I'm not a complete newbie - I've done a couple of small personal use indoor grows before (1 to 3 plants), but not recently. I've read up on a lot of the advice here on when to harvest, and had good results following it with my previous grows, but I'm having an issue now that is confusing and if it's been addressed here, I couldn't find it. Here's the issue: the plant has been in 50/50 lighting for 64 days. The strain is Humboldt, growing in Foxfarm Happy Frog soil with Foxfarm organic nutes. Everything has gone fine, plant has been healthy and green with no problems. Within the last week, all the large leaves have been turning yellow and dropping off at an increasing rate, to the point where there are very few left now. It's mostly just buds and small leaves now. I would normally assume that this is a signal from Mother Nature saying "I'm done!", but the buds don't look quite done yet. There are still plenty of white hairs mixed in with the ones beginning to turn orange, and the trichomes are still clear to cloudy - I haven't seen any amber yet. So basically, it looks like the plant is ready to harvest, but the buds don't appear to be getting the message. Anyone had a similar experience? Any advice? Is it healthy to let it go another couple of weeks? Or should I harvest now, before it really starts dying? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
As a rule when you think its ready give it another week at least they pack on alot of weight in the last 2 weeks imo 😆
You want the trichs mostly cloudy with around 10-15%amber the pistils will turn orange brown and recede back into the bud as it swells patience pays off 😆
Ok everyone, thanks. I'll wait another week or two. It's lights out time in the 'greenhouse' right now, but I'll shoot a couple of pics and post tomorrow just for the hell of it.
A few shots from this morning. As you can see, most of the larger leaves that are left (lots have fallen off in the last couple of weeks) are yellowing and dying, but the buds still don't look ripe. Is it possible there's some nutrient problem this late in the game?
BTW, this strain - CH9 Humboldt - is said to have an average 52 day flowering period, and I'm currently at 65 days. So based on the 'operating instructions', I'm already overdue to harvest. But I attributed the slower finish to CFL lighting.
Fuck it. Pinch a popcorn off the bottom, do a quick moist dry in the microwave and find out just don't cook it.
Looks good I'd give it more time and get yourself a magnify glass look at trichomes I figured out for optimal the is almost all white trics with some just ambering up about 25%
Thanks. I have one of those mini microscopes, and as of yesterday, still no amber - just clear and cloudy / white. Still lots of white hairs on the buds too. But the leaves are still yellowing and dropping. I figure another week or ten days and there won't be any leaves left. BTW, as of the last watering, I'm switching to plain water, no more nutes. I'm doing it to flush the nutes, but I suspect it may also accelerate the dropping of the leaves.
Yah in the next week you will start to see Amber trichomes popping up. Best of wishes mate and keep up the hard work.
I am a 1st time grower of autoflowers, outdoors in containers, mid-atlantic region. I too am at the point where I am trying to judge the right time to harvest. I think that seed breeder guidance is approximate and you have to read each plant based upon the plant's appearance/conditions. As an example, I have this beautiful barney's farm little cheese, this saturday is day 70 from planting the seedling into soil. I topped the plant after 4 nodes and it now is 25", has some beautiful buds and the trichomes are glistening in the sun with resin. The fan leaves have been slowly dying off over the last 2 weeks and the buds have continued to grow. I also purchased a General Organics Go Box for nutrients and adhered to the nute schedule on the box. I highly (LOL) recommend these nutrients and the use of distilled water only! The breeder recommends a 65-70 day grow for little cheese. Right now all the top buds are a nice size but the ones beneath are a bit smaller. My question is should I harvest the top nugs and give the lower ones some more time? Will they swell/get bigger if I remove the tops? BTW, I believe weather this year in the mid-atlantic region was conducive to outdoor growing. anyone agree?
Never ever put your buds in a microwave, take the time to let it try out and you be please. As a rookie many years back I did that, thought to myself hey a quick way of trying but I found out I just burned the shit outta it and it tasted like shit.
i do agree, Farmer John...i am in the mid Atlantic region (north eastern Maryland) and weather has been conducive to growing pretty much everything actually and clearly, given my accidental crop of bud (see post in Absolute Beginners), especially good for weed cultivation...i do a full complement of vegetables, as well as roses, lilies, and a small assortment of other flowering plants and its been a banner year! Mr. BigBud...while microdrying is not optimum, there is a way to preserve potency and not scorch the flavor...i am a noob at cultivation, but i am an old head when it comes to prepping bud to smoke... my microdry technique (when it is necessary, and small amounts only!...this is not for a crop dry!): trim your fingers off the bud, make it nice and clean (save those, you can dry them too, if you want)...then take 1 ply of paper toweling and fold the bud/fingers inside of it...set your micro to 30% power and hit your bud in 10-20 sec increments (i start with 20 for a good first go, then 10 for each round after that), turning the bud over between each cycle for even drying...if the bud feels more than warm to the touch, wait a minute before giving it another go...do this until you achieve that slightly crunchy outer surface that still has a lil spongy inner spring to it... flavor is still gonna be green, but it will not be harsh if you are careful and have patience... another tip for smoking fresh bud dried this way: once it has been through the drying process, take a small, sharp pair of scissors and cut the bud up really fine and then smoke in a glass or steel pipe with a small bowl and a carb...fill the bowl but do NOT pack tightly....hit with just enough flame to get it burning, no more, toke long and slow and then cap the bowl with the carb closed... this ensures an even burn with virtually no loss of potency in the bud left in the bowl...in fact, you will either ingest all your goodies or cause them to soak into your remaining unburnt vegetation...