Am I ready?

[ziggzagg]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. This is my first time trying out this distinguished hobby by myself, and I've been stressing out a lot about harvest. I've been hesitant to post pictures or compromising information so far, but I need the help. I had one plant start dying several days ago, and had to chop prematurely, probably due to the crazy amount of grey sludge on its roots. I wasn't very impressed with the result, but it was also the weakest of my plants. The last two are looking nice, and I would like to chop them at the best possible time, so I've been keeping my eye to my jeweler's loop, but it's very difficult for me to see the exact stage of maturity through a 17x loop. As far as I can tell, it's about 6% amber, but sometimes I think the trichomes I think are cloudy are actually clear, and cutting when they're immature would be tragic. What do you think, ICMag - are they ready? The pictures are kind of misrepresentative, unfortunately, because I had to scale down a lot, but I assure you that the buds are quite plump, even though they look very leafy below.

Both in the cab:


Plant #1:


Plant #2:

 

[dankydoodle]

Might help to know how long since flowers first appeared. They look pretty close to done, but the pics are less than perfect so it's kinda hard to tell. More info please.

 

[ziggzagg]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I guess that info would have been useful, but I wasn't thinking. I put them under 12/12 on August 6th, and the first flowers started appearing around August 20th, so depending on which one you like to count as the beginning of the flowering cycle, they would be about 71 or 57 days old, respectively. The seeds I used were bagseed from what was supposed to be Green Crack. However, since I've learned that GC is usually clone-only, so if it has any GC genetics, I guess it would be mixed with something else. I'm kind of weak on the genetics aspect, though, so some more clarification would be welcome. GC is supposed to be a quick-finishing strain, which is why I've been stressing a bit about them taking so long. I can definitely see new calyces developing on the buds, but I also see the hairs on the old ones darkening pretty quickly.

 

[dankydoodle]

In my opinion they are about a week away from being done. However they may take a little longer. I like to start counting when flowers first appear in clusters at the growing tips. Not when 12/12 is induced. I have yet to see a strain finish in under 65 days, but I know they do exist. 57 days looks and sounds about right according to your pictures. The fact that you mentioned new calyx formation tells me your not there yet. Get a loupe and look at the trichs up close, and look for amber trichs. As soon as you see amber trichs it's time. Some people look for a "percentage" of trichs to turn amber, but I think if you see ANY amber, it's time. The trichs tend to ripen a bit during the drying, and curing, so to hit it at the peak, take them when you see amber. Dont worry to much about the hairs, as I have found that when they are truly ready, most all the hairs will be orange or red anyway. But it sounds like your getting close.

I dont know about GC, but it is highly possible that is what you have. Wouldn't matter about if it is a clone only. Just depends if the person growing it has a cut I suppose. Hope it turns out for ya...peace!

 

[ziggzagg]

Sweet, that puts my mind at ease a little bit. The issue I've had is that I have been seeing amber trichs, mainly on the sugar leaves, but the bud is still immature. I'll report back once it actually is time for harvest and give my final time.
By the way, why do people say that green crack is a cutting-only strain? That's something I've heard several times here on ICMag, but isn't it possible that the cuttings could have self-pollenated, or crossed with something else to create Green Crackish seeds? Maybe somebody has a good ganja genetics resource I could check out?

 

[dankydoodle]

The most likely scenario for a "cutting only" strain is that, it is a unique hybrid phenotype. Exhibiting unique flavor, smell, or potency. Usually an individual plant, which someone wants to keep for a while. Clones from that unique original phenotype are the only way to keep that expression of genetics going. Once crossed with another strain it will combine traits with that plant and so genetics are changed. Not always a bad thing.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=26677
Breeding for beginners

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=9786
Breeder DJ Short article

 

[ziggzagg]

Nice! Thank you, sir. It seems this thread has turned into a conversation between us, but I really appreciate the advice.