Trichomes, clear vs amber

DrOgkush said:

Before science got involved

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xtsho said:

I believe science over something some stoner wrote in a book but I don't think we have settled science. There are too many factors that haven't been studied. For instance, growing under natural light outdoors vs growing under high intensity LEDs. LEDs too close can cause leaf damage. What effect would that have on trichomes? Too much fertilizer can burn plants. Would that not also affect the trichomes as well?

With a plant grown under natural conditions trichomes may be of use in determining when a plant is ready. With so many fairly new growers using strong lights and dumping excessive amounts of nutrients on their plants possibly causing premature ambering using trichomes is a crap shoot these days. I've seen numerous posts of plants on just this site alone of obvious immature plants that had amber pistils yet the plants were not close to being done. Those are typically overfed plants but that seems to be the norm these days.

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PopAndSonGrows said:

And there's also the argument---unless i missed it in here somewhere. . ..

When people ball-dip their plants in ice, or starve them in the dark for x amount of days, even if it were scientifically correct that it pushed extra trichomes & resin, wouldn't it be new clear & immature?? So they're just pushing a heady buzz. . ..??

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DrOgkush said:

I’m going on the fact he claimed on Cervantes practice back before the culture blew up and science even got involved. Referring to clear trichs being at its peak potency. Not factoring in the other cannabinoids. Harvest has changed. And I agree with ration of plants hairs being orange. But I wouldn go as far as them looking mature. Those stick buds don’t look mature. Ready weed looks like ready weed. Like you can smoke it off the plant straight up without drying (if we didn know any better).



Trichomes are just 1 of many steps to knowing when ready. More of an in depth knowledge of it all. Some just over look damaging flowers in the process completely skipping the step of when it actually looks ready to the eye first.

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twentyeight.threefive said:

Everyone is so concerned with max THC. The best smoke isn't just the highest THC content.

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xtsho said:

I agree with you regarding the clear trichome stuff. I mixed this thread up with a different one where someone made the claim that trichomes are some absolute finality when determining when a plant is done.

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NanoGadget said:

truth. I have a strain I've been working with for 5 years or so that tested at 20% that fucks me up harder than a lot of the new hotness strains claiming 30%+

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Canuck3 said:

I know many on here don't like to use trichomes as an indicator anymore, I myself do still look at them when judging harvest time, but also take into consideration how the buds naturally look, swollen, etc.
Anyway, I see a lot of people telling others to wait until half are amber etc... Jorge Cervantes writes in his indoor horticulture book that clear trichomes are at their peak of THC, while amber shows THC diminishing, as they are beginning to decompose in a way. Hard to have big swollen buds though without trichomes turning amber already...

What do you guys think about that statement, clear vs amber and THC content?

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Quintana said:

There's a phase in between that's optimal. I don't harvest when they're clear or amber, I wait until most are a Milky color with less than 10% in Amber. Amber trichomes are going to give you a more relaxed sedative feeling. Milky colored trichomes are going to be at peak THC level and will give you a more energetic and euphoric feeling.

Most flower you'll see in shops and from sellers is going to have more Amber because they're growing them as long as they can to get maximum yield (about 10% more). I grow mine for flavor and effect and I don't care about getting 10% less (because I get a lot out of my plants).

Think of it like going to the store and buying a large Squash vs. a small Squash. The larger one is going to give you more, but the flavor isn't going to be as concentrated and good as it will be in the smaller one. If you're growing your own, you're likely growing for flavor and potency, so I'd say harvest when the Trichomes are milky. If you're producing for sale, then it's your call.

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lusidghost said:

This is a lot of nonsense.

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Quintana said:

Well, I’ve grown it both ways and had much better feedback and I experience with it harvested at the milky phase of trichomes development.

I’ve done real world trials for this purpose. You just wrote its nonsense without elaborating. Have anything substantive to add?

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Quintana said:

Well, I’ve grown it both ways and had much better feedback and I experience with it harvested at the milky phase of trichomes development.

I’ve done real world trials for this purpose. You just wrote its nonsense without elaborating. Have anything substantive to add?

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Quintana said:

Just discovered what looks like nanners on a Blue Dream plant in week 4 bloom, grown from feminized seeds. Is it dunzo or can I save it? Also, at week 4 is it possible this thing has already pollinated my other plants?

I’m reading about “false bananas” but I don’t know if that’s a thing or if it’s just people trying to save their plants.

Anyone have experience with a feminized plant having bananas?

If it’s toast, is harvesting at week 4 (out of 10) even worth the effort?

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Quintana said:

Well, I’ve grown it both ways and had much better feedback and I experience with it harvested at the milky phase of trichomes development.

I’ve done real world trials for this purpose. You just wrote its nonsense without elaborating. Have anything substantive to add?

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lusidghost said:

For one, and maybe it's different for outdoors, but to most indoor commercial growers, "max yield" really means the max amount produced within a year. Most of them aren't sitting around with a loupe thinking, "needs more amber, let it go another month." That 10 percent equals a loss if they're shaving out a harvest every so many long cycles. It's also why you don't see really any pure sativa these days.

Plus the rest of what you said about the terps and high. A couple of hours ago I took about 20 tokes off of a big tasty joint of amber laden 90+ day purple buds on the way up a mountain to take my dog on hike in the snow. I was high af and had to put it away, but I didn't find myself feeling sluggish, let alone couchlocked. Now I'm back home and feel good. I'm about to smoke the rest of the joint.

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