The first I would try smoking 
First Grow In Over 20 Years! Northern Lights Under 600W LED
- Thread starter Homer Simpson
- Start date
The three stages of trichomes are clear, cloudy, and amber. Clear is ripening, cloudy is peak THC, and amber is when the THC had begun to degrade to CBN, the cannabinoid that causes couchlock and sleepiness. The decision to harvest involves the balance between those three stages, as there's never a time when all the trichomes are at the same stage.
If you want insomnia meds, then you want a lot of amber. If you don't want any couchlock, then you want very little amber, but of course you do want cloudy. The hard part is finding the sweet spot!
If you want insomnia meds, then you want a lot of amber. If you don't want any couchlock, then you want very little amber, but of course you do want cloudy. The hard part is finding the sweet spot!
- Thread starter
- #743
The first I would try smoking
I am definitely looking for some insomnia meds but I was also hoping to get some in the peak THC range and then some for my old arthritic joints with a fair amount of CBN so my plan was to harvest in stages hoping to get a variety and find the sweet spot for each.
From what Birdie says I assume the plant from my first trichomes pic is probably at peak THC so I was thinking of starting my harvest tomorrow hoping that will be my peak THC part of the harvest. Thanks for the input Birdie and Shed.
Once you see mostly cloudy there is no bad time to harvest! Staggered is the way to go, or let the bottom go mostly amber and see if that's the perfect night time blend!
- Thread starter
- #745
My problem is I have trouble distinguishing between clear and cloudy. I assume all of the trichomes in my first photo are cloudy because some are Amber but I don’t see any real difference in the trichomes in the other two photos so would you consider the trichomes cloudy in all three of those photos?
And I assumed that the lower branches would be the last ones to mature so are you saying lower branches go Amber sooner or to just harvest them last?
The top pic has some clear on the bottom left, the second is almost entirely clear on the underside, and the last pic looks mostly cloudy at that angle. Clear ones look like new icicles and cloudy look like older ones!
Plants tend to ripen from the top down (though not all) so that's what I had in mind.
Plants tend to ripen from the top down (though not all) so that's what I had in mind.
- Thread starter
- #747
I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions about this Shed because I know harvesting time is critical and I really want to get it right. Thanks again, you really put me on the right track.
No trouble at all! We're all here to help each other out. 
- Thread starter
- #749
No trouble at all! We're all here to help each other out.
Well, you certainly have been an enormous help and it is appreciated greatly!!
High Wally
Well-Known Member
I know it's hard to do, but try not to overthink on the pH coming out of the pot during flush. If the plant is healthy, it does not matter what the pH coming out is at. And besides that if you're at flush time, pH is irrelevant. However it is good to know the PPM's flushing out, so you have an idea of where the soil might be in terms of nutrient richness. This is Especially true if growing with synthetic nutrients. Cheers!
- Thread starter
- #751
Hey Wally. I appreciate the advice but the reason I am so concerned about my pH levels is because I do have a worsening brown leaf problem and the consensus out here seems to be that the culprit is my pH being too low. And yes I agree if my plans were healthy I wouldn’t even check my runoff pH but since I’m having issues I’m trying to get my pH under control and in the proper ranges. And I do agree one day I am going to have to buy a PPM meter. And the only reason I flushed was to try to correct my pH. Thanks for the input. There’s a pic of my problem.
High Wally
Well-Known Member
My bad, I thought we were talking about plants at end of flower. The reason they say pH is the problem here is because nothing stands out one way or the other in terms of deficiency. Is this on the top of the plant? How many leaves show this sign?
Are the leaves older or newer leaves?
- Thread starter
- #754
Actually I am in week nine of flower so I am getting near the end but I did the flush to try and correct my pH. It started with one plant near the top and seems worse near the light but it has worked its way down somewhat. It started showing up on two others in the last couple weeks so that told me there must be something wrong with my processes.
I had a bad cheap pH meter and I suspect for the first couple months I was feeding my plants with water that was way too low in pH and I think that is the root of my problem. It seems like all that feeding with such a low pH has made the soil low in pH. I should be harvesting within a week or two so I think my plants will make it to the end but I am just trying to help them a bit and straighten things out for the next generation.
- Thread starter
- #755
Since I am in my ninth week of flower they pretty much are all old leaves now but the problem did start at the top so I would say it started with the newer leaves and worked its way down to the older leaves.
You’re right they will coast to the finish.
High Wally
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know of a deficiency off hand that is mobile from newer to older growth?
- Thread starter
- #758
Yes, it has been a slow decline and seems slower since I got my new pH meter so I think they will make it. I am monitoring my water in and out so I can get the next generation on track more than save this generation.
- Thread starter
- #759
I was told it was calcium and magnesium or manganese I believe. But whatever the deficiency because I was giving proper nutes the consensus was that low pH was not allowing the plant to absorb the nutes.
High Wally
Well-Known Member
Lesson learned. pH is rather important. If we're only talking about a few leaves out of 50, not much to worry about. If the condition looks like a pandemic on many leaves, then we're talking about toxic health issues. I would classify your grow as a win! I bet you get high as fuck! Cheers!