How long until harvest. (with photos)

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by Odissey, May 19, 2015.

  1. Hey everyone. 
     
    First off I want to make clear that this is definitely not a "I can't wait, when can I harvest?" post. 
     
    The plant is a Power Flower from Royal Queen Seeds,3weeks of veg and now 1 month 15 days after switching to 12/12 (6 weeks), LST'ed and some minor supercropping. 
    The strain is mainly sativa (80%+ sativa background).
     
    So my first question is: the seed company states this strain takes 8 weeks to flower, is this from 12/12 or since the first pistils appear?
     
    The buds look great and smell amazing with lots of resin, but a considerable amount of pistils are already darkening. They are also pretty small yet.
    So I would like to know how much do you think she has until harvest, and if you think the buds will swell up considerably the next days.
     
    What I am afraid is that she will be ready to harvest and buds will still be this small.
     
    Thanks in advance for you opinion.
     
     

     

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  2. #3 SomeRandomNewb, May 19, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: May 20, 2015
    Yep. Get 30x or better. Some people use 100x. Check your trichomes.. Once amber starts to appear the THC starts to degrade. Some people like 20% amber for more of a couchlock. That would mean every 10 trichs theres about 2 amber to every 8 cloudy. The last 2 weeks are when the real magic happens, they put on the most weight in the end. 
     
  3. Those flowers look great. Going to be some good orange/red haired smoke. Just watch them. You'll know when it's right.
     
  4. Ok thanks a lot for the help guys! But do you think they will indeed swell? Because they are small for what I was expecting at the moment
     
  5. Last 2 weeks will suprise you, youll know
     
  6. #7 RedganjaDown, May 20, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: May 20, 2015
    I have no way to answer as I've never grown that strain. Could be a strain characteristic. When you do decide to harvest them, give them 48-72 hours of total darkness before you cut them. I started doing this and I've found it puts the flowers in desperation mode. Helps them fill out to some degree, but also gets lots of THC/CBD's to the flower in an effort to save her. Does that make sense?
     
  7. A 500x usb microscope is worth every penny
     

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  8. The darkness is just to regen the thrichs rather than survival mode as light degrade the thrichomes and vaporises the terpenes..

    The swell will happen in last 2 weeks yours look like they have a little longer csuse theres still quite a fee white pistels
     
  9. Some strains put on a lot of weight early on, and some strains have a sudden burst right at the end.  A little bit of stress can extend the time too.  If I were in your shoes I would probably be looking at them with great interest from about 50 days, but not really expecting to cut them until about 60.  If they didn't look ripe, whether they were small or massive, I wouldn't be concerned about waiting even longer than that as long as there was no environmental problems like mould.
     
    When you check the trichomes with your glass, remember that some of those little buggers are 5-6 weeks old or more so there will definitely be amber trichomes all over the place, but they can still produce a flush of fresh pistils and new glands from one day to the next.
     
    In your pics, the dark pistils stand out because of the contrast, but actually they are way less than 50% of the total pistils.  They look good, stay cool.
     
  10. Well by the end of the day I always see a lot more darkened pistils. In the morning It's very clear that new pistils were created, so I wonder if I have a heat issue that is causing the pistils to die, and if this could also be a reason why they are still not swelling?
     
    During the last days she has been growing buds on the lower parts of the stems, but the main buds seem more or less the same in terms of girth, just with more pistils.
    Her smell is also becoming more intense.
     
    I have already increased the distance of the lamp to decrease heat but now I am afraid they aren't at optimal light intensity. They are about half a meter from the lamp, is this too far?
     
  11.  
    The pistils aren't dying, they're just doing what they do.  You are pretty far through your flowering period, so it sounds and looks quite normal.  The fact that you can clearly see visible new growth says that you still have some more ripening to come, and that probably means the buds will indeed swell some more.
     
    If you have a heat problem then moving your lights is a sensible thing to do, a few signs of it being hot so maybe that's for the good, but on the other hand they look pretty good overall.  The distance depends on how big your bulb is, half a metre is going to be okay if you've got 400w or better, but you'll have to decide if you prefer optimum light intensity over possible heat stress.
     
    I reckon just carry on as normal for 1-2 weeks and you'll be just about done.
     
  12. Can anyone show me what a standart swollen calyx look like? Those in the pics don't look swollen at all right?
     
    Do calyxes always swell?
     
  13. Less than one gram? Lol nah your going to have a decent harvest
     
  14. #16 pointswest, May 27, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: May 27, 2015
     
    The calyx will swell up to the size of a seed.  Don't rely on the seed bank for finishing times,  your plant will finish when it is ripe, not some date on a calendar.    Your buds are not large because you have several weeks to go.  As others have said, you need to get a loupe and start checking trichomes when the stigmas reach 50% brown.   The trichomes are the indicator of ripeness, not the stigmas.  There is no need for a long dark period at harvest, this is stoner BS and will not make your bud stronger.  To think anything you do in the last 3-4 days before harvest to make the plant stronger is wishful thinking, it took 8-9 weeks to ripen to this stage, more darkness will not increase potency.  When checking for trichome production look at several parts of the flower and sugar leaves to determine the % of ripeness.  Swollen calyx, receding stigmas, and trichome color are all indicators used in combination to determine the signals to look for when harvesting.
     
    You have several weeks to finish.  No strain that is 80% sativa is going to ripen in 8 weeks.
     
    PW
     
  15. Great this was just the answer I was looking for! I was afraid that the buds would be ready at the time advertised by the seed company, while not swollen yet. Also, I don't know if the flowering time they recommend is since the first flowers appear or since 12/12, because she only started flowering 12 days after the switch.
     
    I am aware I should get the magnifier as many already told me so. However, I have been looking for one around on the stores and haven't found any yet, so I will probably have to order it, which I was avoiding.
     
    Anyway thanks a lot for the help!
     
  16. Check ur local grow store they should have one cheap got mine for 6 bucks at my local hydro store
     
  17. Hey guys. So I already ordered the microscope, but it hasn't yet arrived.
     
    However, I have recently taken pictures of the plant and zoomed and the trichomes all seem to be milky, and the leaves are all getting yellow.
    This concerns me because I don't know if I should harvest, because I want a high effect and definitely not couch-lock, but on the other hand the buds are still small. 
    As you can see from the photos she looks almost the same, just some lower bud development:
     
    View attachment 157377
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    Compared to my mini plant which I partially harvested today:
     
    View attachment 157381
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    The buds on my mini plant, which has fallen when a seedling and stunted for a lot of time, are more swollen than my main plant...
     
    Thank you in advance for your opinion.
     
  18. If I increase the dark time do you think that will trigger swelling faster?
     

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