Hey GardensGrow. I finally cut the last part of my plants. I staggered the harvest with the last cuts yesterday at 95 days. I harvested at 65, 73, 74, 76, 78, 81, 84, and then finally at 95. The majority was taken on days 73 thru 84.
I let them grow longer than I was anticipating. I was surprised by the difficulty in judging the right time to harvest. I researched and thought I was prepared but never felt confident about harvest times when it actually came time to make a decision. I was using a RadioShack scope to view the trichiomes. I had success viewing the trichs clearly. But they seemed reluctant to change from cloudy to amber like I was expecting [shrug]. Since so much of the time I wasn't sure, I tried not to rely solely on one indicator. I looked at trichs, I observed the overall condition/look of the plants, watched the calendar, and made my choices. Next time I'll nute feed for longer to help support aging foliage...I think. Seemed like the buds could have benefitted from less leaf loss towards the end. Towards the end they were practically nothing but buds on a stem--no fan leaves.
Total harvest came in at 162 grams according to my scale (which admittedly is not the best--I've got a digital one coming). That's about 5 3/4 oz. Plant #1 was 64g, #2 was 45g, #3 was 53g. 145 grams of the total was/is jarred and is now curing. The rest was quick-dried, only hung dry, or whatever.
None of those totals include the taster buds I was stealing from the plants before the real harvest began. I didn't weigh any of that. I'm sure I could have gotten 6 oz had I left them alone. Either way, that's in the .65g per watt range which I think is terrific for me.
I found that once I cut a stem and trimmed/manicured it in preparation for hang drying, I would loose on average 78.5% of the weight to moisture and stems. In other words, once a fresh-cut bud was trimmed for drying I could expect 21.5% of it's weight to actually make it into a jar for curing.
A few things have surprised me recently. The one plant (#3) that was clearly a different strain has been my favorite. I considered trying to reveg and figured I'd use that one. It looked the best and seemed to have the "best" buds. But I'm not sure it's the best smoking of the three. All during the grow I would have sacrificed #1 or #2 for #3 if I had needed to. I guess that just goes to show that looks aren't everything.
Another big surprise is I found a seed in one of the buds of plant #1. I was watchful for male parts and never saw any. Yet here is a seed. I've smoked buds from that plant and never found a seed before so maybe it was an isolated occurrence. I don't think it's a mature seed either. Whatever the case, I'm not concerned.
The second pic is the three buds that went to 95 days. Last pic is a closeup of one em'.
peace man
