Trichomes & Harvesting

BegbieCL

BegbieCL

New Member
Hi, hope someone can help me with this.
This is my second grow, I'm doing the process with some friends. They are now on a holliday so I'm The one taking care of the plants in their final weeks. This Time, we went with AutoFlowering seeds, indoor style: Tangie Matic and Girls Scout cookies from FastBuds, and AutoBlackberry Kush from Dutch Passion. All of them were a 7-9 week total period, in The info given by Their seeds Banks.
Everything has Been going perfect so far(except for the Girl Scout having some weak roots at the first weeks, but it was fixed).
Yesterday was officially their Week 9 birthday, And I will have to travel for work in 7 days. We always had in mind that they could take a bit longer, so we set for Harvest in Week 10, (it seamed likely, giving that they have advanced in like a text book rhythm).

So, I have the thrichomes pictures here, hopefully someone could tell me if they are ready or, if you think they could be ready by next week, before my travel. I really don't want to leave them alone while we are away, my roommate said she could keep up with the flushing but she doesn't really smoke so I doubt she Will be as invested in looking after them. My main problem Is with the Tangie Matic, she Is the bigger of the 3, and Is the strain that I choosed because it's a súper sativa, I really like the euphoric highs in weed, and avoid the couch lock indicas. So, I want to avoid that the Tangie Matic looses it's euphoria and want to cut it as soon as I see an.amber in.her.
The auto BlackBerry kush Is a full indica and it's the only one were I have seen some ámbar thrichomes so far. Im hoping I could Harvest this Two before my trip (I Will be away for a week, but read here that in those final days the thrichomes can change really quickly to Amber). The Girls Scout Is still full of.white pistils in contrast with the other Two, so Im accepting that she could take a.bit longer.
This was the Tangie Matic yesterday, in her week 9. The Photos are a mix of top thrichomes from the high buds, and from the Botton ones, as well as the main cola.
 

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Jefferson1977

Jefferson1977

Well-Known Member
They look pretty close to ready, could use another week. Don't stress about it man. Cut them as close as you can to leaving and the weed will be ok.
 
BegbieCL

BegbieCL

New Member
This Is the auto BlackBerry Kush, which I find it has More of those cloudy thrichomes. Is she ready? In The pictureS she Looks More White than she Is, pistils are 90% brownish, except for new growths.

How much More time could they take? More than a week? Is it just my idea or does the Blackberry actually Is More cloudy/ready than the Tangie?
 

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Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
BegbieCL said:
This Is the auto BlackBerry Kush, which I find it has More of those cloudy thrichomes. Is she ready? In The pictureS she Looks More White than she Is, pistils are 90% brownish, except for new growths.

How much More time could they take? More than a week? Is it just my idea or does the Blackberry actually Is More cloudy/ready than the Tangie?
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that one looks a lot closer than the other one.
 
L

Lennut

Well-Known Member
k0ijn said:
I'm glad you found what you were looking for and it helped you =)

I hope your harvest goes well, don't hesitate to make a thread in the Harvesting & Curing forum if you have any questions regarding harvesting and/or curing, there are a lot of helpful people here.

:weed:
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I have read a lot looking for answers on flushing and harvesting/curing and Thank you for all you have posted. You surely have helped this new grower!!!! Thanks a lot
 
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
One thing I noticed in a lst crowded environment especially is that trichomes are not homogeneously ready top-to-bottom on a plant. What I mean is that the top upper-most part of the colas may be perfectly ready while the buds further down the stem and more shaded are still developing with mostly clear trichomes. While I know staggered harvesting doesn't really increase yield under most conditions, I think that maybe it might improve quality if the lower buds are given an extra week or so to ripen further. Thoughts?
 
Lucky Luke

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
One thing I noticed in a lst crowded environment especially is that trichomes are not homogeneously ready top-to-bottom on a plant. What I mean is that the top upper-most part of the colas may be perfectly ready while the buds further down the stem and more shaded are still developing with mostly clear trichomes. While I know staggered harvesting doesn't really increase yield under most conditions, I think that maybe it might improve quality if the lower buds are given an extra week or so to ripen further. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
It certainty does increase yield and some learned growers on this site say that the middle harvest is the better smoke.
Trichome colour is not as important as people think. Firstly it should be taken from the bud, not a leaf. Secondly you should have a mature flower before worrying bout any trichome colour and thirdly some strains don't amber.(I haven't seen this but more experienced growers than me say it)
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
Master_Tabi said:
Will do, from the looks of this section though, harvest time or waiting yet?
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hard to say, looks close but its hard to see the trichs clearly, doesn't look like enough amber to me yet, though. the sugar leaf trichs will amber way before the calyxe trichs, and they don't look like they have very many yet, so the calyxes probably don't have any
 
