Trichomes: Theory To Practice Using A Microscope, Help Needed Please

[SQl2kGuy]

Here are the pictures I took August 26, 2019 so I can track this progress over time ...

Still no amber trichomes ... and still trying to get practice getting good resolution ...

Photo 42

Photo 43

Photo 44

Photo 45

Photo 46

Photo 47

​

 

[Elvin]

Here are my latest shots (GG#4 from Dr. Seeds a sponsor) cloudy but no amber; perhaps another week+ before the beginning of the chop.

 

[billy13778]

are you looking at the stem or the ball on top? some stems are clear but the ball looks cloudy. i know nothing and just trying to learn.

 

[Elvin]

are you looking at the stem or the ball on top? some stems are clear but the ball looks cloudy. i know nothing and just trying to learn.

I saw the clear stems as well and the bulbs are going to do some swelling as well. My progress from my last post is the clouding of the balls and the majority of the stems from all clear. They've also multiplied greatly. I'm thinking I'm going to start seeing amber next weekend and start very initial chopping the next.

 

[HydroponicFireman]

In that last pic I can see a few tips turning amber....looks like they had just started getting the red tint. Not too far off now....

 

[Billotto]

Hey everyone ... I hope this thread proves to be educational for many new growers like myself.

What I am trying to do is to relate the photos of trichomes on a RoyalQueenSeeds tutorial to actual photos I took today using my microscope.

MoKo WiFi USB Digital Microscope​

Here's the current scenario:

*** Post Date: August 16, 2019.
*** Medium: I am growing in FF Ocean Forest soil with 30% perlite.
*** Strain: Canuk Seeds Cheese.
*** Current Stage: Day 4/ Week 11 ... Day 74 ... late flower.
*** It got its pistels on Day 7/ Week 5 ... Day35 ... early pre-flower.
*** It is in the final 2 weeks of bloom.
*** Final bloom flush was on August August 13, 2019.
*** I am currently feeding full dose bloom nutes and watching the trichomes.
*** My current strategy timeline: Flush, Full-On Bloom Nutes, Stem Split, Three Days Dark, Harvest!

*** This was my very first time using the microscope to try and get photos.


*** My goal is to harvest when there are a mixture of cloudy trichomes and amber trichomes ... and even more amber trichomes to help with sleep.

*** I need to understand better what I am looking at here ... and if I need to take better pictures of the trichomes to make a decision, or if these pictures are good enough.

*** Do I need more magnification?

*** Do I need a better angle?

*** Do I look at the top of the bud?

*** Do I look at the sugar leaves?

*** Are these trichomes clear or cloudy?


Here are the pictures I took today that I need to understand better:

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

​

Thanks in advance!!!

These are some of the prettiest trich shots I've ever seen. Kinda makes me sorry I got a loupe when for $30 more, I could have had one of those babies. I didn't realize they were that affordable.

 

[Dutchman1990]

Typically when looking at trichomes your looking on the “calyx” of the bud. Sugar leaves will risen faster than the buds themselves and its good practice that when you think your plant is ready give it 1more week! You won’t be disappointed I promise!

I personally harvest when I’m around 20-25% Amber with mostly the rest being cloudy. Some may harvest earlier at first sign of Amber for a more uppy effect where as others will harvest later around the 40-60% Amber for a very sedative couch lock effect!

It really depends what end goal your looking for in your meds because everyone’s preference is a bit different!

This is one of my Pink Kush plants currently I was going to harvest this weekend but I’m giving her that additional week! I’ll post some new photos at chop next weekend.

074AAE24-87FF-436A-AFD4-89C8ECD0384A.jpeg

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

303DD72A-8931-4004-80E5-D505B662911E.jpeg

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

4EE9FD22-E0A6-4718-BAE8-04B9504E25E8.png

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

9685E07D-7CB4-4FCB-9E6B-E87CF6A0DC29.png

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

E95BE78A-B22F-4BEF-B5F2-B5A8A27048EF.png

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Here are my latest shots (GG#4 from Dr. Seeds a sponsor) cloudy but no amber; perhaps another week+ before the beginning of the chop.

Those look great @Elvin ... how close are you now?

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Typically when looking at trichomes your looking on the “calyx” of the bud. Sugar leaves will risen faster than the buds themselves and its good practice that when you think your plant is ready give it 1more week! You won’t be disappointed I promise!

I personally harvest when I’m around 20-25% Amber with mostly the rest being cloudy. Some may harvest earlier at first sign of Amber for a more uppy effect where as others will harvest later around the 40-60% Amber for a very sedative couch lock effect!

It really depends what end goal your looking for in your meds because everyone’s preference is a bit different!

This is one of my Pink Kush plants currently I was going to harvest this weekend but I’m giving her that additional week! I’ll post some new photos at chop next weekend.

