What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

When to harvest!?!?!?!

silver hawaiian

Active member
Veteran
That's how I feel too. Good stuff, thanks!

My brain says (after looking at the calendar) "Lotsa time to go, dude."

My eyes say "Really?"

Brain wins :)
 

SKAGITMAGIC

Member
Your plants look really nice, The plants I grow, that have decent leaves like yours fill in nicely, I don't understand people picking off "fan leaves" "sugar leaves" etc., when i do that, my buds are noticeably smaller. Anyway I've found counting days to just be frustrating, I used to harvest when the hairs turned orange or dark or whatever, I've found that waiting the xtra 10 days after I thought they were ready has really paid off, much nicer, when they really mature, as far as degredation of THC after turning amber, I'd rather have a little degredation than nothing to degrade!!! Just my feelings on the subject, I went to Seattle's Canna Farmers Market last month with a good LED 60X pocket scope, never saw one amber Trichome!!! not one!!, and I looked at every table, bummed me out big time, most were still kinda clear. Did find some decent Hash!!!, Again, your plants look just killer, Here's a strain library I use for reference, I believe they start there day count after you can see and recognize a female flower, usually about 5 days.http://www.kindgreenbuds.com/marijuana-strains/cinderella-99.html Good luck to you.
 

silver hawaiian

Active member
Veteran
A Canna Farmer's Market?! Ooooooooh, makes me want to get a ticket and go!

Thanks for the input, SKAGITMAGIC. I know the harvey is a very subjective thing, and there are as many ways to skin that cat as there are cats to be skinned.. (Judging by pistils? Trichs? Calendar days? When do we start counting, on first day of 12/12 or the first day we can see buds being set?) ..This is probably the one area of reefer farming I really could use a RULE to rely on. :)
 

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
Looking in on my sativa dominate grow. The cloudy trichomes started showing on day 51, I took a secondary bud, about 5 grams. Overnight hang, 3 hours at 150 degrees. Smoked OK.
Another bud, same size, on day 55. Same hang and dry. Smoked better. No amber.
Day 59, same same same. Smoked much better, still no amber.

Today is day 61, still no amber, but rumor has it that some sativa's do not ever go amber. When the buds quit smoking better each time, then the plant comes down, regardless of colors. This is a sativa dominate bagseed, no name.
I will post every 4th day with new color and smoke test, this is day 2 so am still smoking 2 day old bud, darn good it is. Though just 2 days older, the buds still on the plant look better already. The curly browns are taking over the straighter whites and their bases are visibly swelling. Soon all their bases are belong to us.
:kitty:
 

Dirt Bag

Member
With each new strain we grow we allow one to mature beyond its primecand monitor its progress to determine the ideal harvest window. I think most indoor growers tend to harvest too early because amber trichomes are more difficult to achieve in the length of flowering time claimed by the sellers.
IMHO, under ideal conditions, amber trichomes develop some time after peak potency is attained.
Many strains we grow are still amber-free several weeks beyond their alleged flowering times.
We harvest when almost all flower production has ceased, calyx are BB sized or better, and there are perhaps one or two white pistils on each bud. We find that the calyx tend to "meld" together a few weeks before ripeness and the resin glands are all cloudy. Many will begin to foxtail if left too long. A result of what I believe to be SE Asian genetics, which are known for extremely potent, stretched out, resinous, foxtailing buds of fat calyx that have extremely long, late flowering periods. This is great if all you're looking to grow is quantity, but consumers want nugs. Don't let your nugs grow antlers.
 
Last edited:

Happy Times

Well-known member
Looking in on my sativa dominate grow. The cloudy trichomes started showing on day 51, I took a secondary bud, about 5 grams. Overnight hang, 3 hours at 150 degrees. Smoked OK.
Another bud, same size, on day 55. Same hang and dry. Smoked better. No amber.
Day 59, same same same. Smoked much better, still no amber.

Today is day 61, still no amber, but rumor has it that some sativa's do not ever go amber. When the buds quit smoking better each time, then the plant comes down, regardless of colors. This is a sativa dominate bagseed, no name.
I will post every 4th day with new color and smoke test, this is day 2 so am still smoking 2 day old bud, darn good it is. Though just 2 days older, the buds still on the plant look better already. The curly browns are taking over the straighter whites and their bases are visibly swelling. Soon all their bases are belong to us.
:kitty:

Yeah a few years back I was doing a Moonshine Haze in the backyard, kept waiting, it got late in the season and I’d put her in the garage at night due to it getting below freezing, and never really saw ambers. I think I let her go too long and lost some flavor waiting for those amber trichs
 

Lolo94

Well-known member
Coming from an outdoor background, always waited for the fan leaves to yellow and the pistils to completely or nearly completely dry. The key to this method was knowing the strain, not over fertilizing during flowering and knowing when to stop fertilizing. Sativas and some mostly sativa plants can keep on throwing new pistils for a while if given too much fertilizer late in flowering. Allowing the plant to cannbilize itself tended to moderate this late pistil growth. Not really sure if this approach would work with indicas.
 

Sunshineinabag

Active member
Screw Rick and HC.com.

This thread lives even without their asses.

The perfect harvest time is hard to say ...

Some areas of the plant will finish before others. When they do, the THC begins to degrade. So what happens is, fresh THC is being produced in some places while it is degrading in others ...

Most growers use what is called the law of diminishing returns. It's pretty simple really. When it appears that more degradation is taking place than fresh THC is being produced, they're done ...

How do you tell ? - It's half instinct, and half careful observation. As they near the finish, watch them closely with a magnifying glass. You'll see the glands on the leaves and pistils forming and filling up with resin ...

As they become full and begin to degrade, they turn amber in color. When you begin to notice more glands turning amber than new ones forming, you've reached the point of diminishing returns , then chop those babies down ...

When the pistils are 50 % brown , red , gold etc , etc , this only means that the plant is entering into the phase of maturing
Why couldn't one harvest mature flowers and let the others mature?
 

Bimberrr

New member
finish

finish

hello good people what do you think is it already the finish line?
 

Attachments

  • 5C74F532-4EBC-48A8-9A66-9D099EE1DB82.jpg
    5C74F532-4EBC-48A8-9A66-9D099EE1DB82.jpg
    35.7 KB · Views: 58
  • 167CE243-BD40-4F91-A2DE-A2DBD3976B47.jpg
    167CE243-BD40-4F91-A2DE-A2DBD3976B47.jpg
    42.5 KB · Views: 58
  • 72407352-82DD-4696-9D1F-4607EB320930.jpg
    72407352-82DD-4696-9D1F-4607EB320930.jpg
    47.1 KB · Views: 49
  • 8358AE61-7414-4A99-B28C-FC247665AEAA.jpg
    8358AE61-7414-4A99-B28C-FC247665AEAA.jpg
    42.8 KB · Views: 63

Rico Swazi

Active member
That depends on how long you will be keeping your stash.


THCa converts into THC over time, degrading was the term in this thread

Harvesting earlier may be better for that reason


Do both, let them cure for six months and see which one you like better
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top