*Sigh* I think I already know the answer to this but I think I just need to hear it from someone else. I was getting ready to harvest my baby tomorrow as it has been flowering for 9 long weeks but after reading many different threads I'm not sure she is ready. Apart from none of the trichs appearing to be amber (looking through a 30x microscope) there are still a lot of pistils that are standing straight up and the calyxes don't seem as swollen as they should be. I just don't understand why she's taking so long. It's an indica strain which I thought are ready after 8-9 weeks. I guess my only other question apart from whether it would be wise to cut her down would be whether or not I should add any nutes if I decide to keep her standing. I've been flushing with pure water for the past 2 weeks...
this may help nug.... good luck http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-marijuana/424138-simple-harvest-cure-step-step.html
Pictures will help a lot. Different plants fully mature at different times. Don't let your perceived notions of when a plant is "suppose" to flower get in your way. It sounds as if they have more time to go. A large number of growers harvest way to early as opposed to harvesting late IMO. Listen to your instincts. Look at the plant"s overall look as opposed to just one key because there isn't just one. Leafs yellow? Pistils almost all died back? Don't look at just the color of the pistils. Are the calyxes swollen? Do the buds feel dense? Etc,etc.
Yeah thanks all for you help and advise. My instincts tell me that I need to wait a little longer on this one. I took some pics but the camera sucks so I don't know how much you'll be able to gather from them. I want to give her some more nutes if it's going to take more than a week. What do you think?
i just fed mine and they looked like that so I wouldn't chop just yet, wait for some more replies and read some stickys.
doesn't look ready. they look a lot like mine. you should read that thread i gave you the other day. that will tell you all you need to know about harvesting.
There are actually quite a few orange pistils there just hard to see with the camera I was using. Except for the main cola. The main cola hasn't really produced that many orange/brown colas for some reason. Right now it still looks like the chop date will never get here. Some of the pistils started to recede and the bracts started to swell up a lot more but there's still some stubborn pistils that just don't seem to want to recede. I've actually cut a couple of branches down because the buds were getting to heavy or the branches were getting to weak from a lack of nutrients but I'm still thinking the rest of the plant has at least another week to go.
I've decided to cut her down next Wednesday whether she's ready or not. Wednesday will be the 11th full week of flowering. If she's not ready by then... I'm gonna make her ready. I think she might be retarded. Can plants be retarded? I'm pretty sure this one is... In the 10th week of flowering most of the pistils are still standing straight out and I don't see any trichs with an amber color... this is BS!
what he said.. if they aren't mostly milky and some amber, chances are you may get a headache when you smoke it. they look great, but if need be, i would say go the whole 12. the plant is smarter than us. she knows when she is done swelling up. and then she turns those trichs amber. great grow so far. can't wait to see what you get..