trichs look ready. Buds look immature. What say you RIU gurus?

Kudos and muchas gracias to the many contributors from whom I've learned so much while lurking here on RIU.
Lurking no longer, and I'm here for pro advice on when to pick.

My one plant on this impromptu first grow, which grew from a single bag seed pushed into wet soil 122 days ago, is now looking like she will produce a small amount of el suprimo product.
She suffered low pH throughout, and was served one decaying batch of organic fert tea, from which she bounced back quickly after flushing.
Going into flower she looked awesome!
Now it's day 47, leaves yellow and fall off daily. The buds look young, but the trichs look very nearly perfect for immediate harvest under 60x magnification.
What say the pros?

Thanks. And bless you.

47 days is less than 7 weeks, so I would keep going with it until the buds are nice and hard. 8+ weeks.

8+ weeks; I'm thinking 10 weeks will give you a strong product. You don't want a fresh lively plant at cutting; it should be winding down.

I say 2 weeks and ull have some pretty good buds man.. but watch ur trichs .. if everything starts to amber up to fast cut.. but id deff start flushing and using ur end of flowering additives. for sure.. bring out the flavors and smells.. I also have noticed if u raise the lights the last lights on before harvesting.. u can get the plant to produce more terpens that usually burn off at low temps.. giving u a more complex smell and taste.. lol works for me great.

i'd keep it until every fan leaf falls off right to the top. around 10 days

All replies in agreement; yet each with a unique something to offer. Thanks very much!

That's a nice picture! Beautiful. I agree, day 47 is pretty early. I'd wait another week at least IMHO.

This is why the trichome/microscope thing is BS. That plant is clearly not finished. Dont need a pocket microscope to see that.

A few weeks at the very least.

She looks pretty dam close to me! Start with the water now and pick them yellow leaves. Decaying matter has a tendency to attract critters, if its yellow...its dead...remove it. 7-10 days more from looking at the pic.

MYOB said:

This is why the trichome/microscope thing is BS. That plant is clearly not finished. Dont need a pocket microscope to see that.

A few weeks at the very least.

Click to expand...

Im not sure what your seeing? Looks very close to me. Thrichs colorization is the most accurate way to tell if it is ripe or not.

JonnyAppleSeed420 said:

She looks pretty dam close to me! Start with the water now and pick them yellow leaves. Decaying matter has a tendency to attract critters, if its yellow...its dead...remove it. 7-10 days more from looking at the pic.

Im not sure what your seeing? Looks very close to me. Thrichs colorization is the most accurate way to tell if it is ripe or not.

Click to expand...

I am seeing fresh, young white stigma and a thin, immature & airy bud. This is on a plant that has been flowering for 47 days. If someone sees amber trichomes on a plant a week into flowering, is it done? Of course not. It would be very revealing if the OP lets that particular bud go for 3 more weeks and then takes a picture for comparison.

The thing is that this trichome thing is so out of control that people will ignore the obvious in favor of the subjective and literally microscopic. "Trichome blinders" is a good way to describe it.

Some of the best strains out their finish with thin airy buds. That's not a true sign either. The white stigmas on top tells me that the plant is on its last legs and this is the final attempt for pollination. Your right though people don't really know when to look or where to look or what the hell they are looking for half the time. Its a learned skill using a scope and really is the only method for checking ripeness due to the vast amount of genetics out there today. I'm sticking to my original 7-10 more days. I hope we find out?

I say if you feel it's where you want it then bag and zigzag that badgirl ... Worst case scenario you will either like it or learn a good lesson and gain the experience ... Your first plant you did good but knowing when to harvest is also a learning curve use your own discretion you'll be fine ! You made it this far !

Above are pics from day 52.

I'm thrilled so many knowledgeable people chimed in! I will update you thru harvest. I'm getting better at assessing trichs in the microscope. They are about 40% clear, 50% cloudy, and 10% amber. More importantly, the amber trichomes have only a glistening of amber, not deep through and through. Even I can tell these are not ready!

Otra vez, gracias!

I have harvested early and it sucks so, I think you should wait one more week at least but I am no expert!

I held my phone over the microscope and got this at 60x. The little dark swipe just under the center of the circle is an ink mark from a pen on the paper on which this sample is sitting.

Trichome caps that had glistened with amber 3 days ago now have full amber caps, though they are in few numbers. The pics I have seen of truly ripe buds show amber trichs that are dark amber color throughout the stem and cap.

Most of mine are cloudy, though there are many clear, and many pointy clear trichomes yet developing. These pointy young trichomes are what I'm most curious about, as everyone talks about trichomes, but no one mentions these pointy babies. I am guessing that when I see no new pointers developing it confirms the end of new THC production, and it's time to cut. Sound right? Please educate me.

This photo is non representative because it's a section that shows more amber than other areas of this leaf. I see 9 individual trichs in this view, 5 of which are amber capped. In general the amber caps equal about 15-20% of the total. This is from a sugar leaf just under the calyxes on a top.