Are these plants ready for harvest?

[Fairly Sterile]

I can't tell if my plants are ready for harvest and could use some expert opinions. This is only my second grow, so I'm still a noob.

I still see white pistols on some of the plants (especially #3), and I can't really tell if my trichromes are cloudy or clear in my stereomicroscope pictures. I'm at 12.5 weeks since I switched the light to 12/12. Online resources say this strain (Wedding Cake) has a flowering time of 8-10 weeks, so I'm way beyond that.

My other main concern is how many of the leaves are changing color and drying up. I've read this is normal as you approach harvest and they are using up the last of the plant's nutrients from the leaves...do you think that's true, or are they suffering?

Main questions:
Do you think any of these plants are ready for harvest? I'm more than willing to be patient and keep checking under the microscope, but I'm worried I'm waiting too long because of how the leaves look.
Are the leaves normal or are they indicating a problem? I suspect I may have overfed them for part of the flowering phase.
Is the extra budding on plant #3 an indicator that the plant's happy and overproducing or a sign of stress?

EXTRA INFO:
-Strain: Wedding Cake (online resources say flowering time is usually 8-10 weeks)
-Seeds Planted: 4/20/2024
-Lights Changed to 12/12: 6/21/2024
-Plant #3 was placed into the room a little later than the rest (long story), so its development has been different. It's shorter than the rest of the plants (it's up on a stand).
-5 gallon fabric grow bags
-Medium: Fox Farm Happy Frog when seedlings, then Ocean Forrest
-Nutrients: Fox Farm Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom following the FF Soil Feed Schedule
-I was following the FF soil feed schedule (fertilizing twice a week), but the runoff PPM kept going up every week, until they were all around 3000ppm, so I did a big flush with FF Bush Doctor on 9/6/2024, which brought their runoff readings to around 1000ppm (which is what FF recommends for a runoff PPM at this stage of flowering). The day or two after that flush, I noticed the weed smell in my house had gone way down, and the smell hasn't really rebounded since (it was noticeably stronger before I flushed)
-I just fertilized (a little heavy) on 9/14/2024, and the runoffs were averaging at about 1500ppm.

 

[TassieTurtleman]

Hey buddy, those are some beautiful ladies you have growing!
Question 1: None of there are quite ready yet, you need to wait till all the white pistils have gone amber and crinkled in, 1,2 and 4 are really close, 3 looks like she still has a bit to go.

Question 2: The leaves look pretty normal for the majority, it's natural for them to go like that, especially as you are quite late into flower, I wouldn't be too worried

Question 3: The extra budding definitely isn't a stress indicator!

The up close pics you've taken of 1,4 and 3 (older), they look quite milky with a few amber, that's about what I look for at harvest. You can always harvest in segments if some of your bud has matured and some hasn't

Also when you talked about reading online that harvest indicates 8-10 weeks, I would worry so much about what you read, that's most likely under optimal conditions, same as when you read about yield, the highest yield numbers are only achieved under optimal conditions!
Your not a noob buddy, you are simply learning and you're obviously doing a great job!!

Also if she's still draining her pots, then she's definitely feeding and producing flowers for you

Hope this was of some help.
If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask

 

[013]

imho
#1 & #4 are ready
#2 & #3 still have fluffy pistils but it’s because they are both foxtailing… each calyx generates more pistils, then more calyxes pop only to later be surrounded by more pistils. Yes it’s more growth but perhaps at the cost of slow cooking trichs, terps and oils..

Foxtailing is a stall tactic, they’re sunning their leaves trying to catch pollen and can hang like this for a month or more- no sweat.

Think I would take 1 & 4 right away, maybe bump light down to 10 on 14 off to give 2 & 3 a nudge but I’d chop them soon too




That’s my 2 cents but yes please wait for few more replies

 

[JiggiLotus]

What they said.

 

[Fairly Sterile]

Hey buddy, those are some beautiful ladies you have growing!
Question 1: None of there are quite ready yet, you need to wait till all the white pistils have gone amber and crinkled in, 1,2 and 4 are really close, 3 looks like she still has a bit to go.

