When to harvest?!?

[Slowlyburn]

I have read just about EVERY sticky on this entire forum. I am still just a n00b so I still just don't have the experience required to know when the right time to cut the plants down. I am in my 6th week of flowering. Week 7 will begin this thursday. I have a magnifying glass but I am having trouble really seeing the tricomes clearly. I think they still look kinda clear to me.

I have 3 obviously different plants. One of them is a short but wide bush with a guestimate of at least 3oz of buds on it. The other 2 plants were trimmed so the both have 4 main colas. The one has lime green and orange buds with yellow flowers. The other has dark green buds but is as sparkly as Edward from the movie Twilight... lol... Each of these I would guess to have about 1-2oz each.

Only one of the plants is getting a few yellow fan leaves near the bottom every couple days or so that I keep pulling off. The other 2 have all very green leaves all over all the time.

I just don't want to miss my "window" time to harvest. What do you suggest I do at this point. I know patients goes a long way with this plant but I'm just not sure how close I really am to harvest. Maybe I should try to find a better magnifying glass to help me see better?

Thanks for reading my novel!

 

[Slowlyburn]

I should add that my flowers are still white or yellow with only very few that have turned red/orange/brown...

 

[Slowlyburn]

2 pictures of buds...

 

[bubba902]

Need atleast 30x magnification. What high you like is when you pick your bud. No real window unless you like a more upbeat high..

 

[Lemon Jack]

What strain do you have going 6 weeks would be an early finisher. I like to wait till about 15 percent amber trichs at chop if you can see the clear one with your scope just wait in another 2 to 3 weeks you should start to notice the changing to cloudy and then over to amber.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Yeah, what strains have you got going there? Can we get pics of the entire plants?

You are going to need more than a magnifying glass--you need something that will give you a 30x or better magnification to check the trichs. I personally like to take most my plants with mostly cloudy and very few amber trichs.

In over 30 years of growing, I have never had a plant that finished that fast. Do not get too anxious.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Order you one of these loupes. They work great and are only $15. hxxp://www.discount-hydro.com/active-eye-30x-pocket-microscope/ Don't forget to change the xx to tt in the URL when you copy it into the browser. I did that once and about blew a fuse trying to figure out why I couldn't get to the site :doh:

 

[Hick]

Order you one of these loupes. They work great and are only $15. hxxp://www.discount-hydro.com/active-eye-30x-pocket-microscope/ Don't forget to change the xx to tt in the URL when you copy it into the browser. I did that once and about blew a fuse trying to figure out why I couldn't get to the site :doh:

.."blew a fuse"..:confused2:.. you really need to step up to "breakers". :rofl:

 

[bubba902]

.."blew a fuse"..:confused2:.. you really need to step up to "breakers". :rofl:

Lmao, Good one

 

[Hushpuppy]

I guess that tells you how old and outdated my brain is

 

[Slowlyburn]

OK I just ordered a 45X magnified loupe... I am uploading pictures right now of the whole plants and a few pix of the leaves on the one plant that I am having trouble with. I don't know what strain these plants are. I got the seeds from an old head who has been growing since him and my dad were in there 20's. He says the seeds he gave me are all hybrid strains that he made himself. This guy mentioned so many names I couldn't remember them all. I remember the key words (something Kush, Strawberry something, Northern Light, and something Rain...) lol sorry.

 

[Slowlyburn]

I can upload fairly close up shots of the buds and or colas if need be. Let me know... Thanks!!!


.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I personally believe that it looks like it has a long way to go--maybe 3 weeks or so from bud size.

Are you running CO2 in there? I am not sure if the plants can benefit from that. They need enhanced lumens to be able to process more CO2. How many lumens are you running and how large is your space?

You might have a Cal-Mag problem there, what are you feeding her?

 

[Roddy]

:yeahthat:

:yeahthat: not thinking cfl's are gonna push enough lumens.

What are all the tiny brown "spots"?? Are they tiny holes?

 

[Slowlyburn]

The tiny brown spots are just spots. No holes... Only one plant has them. The brown spots turn to yellow leaves and I pull them off... I am using MG 10-30-10 for this first indoor experiment... I know none of you guys recommend it but money was a little tight at the time I started this project. I plan to go with EJ or FF next grow. My grow room is 4ftX30inX5ft tall. I produce around 55,000 Lumens.

 

[bubba902]

My NL auto is in pure MG soil and it's loving it. Dunno about their mutes. That's a bit much imO

 

[K Double]

From the pics I'd at least 2 weeks or more left in the Flowering cycle. Check the Trichs... But don't cut them down yet let those hairs turn brown

 

[Lemon Jack]

From the pics I'd at least 2 weeks or more left in the Flowering cycle. Check the Trichs... But don't cut them down yet let those hairs turn brown

The pistels mean nothing. IMO go by trichs its the ONLY way to be sure about your harvest.

 

[K Double]

The pistels mean nothing. IMO go by trichs its the ONLY way to be sure about your harvest.

I guess you didn't read my entire post... I clearly said check the Trichs...

Also, the debate of weather or not the hairs turning colors is a good indicator of maturity is one for the ages... Besides what if one doesn't have the proper microscope to fully show the development of the trichs? How will one know if the plant is mature? While checking the trichs is the best indicator of maturity its NOT THE ONLY indicator of maturity....

 

[Roddy]

Besides what if one doesn't have the proper microscope to fully show the development of the trichs? How will one know if the plant is mature?

If you don't have one, spend the couple bucks and get one. They're cheap and it's (as you've said) the best way...