Is she ready?

[budda13]

Hello ladies and gents...
i got a girl whose been flowering for over 70 days now, maybe 80, and she looks luscious
but im just not sure when to start flushing her, and buying a microscope is outta the bugget right now so I cant really tell how my trics are looking...
Otherwise, shes started to stank about a week + ago, some buds have more then 75% amber pistils, while the topper buds have around 15% to 25% amber...
the closer they are to the light the less the amber pistils...
the trics on the leaves have started to look extra frosty...
as for feeding wise, she seems to have quit feeding, only drinking water this last week....
my ppm has stayed around 1100 for a week now, i boosted her last night to 1200 and the meter read the same this afternoon...
anyway
you guys think shes ready???
sry for no pics btw
not using a proxy gets me nice and paranoid

 

[galildoughty]

Im still brand new at this, but flowering for 9 weeks should put you at a general harvest time, by date. Sounds like she might be done swelling up and is preparing to kiel over the pleasure of you and yours. Maybe you could harvest the 75%ers and let the 15% and 25% go another week or more. I really don't know, just wanted to try and help!

 

[Medicine4Me]

If you don't know the strain you won't really know how far along they are other than a visual of the trichomes. I use a 50X microscope to see if they are amber and not just a clear looking trichome.

If you don't have any way of looking at them up close just use a strong magnifying glass from a medicine kit. Sometimes you can see quite a bit with those if your eyesight is good.

If I had to guess I'd say start flushing now. They will more than likely be fully mature if the flushing takes you 10 to 14 days.

 

[Opm]

You must have a really sativa dominant plant if it's taking that long....

I would start flushing as well if it has stopped nute intake.

 

[MuddyFunster]

If the trichs are looking"extra frosty"this probably means that they are going from clear to cloudy in the main so do what you gotta do now.

 

[trevronious]

Buy a jewelers loop/magnifying glass, take a shot through a camera and zoom in. Gives you a general idea of how your trichs are looking. Also, over years of reading around I don't practice pre-harvest flushing and feel it is counter productive. I suggest simply lowering your PPM progressively until harvest to try getting the most out of your plants. Just a suggestion.

 

[Opm]

Buy a jewelers loop/magnifying glass, take a shot through a camera and zoom in. Gives you a general idea of how your trichs are looking. Also, over years of reading around I don't practice pre-harvest flushing and feel it is counter productive. I suggest simply lowering your PPM progressively until harvest to try getting the most out of your plants. Just a suggestion.

There are definitely two schools of thought on this. Do whatever you think is best for you and have fun with it.

 

[thirdgen4me]

I found if I don't flush at least a week ahead of harvest the bud takes longer to cure. I had one girl I harvested without flushing and it took a week to get the nute smell out.

 

[HeartlandHank]

You could try clipping off a bud. manicure and express dry it. smoke on it and see what you think.

express dry weed always seems to be a little more of a head high to me. So just know that the end product will be more body high.

like others said, a 30-100x scope is what will answer the question. But it sounds like you can't spring the money. $35 will get you one...

 

[thirdgen4me]

^ exactly, clip a bud and try it..
Buy this.. works really good for 12 bucks! http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2179604

 

[budda13]

so whats the best way to quick dry your bud?
and thx the link thirdgen4me...
my local radio shack has these fuckers stocked...
and the price doesnt hurt anywhere as much as I thought it would...
thx for all the responses, all advice is appreciated

 

[thirdgen4me]

Quick- drying with a microwave or oven is terrible.. I usually cut a bud into smaller pieces and put on newspaper and let it sit on my ballast. It usually takes a few hours but its decent. Can also let it sit out and point a fan on it before bed and in the morning it should be smoke-able if you cut it up first.

 

[budda13]

so after peaking my girl with the pocket microscope I saw that the 95% of my tricromes were nice and cloudy, while the other five, somewhat clear...
Ive already started my flush, so now im not sure if should I just extend the flush to two weeks or put her back on a light nute regiment and then flush a week later.
Im probably gonna end up flushing her out for another week and half and see how the tricromes progress...
thx for the responses guys...
I now see the importance of microscopes