Trichomes confusing to me

This is my first grow I think the plant is at the end yet the trichomes are confusing me it’s hard to keep hand steady sometimes they appear amber sometimes not then when I read up on it they say cloudy is when the plant has the highest thc so then why wait for amber ? Someone please help me understand this
 

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Phytoplankton

Well-Known Member
Looking at your pictures, you're pretty close. I see some amber, when to chop is a personal choice. Mostly milky with some clear will give you a more energetic high (but you may lose some weight because the buds haven't fully swelled) all milky highest THC, when the trichs start to get amber the THC is breaking down into CBD, which will give you more of the couch-lock effect. So it's all about what you're after.
 

DeadHeadX

Well-Known Member
Remember trikes on sugar leaves will amber more quickly than those on the main buds. Buds will grow more dense and heady given a little more time. My sense is that most experienced growers prefer the stony balance of some amber, some cloudy. I’ve been experimenting with this recently to try to determine personal preference. Have fun.
 

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
Why not ?
Trichomes are confusing to me, too. I go by other signs of ripeness, like the hairs all turning brown and the bracts swelling. If you still have a bunch of white hairs and immature bracts, the buds are not ripe and there is no point in looking at the trichomes, and if the hairs are all brown and dead and the bracts are nice and swollen, there is no need to check trichomes to know the buds are ripe.

In my opinion, trichome appearance (clear/cloudy/milky/amber) is more of an academic thing...like it's cool to know, but it's totally unnecessary for determining when a plant is ready to harvest.
 

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
I judge off the middle of the canopy, never judge ripeness off the very top buds or your going to probably harvest prematurely. The plants usually ripen top down. There isn't a perfect science to it, when the heads start turning amber they're converting from THC (cloudy white) to CBN (amber/orange) which will give you a more narcotic/couchlock/tired buzz.
 
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