Newbie Help (Time to Harvest?)

Yo!
I'm new at this, so here goes.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is Lowryder#2, or "Olivoil (from Popeye)", and she is my very first girl. She is about 2 and 1/2 months old. Purchased as a bag of 4 fem seeds from atl seeds.
She is a result of a jerry-rigged box about 5 feet tall. Lighting was acomplished through duct tape, cfl's, and Y units straped to a surge protector (haha!). She is also a bubbleponics creation, featuring ph nuetral rocks and rockwool soaked in ph balanced water.
She rests in a 10 gallon container than is long and flat. Initially, she survived her other 3 germinating seeds because of rockwool collapse and me not knowing the feel of things yet. I grew her on SH:Hydro Nutes as instructed. She grew quite rapidly as I understand it and looked almost like her picture. Although, she also survived a lighting accident which knocked off a single cola. Since then, I have used two rolls of duct tape in order to correct the problem (Double Hah!).

Now, I love my girl and I wanna do her right. I wanna clone her soon. I call her "Olivoil (from Popeye)" because the sanitized spoon I mix her nutrients with are coated with pure olive oil and wipe it to a gloss.

So my questions are these;

1) Is she ready to harvest? How will I know when?
2) How do I go about cloning this particular kind of plant? Can it be done (autoflowering)?
3) Lastly, do I have to kill her to harvest her sweet sweet nectar (Triple Hah!)?

Regards,
The best beer ever made,
Falstaf

Another Pic!

Can you check the trichs?

I would love to have a spare 30 to 100x zoom microscope and a single bud I'm willing to cut in half, but sadly, I dont. Is there any way to "eyeball" it?

you might be able to get a look if you have a macro setting on your camra. how long has it been in flower?

This is my FIRST grow. Untill you said it, I had only assumed it was in flower. Is there any literature you know about this kind of grow in depth? Or any specific strain knowledge or answers to any of the original questions?

very nice man, she kinda looks ready i would say.. I think you should take some clones and then harvest it all =( too bad lol. But w/e get clones until they are stable from the stress.

As for cloning it should be done in veg. I don't think it's ready but can't tell from the pic. check out the FAQ on the top of the page.

jointluver said:

very nice man, she kinda looks ready i would say.. I think you should take some clones and then harvest it all =( too bad lol. But w/e get clones until they are stable from the stress.

Click to expand...

arent lowryders autoflowering? lol, cloning can be done in flower if desired, it does offer some benefits and isnt as bad as some think really. just takes a few weeks to go back into veg, clones from mature flowering plants actually root quicker than veg clones most of the time. http://www.420magazine.com/forums/seeds-clones-strains/56864-what-flowering-clone.html
yes your plant is flowering, lol, once it shows sex its flowering(not counting preflowers that show up if plant is vegged till mature). why not buy a scope or something? you already invested all this effort and money, whats $10-15 mor to make sure you harvest at the perfect time? cut off little bud leaves tips that are trich covered from 5-10 places around the plant(if some colas are done you can chop em while leaving the others to finish up), not a whole bud.

heres some info on trichs and harvesting just in case you do change your mind and go get a scope.(i HIGHLY recommend it)
The 30X and 100X lighted magnifier are tools everyone serious about harvest timing should have. They make it easy to monitor the resin development process. After seeing 400X images of resin glands, I decided to also buy the 100X magnifier. It supplies a superior view, providing an enhanced perspective of resin gland condition and development.

I recommend buying the 30X model first and if you would like to expand your analytical capabilities, buy the 100X model. They both allow for a much closer inspection of the clarity, color and condition of the resin glands, which should be swollen and unbroken while remaining transparent and slightly amber, if at all, at the peak of ripeness. Some prefer harvesting earlier, as THC degrades to more sedative cannabinoids as the glands ripen.

Harvest timing is a matter of personal preference. When the glandular trichomes are clear with very little, if any coloration, THC levels are at their peak with CBD and CBN both at levels that will not overly influence the THC with their sedative effects. Some prefer more overwhelming narcotic type effects, allowing the resin glands to cloud and begin to amber or darken to increase overall cannabinoid content. The resin glands appear and therefore will mature at different times. A compromise is made when determining the desired overall maturity level to harvest. It depends on the growers preference in effect and palate.


best of luck, she looks pretty nice. it would be a shame to harvest too early.

Great example Darkdestruction420.

1) If you can't get your hands on a magnifier then you may have to eyeball it and harvest once 60-80 of the hairs have turned color.

2) I have heard that you can clone during the vegetative and flowering cycle, I have only done it during veg. If you do just remember to take from the bottom branches since they will yield less down there and root easier.

3) I have read in a HT issue (way back) that you can pick the buds only off the plant and begin the vegetative cycle again. I've never done it though. Maybe someone else here has tried...? Might be worth a shot.