Radio Shack microscope

Yes it us. However, I have noticed as a newbie that seeing trichs is harder than you think. They never seem to turn amber on autoflowers.

Look at the timeline, and overall product.

I bought that thing, but it didn't really help me all the much,

 

I bought one, it's a pain in the ass to use, but gets the job done.

 

Kinda have to... I'm using it to check trich color. (judging harvest time)
Hence, it's still on the plant.. lol.
For 12$ though, it works pretty damn well!

 

Agreed:

- That is the pocket scope everyone on here talks about (now over $12? I think it was $7 or $8 when I got mine).

- Yes it is a pain to use because it has two adjustments, for zoom and for focus, and if you mess with one then it whacks the other, so it's a little tricky to get a good look at your trichs, but you can get the hang of it and it definitely gets the job done.

- Best to take a tiny snippet (like 1/4 the size of a grain of rice or smaller) and take it out of the grow space, away from the red flowering light, put it on a piece of white paper, and look at it under "regular" light. In fact, as you are getting very close to harvest best to take 2-3 samples per plant, from different parts of the plant, to see if your buds are maturing on the same timeframe.

 

Damn, you two have a very valid point now that it's explained.
I thought you were like... cuttin a bud off or something.
Bare with me, first harvest coming up. I'm excited
And yeah toasty, mine was like 13 after tax. Damn economy >.<

 

This is the way I do it as well, and I love this tool. It is difficult to try to view trichomes while still on a plant because there's no firm backing to prevent its movement, so it's extremely hard to focus on a "moving" object. Better to snip off a piece and place on a hard white or clear surface.

My unanswered question on this is whether it matters if I snip off a trim leaf, calyx, pistil (or even stem) to see the trichomes. Do the trichomes on each age at the same rate? Do the trichome colors on a leaf adequately represent the maturation of the flower? Because I intend to trim off as much leaf from the finished bud, I most certainly want to make sure that the bud is the age I want it, not the trim. Is there any difference?