How To Know When To Harvest

Re: How to know when to harvest.

Ok people ... I am lost.I need help but I dont know how to help to mu self.
I have a strain that is unknown to me, and by now it is in the 9th flowering week and it has turned becoming brown or reddish.Ill post you picks.
My problem is that I cant find no magnifier from nowhere.And I can't buy it through internet.S can you please please tell me if this is the right time for my plant to be harvested or I should wait 2 or 3 weeks more.Because the plant at the moment doesn't have more then 15 grams of budz on it and 50% reddish hairs.And I want to have something about 30 grams.Can I made it like that ?? :)
I grow it with nutrients in soil, under 400W HPS.Now it is in the 10/14 cycle.So Is there any way to be said without seing the trich, when it is ready for harvest??
The strain is something like 80% Sativa.And yesterday I cuttet all the leaves.By the way they werent too much..

This is how the Plant looked like with leaves, so if you can tell what kind of strain this is ?
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These 3 pictures down here are taken today.Also you can see that I have cutted all the leaves so more light would come to the
lover budz.It's the third day without the leaves.
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This is the top bud compared to my hand
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So because of the fact that I dont have magnifyer, and that the budz are already compact, hard, and densed, And I know that longer period of flowering degrades the THC, considering all that, I am planing to cut this plant on 8th of October.Is it ok, what do you think ?
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

1st off ur plant can only put out out so much. This late in the cycle there's very little that can be done to manipulate yield. Its very important that u get some type of magnifier. No one online can see what u see. If u have an electronics store such as Radio Shack close by, they have small, battery operated microscopes, for around $20 USD. Or u can use a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe. Ur must monitor the size and color of the resin glands or trichomes to best determine harvest time. Just eyballing ur plant from pics, U may have at least another week. The buds still look like they're gonna do some more fattening up. Check out this llink for mare detailed info >What are Trichomes? Trichome 101
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Racefan, after reading two of your threads that answered questions I had, I had to register just to say thank you for your excellent posts.
I have been searching another forum (wont say which one) for a few days with no luck finding answers, but you my friend, are a wealth of knowledge.
:thankyou:
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Guest420, we have an excellent and supportive grow staff here. U can also check out posts from other grow support such as McBudz, Be Irie and Ms. Fox. All are an invaluable resource to us here and if u search their threads I'm positive u'll be privileged to a plethora of valuable 420 cultivation info and tips. Welcome to the community.
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Mista93 said:
The strain is something like 80% Sativa.And yesterday I cuttet all the leaves.By the way they werent too much.
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As you may know sativas take longer than indicas to mature...

So because of the fact that I dont have magnifyer, and that the budz are already compact, hard, and densed, And I know that longer period of flowering degrades the THC, considering all that, I am planing to cut this plant on 8th of October.Is it ok, what do you think ?
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I am growing an unknown sativa dominant strain (bagseed) and switched to flowering on July 1st give or take a day or two. I was hoping to harvest by the end of August at 8 weeks but as it is now 3.5 weeks past that you can see that didn't happen lol. I have been taking pics of the trichs on my plant for many many weeks now as both a journal and so i can observe their maturation.

The buds themselves did not really start showing any amber until maybe a week-week and a half ago and at that point it was minimal. The "sugar" leaves had amber trichs but not on the bud itself. I kept saying one more week...one more week...til I said screw it and would do it when she was ready lol. Fast forward a month to last night and I finally saw the trich ratio I was looking for (~70/30 cloudy/amber). Total flowering time has been 12 weeks...she's coming down tonight although I may leave some of the lower buds a bit longer as they are less mature than the middle/top buds.

Anyway, my point through all those words is that if it's sativa dominant eight weeks in flower is probably going to be on the short side. I'd say give it at least another two weeks but hard to say without actually seeing trich pictures. The hairs on my plant are maybe 65% red but I still see bright whitish/green new hairs popping out here and there. Either way hair coloration isn't a good indicator...however, if you look very closely at the trichs on your buds you may be able to see them shift from white to a creamier color but this is far from perfect and I only recommend it as a last resort.

If you have a digital camera with a macro mode you might be able to use that like I have been doing. Any particular reason you can't use the internet to order a loupe or something? Most companies will take money orders but it takes a few days to get it to them but I honestly think you probably have a few more weeks until that plant is ready. Why did you cut the fan leaves off? Were they already yellowed and dead?
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Anyway, my point through all those words is that if it's sativa dominant eight weeks in flower is probably going to be on the short side.

-Well Yes brother.The plant actually at the moment is finishing it's 10th week.I have said it wrong in the previous posts.So it is now in the 10th week, and I am planing to give it another 3 weeks more.

If you have a digital camera with a macro mode you might be able to use that like I have been doing.

-Yes, Ill try to do it today :)

I honestly think you probably have a few more weeks until that plant is ready.

-Well I think the same ;-)

Why did you cut the fan leaves off? Were they already yellowed and dead?

