HOW DO YOU TELL WHEN TO HARVEST?

[PURPLEMAN420]

hey everyone this is my first time growing outdoors and its alot different from indoors right now i have hindu skunk growing and its looking and smelling bomb i have check the tricombs for matureity and there at there peak bright soild white heads but i still have alot of white hairs and its week 9
it has alot of orange hairs too but the white hairs are still present is this ok to harvest ? my last grow indoors me and my roomates were getting kicked out of are aparment early so i couldent finish off my diesal in time and had to chop it 2 weeks pre mature and it tasted like grass and it had half orange half white hairs and to my knowlage at the time that was the sign off harvest because my stupid friend said they were ready to harvest so i lisend to him like a dummy lol but anyways i dont wana have premature bud again wut do yall think i should do? ill have piks on here soon

 

[dkmonk]

The only real way is with a magnifing glass, check out your trichs and when over half are cloud and 5-10% amber your good to harvest. Your hairs should almost all be red or orange, maybe a couple white ones, but when i harvest my hairs are all turned color.

 

[PURPLEMAN420]

i just checked with my 100x scope and most the trichs are white id say 70% then theres about 20% clear and 10% amber very little but theyre there
how much longer would u think it ould take for all to turn amber?

 

[JOE CHRONIC]

Remember the trichs will continue to turn amber after you chop...

 

[luciano28]

You sure you want all of them to turn amber? Thats overripe in my opinion and the quality of the high will be on the way down.

 

[PURPLEMAN420]

thats true u just inspired me to set a date on my caliender to chop

 

[Fingaz2]

For outside, northern latitudes the weather forecast is probably the deciding factor. Learn to read the pressure charts. A few showers isnt disaster, a fortnights rain might be. Never harvest wet plants.

 

[PURPLEMAN420]

hmm intresting wut about dryness in the soil on harvest? last time i harvested i herd from a fren to let the soil totoly dry out before u harvest so i did.. heres a pic of my last plant

 

[Fingaz2]

Nice plant. Dont matter at all, as most people chop em off.

 

[PURPLEMAN420]

ok here it is heres the top of my hindu tell me wut u think IS it done or not? how much longer?? leme kno


pic from above

 

[Fingaz2]

I'd say yeah.

 

[two heads]

Yeah, any day now, let the weather decide. 10% amber trichomes is plenty in my books but I prefer an energetic high.

PS: Fingaz2, I couldn't resist posting after you - nice avatar!

 

[inverse]

is that the hindu from blue sky / grassroots?

if so, it doesn't look quite ready. i harvested when almost all of the hairs turned gold and it was super bomb. give it another 4 or 5 days and then harvest

 

[PURPLEMAN420]

yah its the bluesky hindu this is week 9 of flower

 

[del...]

there are many ways growers use to tell maturity...watching the trich's is the main one and the one i rely on most. but there are other conditions that signify ripeness...
yellowing leaves, darkening 'hairs', slow to no new growth over the previous couple of weeks...also ya gotta keep in mind the upper parts generally ripen faster than the lower branches, especially outdoors, so a double harvest is usually necessary to get the majority of the flowers as ripe as possible. harvest is a tricky time and there is no exact science to it but i'd say it's best to take a sample from the lower branches and when it feels right, give them another week or two...

 

[NickMode]

For outside, northern latitudes the weather forecast is probably the deciding factor. Learn to read the pressure charts. A few showers isnt disaster, a fortnights rain might be. Never harvest wet plants.

Why should you never harvest wet plants? I harvested mine last night and it had rained before i harvested them

 

[Greens]

I wouldn't wait until every pistil has turned colour. I usually harvest with maybe 10% to 15% pistils still white. Another thing to look for is the calyxes. When the 90-95% of those are swollen up, it's time to harvest.

 

[Fingaz2]

Why should you never harvest wet plants? I harvested mine last night and it had rained before i harvested them

Mould in the middle of your buds, watch them carefully, by the time you see it, it will be too late. Its hard to see as well, like a grey cobweb. First 2 days are CRUCIAL, got to drive that water out fast.

 

[Guest]

PM420, I guess Ill be bucking a headwind here but I would like to offer my thoughts. I abandoned trichwatching and hair considerations some many years ago as personally i found them to be ineffective for the following reasons.

White pistol hairs can be discolored by many different conditions. Rain and moisture, sun, temperature changes, wind and you could fill this page with other hair turning conditions that have zero to do with maturity. I've had discolored hairs on plants 4 weeks into flower because of weather/ enviroment, not due to maturity.

Trichs mature faster on the southern side of the plant which is exposed to much more sunlight than they do on the shaded side of the plant in every (northern) od setting, regaurdless of strain or grow location.. This situation could lead one to harvest 4-5 weeks into flower. Disasterously ineffective approach in my view. Due to this factor, i never harvest a whole plant at once. I harvest the buds as they mature.

For outdoor growers in northern climates determining harvest is a complicated process that consist of plant/strain characteristics, breeder suggestions of flowering time, bud development, weather, nutrient levels, lattitude and 25 other considerations that are subtle in nature. The first grow of a strain always results in guessing when the plant is finished.

The sure fire method? Find a strain you like and performs well and then as you become familiar with it, you will come to understand when it reaches full maturity along with many other behaviors of the plant. Its difficult for even the experienced grower to make assessments about a plant that they havent grown before and don't know what full maturity looks like on the plant. One other prominant factor for me is breeder flowering time. If the breeder says the strain should finish in 8 weeks, then in my notebook, i denote the date of first flower appearance and then add 8 weeks which allows me to pick a target harvest date and then as that period approaches, assessments will become more focused and determinations of weather, bud development and other factors become part of the mix.

The knowledge you seek only comes to those who know the strain they are growing and the enviroment that they grow in. Keeping notes on climate / enviromental conditions are helpful as one will find that humidity, cloud cover or drought will effect finish date. This historical view is an important part of my notes, as strains often mature faster or slower on any given year due to the enviroment considerations...

I wish this answer was easier but its complicated Pm420, and in my view, has nothing to do with red hairs or amber trichs. Thats for indoor growers and has no application to the od.

I learn each year. Its an ongoing process.

 

[Fingaz2]

Nice one Silver, I bought a jewelers loupe last year, spent hours standing outside staring at buds with it, its great fun after a spliff, but I dont think I ever learnt alot, just stood there saying "wow look at this" & "wow isnt this amazing"
But they were bloody usefull after I harvested, you can just see that mould starting right inside, you cant see it with a naked eye. Saved me alot of bud, those thick colas soon go nasty. You need a good lamp too.