells great . you would expect bud smelling lIke it does, would taste like it smells but it's not the case sometimes. I wait til the stems snap but when I do that the bud just turns into shake if you squeeze it. When I wait til that point it just seems like I waited too long. This bud I have smells great on the plant now and I just want to make sure I get the desired results. When I harvest I am going to just wait til the stems Crack. I'd rather have dried out bud that tastes great then sticky moist bud that tastes bad

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Try using a hygrometer or 2 next time you dry/jar.

SkEE87 said:

That's probably the case. When I break the bud up it smells great . you would expect bud smelling lIke it does, would taste like it smells but it's not the case sometimes. I wait til the stems snap but when I do that the bud just turns into shake if you squeeze it. When I wait til that point it just seems like I waited too long. This bud I have smells great on the plant now and I just want to make sure I get the desired results. When I harvest I am going to just wait til the stems Crack. I'd rather have dried out bud that tastes great then sticky moist bud that tastes bad

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What do you do for the drying process? The problem you're having I think... is drying too fast. If it's drier in less than 4-5 days I'd say it's too fast. Or if you're aiming a fan directly at them,it might not be enough to speed dry them but still enough so that it's hitting the outside of the bud too aggresive, probably blowing all the terps off the surface but will defo give you an uneven dry for sure. Make sure you point fan away from nugs for sure.

Another thing to consider is the phenotype. Popping and growing from seed is great (its what I currently do) but to get a plant that checks all the boxes (looks, smell, and taste, buzz, etc) you may have to pheno hunt a full pack to get the perfect one and you might not even get one in a pack. Some will give you multiples in one pack. Without keeping a mother plant those are the chances you take. Some will taste and smell better than others and so on. So theres a possibility its the plant and not you. Just keep looking. ha.

I've dialed in my drying area/tent after several years of thinking that 7-10 days would be long enough to dry.....didn't pay all that much attention to temperature and humidity as long as it was in the ballpark...more or less...I waited for the snap and it usually ended up too dry....I trimmed and jarred too early several times...lots of those stories around...

...But now, like I say, I dialed in my drying area to be able to maintain a much more perfect environment of 60F degrees and 60% relative humidity. I think it's one of the biggest lessons to learn about getting the best end results, is to get your drying game down pat. Under the proper conditions, the plants can dry slowly. But it's often difficult to meet those conditions depending on where you live. You're either dealing with it being too warm or too dry...or too wet. You have to answer those challenges with what ends up being a costly investment...It might be air conditioning...It might be heaters...humidifiers...de-humidifiers. But, however it happens to come about, the drying environment is absolutely crucial to getting the best smell and taste. If you can dry properly, then you should be able to trim it up and smoke it right then and there. Curing is an option AFTER the fact of how the plants were dried. In other words, if your drying game wasn't perfect, then the curing jar isn't going to realign everything to perfection no matter how many months you wait. I've tried pretty much everything at this point -except the Cannatrol machine (which seems awesome, but is still way too expensive for little. ol' me! ).

EDIT: And, of course, you have to start with good genetics and grow the plants to perfection, as well. No drying/curing technique in the world will change bland genetics into great marijuana!