-Well, I think that that is the most stupid thing that I did.The leaves were good, green and perfect.But they just seemed to me that they are dry :S plus that I thought that If I cut them, there would be more light on the lower budz, and they will grow faster :S but I think that it was stupid.Cause now I think that the budz are growing slower because there are no leaves on the tree, only those arround the budz.Als I thought that there is no need of the leaves considering the fact that they suck food and nuttrients from the leaves, but I am giving the plant water nutrinets like, PK 13-14, Alga-Bloom, Enzymes & Phyt-Amin (from time to time), Green-Sensation. (all those are PLAGRON brand products.All for cannabis growing.
So, what do you think, is that a big mistake that i cut down all the leaves :S :(
And thank you for your advice bro ;-) I am planing to do the same like you, to cut the top and the bigger buds, and let the others to go for another week :) ... Also my hairs are now going to 50% reddish.But the only thing that scares me, is that my budz look a little bit dry when i squeez them or press them fith my fingers.They are sticky very much and smelll also too much :) ... this is my first succesfull grow ;-)

peace till ya next message ;-)
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

The leaves are what make the plants sugars and energy. Least now you know next time don't mess with em. I always pull the real yellow and dieing ones. But isn't it nice to grow one to maturity? Congrads. Without a scope tho you can guess bye looking at the hairs. When they start to die wait till they are about 1/2 the way dead looking. It's not the best way, but it will help. Once angain enjoy your smoke.
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Mista93 said:
So, what do you think, is that a big mistake that i cut down all the leaves :S :(
And thank you for your advice bro ;-) I am planing to do the same like you, to cut the top and the bigger buds, and let the others to go for another week :) ... Also my hairs are now going to 50% reddish.But the only thing that scares me, is that my budz look a little bit dry when i squeez them or press them fith my fingers.They are sticky very much and smelll also too much :) ... this is my first succesfull grow ;-)

peace till ya next message ;-)
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You're welcome!

Yeah, I'd say it was a mistake but it's one you won't repeat again :) And this far in to flowering (10 weeks) it's not going to matter too much. My fan leaves had yellowed and become basically useless about a week ago but I left them on as they did not come off with a slight tug, figured the plant was probably still pulling a little bit of nutrients from them. My fan leaves felt pretty dry the last 3 weeks or so but figured it was due to the high heat (pushing 90F at night, didn't seem to bother her though) as the soil was never bone dry all the way through so I left them.

Don't worry about the buds too much if you're properly watering. You may get some dry spots on the very edges here and there but the rest should be moist. What kind of temps is she growing in? If mine was ok at 90F for 4-5 hours a night I'm sure yours can't be any/much worse lol.

Congrats on getting a matured female...the growing is addictive, I don't know if my favorite part is the seedling stage where they grow extremely fast or the flowering stage where the buds start growing.

Let us know if the camera method works for you, it's not the easiest way to go about it but it works.
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Lil Neutrino said:
You're welcome!

Yeah, I'd say it was a mistake but it's one you won't repeat again :) And this far in to flowering (10 weeks) it's not going to matter too much. My fan leaves had yellowed and become basically useless about a week ago but I left them on as they did not come off with a slight tug, figured the plant was probably still pulling a little bit of nutrients from them. My fan leaves felt pretty dry the last 3 weeks or so but figured it was due to the high heat (pushing 90F at night, didn't seem to bother her though) as the soil was never bone dry all the way through so I left them.

Don't worry about the buds too much if you're properly watering. You may get some dry spots on the very edges here and there but the rest should be moist. What kind of temps is she growing in? If mine was ok at 90F for 4-5 hours a night I'm sure yours can't be any/much worse lol.

Congrats on getting a matured female...the growing is addictive, I don't know if my favorite part is the seedling stage where they grow extremely fast or the flowering stage where the buds start growing.

Let us know if the camera method works for you, it's not the easiest way to go about it but it works.
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Well brother I tryed to do it with the Macro zoom on the photo, so I think I made something.Here you can see the Trich and tell me how do they look like to you.Clear or Amber :)

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And here is the Plant it self, Big for about 1.80 cm.Budz are all over and some of the tops are bending.Here on this pic you can see that easy.Also I noticed that the hairs are 60% reddish.Take a look:

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So for now that is it.Today, I gaved the plant all the usual flowering nutrients.Also I gaved the plant another teaspoon of molasses.So that is it.From now till the next 10 dayz, I'll give it only fresh water,and air and that's it.I think I am ready with my plant.So it seems to me to be around 20 grams on the plant.I am OK with it, because despite that I am happy with my first grow.I must admit, I made some mistakes but that is the lession, for the next plant.
What do you think, is it ok ???? Ready for harvest in 12 dayz ????
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Racefan said:
You can wait 12 days to make sure. She looks good. Good job.
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Racefan brother I need Help.I don't know what is the problem with the plant, but 4 of all the tops that I have are bending downwards.But the othere 10 are not bending.There is not that much buds on those bending tops but they are still bending.Also the TOP is bending on the side.It seems that it is time for harvest but I also think that I maybe fucked it up by putting a little bit more molasses in the water :S .. I wind it fucked up because I didnt flushed my plant... tell me what to do ??? Should I cutt the bended tops and left the otheres to finish budding ???? Thankz ...
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

