Should I cut it? Pics included

[El Bandito]

Anxious first timer here and harvest season means a lot of second guessing. All of the details on my grow are in the thread referenced below in my signature.

My plants survived a good deal of stress outdoors this season, including bad heat and spider mites. I have an unknown sativa dominant hybrid that lost a ton of leaves to mites and seems to be drying up a little bit early. The pistils went brown already. Mites are gone but the damage remains. I am trying to wait as long as I can before chopping her but i am worried the plant is not healthy enough to keep producing resins and terpines. The strength of the nice sour diesel smell has noticeably lessened in the past few weeks. The buds are medium dense when pinched. Pics below:


This is through a 30x loupe


30x loupe


Main cola




I really want that good smell and I am ok with an "up" high. Just want to make sure I'm not missing out on significant yield or potency by chopping now. I really appreciate any advice- I change my mind every two hours about this...

 

[Womble]

strain?....it looks nowhere near done bro...you outdoors? more data required TBH

 

[El Bandito]

Unknown sativa dominant strain. Outdoors. Planted as a clone June 1. 42 degrees north.

 

[Womble]

outdoors....oh ok maybe an outtie can help you but i'd be pretty arsed if that was my indoor sat close to chop......factoid!

good luck with it

 

[siftedunity]

congrats on your first grow and well done, you have a fair amount there to chuff on once dried. tbh you need to go with your instincts once you get more experienced but tbh it looks nearly there. id just say wait till it stops throwing out white pistils, check for the glands going amber, not all strains do go amber but when you start seeing some autumn colours and the plant yellowing from the bottom up and you will be there. its hard to tell with sativas by weeks because some can gor for months lol

hope that helps

 

[Buddah Watcha]

if there's no mold in it let it go for another week or two!

Good luck!

 

[SeaMaiden]

I just wanted to mention that the photograph, if taken through what's marked as a 30x loupe, is not a 30x loupe. It's not even a 10x. You might need another loupe, a real one this time.

10x should give you a good field of view to generally gauge trichomes. A 30x is for getting up close to the trichomes.

In my opinion, based on the overall appearance, she's done. I see no new pistils being popped, if there were any I'd go along with the others and say let her go another couple of weeks.

 

[El Bandito]

Interesting, SeaMaiden. The pic might be user error. I taped my loupe into my iPhone to snap the photo. This is the loupe:

http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=11320

That being said, it does seem like i am straining to see the heads of the trichs. Any particular model of loupe you'd recommend?

As for the plant- gah! So many different opinions. I have a few lower branches that have almost completely dried up and that's what's making me nervous. If anything, the buds have shrunk in the past two weeks. The plant just seems like it's done making resin and is ready to die. If I put it on a windowsill I am pretty sure it would try and jump.

I could take her tomorrow morning. Any other opinions? I am so torn... Here's the dry branches thing- the one in the foreground:

 

[skullznroses]

that needs two weeks at least. Its ready, but will get so much fatter if your just leave it there.

 

[DimeBag65]

you could always cut off a lower nug and dry it to check , which would give it more time to mature and satisfy your desire to cut something! heh

 

[Ziggaro]

you would be missing out a lot on yield and on the length of the high by harvesting early. You might get really high for 30 minutes though. I'm an indoor dude so I'm basing that on my plants.. but they don't look done at all

 

[SeaMaiden]

I'd like to know what you other folks are looking at/seeing that's making you say you think it should go another two weeks. I mean, she really looks finished with this world to me, but I'm always up to learn more. The clincher for me is what I'm bolding below.

Interesting, SeaMaiden. The pic might be user error. I taped my loupe into my iPhone to snap the photo. This is the loupe:

http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=11320

That being said, it does seem like i am straining to see the heads of the trichs. Any particular model of loupe you'd recommend?

I would use eBay and get a proper jeweler's loupe. I find a 10x to be perfect.

As for the plant- gah! So many different opinions. I have a few lower branches that have almost completely dried up and that's what's making me nervous.

If anything, the buds have shrunk in the past two weeks.

The plant just seems like it's done making resin and is ready to die. If I put it on a windowsill I am pretty sure it would try and jump.

I could take her tomorrow morning. Any other opinions? I am so torn... Here's the dry branches thing- the one in the foreground:

View attachment 184852

Looking at her, there's no way I personally would leave her. Now that you say that it seems the buds have shrunk in the past two weeks, it seems a no-brainer to me. And, honestly, if you're in the tropics you can get another grow going immediately, again as it seems to me.

 

[izzybud]

Interesting, SeaMaiden. The pic might be user error. I taped my loupe into my iPhone to snap the photo. This is the loupe:

http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=11320

That being said, it does seem like i am straining to see the heads of the trichs. Any particular model of loupe you'd recommend?

i have the same loupe. i can see the heads turn to amber. takes some time looking through it and inspecting the plant but its possible. im looking to upgrade myself but this is doing the job for now.

 

[El Bandito]

Well, thanks for the input folks. I ended up taking her this morning. My other 4 plants are still vigorous and green but this one, for whatever reason, threw in the towel a couple of weeks ago. It's been a crazy hot season here- still 100 degrees in October.

Looks like i'll end up with a few ounces of nice buds and a good amount of trimmings and larfy buds for edibles/hash. It's nice and sticky and reeks of sour diesel. Hopefully it will dry and cure up real nice. Good luck everyone.

 

[RoachClip]

I agree with SeaMaiden, that plants done, if you wait to long you can also lose potency if it sits to long..

 

[SouthernSativa]

I'm an hour or so south of you EB and I harvested my 3 plants this last week. This is my first attempt myself.