420SA's Guide To Knowing When To Harvest

[420SA]

Perhaps one of the more debated topics in the growing community is when is the perfect time to harvest your long awaited buds? 

In the end it boils down to personal preference but there are a couple factors that you need to know to help you decide when is the best time to harvest for you.

You want to wait till the plant has matured in her flowering phase. How matured is a matter of personal preference and debate but this is when the plant will have produced the valuable ingredients that you seek

First & foremost, if you're considering harvesting before 6 weeks of flowering, you will be horribly disappointed as no strains mature in that short time! Just be patient and you will be rewarded

Pistil Hair Observation

This is probably a more old fashioned way of determining the maturity of the plant but it can still be effective, although in a limited way. What you want to be watching is those white pistil hairs. Once 80 to 90 percent of all the white pistil hairs have turned orange, red or brown you could consider your plant to have matured as your lady has given up every last hope of being pollinated...however... this can be misinterpreted and in some cases the pistils will turn before the lady has actually fully matured. Other factors that could cause the pistils to turn before maturity can be high heat, pesticide, different strain characteristics and other factors. The way to make sure of this is by determining maturity with the next method which is probably the most effective way.

Trichome Observation

For this method you'll need to invest in some form of a portable microcope. Jewelers loupe's work well too. You'll need something that has a magnifying strength of 40x and upwards.

What you want to do is observe the trichomes close up and determine their colour. For those who don't know what Trichomes are, they are the resin glands that store THC and the many other compounds. They appear as large stalks with a ball on top, some liken them to a mushroom like shape.

Here's what you should see

Once you've used your portable microscope to view the trichomes close up, you will be looking for the following colours in your trichomes:

Clear Trichomes

If you see that the majority of the trichomes appear clear and transparent it is too soon to harvest. This means that the maximum amount of THC and CBD hasn't been produced yet. You will want the majority of Trichomes to go Cloudy.

Clear trichomes appear like below

Cloudy Trichomes

Cloudy trichomes appear with a milky white colour, and they will have lost their transparency. Once the majority of the trichomes have turned cloudy you can consider harvesting your plant but you may want to consider the different options and ratios with Amber Trichomes, especially if you're growing a sativa or sativa dominant hybrid.

Cloudy trichomes appear like below

 

Amber Trichomes

When the trichomes begin to show an amber or orange colour the compounds such as THC have begun to degrade and while this may be undesirable to some, it can be desirable to others as the compound CBN builds up once the THC begins to degrade. This is usually looked for in Sativa's and Sativa dominant hybrids. You will want to try go for a 70% milky and 30% amber ratio with them. However with indicas and indica dominant hybrids you don't really want many amber trichomes and you should go for a maximum of 10% amber 90% Cloudy when growing indicas.

Amber trichomes appear like below

 

As I said though, these ratios can vary and are just a general guideline. As you develop as a grower you should experiment and test the different ratios seeing what high you like best. Everyone is different and may enjoy a different type of high which is why trichome observation is the best way to determine when to harvest your lady/ladies!

[420SA]

Feel free to add your input on the matter guys!

 

Also share with us what ratios you like to use!

[Dabtzar]

Thanks for that.  I knew how to but it has given me something to think about.. 

Ill share my findings when I'm done..

 

 

[CaptainCrunchy]

Thanks 420SA. Was waiting this to kick off. I have found that trial and error can sometimes work in your favor. I tried it at each stage and realized that each strain has its own potential and factoring in personal preference, it becomes challenging, exiting, but a challenge to get it just right. Next grow you try something else and your opinion might change. What would great is if the gang can post pics of colors at harvest time. It might give us all some new insights? Bongit