So people this is what happened to my plant.Last 2 days the plant had some problem.
First what camed to mu mind is that I killed the plant by cutting the leaves too early for no reason (which is so stupid), and by giving it more molasses then usual.So that caused the deat to my plant 4 weeks earlyer then the harvest ripenes.So this are the pictures of the plant before cutting some of the steams/tops:

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So in the next day they were more bended so I decided that I should cut this buds and leave the rest that are better to stay more days on the plant.Maybe they will survive and grow bigger.Yesterday and today I gaved the plant more watter because I want to give the roots fresh watter, so the buds that left will have clean watter and stay alaive if they can.And here next you can see the harvest of the buds that were cutted down from the plant:

But before we start we gotta roll a blunt so the work will be done smoothly ;-)

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And this is what I actualy got from the harvest of the half of the plant:

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So the buds that left, are going to be dryed for a week or 10 days.I left them in place like this, to dry not touching each other so no mold will be created.Is it ok? I placed them in a dark room, ventilated for whole day the whole room.The buds will dry like that for 7 / 10 days and then I'll cureing them for one week.That will be OK I think.

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So my final word of my plant growing, and the last product, I'll say this.

I am a little bit disappointed of the yield I got but all that is caused because of me.The diagnose to this is that I killed my plant by cutting too much leaves from the plant, so equally to that my plant died because it didn't had from where to get fresh air (such a terrible thing).
All I am thinking is that that is the factor of the death.But that is it.Nothing can be done now, but I am satisfied because I did the growing good through all the time.Maybe not considering the fact that I gave the plant 10 vegetable lightening weeks.But I am satisfied very much of the THC all over the plant.It smelled very good, very sharp someway.It had some taste of some chemical element :S god damn the smell was awesome :) something unforgetable to me :) it was sooo sticky.
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

That honestly looked like the weight of the buds pulling ur branches. U can tie them up with wire twist ties or string to a stake, the maim stem, or with push pins in the ceiling. Some use fishing line, others dental floss. Just remember don't tie too tight around stem. With proper support , heavy branches have a better chance of finishing. Let us know how it smokes. Funny how u black the eyes out, when anyone that know that face knows who it is, LOL.
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

Good job, mate! Have a nice smokin' happy hours and take care. Probably you are at least a week away before some mellow smokeable stash of yours. Don't be in a hurry and you will get where you want to go in reward. Check this real handy and reasonable info, brother !

Quoted from Unknown source:

1) Cut, manicure, hang your plants in a cool,dark place until totally crispy and smokable in a joint-- usually 5 to8 days. Optimum conditions are 68-74 degrees F and between 50% and 60%RH.

2) Place gently into wide-mouth glass canning jars. Closethe lid until buds sweat, usually 2 or 3 hours the first time. Openjars and let buds dry to crispy again. I only bother keeping large budsfor personal stash but if you do this with shakier stuff, you have toget some air in there and turn the buds over. Larger colas usually haveenough flow around them so you don't have to mess with them unless theyare really touching each other inside the jar. I don't worry about "ooodamaging the ever so fragile buds" by turning them in the jar. Whocares if you lose 2% of the trichomes to the bottom of the jar, bigdeal... be gentle but if you have to move them around, so what.. justcollect your skuff on the bottom of the jar and enjoy.

3) Repeatthe sweating process-- open the jar until crisp, close until sweated.After about a week of this (depending on location), you get to thatperfect point of curing where there is enough moisture to keep itsmelling strong but as soon as you take it out of the jar to smoke, itcrisps up and can be rolled.

Keep us posted about your smoke experience, it could be a real trill to taste something so Unknown ;) An while I am writing this it comes to my mind that you can always try something from the seed bank as you are already invested time and money. Those 400 HPS are just a miracle !

Good Luck !
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

So this is my buds harvesting.But they are not drying directly under the sun.This is just for the picturing taken out from the dark room where the buds are drying...

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But today, after 3 days of drying in a very ventilated room, I tested one sample of the budz.So there was nothing nothing at all :( plus that there was nothing of that beautiful THC smell.is that normalll :( :( i am scared that all the work is worthless :(
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

U may have harvested too early. Been there. Also i suggest hanging ur buds up to dry. Tie or clip the buds to a hanger. Then search curing and cure it. The buds have to go thru a process. After its all said and done it is possible to still have something to smoke. Hard to say without seeing and smelling. If it smells like hay or bannanas U harvested too early, at least that's been my experience. My 2 cents.
 
Re: How to know when to harvest.

BWC BayArea said:
U may have harvested too early. Been there. Also i suggest hanging ur buds up to dry. Tie or clip the buds to a hanger. Then search curing and cure it. The buds have to go thru a process. After its all said and done it is possible to still have something to smoke. Hard to say without seeing and smelling. If it smells like hay or bannanas U harvested too early, at least that's been my experience. My 2 cents.
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yes..It is harvested 3 weeks earlyer..because I killed the plant by cutting all the leaves by my stupid mistake.So the plant died and that is why they are early harvested :( but tell me will it get me high again :( ???
 
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