Okay "Budmeisters"...your expertise is being called upon... 6 weeks + 2 days in flower - Northern Light variety - very aggressive plant over 6' tall. Pistils are 60 to 80% browning (or more)...with acceleration on lower limbs vs. tops still getting major light and producing a fair amount of new white pistils. Many upper fan leaves have yellowed, dried, and fallen off...although plant health in general is excellent. Most lower fan leaves still intact and green. Upper bud stalks are devoid of most large (fan) leaves. Under microscope: "bubble trichromes" still clear. Alternate trichromes abundant and correct. Books (as sponsored on this site) show harvesting should be when "bubble trichromes" are clear. Okay Budmeisters.... What's your take? Jump right in....all opinions welcome. TKS
i'd saylet them finish out the week, then flush em for a week, then let em dry for a week then chop em down..........n do all the good shit to em.....just my opinion b_O420
I never go by trike's, I harvest when the bud hairs are 50% color changed from white to brown/red. Indoor plants should be flushed for 2 weeks, especially if chem. nutrients have been used. Cut the buds off the branches, manicure and put in a heavy-duty supermarket-type paper bag and crimp the top. Everyday open the bag and gently "comb" the buds with your fingers. When the buds are almost but not quite ready to smoke (the moistness of a quality cigar), put the buds in a container that seals tight such as mason jars or tupperware. Every day open the container for 5 min, then re-seal. This second part, in containers, is the cure. This will make your buds smoke cooler and smoother. It will also make them taste wonderful and increase potency.
RDanger...really? I'm pretty sure I'm passed 50%. Oddly, when the HPS is on the pistils seem more brown. But when the light goes off...and before I close the door...the pistils seem to be lighter towards the tops. Microscope inspection is "interesting" to say the least. Damn hard to hold the little bugger still while trying to focus! Ha. I take it you are pleased with your harvest formula/timing? I've been using a variety of bloom enhancing formulas. I figure what one might be lacking the other one has. Who knows. Plan is to cut individual branches off in groups and hang in dark, cool, average moisture place. (Plant wouldn't make it out grow-room door). I have bags, mason jars, and am looking for those large 'pasta-type' sealable containers of plexiglass with rubber washer. As to "cigar quality" moisture...I don't think I'll figure that out this harvest...ha. So...in a dry area...(high altitude, 35% humidity)...how long will be average in the drying process? TKS.
hey trader..."IMHO", try sampling a few at different stages. Personal taste/preferrence in the type of high you like or want plays a huge part in "when" to harvest. Earlier(mostly clear triche's) gives a more "heady" high, while later(foggy/milky or amber trich's) produces a stonier narcotic high. THC is at it's highest potency when he bulbulous trich's are milky white, just prior to beginning degredation, indicated by turning amber. Here's a pretty good link.. Harvest Timing
Thanks. Just sitting here with my new little microscope looking for "signs". Fairly confusing for a newcomer. Variety of "bubbles"...yet not all are on little posts. Can (should) a plant be harvested little by little? Ie; going after the more mature branches and then letting the smaller, lower branches hang a bit longer. Also...plant is letting more and more fan leaves yellow, wither, and fall off...but most leaves still healthy. Pistils still producing new white ones...yet plenty of ambers in place. AND...is it better to error on the longer side of the flower timeline...or earlier? Great link by the way. TKS
yes you can harvest your plant little by little, thats how i am going to do it, the top branches first then i am goin to wait a few days to do the rest........
Yo... I ended up harvesting the huge mother plant as it was preventing moving lots into the flower room. It looked good thru the microscope...but probably could have continued a bit more. The site where the seeds came from said 6 to 7 weeks (Northern Lights) and I cut at one day shy of 7 weeks. Just took a look at my Afghan plants. Much smaller plant, but MAN you can't believe the trichromes standing at atttention on the bud micro-leaves. The resin really amazes me...quite noticeable under the lights. Didn't clone these though as their size was not desireable. Going to post another question re: seeds vs. cloning TKS
trader, You're indoors under lights, rigt? IMHO smaller/shorter plants are a great advantage to tall/bigger plants, in indoor situations. The further away from the light the lower extremities are, the less they will produce. Short bushy plants allow more even distribution of the light source over more area of the plant. Results...more dense buds, and fewer long stringy, fluffy buds.
this is true........if growin indoors you should use the LST method, this way you see more come yield time...in my past expierences...........b_O420
Yeah Grouchy, "indoors" with divided rooms. The large (over 6') NLights was the dominant creature...so I let the Afghan (that wasn't male...damn, too many of those) just grow along. Never cloned them...but damn good-looking buds and trichromes. The trade-off re: The huge NL vs. the small AFG seems to be in the "rate of return". It would take several AFG's to equal the buds of the NL...so I guess it's just a matter of figuring it out after a few harvests. B_0420....what is "LST"? TKS
Unless you have a rare, exceptional strain, I don't recommend re-vegging. It can only be done indoors, and in the time it takes to get the plant to switch back from flowering to veg (if it makes it--some plants die from the shock) grow new branches/budsites, and flower again with a reduced yield, you could instead grow brand new plants and end up with more pot.