Master_Tabi

Master_Tabi

Well-Known Member
Roger A. Shrubber said:
hard to say, looks close but its hard to see the trichs clearly, doesn't look like enough amber to me yet, though. the sugar leaf trichs will amber way before the calyxe trichs, and they don't look like they have very many yet, so the calyxes probably don't have any
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Got busy today maybe tomr get a pic posted, thank you for your response and tips
 
Darr26

Darr26

Member
Hello all. This is my first time growing anything. I'm growing feminized superb og and Afghan feminized. Both are at 50 days of flower tomorrow Aug 29th. Afghan isn't ready by looks, but my superb has two big colas that look close to done if not done. Need some assistance. A few white pistils. My trichomes look all mostly cloudy, and some are amber on the closest fan leaf from under the bud. I lost my jewelers loupe and am now forced to use binoculars. Here is a few pics
 

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Northernone666

Northernone666

Well-Known Member
k0ijn said:
Harvesting your weed based on trichomes is probably the easiest way for most growers to harvest as close to peak harvest as possible.


The difficulty in the method comes with how to determine the state of the trichomes and what each state means.
If you have the equipment needed it is however very easy and with experience it gets even easier.


To explain how to harvest by trichomes properly I will go into detail as to how to determine when trichomes are at their peak and which substances these trichomes contain, which are desirable and which are not.






The first thing you need to know is that there are 3 "states" in a trichomes development.




The first state is clear. Clear trichomes contain precursor cannabinoids (cannabinoids are the different substances in cannabis).
These precursor cannabinoids are not psychoactive (they do not produce a 'high') yet and harvesting clear trichomes will not give you a proper harvest.




The second state is cloudy/milky. Cloudy trichomes contain fully realized THC (the by far main contributing substance in any cannabis high).
You want to get as close to 100% cloudy trichomes @ harvest to get the most potency out of your plant. It's impossible to get 100% cloudy trichomes, since trichomes are always being produced and are always maturing, even after harvest the trichomes will continue to develop.




The third state is amber. Amber trichomes contain degraded THC --> CBN. CBN represents a loss of 90% potency (from THC).
CBN is not desirable in any harvest, since it not only represents a huge loss of potency but research into the substance has also shown that CBN does not produce a high like THC does, CBN produces a more sickly feeling not a true high.




Understanding the difference between clear - cloudy - amber trichomes is essential in getting a proper harvest with a peak potency.




This image is a good helper to remember the differences:







To understand how substances change and are developed in cannabis you will need to read extensively on each substance to understand what each substance does and how they affect each other.


This image is helpful in getting a vague knowledge of substances in cannabis and how they develop:









I will not go deeper into what each substance (CBG, CBD, CBC, CBN, THCV etc.) do, suffice to say they all play a part in the cannabis high, albeit a minor part for most of them, since THC is the main factor in a cannabis high.
Some provide pain relief, some reduce muscle spasm, the list goes on and research is still being done to figure out all of the benefits of these substances.


I can however post an image that explains rather well which effects the substances have on the human body:













Trichomes are of course not the only indicator of when to harvest.
There are other factors that should be taken into account when determining when to harvest.


Calyxes on the plant will swell up, these swollen calyxes are a sign of maturity.
The pistils (what some new growers call hairs) will change colour (often to an orange tinge) and recede into the calyx.
Receding pistils are also a sign of maturity.
Then there is the overall look of the plant. Many experienced growers simply go by this factor, they can determine peak harvest just by looking at the plant and seeing how it looks from afar regarding colour tinge and the look of the calyxes.


All these factors should be taken into account when harvesting. All of these factors usually align when peak harvest approaches.






The best way to check how the trichomes on your plant are doing is by means of a loupe or a microscope.
I would recommend getting ones that can at least go to 60x magnification.
Getting one that can go to 100x would be even better, but the more magnification the more cost.


All you have to do is take a small sample of a leaf with trichomes on it, or if you have a loupe or a USB microscope simply look at the trichomes on the plant to determine their 'state'.
It's important that you check all over the plant, since trichomes will usually develop and produce faster at the top(s) of branches and slower and the bottom of the plant.


Some people choose to harvest the tops first and let the bottom nugs grow a bit more to let the trichomes mature and develop further but also to let the buds fatten up more. It's a judgement and preference call really.




It's almost impossible to harvest without at least some amber trichomes (and some clear), keeping the amber trichomes to the minimum is key if you want maximum potency out of your plant.
Usually if you are careful and watchful you will end up with around 5% clear trichomes, 10% amber and 85% cloudy trichomes.
That is a very reasonable % split and is what you should be aiming for.









References & sources:

http://montanabiotech.com/

Marijuana Chemistry:
Genetics, Processing And Potency
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Good stuff thanks.
 
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