outdoor nearing harvest questions

[rivaldo]

Hi there, im currently nearing the harvest of my first successful grow.Its outdoor and im planning on moving towards an indoor setup once i learn abit more about marijuanas growth (this is sort of a learning experiment).

so let me cut to the chase,its reached the stage where many of the hairs on the buds have turned orange and curling .some leaves on the more developed ones are turning yellow (Ive been told thats normal as it maximises nutrients for the bud...that true?) 

ive read many places about letting the trichomes on the leaves grow outwards ,but the issue i face is that i only see lil crystals forming .

i should add that the weathers been poor so im not sure if that affects it or if its because trichomes dont form that perfectly on outdoor marijuana??

with that ...should i harvest once im satisfied with the hairs being orange brown and curled or wait for something else to occur?

 

im genuinely open to any criticism and any advice whether it be related to my questions or not.

any help is appreciated 

[PsyCLown]

The leaves turning yellow is not uncommon for a plant reaching the end of its life / maturity.

 

The pistils (hairs) turning brown isn't a sure way to tell whether the plant is ready, you need to take a look at the trichomes (crystals). The trichomes are what contain the THC and other chemicals and outdoor they certainly do form and do so properly, without trichomes you would not get any effects. You need to use a loupe or microscope to take a look at the trichomes, there are 3 stages of trichomes: clear, milky and amber. Milky when the THC is highest, once it goes amber the THC starts to degrade a bit and change to different substances and based on when you harvest (the ratio of clear trichomes, milky trichomes and amber trichomes) will also have an affect on the type of high you get from the plant.

 

A lot of amber often gives you a heavy "couch lock" effect. A lot of clear can lead to paranoia and a racey high. On average most people like to harvest with mostly milky trichomes and then between 10% to 50% amber based on personal preference.

I have attached a picture to help give you a better idea, you cannot see it with the naked eye. You will need something to help you zoom in on the sticky trichomes also when checking to see if a plant is ready it is best to check the trichomes in various buds on the plant and different parts of the bud - so the top of the bud, middle of the bud as well as bud on different parts of the plant. I like to check some bud which are lower on the plant and some in the middle and some in the top on all sides of the plant for a better picture.

One thing I have noticed is that trichomes on the leaves mature at a different rate to the trichomes on the bud, I find trichomes on leaves often turn amber before the trichomes on the bud.

 

The pistils can change colour if the plant gets pollinated or if a substance touches the pistils, such as some sprays can turn the pistils brown / orange as well.

I had a plant where the pistils changed colour around 3 or 4 weeks before the plant was ready for harvest and that was not due to anything being sprayed and the plant was not pollinated either.

[Craig]

2 hours ago, PsyCLown said:

The leaves turning yellow is not uncommon for a plant reaching the end of its life / maturity.

 

The pistils (hairs) turning brown isn't a sure way to tell whether the plant is ready, you need to take a look at the trichomes (crystals). The trichomes are what contain the THC and other chemicals and outdoor they certainly do form and do so properly, without trichomes you would not get any effects. You need to use a loupe or microscope to take a look at the trichomes, there are 3 stages of trichomes: clear, milky and amber. Milky when the THC is highest, once it goes amber the THC starts to degrade a bit and change to different substances and based on when you harvest (the ratio of clear trichomes, milky trichomes and amber trichomes) will also have an affect on the type of high you get from the plant.

 

A lot of amber often gives you a heavy "couch lock" effect. A lot of clear can lead to paranoia and a racey high. On average most people like to harvest with mostly milky trichomes and then between 10% to 50% amber based on personal preference.

I have attached a picture to help give you a better idea, you cannot see it with the naked eye. You will need something to help you zoom in on the sticky trichomes also when checking to see if a plant is ready it is best to check the trichomes in various buds on the plant and different parts of the bud - so the top of the bud, middle of the bud as well as bud on different parts of the plant. I like to check some bud which are lower on the plant and some in the middle and some in the top on all sides of the plant for a better picture.

One thing I have noticed is that trichomes on the leaves mature at a different rate to the trichomes on the bud, I find trichomes on leaves often turn amber before the trichomes on the bud.

 

The pistils can change colour if the plant gets pollinated or if a substance touches the pistils, such as some sprays can turn the pistils brown / orange as well.

I had a plant where the pistils changed colour around 3 or 4 weeks before the plant was ready for harvest and that was not due to anything being sprayed and the plant was not pollinated either.

Very informative, Thanks man.