what can harvesting too early do?

what can harvesting too early, or too late for that matter, do to the potency of the herb?

if you smoke it you die, to early and the potency isnt there its mainly thca i believe which will cause in a lower potency zippyish high, but if its super indica or early but not that early just not as potent, and the longer you take em the more thc oxidizes and makes the bud more lethargic but at a loss of some potency ( pick your poison )

Harvest when about 10% of your trichromes are amber. That is the classic rule.
For a headier high arvest earlier. for a more body high harvest later. I like to follow the classic rule

too early: The buds will be wispy and airy. Taste will probably be akin to well cured hay. In some cases an early harvest will make the THC percentage WAY higher than a fully matured bud, but usually overall potency will be lower.

Too late: the longer the buds stay on the plant past prime, the more sugars and nuances it will lose. This means it will taste worse. The plant is dying, and the bud will reflect that fact. Also the THC oxidizes into other cannabanoids like CBD CBM etc which are sometimes better for medicinal purposes, but will knock you the **** out.

The old rule of thumb was when 60% of your hairs turn orange wait 3 days then it's time to harvest, but if you can get a fancy 30x magnifying glass listen to zep.

the pistils on one of my plants started to change colors really early, like 4 or 5 weeks into flowering, i harvested at 8 weeks, because i had heard that pistil colors sometimes just change and it doesn't mean it's ready necessarily, i had a magnifying glass but i dont think it was strong enough, the trichs looked cloudy to me but this is my first harvest so....

Depends on how early and how late.A month a big differance .A day not a big deal.

Some strains taste and smell better when harvested early, but you're sacrificing some yield and potency.
As an example - a fms grapefruit pheno I have gave me some really extraordinary taster buds at 6 weeks, although it really needs 8-9 weeks.

Soulman869 said:

the pistils on one of my plants started to change colors really early, like 4 or 5 weeks into flowering, i harvested at 8 weeks, because i had heard that pistil colors sometimes just change and it doesn't mean it's ready necessarily, i had a magnifying glass but i dont think it was strong enough, the trichs looked cloudy to me but this is my first harvest so....

Click to expand...

So how is it?? Have you been able to try any yet??
I apologize for my previous post, that was deleted...I answered your question with the first thing that came to mind, to the question you asked-- Now, with a li'l more info, I understand your concern--
Pistils can be a good indicator of harvest time, or they can really screw you up!!
Excessive heat, low humidity, spraying anything such as Neem or other sprays, can make your pistils dry up and turn brownish, as I found out the hard way a couple years ago--
For the future, it is best to invest in a hand held microscope, such as this one, , which is only $20, available at most head shops--
That will take the guess work out of it...you will be able to see easily if trichs are clear, cloudy, or amber--
Hope that helps-- Peace

You can always clip a bud every 3-4 days, clip it into tiny pieces and dry it. If it tests potent enough for you, chop.

I use a gas oven set at 125F for about an hour or two. It dries it enough to get a crappy sample but when it's ready to harvest you certainly can tell.

If you have an oven that doesn't go down that low you can turn it on for a minute to warm it up a bit inside and then turn the oven off and put your clippings in. The smaller you clip the pieces the faster it will dry.


Good luck!

its drying right now, i haven't really been smoking lately so i haven't really forced the issue to try any yet. i find it interesting what randude said, because honestly the look and smell my bud has right now is far too commercial for my liking, it looks and smells like beasters, which is disappointing because it's a hybrid of white widow and sweet afghani, idk i guess the final product will be the real result. this is my first harvest and i know it's a learning experience, i have other plants that are about a week away from harvesting, so i guess i have good shit ahead of me

lordbudly said:

if you smoke it you die, to early and the potency isnt there its mainly thca i believe which will cause in a lower potency zippyish high, but if its super indica or early but not that early just not as potent, and the longer you take em the more thc oxidizes and makes the bud more lethargic but at a loss of some potency ( pick your poison )

Click to expand...

As I understand, thc on even the ripest buds occurs mostly in the form of thca. Thca must be decarboxylated with heat (smoking/vaping; baking prior to making butter or tincture) before it becomes the psychoactive form, thc.

What will happen if you harvest too early is less potency, but not because of the thca thing. It just hasn't had enough time to produce optimal amounts of goodness (thc, thca, whateverzzz).

Then there is the ratio of clear to cloudy to amber trichomes. All or mostly clear is too early, so reduced potency. Mostly cloudy with some clear is more energetic high than cloudy and amber. I like mostly cloudy, with ~10-20% amber for the evening, after all chores are done. Too relaxing to me, don't want to do anything so relaxed. Mostly cloudy with barely or no amber is for me if I have to use in the daytime.


kmk420kali shows a good scope for looking at trichomes. Radio shack sells something similar for $12. Very good little instrument. Also, it may go without saying, but just in case it doesn't, you should take your plant out of the grow area, or at least turn off the grow lights before you look at your trichomes. HPS especially can distort the colors.