Question 2: The leaves look pretty normal for the majority, it's natural for them to go like that, especially as you are quite late into flower, I wouldn't be too worried

Question 3: The extra budding definitely isn't a stress indicator!

The up close pics you've taken of 1,4 and 3 (older), they look quite milky with a few amber, that's about what I look for at harvest. You can always harvest in segments if some of your bud has matured and some hasn't

Also when you talked about reading online that harvest indicates 8-10 weeks, I would worry so much about what you read, that's most likely under optimal conditions, same as when you read about yield, the highest yield numbers are only achieved under optimal conditions!
Your not a noob buddy, you are simply learning and you're obviously doing a great job!!

Also if she's still draining her pots, then she's definitely feeding and producing flowers for you

Hope this was of some help.
If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask

Thank you so much for your message! You've certainly helped calm down my anxiety. I'm going to keep waiting and keep a close eye on 1, 2, 4. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Fairly Sterile]

imho
#1 & #4 are ready
#2 & #3 still have fluffy pistils but it’s because they are both foxtailing… each calyx generates more pistils, then more calyxes pop only to later be surrounded by more pistils. Yes it’s more growth but perhaps at the cost of slow cooking trichs, terps and oils..

Foxtailing is a stall tactic, they’re sunning their leaves trying to catch pollen and can hang like this for a month or more- no sweat.

Think I would take 1 & 4 right away, maybe bump light down to 10 on 14 off to give 2 & 3 a nudge but I’d chop them soon too




That’s my 2 cents but yes please wait for few more replies

Thank you for your message! This was really helpful! It's hard to see, but all four plants still have white pistols. The forum only let me post 10 pics with the original post, but I'll post more in a reply below (some close images).

I really liked your tip about reducing the light hours even further. Could it maybe even help to bump them down to 11 or 11.5 hours of light now?

 

[013]

Yes I see the yellow pistils… In the photos shown both 1 & 4 only have a few stray light colored pistils showing whereas 2 & 3 are covered with lots of fresh fluffy yellow pistils but the pistils are growing on top of foxtails,

Breeder estimates are just that- estimates and yes the plants can run shorter or longer. Here’s the other part… the date of flip is one thing but usually takes 10 to 14 days to pop fuzz balls and actually start flowering, so might be able to shave a week or 2 off the 12.5 weeks.

Yes by all means bump light hours down but I’d go with 11 on just to move them along.

 

[Janluna]

Im with 013 on this one

 

[Phytoplankton]

You've got some moderate leaf die back, keep a close eye out for bud rot. I agree with @013 on timing.

 

[Fairly Sterile]

Yes I see the yellow pistils… In the photos shown both 1 & 4 only have a few stray light colored pistils showing whereas 2 & 3 are covered with lots of fresh fluffy yellow pistils but the pistils are growing on top of foxtails,

Breeder estimates are just that- estimates and yes the plants can run shorter or longer. Here’s the other part… the date of flip is one thing but usually takes 10 to 14 days to pop fuzz balls and actually start flowering, so might be able to shave a week or 2 off the 12.5 weeks.

Yes by all means bump light hours down but I’d go with 11 on just to move them along.

Ok, thank you for that explanation! That makes a lot of sense. Foxtailing is a new term to me, so I've been reading up on it. I reduced the light hours to 11, starting today.

I took fresh close-up pictures of 1, 2, and 4 (attached here). I also took fresh stereomicroscope images that I'll post in another reply below (photo limits). I think I will harvest 1 and 4 tomorrow morning before the light comes on

 

[Fairly Sterile]

You've got some moderate leaf die back, keep a close eye out for bud rot. I agree with @013 on timing.

Ok, thank you, I definitely will. Do the leaves protect the buds from rot? I have two oscillating fans in the room, one on each side of the plants. Right now the fans are pointed at the middle of the plants where the majority of the leaves still are. Do you think I should point them up towards the buds with the leaf die back?

 

[Fairly Sterile]

Hello all, I took fresh stereomicroscope pics tonight, attached here. As I wrote above in another reply, my plan is to harvest plants 1 and 4 tomorrow morning before the lights turn on.