Trichom Advice Please

GrEeNdAyZ

GrEeNdAyZ

Well-Known Member
Hey all,

My first grow outside. White Widow and Gold Leaf. I'm somewhat confident that they need more time...please advise. Breeder info says both are 60 a 65 days to flower and that would fall a week today...I know not to go by that but got confused when I saw some amber thrich's.

My bigger question is if I should give a couple more feedings, they both could use a drink, or if I should start to flush?

Also, I have used GH products up to now and my local hydro guy sells AN products...is an AN product recommended for flushing or is just PH'ed water the way to go?

WHITE WIDOW
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GOLD LEAF
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Yes they are ready!
 
No, they are ready to be harvested :)
 
conradino23 said:
Yes they are ready!
Click to expand...

I've only last season and this grow under my belt, so only know what I've learned but find this surprising. The Trichs do look ready, but I'd never of guessed that from the look of his bud. It's mostly white pistils. I had thought to not even bother checking trichs until they start turning color. Live and learn.

Zafu
 
I pulled a Trainwreck once with pistils completely white, but 20% amber trichs. Smoke was very potent and absolutely ready.
 
conradino23 said:
I pulled a Trainwreck once with pistils completely white, but 20% amber trichs. Smoke was very potent and absolutely ready.
Click to expand...

Thanks conradino23. This has been a good reminder and eye opener. I'll be checking the trichs on all my ladies today. Yesterday was our first rain since spring and stupid me, being in a rush, shook my ladies a bit too hard trying to get water off them and broke a branch off one. This particular plant I envisioned wouldn't be ready until very end of October; but in looking at the trichs of the fallen branch I discovered it might actually be worth drying and curing, so that's what I'm doing. Take a look, this is only after 6-weeks of flowering so I'm really surprised there is any clouding, let alone the amount. Ignore the date stamp on the photo; I need to update in settings of the camera. It's actually from yesterday, 9/20/2017.

rev_AG10_2.jpg


Cheers,

Zafu
 
Yep on your way to be harvested, a week more and she's ready.
 
conradino23 said:
Yep on your way to be harvested, a week more and she's ready.
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Thanks conradino23.

There is so much info. on the internet and so much of it can be misleading. Check out this link to "how to know when to harvest".. When to harvest marijuana plants according to trichome ripeness - Alchimia blog

Notice this comment:

"Regarding trichomes and what they tell us, Robert C. Clarke — in his book "Marijuana Botany" — states:

When resin trichomes are near their THC concentration peak, they have a translucent colour since the plant is still producing resin in the trichome glands.

At this moment, THC production is at its peak, while CBD levels are still low and stable, since molecules quickly become THC.

Terpene — aromatic molecules — production is also at its peak, developing gorgeously aromatic floral clusters.

Many growers harvest their cannabis plants at this moment because they prefer a more clear and cerebral psychoactive effect.

At this moment, THC has few sedative effects due to low CBD and CBN levels."


So while much of that is in-line with common thinking here, I always understood the above to be when the trichs are milky; not translucent. I may be splitting hairs here, but just curious on your thoughts.

-Zafu
 
It's misinformed actually, CBD goes down while THC is being produced, which is why you want to get CBD strains very early and translucent trichomes mean THC is at low levels. You want them completely cloudy for optimal effect.
 
Hey guys...thanks for the awesome input. I also had a discussion with they guys at my local grow shop. Something they mentioned was that about 3 weeks ago we had a few nights in a row that got down below 10*c (50f) and that that could explain some of the amber I'm seeing. Like Conrad has said they felt that harvest now would be great stuff but with all the obviously new pistols that are being produced that there was still a lot of potential.

I've elected to hold off for a bit longer increasing bloom nutrients and adding Overdrive to my regime. I also picked up some Flawless Finish so I'm ready to go.

I'm super paranoid about mold and rot though...our nights here in southern Ontario are consistently low 60's and 95 to 100% RH.
 
Hey GrEeNdAyZ !

I think you're doing the right thing holding off longer.

Yes, there are amber trichomes, but the GENERAL look of the plants is not right yet IMO. I'd wait until calyxes look very swollen, pistils are getting mainly brown (wether there are new ones coming out or not), some yellowing of leaves, even signs of fox-tailing, etc.

And the weather is still nice and hot for this late in September, plants must be happy :-)

It's hard to decide when to pull the trigger, and I CERTAINLY had a hard time deciding in my recent grow.
I kinda had the reverse problem... plants looked quite ready to me, but were late in showing opaque/amber trichomes, ahaha.

There comes a time when you know without a doubt that the plant is ready. After all, its an annual plant that is genetically programmed to DIE, and when it's not looking at least a bit like dying yet, it not ready I think. At least, it should have changed somewhat in general appearance, and show some of the autumn colors.

Of course, that's only my view on the subject, I'm by no means an expert, and different strains/genetics can behave differently.
I.E. White widow is ~60% Sativa dominant, and Sativas are supposed to make amber trichomes more easily than Indicas... But then they often say Sativas should be harvested later (in terms of ripeness) than Indicas.

Breeder info : I think in real life, plants rarely finish in the specified time, and surely not in advance. A week or two over the spec is pretty common according to my readings. My plants took 11 weeks. They were supposed to take 8 and 9 weeks respectively.
 
