sanduskystightNds
Active Member
I have an unknown kind of Lady from a random bag seed....no clue on strain/weight expected/ time remaining....I bought a loupe but still can't tell....its been flowering just over 8 weeks....any help is appreciated
Harvest in the next week???? pics
- Thread starter sanduskystightNds
- Start date
Hugo Phurst
Well-Known Member
Less than a week? Sorry, no. Too much white hair, 10 days min I'd say.
Good luck
Good luck
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
Okay thanks a lot! I am 9 weeks from flip 8 weeks since it first showed....I thought it was based of trichs not white hairs?
Rold2Tight
Well-Known Member
It is and it is
It's soup, when 10% or more of the trichomes are turning amber and 50%-80% of the white pistils (hairs) have turned dark ..... At least that's the guideline I use. Looks like I am just about where you are. 10, or so days away 
Lookin' Good!
R2T
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
When do I pull if I'm looking for more of a head high than full body? Is there any difference in high as to when you pull?
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
Thanks bro I appreciate it....lots of TLC lol
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
I did that the other day but I still think it was too wet cuz it didn't smoke good but I got a head high...I just don't wanna do it too early n f up all this work since February but I don't want it being too late either
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
Ok thnx man
WayBaked
Active Member
No, that is a myth. Waiting for more amber trichomes will not change the high in a positive way.
When trichomes are clear, they contain little to no active THC.
When the trichomes take on a cloudy, murky color they are active THC.
When the trichomes turn amber, the THC is breaking down into CBD.
So, you go from no THC, to pure THC, to anti-THC, basically. You don't want more CBD. At least, not if you're trying to get high.
The perfect harvest would be 0% clear, 100% cloudy, 0% amber trichomes. You'll never see this though. Most strains are at "peak" harvest time at around 85% cloudy, 10% amber, 5% clear.
If you can't see the trichomes, get a better magnifying glass. 60X+ at least. 100X works very nicely, but if price is an object, 60X will work very well.
A proper magnifying glass is a very cheap investment to ensure perfect harvesting time.
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
I might have to because I bought a 40x and they just mostly still look clear but the hairs are really turning brown now I'm probably 30-45% white pistils turning brown....so if it was pulled with mostly clear you really won't get high?
WayBaked
Active Member
Well, it will still most likely get you high, it just won't be nearly as potent as it can be. Every part of the plant contains various cannabinoids in various concentrations, but the majority of the THC comes from the mushroom tips of the trichomes. When the trichomes appear cloudy, these are nearly pure THC. When 85%+ of the trichomes are pure THC, the plant is at its maximum potency. The trichomes will make THC and then convert it to CBD at different intervals. The older parts of the plant (the bottom branches) will convert first, going upward. Be sure to check the plant thoroughly, top to bottom, at multiple points, to see the overall trichome potency.
At 40x, it can be difficult to tell the difference between Clear and Cloudy trichomes for many people. I myself have poor vision, I need a 60X and prefer a 100X to see them accurately. If you see ~10% amber trichomes though, and most of your hairs are darkening, then you're probably ready to harvest.
Even if you pull with mostly clear trichomes, the bud will still smoke, and you will still get high. It's just about maximizing potency. Honestly though, it'd be better (in my opinion) to harvest early than to harvest late. Unless your plant is still gaining significant new growth, all of the activated THC in the trichomes (cloudy) will just begin to convert to CBD, which tends to have an effect that counteracts the psychoactive properties of THC, with more medicinal properties. If you're trying to get high, you want as little CBD as possible. I'm not sure if the extra growth would offset the loss of active THC, but I just don't see any reason to keep growing my plant if its getting less potent every day from the bottom up, even if the top was able to replace it quickly enough.
If you can't see the trichomes well enough to look for the 85/10/5, just try to look for 10% amber trichs and most of your hairs darkening and you'll still get a nice potent harvest.
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
Def appreciate all that info man very much....the plant really isn't growing anyomore now the buds all seem the same size as of a week ago just getting fatter a little and hairs are turning colors a lot....as you can tell by the pic I have four colas two big two small and a few smaller branches shooting up with little buds so it is Ok to harvest the big colas and give the smaller a few more days since all the plants energy can focus on the remaining stems or will I just stress it removing those two big tops? Also I read not to water a few days before harvest so it will dry out quicker last water was three days ago. Haven't used nutes for about two weeks
WayBaked
Active Member
Personally I have never harvested the main cola and left the lower branches to bulk out, but I know that a lot of people like to do that, and I know a few people who have played with that technique with success. I'd say you're the best judge of whether your plants will be able to handle the shock and recover quickly enough to make it worth doing. If you've done any pruning, topping, etc. on the plant during its life, just judge how quickly it recovered and went back into vigorous growth. If it went smoothly and quickly, then you'd probably be safe harvesting the main cola and leaving the lower branches to bulk out.