074AAE24-87FF-436A-AFD4-89C8ECD0384A.jpeg

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

303DD72A-8931-4004-80E5-D505B662911E.jpeg

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

4EE9FD22-E0A6-4718-BAE8-04B9504E25E8.png

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

9685E07D-7CB4-4FCB-9E6B-E87CF6A0DC29.png

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

E95BE78A-B22F-4BEF-B5F2-B5A8A27048EF.png

• Dutchman1990
• Sep 14, 2019

Hope this helps a bit!

Very nice photos @Dutchman1990 ... I saw a few amber ... so another week sounds like a good idea.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

During my last grow, I was very concerned about heat and the trichomes being ruined; so, I harvested early when the trichomes were still all cloudy on August 28, 2019.

The smoke test we did two weeks into the cure proved to be very heady ... it made us laugh a lot and time felt like it was going by so slowly. Fun ... but I was really hoping for more of a sleepy-time medicine ... so, ... the next plants I will wait for more amber.

Right now, I have a few more autoflower plants that I will have to really watch the trichomes to know when to harvest them properly.

A few things are quite important to me now:

*** I need to be thinking more like a #TrichomeFarmer
*** I need to be very careful when moving the plants so I don't disturb the buds
*** I need to be careful to not touch the buds when pruning
*** I need to leave the fan leaves on that have trichomes on them
*** I need to prune gently from the bottom-up so I don't disturb the buds
*** I need to water at the bottom of the plant and not over the buds and leaves
*** I need to leave space between plants ... squishing them together breaks a lot of trichomes
*** I need to leave space between plants and the walls ... squishing them together breaks a lot of trichomes
*** I need to leave space between buds so they can swell and bloom properly
*** I need to monitor higher heat and humidity values to ensure the VPD values are inline with healthy flowering values

Basically, I have been too rough with my plants. I was originally thinking it is easy for trichomes to grow back; ... but nope, ... be gentle ... grow them ... and preserve them!

I plan to keep this thread going for a long time because growing trichomes, monitoring trichomes, and preserving trichomes is the primary reason we are all growing cannabis ... and we must get really good at it!

 

[Elvin]

Those look great @Elvin ... how close are you now?

Starting to see actual amber on the plant I've been taking pictures of. This weekend I'm chopping half of the top half of this plant and will let the rest go for at least 3 weeks more while a couple more matures (that way I'll have varying amounts of amber). Maturing of the plants can be extended another couple of weeks but I've already popped a couple of seeds and hopefully, I've got viable clones from 2 of the 3 current ones and those will have to get in the flower tent in 5 more weeks max. The one that is maturing first is just large heavy clumps while the later maturing one is building long colas; between those two and the two seeds just popped, I should be able to find one to clone so I can scrog and have a nice consistent clone to do it with. The 3rd one is going to be clumps but is so late-maturing I did not bother trying to clone that one.

 

[Elvin]

During my last grow, I was very concerned about heat and the trichomes being ruined; so, I harvested early when the trichomes were still all cloudy on August 28, 2019.

The smoke test we did two weeks into the cure proved to be very heady ... it made us laugh a lot and time felt like it was going by so slowly. Fun ... but I was really hoping for more of a sleepy-time medicine ... so, ... the next plants I will wait for more amber.

Right now, I have a few more autoflower plants that I will have to really watch the trichomes to know when to harvest them properly.

A few things are quite important to me now:

*** I need to be thinking more like a #TrichomeFarmer
*** I need to be very careful when moving the plants so I don't disturb the buds
*** I need to be careful to not touch the buds when pruning
*** I need to leave the fan leaves on that have trichomes on them
*** I need to prune gently from the bottom-up so I don't disturb the buds
*** I need to water at the bottom of the plant and not over the buds and leaves
*** I need to leave space between plants ... squishing them together breaks a lot of trichomes
*** I need to leave space between plants and the walls ... squishing them together breaks a lot of trichomes
*** I need to leave space between buds so they can swell and bloom properly
*** I need to monitor higher heat and humidity values to ensure the VPD values are inline with healthy flowering values

Basically, I have been too rough with my plants. I was originally thinking it is easy for trichomes to grow back; ... but nope, ... be gentle ... grow them ... and preserve them!

I plan to keep this thread going for a long time because growing trichomes, monitoring trichomes, and preserving trichomes is the primary reason we are all growing cannabis ... and we must get really good at it!

*** I need to avoid growing like Elvin who is kind of mean to his plants; "gently", "careful", etc. is not his forte

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Starting to see actual amber on the plant I've been taking pictures of. This weekend I'm chopping half of the top half of this plant and will let the rest go for at least 3 weeks more while a couple more matures (that way I'll have varying amounts of amber). Maturing of the plants can be extended another couple of weeks but I've already popped a couple of seeds and hopefully, I've got viable clones from 2 of the 3 current ones and those will have to get in the flower tent in 5 more weeks max. The one that is maturing first is just large heavy clumps while the later maturing one is building long colas; between those two and the two seeds just popped, I should be able to find one to clone so I can scrog and have a nice consistent clone to do it with. The 3rd one is going to be clumps but is so late-maturing I did not bother trying to clone that one.

