Newbie, need advise for autoflowering harvest time

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weedwytch

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Greetings,

I am new at growing and need some advise! I planted 4 germinated Feminized auto-flowering seedlings the second week in March.

After many months of research, I used Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and Big Bloom. I am growing them in 4 gallon containers, outside in the sun during the day and bring them in at night due to the cooler temps of the pacific NW climate. I started nutes after 3 weeks and feed every 10 days 1/4 of the recommended dose. I keep them under cover if it rains and only use water that has sat for over 24 hours and check the ph levels.

All 4 plants are growing and flowering like weeds (no pun intended). I have no idea when they will be ready to harvest. The Top44 is about 1 1/2 feet tall, smells very strong, started flowering about 6 weeks ago and is now loaded, however the buds are small (I am ok with that). I have removed some of the larger leaves to prevent them from shading the buds.

I prefer to harvest earlier to avoid the couch lock high.

I attached a photo taken today. Can someone take a look and give me some advise as to how much longer and what to look for when they are ready to be harvested? The little hair things are turning amber. The little white bubbly things are still white. Sorry I don't know what the name is for them. I read to harvest them before the bubbly things turn amber to prevent the couch lock high.

The AK47 is also loaded and at the same stage of flowering, however it is only about a foot tall, has much smaller leaves and didn't branch out like the Top44.

Thanks in advance!
weedwytch

View attachment top44_june_08_2014.jpg
 
You will need to get a loupe to see the trichomes, I like bubbly things, to see if they are all still cloudy.There isn't any other way to tell if they are ready. The hair doesn't mean much in this case. You will need at least a 30 X loupe. Radio shack has a small microscope that some people like...

Good luck to you and enjoy your harvest, and oh by the way, welcome to MP! It isn't too cold in the NW at night now, at least not in my part of the NW. Enjoy your harvest.
 
Thanks for the information Rosebud, I will be picking up a powerful microscope today!

I saw a video of how the trichomes should look for the different kind of highs. The trichomes look like bubbles to me LOL! I will be wanting to harvest one they are mostly milky. Do I need to stop the nutes and flush these plants just before harvest?

I have been removing the big leaves on the pants, as they strt shading the buds, however what does one do with the smaller leaves just below the buds that have trichomes on them? Can they be crushed up and used in cooking and baking or do they not have THC in them to bother with?
 
Don't remove anymore leaves. No need to flush before harvest. The big fan leaves are not supposed to have any or very little of the trichomes. BUt they are the solar panels for the plant to receive light to feed the plant so don't remove them. The little sugar leaves will kinda wrap around the bud after harvesting. I keep them on. You can also cut them and use them for hash or other cooking things.

Your doing great. keep it up.
 
Not to sound discouraging, but you really have very little bud material on that plant, so if the trichs are not going to amber, I would let it go a while longer and hope that it bulks up some. On the plus side, they are nice and frosty and should provide some great smoke. I have a great uppy strain that I love--when you get ready to upgrade to photoperiod plants you need to give Satori a try.
 
I don't expect large buds or yields from these auto-flowering plants and that is ok with me. I choose auto-flowering because of the compact size, the short life cycle, I can use smaller containers for easy mobility up and down stairs and I can have 2 harvest outside during the warm season.

This is my very first grow! I planted 4 autos in March, Top44, AK47, Bubblegum and Berry. Bubblegum and Berry are now 4 weeks behind Top44 and AK47 because my cat got to them, so I had to start new ones.

Top44 has larger leaves then the others. Bubblegum and Berry look pretty similar to Top44, but AK47 has very small leaves and only 1 short stock. The other 3 branched out and are about a foot tall.

My goal is not yield and size but see which one of the 4 has the best quality in taste, smell and the right high.

I will be planting another Top44 and Berry next week for a second harvest in the fall.
Since I am a newbie at this I welcome and appreciate any advice all of you want to give me. Eventually some day I will find what works best for me in growing this unpredictable herb!

BTW I am keeping a detailed log on everything!
 
I grow autos a lot, and I know your not interested in yield which is fine. but yield is a good indicator of how your plants are doing so Imo you need to really care. not tring to bust your sack or anything. as before stated you need at least a lobe. a scope will work better but look for some amber mushroom. when you harvest is really up to you. you can harvest when most mushroom are milky for the non couch lock thing or wait till you see trichs then harvest. its pretty much up to you and since this is your first grow you will need to experiment some with the same strain. make sure you post that log when your done.
 
by the way I grow the vast and fast and regularly get 4 ozs per plant. SO FAR...

the first time I smoked this stuff I thought I was on acid. was scary at first but after a fow days it turned out to be a very good smoke. and by no means am I saying you will get 4 per plant. I haven't grown those strains. yet.
 
I DO care and am interested in the yield for my autos, I just don't have a need for the large yields that regular full size plants produce, which is one of the reasons I was attracted to growing the autos. I know that a lot of people don't like the autos because they produce less and feel it's a waste of time to grow them. My plants are pretty loaded and look pretty much what they should from the pictures and videos I have seen on the internet. I love the short grow time and in the Pacific NW we have a pretty short summer and I like the fact that I can get two outdoor harvests in one season.

Vast and Fast, hmm, not heard of those but they must be pretty vast with a 4 oz. yield!

My log is mainly documentation on an excel spread sheet, I took a few picture, but don't think I kept them. I will be planting another AK47 and Bubblegum this week and will take picture at the different stages. I didn't think of doing a picture log, good idea! I like that!
 
It is not only that they produce less, the high is a lot less potent. Autos are 1/2 ruderalis and just by their genetics, they will be less potent than their non-auto counterparts. Clones can give you the same turn around AND produce great smoke. Also think of it this way: It would take 8 plants that are 1/2 oz each to equal the 4 oz that Hippy59 gets. So rather than grow say 32 autos, grow one crop of 4 photoperiod plants and have enough to last you, you spend a whole lot less on seeds, and you have way better smoke.
 

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