As for letting the plant dry out for a few days, I don't have scientific evidence, only empirical data, but most people I know do this, and a few (myself included) take it a step further and leave it in complete darkness for the last 48 hours. I find it shocks the plant into an emergency 'survival' mode where it converts all of its remaining energy into resin production to protect its flowers in a desperate attempt to get pollinated before it dies. Again, no scientific data on that one, just an idea I heard down the grapevine, and, well, the results spoke for themselves. Maybe I'm imagining an increase on that one though. Doesn't seem to do any harm though. Then I chop 'em, hang 'em, dry 'em, cure 'em, roll 'em, smoke 'em, and pass 'em.
sanduskystightNds
Active Member
Your the man dude.....the weed man lol can't thank you enough. Any chance you could give a quick run down on curing correctly cuz I want the good smell!
WayBaked
Active Member
Properly drying your buds will have a large effect on taste and smell as well. Be sure to cut the plant at the main stem, as low as possible, so you still have the entire plant in 1 piece (the plant continues to grow and transport water and dries evenly), and hang it upside down in ~50% humidity, 60-65 degrees (too much heat will promote mold growth), and complete darkness (light will begin to degrade the THC). Be very careful with your humidity, if it gets too high, you will get mold growth, if it gets too low, your plants will dry too quickly and produce a harsh, off-tasting smoke.
Remember, when you cut your plant, it doesn't die immediately. The plant will continue its chemical processes until it runs out of fuel. This can continue for days after cutting and will continue to improve the taste of your bud. Maintaining proper temperature and humidity during drying & cloning can have a great effect on how smooth the smoke will be as well as how it will taste. A slower cure will result in a better taste, but it comes down to how much time you want to put into it. I wouldn't dry & cure for much longer than a month, and be very careful with humidity at this point, you do not want mold. I hang the plants usually for about 4-7 days, or until mostly dry, then I take them down, chop them up into smaller pieces, and either hang them up again or lay them out to dry (flipping them over periodically) more completely. I dry the bud until it is almost completely dry. The stems should be dry enough to snap when bent, but the bud should not be brittle. It is important for the curing process that the bud has a small amount of moisture. Typically my buds end up a little under half their initial weight when I start curing.
To cure, simply fill airtight containers (glass jars work best) with bud leaving a small amount of air and seal it up. Keep an eye on the glass for a few days, if the glass begins 'sweating', you probably need to dry your bud more. After about a week (if you haven't noticed any signs of moisture yet), open one of your jars (preferably one that has been sealed the entire week), and smell the air that comes out. If your bud smells like ammonia, you tried to cure too early. Open all of your jars and hang everything back up to dry more, then try again. If after 2 weeks you open a jar and there's no ammonia smell, then you've either successfully cured, or your plant was too dry to properly cure. 2 weeks is enough for a decent cure, 3-4 weeks is probably optimal. If you seal bud airtight in complete darkness in the freezer you can leave it to cure for years with negligible potency loss and end up with a very very nice tasting bud. I've never had the patience to do this, but I have tasted some buds that had been (supposedly) curing for many months.
The best place to dry and cure your buds is in your grow room, or a separate room where you can control the temperature and humidity. Controlled environment is almost as important for drying & curing as it is for growing. A slow, even dry and cure will produce the best tasting, most potent smoke possible. Many of my friends cure with more moisture than I do, and it works well for them. Just be sure that if your buds are more dense or moist, you must vent and replace the air more often, and turn and check the buds to ensure no mold grows.
Again, be very careful to monitor humidity during all of this. I haven't slept in about 48 hours and my eyes are playing tricks on me as I type this so I'm wondering if all the words above this sentence made sense. I sure hope so. If not, the basic idea was, dry slow and cure slow at a controlled 60-65 degrees F and ~50% humidity for the best taste. For quicker cures dial down the humidity a bit, dry slow and cure for ~2 weeks for a good cure. I find anything over a month spent on curing makes no difference, many growers claim difference up to 6 months, some say for years... I have friends that dry for less than a week then cure for 2 weeks and produce high-quality great-tasting bud. Gonna go water my girls and get some sleep now, I hope this all made sense and helped in some way. Remember there's many different ways to do every step, including drying & curing. What works best for me might not work at all for you, take your own environmental factors and other circumstances into consideration.