Okay, so we have 3 seed plants and 2 clones. We are growing outdoors. The two clones are CRAZY. One of the clones started budding about 8 weeks ago. In JUNE!!! This guy from the garden store, who only grows clones indoors, says we have to harvest it after 8 weeks, or the bud will start going bad. We're only in Mid August right now, and we live in California (if it makes a difference!) My dad says to wait until October, so it can keep budding but this dude from the garden store has my hubby convinced we need to harvest it now.... WTF? In my opinon, these buds still look like they have some growing to do....
i know, i know. but both our cameras are broken right now! all i can post are pictures from WAYYY back when... but sure, i'll upload em.... Okay, so the singleton picture is of the plant in question and was taken June 28th. You can see that it has some little flowers on it back then, and it started about a week before that. notice how it only has leaves with one, sometimes two fingers? the club told us it was acting crazy like that b/c the plants were on a 24/h light period before we bought them and stuck em outside. the one that had bud now, it still only grows leaves with one finger, but the other clone went back to growing 7 fingered leaves..... the picture with all the plants in it, well, the two back ones our the clones.
The guy at the hydro store is wrong.......let the plants mature out through October. What probably happened is that the clones came from a set light schedule (18/6 or 24/0). When they were planted, the days were probably not that long, and the flowering response triggered. The plants will slow down the flowering response as the light availability dictates. I went through the same thing earlier this year with some of my outdoor clones. They flowered for a few weeks, then kind of stalled in their growth. Now they're growing crazy, with the original flowers way at the bottom of the plant.
The guy said you had to harvest at 8 weeks or they would "start to go bad"? jesus christ 99% of hydro store owners are idiots
But to the guy's defense, he doesn't work in a hydro store, he works at the regular old garden store. lol
As others have said, let it go. Do obtain a 30-100x magnifying glass or pocket microscope to observe the trichomes (trichs) color development for maximum THC development and harvest time. Lots of easily obtainable info on the net for that very necessary step before any harvest decision.
Your plants will be ready when they are ready, an abstract question really, research the colour change of trichomes during the flowering period and see some pics theres loads allover the internet. Or you could maybe try some of the following. Take the strongest magnifying glass you can find or take some close up pics with a half decent camera that has a 'macro' mode this mode is usually represented by a flower symbol on digital cameras last time I used this feature. As the bud matures the crystal on your bud or 'trichomes' that resemble tiny little glass mushrooms will change in colour from a crystal clear appeareance to cloudy white then finally to an amber brown colour, the pistils or white hairs will also change colour from white to brown/orange. Dont confuse pistils with tricomes as they both change colour. Even a cheapo magnifying glass will alow you to see way better than the naked eye so use the best readily available thing to look. The high will also go from a racy up and speedy high to a more lethargic couchlock stone as the trichomes change from clear to brown. Try harvesting and taste testing from now on as you are in the harvesting window of 8 to maybe 14 weeks (or more) flowering for some sativa strains. You didn't mention strain or genus of your plant so we can only guess as to the finishing time of your particular plant. See what kind of high you want from your buds, if you like the couchlock stone harvest late, the speedy high then harvest early when the trichomes are clear, nice an early. Enjoy your taste test
For $6-12 anyone can make their outdoor growing world a little more perfect. Even old-time, very successful growers I know who consider hi-tech watering looking at the ground around a plant to see if its still wet or dry and consider pH testing a waste of time use them.
i just cracked up at work man, customers looking at me like I'm an idiot ...sounds like about 75% of the old hippie growers I know to a t as for trich examination, I've tried a plethora of different loupes and other magnifying devices and have yet to find a better tool for this purpose than a good old digital camera. I use a Nikon D90 with the macro lens and then blow it up on the big screen so I can use the digital loupe in Aperture... 50/100x to check for preflowers or 200x+ for trich exams...I've also used a plain old nikon point and shoot for this purpose and it works just as well if you can whip the macro function correctly
In their defense they do grow some serious organic weed. Most can look at a plant at any stage and tell everything about it one needs to know. And they do have the seed strains developed over years for geographically specific growing environments. Any new grower in their areas gaining access to their seeds and clones is way ahead of the game. Excellent and effective solution but judging by the majority of close-up blur images posted on this and other weed forums far beyond the average grower capability.