Harvesting

hey guys my ladies are lookin about done im thinking of chopping them 4/10 but they look like they could be heftier. So my q is whens peak harvest point they look good on top and almost through the whole node but at the bottom they're little baby pistils and leaves still so are they supposed to be like this because its the bottom or is this a sign they need more time? Also my lovely mommy sativa is just not peaking so shes got a lot of time but her leaves keep wilting yellow/blacking and dying. So seeing as how shes got at least a month left if this keeps up i'll have cut all her fan leaves off in 2 weeks. I'm using HARDLY 3 tbsp of FF tiger bloom do I need to cut back? Thanks guys

Peak harvest time is mostly a matter of trichomes. There's a good sticky in the Harvesting & Curing forum: https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/516184-trichomes-harvesting.html

Keep reading, and good luck!

dont cut any leaves off, the plant will drop them when it is ready.

yellowing and dying leaves are a common sign that harvest time is coming up, they should be fine as long as they still have a good amount of green on them to produce food.

the lower buds will always be immature because they dont get the good light, if you want you can harvest (when ready) the tops of the plant and let the light in to fatten up the smaller immature buds in the lower canopy. or you can just use them for hash which is a comon thing most people do.

i like to cut all the immature buds off the plant before i harvest to let the plant focus that food/energy on the top of the plant. i just set aside and let the really small ones dry and the bigger ones ill use to hold me over untill the plant is done or do some sampling.

If your perceived time is 4/10 then dont worry about it now...and I feel your pain as I have one coming up on 4/5....so...I too am waiting and here is the deal...if the plants are indicas with short flower times then right around this time I kinda do a little cleaning up of all the scraggly, or smaller than I want branches and buds and I leave all the big main stuff...I go ahead and dry all the stuff I trimmed off, and I usually take a few tertiary colas with that...usually the smaller ones that start to fall over I consider fair game...if I can't zip the tent cuz branch is in the way I am taking it --- if I need it...and none of my plants ever seem to mind...I usually see a good deal of growth to the larger remaining buds so...if you are out and need some weed just take a few smaller buds or whatever...and also as the plant actually finishes the topmost parts will finish before the lower growth...and you can take the tops and leave the bottoms and they will get surprisingly larger...but for real it is your plant and you can do whatever you want to with it...and if it works it works and if it doesn't it doesn't...take clones and then you have enough plants to where it doesn't matter if you mess one up...cuz there are more...but just try things...very few things that have to do with trimming and manipulation cause a plant to die...it is nutrients that kill plants...and too much water, and too little water...but cutting off branches won't do it...unless you leave just a nub...a nub will not grow...it will sit there like a nub for a long time before finally dying...

those bottom "energy suckers" will take a little longer to mature since they dont received direct light, some people chop the branches that are ready and let the bottom ones finish up.. Next time chop those popcorn nugs right before flowering, the energy will instead be used to feed your main colas

Yes good sticky in the harvesting section. How's it going with your plants? Do you have a loop microscope yet? Can you take a pic through the microscope if you have one so we can take a look at the trichomes? i heard they are only $10 not sure which strength they were talking about? but that sticky said 60x is good and 100x is even better and they got pics on what amber should look like.

This is from a thread earlier today. Good stuff.

shrxhky420 said:

Be patient!!! get one of these from radio shack and then look for these traits...

stay high

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svsuv said:

I have a few - the 30X works best for my eyes. The 100x is hard for me to focus.

My favorite, has a LED:

http://www.meritline.com/30x-pull-type-jewellry-magnifier-with-led-light-source---p-58151.aspx

Another one i use:

http://www.amazon.com/SE-Mini-Brass-Microscope-Illuminator/dp/B002E0MU70/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332386856&sr=8-1

Click to expand...

unohu69 said:

I use a 60-100X, works awesome, i mostly use the 100X setting tho. be careful, a spidermite at 100X magnification is a scary muthfukr.
some people might not have much dexterity, its not really hard to hold a scope steady

had sent this to someone earlier in a PM:

if you dont have a lighted microscope, get one. for the 10-12 bucks they are totally worth it. Look on ebay, you can also get a USB microscope for around 40$ and then you can see them and take pics right on your puter.

this is the one i like. : http://www.ebay.com/itm/300636795458

and this is totally badd ass also : http://www.ebay.com/itm/SVP-Handheld...-/251022791962

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Yeah, I use a 60x-100x pocket scope. It's very hard to keep everything steady enough to get a good look, but once you have everything right, the trichomes just jump out at you. Too bad, no way to take a pic through those hand-held scopes. I also have a Zorb digital USB scope that takes beautiful pics, but it's only 30X and doesn't show the trichomes that well. Oh, and I have a jewelers loupe but it's very hard to use. If anyone out there knows of a good scope that takes pics, please post info! Peace!