Very interesting ... I like the idea of harvesting just parts of the plant. Thank-you for writing that out.

I am going to try to harvest all the plants on the same day so that I can use the flowering tent to do a few days of dark ... then cut ... then wash ... and then do the Initial Dry in the flowering tent.

For us, the smell in house is overwhelming after the cut and wash ... so I want to get all the branches into the cool dark tent with exhaust ... ASAP!!!

Last time I had to harvest and then start the drying in the tent with lights-on and high heat/humidity ... which ruined a lot of trichomes.

This time I planned ahead better and calculated a potential harvest of all plants on October 15, 2019.

This is why I'm thinking that clones and SOGs are going to fit nicely into my growing style.

I thought about a third tent just for drying ... but I just don't have the room for it.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

*** I need to avoid growing like Elvin who is kind of mean to his plants; "gently", "careful", etc. is not his forte

lol ... "Elvin The Trichome Butcher" ...

I was pretty wreckless with these expensive plants ... but I'm getting a bit better

ttyl

 

[Elvin]

Very interesting ... I like the idea of harvesting just parts of the plant. Thank-you for writing that out.

I am going to try to harvest all the plants on the same day so that I can use the flowering tent to do a few days of dark ... then cut ... then wash ... and then do the Initial Dry in the flowering tent.

For us, the smell in house is overwhelming after the cut and wash ... so I want to get all the branches into the cool dark tent with exhaust ... ASAP!!!

Last time I had to harvest and then start the drying in the tent with lights-on and high heat/humidity ... which ruined a lot of trichomes.

This time I planned ahead better and calculated a potential harvest of all plants on October 15, 2019.

This is why I'm thinking that clones and SOGs are going to fit nicely into my growing style.

I thought about a third tent just for drying ... but I just don't have the room for it.

I don't worry about smell while growing nor drying all that much. I dry by hanging them off the track of my closet door in my bedroom and try for at least 10 days of drying before it's ready to jar up. As for handling it; I don't trim very much so it takes longer to dry while hanging then I'll remove the bigger fan leaves (most of those should be yellow and maybe gone by now except for the branches from the first chop in which they are mostly still green) but will do the final trim of the sugar leaves while I'm prepping a bud for the grinder.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

I don't worry about smell while growing nor drying all that much. I dry by hanging them off the track of my closet door in my bedroom and try for at least 10 days of drying before it's ready to jar up. As for handling it; I don't trim very much so it takes longer to dry while hanging then I'll remove the bigger fan leaves (most of those should be yellow and maybe gone by now except for the branches from the first chop in which they are mostly still green) but will do the final trim of the sugar leaves while I'm prepping a bud for the grinder.

Interesting! ... I will have to try a few branches that way during this upcoming harvest.

Currently, I am leaving the sugar leaves on ... and hoping the cure will take care of the chlorophyll.

Actually ... I will do two tests ... one tonight with buds ... then tomorrow night I nwill do a manicured groom like you're talking about ... I'm curious about the difference.

ttyl

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Here are the pictures I took September 19, 2019 so I can track this progress over time ...

*** According to the web site:
*** Green Poison XL #1 should be ready for harvest around September 19, 2019 (8 weeks after germination).

Waiting for amber trichomes ... and still trying to get practice getting good resolution with dark photos ...

Photo 48 - You can see the LED reflection

Photo 49

Photo 50

Photo 51​

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Here are the pictures I took September 23, 2019 so I can track this progress over time ...

*** According to the web site:
*** Dark Devil #2 should be ready for harvest around September 23, 2019 (8½ weeks after germination).

Waiting for amber trichomes ... and still trying to get practice getting good resolution with dark photos ...

Photo 52

Photo 53

Photo 54

Photo 55





​

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Here are the pictures I took September 24, 2019 so I can track this progress over time ...

*** According to the web site:
*** Bakerstreet #2 should be ready for harvest around October 03, 2019 (8½ weeks after first pistels).

Waiting for amber trichomes ... and still trying to get practice getting good resolution with dark photos ...

Photo 56

Photo 57

Photo 58

Photo 59

Photo 60


​

 

[Elvin]

Here are the pictures I took September 24, 2019 so I can track this progress over time ...

*** According to the web site:
*** Bakerstreet #2 should be ready for harvest around October 03, 2019 (8½ weeks after first pistels).

Waiting for amber trichomes ... and still trying to get practice getting good resolution with dark photos ...

Photo 56

Photo 57

Photo 58

Photo 59

Photo 60


​

That "8 1/2 weeks" is best case scenario and likely is just cloudy w/o amber.
Add a week (or two . . . maybe three . . . . )