zues is a god when harvesting

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loolagigi

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This is by no means meant to be the definitive guide to knowing when to chop your plant, only my views on the subject.

I'm personally of the opinion that 90% of the growers on this site (And probably in general) harvest too early. By letting the plants go a little longer you're ensuring that the've plumped as much as they're going to.
Despite popular opinion to the contrary(and don't fool yourself, the jury is still out on this one) Recent studies have shown ;contrary to what was previously believed, that THC itself (And its predecessor THC-A) are quite guilty of causing the confusion and drowsiness associated with burnout and other cannabinoids (our friend CBN, and a handful of others) to be the catalyst (along with THC) to being 'high' rather than 'baked'
Regardless, whether or not theres any substance to the aforementioned study, its easy to get the high you want.
If you want a soaring 'cerebral' high: Get yourself a tropical sativa that contains a high level of THC-V and grow it until it is ripe.
If you want the narcotic couchlock stone, grow a rugged indica until its ripe.
Notice a pattern of growing it until its ripe? Its a really good rule to live by.
OF course we have to remember that there is more to a good high than just THC. At last count there are at least 66 cannabinoids, and we don't know what most of them do.


Now alot of people will tell you that you should harvest based on the colour of your trichomes. But (again, in my opinion) that is far too simplistic and there are too many variables to make that an effective strategy. I've made that point a million times before and i'm not going to re-hash it here,(maybe just a bit) but rest assured there is more to the picture than just trich colour.


A ripe marijuana plant will be filled in, will have an amber tinge to the buds. The pistils should have browned (or orange-d) off and receded into the buds. The seed bracts should be swollen and the trichomes should be sticking straight out with bulbous ends. Also, because you're coming close to the end of plant's life cycle, the leaves should have yellowed off and started to die.

sprucezeus-albums-bud-shootin-picture49966-023.jpg

one of my plants, 3 days before chop-chop.


Another very important (imho) reason to let your plants mature is Terpenoid production. Terpenes are responsible for alot of the complex (And enjoyable) flavours that cannabis produces. Some of the most intense flavours are produced on the "downslope" of cannabis's life cycle. My personal experience with this first came when i was growing GH cheese. One of the plants i harvested at 8 weeks and it tasted pretty nice and had pretty dense buds. The other i grew until about 9 1/2 weeks and it had most amazing, sour, skunky, delicious taste with rock hard buds.


Here is my interpretation (and maybe exaggeration) of a scenario i see all too often...

Quote:
Quote:noob mcboob
I'm a new grower and i've been reading all this great information about when its time to harvest. Theres pictures and everything!!!
sprucezeus-albums-420-ho-picture53018-harvest-time.jpg


Look at my trichs, they look nice and milky with a touch of amber just like the ones in the picture that says its harvest time now!!!


So i just have one question....








sprucezeus-albums-420-ho-picture53020-not.jpg

Does this look ready to you?
That plant is 4 weeks into 12/12. Granted not all of the trichomes are that far along. And most people arent going to harvest weed that looks like this. But my point with this is that you have to look at the big picture. Stop being so scientific and start being practical.
I'm not anti knowledge, i just cant stand these "rules" that more often than not lead people down the wrong path.
Lets cut through the bullshit and spread good information in a way that is not so absolute. Or at very least explain the growth stages of cannabis making sure to mention that the pistils should have receded back into the bud before you chop. Regardless of trichome colour.

If I could offer one piece of advice on picking the right time to harvest, it's all about watching the pistils. Not so much the colour, but the movement. They should have receded into the bud and the seed bracts should be swollen.

It should look less like this
sprucezeus-albums-420-ho-picture53101-036.jpg

And more like this.
sprucezeus-albums-shunah-nah-nah-nah-picture56710-027.jpg


Trust me when I say, it is worth the excruciating wait.
 
sounds very reasonable I agree.
 
Definitely something to think about. I did leave one plant till leave turned yellow (like you said) and the trichomes were about 50/50. chop chop.
 
Terrific post Loolagigi! Thank you.

My last grow was a sativa dominant plant (and we all know how long those can take!). I harvested the buds over about 6 weeks, starting at around week 11. The first buds looked young, with cloudy trichs, brown pistils. The final buds I took, the plant looked terrible, some of the leaves around the bud were shriveling and necrotic, and some were turning purple (not a pheno I ever saw from several grows of that strain). By the way- the trichs were still cloudy.

If I offered someone a smoke from an early jar and then some smoke from a later jar- they never mentioned a difference. I couldn't really tell myself, either. Doesn't mean that what you say isn't true, just that it didn't make a noticeable difference on that particular grow.

Again- Thank you very much for the perspective. I have some indicas going now that I will try your methods on.

Thanks again- great thread- and awesome pictorial.

Happy Growing!:cool:
 
isnt it as simple as trich colour,
25%
50%
75%
decide what you want and chop.
it doesnt seem all that complicated to me.
 

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