BluePhoric said:
Hey GrEeNdAyZ !

I think you're doing the right thing holding off longer.

Yes, there are amber trichomes, but the GENERAL look of the plants is not right yet IMO. I'd wait until calyxes look very swollen, pistils are getting mainly brown (wether there are new ones coming out or not), some yellowing of leaves, even signs of fox-tailing, etc.

And the weather is still nice and hot for this late in September, plants must be happy :-)

It's hard to decide when to pull the trigger, and I CERTAINLY had a hard time deciding in my recent grow.
I kinda had the reverse problem... plants looked quite ready to me, but were late in showing opaque/amber trichomes, ahaha.

There comes a time when you know without a doubt that the plant is ready. After all, its an annual plant that is genetically programmed to DIE, and when it's not looking at least a bit like dying yet, it not ready I think. At least, it should have changed somewhat in general appearance, and show some of the autumn colors.

Of course, that's only my view on the subject, I'm by no means an expert, and different strains/genetics can behave differently.
I.E. White widow is ~60% Sativa dominant, and Sativas are supposed to make amber trichomes more easily than Indicas... But then they often say Sativas should be harvested later (in terms of ripeness) than Indicas.

Breeder info : I think in real life, plants rarely finish in the specified time, and surely not in advance. A week or two over the spec is pretty common according to my readings. My plants took 11 weeks. They were supposed to take 8 and 9 weeks respectively.
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Hey BP,

It's funny, I just found your journal through our mutual posts helping out JJ an hour ago.

Well done with your journal and closing synopses...your attitude towards growing seems a lot like mine to just keep it simple. So I appreciate your input here.

I'm satisfied with my decision to let them go a few weeks even though mold and rot scare me. I have been using Safer Defender fungicide as a preventative all season and am going out now to give them another spray...I always have powdery mildew pop up on my roses each year so I know it's there, nothing you can do about it except deal with it.

And yes this weather is crazy...today is supposed to be 31* with heat and humidity warnings and breaking a temperature record of 26* from 1970...5 days in the 30's in late September, crazy.

I'll post a fresh plant and flower pic in a bit...I think there is some good swelling in a few days.
 
Zafu said:
Thanks conradino23. This has been a good reminder and eye opener. I'll be checking the trichs on all my ladies today. Yesterday was our first rain since spring and stupid me, being in a rush, shook my ladies a bit too hard trying to get water off them and broke a branch off one. This particular plant I envisioned wouldn't be ready until very end of October; but in looking at the trichs of the fallen branch I discovered it might actually be worth drying and curing, so that's what I'm doing. Take a look, this is only after 6-weeks of flowering so I'm really surprised there is any clouding, let alone the amount. Ignore the date stamp on the photo; I need to update in settings of the camera. It's actually from yesterday, 9/20/2017.

rev_AG10_2.jpg


Cheers,

Zafu
Click to expand...

This can be so frustrating to know when to harvest. That pic above is from 9/20/17 and this one is today, 12 days later and still not sure if I should wait.

10_02_2017.jpg


It appears the ladies continue to grow new trichs all the time, which is why there appear to always be some that are clear, so I assume it's just a matter of the majority being the cloudy and perhaps amber combo folks are going for.

Zafu
 
Zafu,

Your trichs seem mostly cloudy, with some amber.
What strains are your plants (mostly Sativa or mostly Indica) ? Its mostly preference, but many harvest sativas later (more amber) and Indicas sooner (a bit of amber).
What's the overall look of the plants ? Do they look like its the end of their lives or still very green and healthy ?
 
BluePhoric said:
Zafu,

Your trichs seem mostly cloudy, with some amber.
What strains are your plants (mostly Sativa or mostly Indica) ? Its mostly preference, but many harvest sativas later (more amber) and Indicas sooner (a bit of amber).
What's the overall look of the plants ? Do they look like its the end of their lives or still very green and healthy ?
Click to expand...

Hi BluePhoric,

I thought it was the reverse, because sativa tends to be more of an up; most harvest with less amber than indica. ??

I don't know the species of this particular one. It is supposed to be Barneys 8-ball kush but they look nothing like kush. They are tall; about 12-feet and leaves and flowers look like sativa; so I think it was a mix-up at the seed bank I used. They look like they have lots of life remaining, nicely green still, but I understand you can't go by that and state of trichs is the key.

Thanks,

Zafu
 
Zafu said:
Hi BluePhoric,

I thought it was the reverse, because sativa tends to be more of an up; most harvest with less amber than indica. ??
Click to expand...

Trichomes have more THC when clear, and transform THC to CBD when going amber. So later harvest for Sativa, sooner for Indica.

In your case, I think you dont have to hurry your harvest since they seem Sativa-dominant. But it's all preference. Some even prefer to wait for the plant to foxtail and harvest very late.

State of the trichs is one main key, but experienced growers (I'm not) seem to look at all aspects of the plant to decide. They say the plant "tells you" when it's ready. ;-)

How are the pistils ? Is there new ones appearing all the time ? How are the calyxes, did they get very "plump" recently ? Changes in bud colors ? etc.
 
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