Hey guys another question. This has been my first time looking at trichomes with a digital pocket microscope. This is an autoflower strain that came in a mix pack so its 1 of about 8 different varieties all having a breeder harvesting range from 7-12wks. I'm on day 49 from seed and decided to check the plant out more closely to get an idea about what to look for. I'm seeing about 50%clear, 40%milky and 10%amber--if I had to guesstimate and put numbers to it. Question is the plant still has tons of white pistils that haven't curled in--more white than orange/red/brown. I thought the majority of the trichomes also would go milky first then amber, is this correct?. The plant is a hybrid I know for sure so I wanted to go somewhat half and half head/body high..I'm confused about the way the plant looks versus what the trichs are telling me. I tried getting a clear picture with my camera and you can see the amber trichomes if you look closely enough around the middle section of the pic..
with some strains of cannabis ,,they never seem to finish sending up the white pistils .others the pistils go reddish brown and curl up on the plant ,while again others the pistils sort of disappear inside the calyx ...so i dont never go by how the color of pistils are ,,,,, but Trichomes ,i go for mostly milky .white and not many Amber ,,,again its up to you to find out what ratio of Trichomes you like ,,,,but in saying that again different strains will be different again with the ratio of white,,amber ..if you can take a very small bud off the plant dry it over a couple days ,put it some where warm ,,and try it and work from there is the high heady you are looking for or more relaxing etc,,,,mac.
Yea I guess it would be best if I knew the exact strain. I'll never make the mistake of getting a mixpack again. I was too thinking about waiting until all milky and starting my trial and error from that point. Another question for you, do I need to monitor the trichomes beforehand and cut down before they all go milky or cut down when they all are milky---if thats the effect I want..Basically do the trichomes ripen more after being harvested? lets say I know for a fact in 2 days they will be milky, do I cut them 2 days beforehand so they ripen up or cut them exactly when they are milky..hope that makes sense
basic answer yep they carry on ripening as you flush before you harvest ..most people keep an eye on the trichomes ,,and say well they will be ready in 10 days- two weeks ,,so they then start the flush ,i usually flush for around ten days but ive probably not fed the plant for a week before i flush ive just given water ,you sort of get things right after you have done a few grows and get to know your plants as they mature ,,,most people will say they dont want to many amber ,,,some like more amber ,,,etc ,,so just use this plant as an experiment at first ,,just dont rush ,take it easy dont get panicking ,,and its your choice of have the high nd stone will be ,,mac,
I'm growing all organic so I won't be doing any flushes. I'm not actually smoking right now either, just growing and jarring up for awhile so I have all the time I need without being impatient. My 1st grow I was too impatient and f%ked up royally wasting a lot of time and effort I put into the plants trying to rush it. I've developed patience this time so I want to get it right.
ok mate i get it your organic .when youve got this plant harvested etc ,,you'll know a lot more about growing etc...i reckon you'll be fine ,,,but dont get to many amber trichomes,,amber means the THC is breaking down etc ,,,,mac
yeah the pistills are quite different on all the plants. I had a jungle kush plant that was almost all orange at the end and the trichomes looked great, all cloudy, about 20% amber, ect. My next plant was purple kush and that fuckers pistills changed orange right away! she had orange pistils a week after a bud formed! it was a strange plant though lol. So pistils is an okay indicator of when to check your trichomes imo.
Yea its looking like I need to just narrow it down to a couple strains I prefer and master them. Seems like the easiest way to know for sure.
Yea its looking like I just need to narrow it down to a couple strains I prefer, mastering them and taking all the guess work out of the equation altogether
yeah you also have to keep in mind there is a big difference between autoflowers and photos. It all depends on your situation and what you want to get out of it. For me, I like the heavy, narcotic, couch lock high. So thats what I look for in my plants, however, my wife likes more of a head buzz. So I always mix it up a little bit. For my situation autos wouldn't be a good idea because you can't control when to flower, and are less forgiving of mistakes. I have two tents, one for veg and one for flower, and I'm pretty much harvesting every 3 or 4 weeks with photos, but its not an exact science and having one start to flower in my veg tent would suck lol. but to the original question, pistils are not the best way to tell readiness. But, I usually use the pistils changing colors to let me know when to start checking trichomes. As far as what you get, man you will hear 50 different responses on it. I think mac is probably right when he says the amber means that the thc is starting to break down, so I usually just cut it down when its all cloudy and a touch of amber. What you could do is cut a nug off now, and dry it like normal, ect and then cut another one with more amber on it in a week or so and see if you notice a difference.
Yea I have several going now that I started at different times so I'm probably going to experiment with all the levels of cloudiness/amber...The general consensus seems to be mostly cloudy with few amber so I'll prob stick to that route. I grew a few years ago then got frustrated and stopped with photos b/c I didn't know what I was doing. Did major research since then and decided to pick it back up with autos figuring if I could be slightly successful with those being they are so picky that photos would come a little easier. So far I've had decent luck but they have been touchy bastards indeed LoL. I like to begin at master level and work down. Once I start losing money then I tend to get on track and focus myself more. Have a couple photos that were given to me I've just been experimenting with topping/fimming and supercropping on so helps to have some to throw down the drain if I screw up royally. I've learned a lot b/c most of them are actually doing good. Ran across slight probs but only with bugs and slight PM b/c they are outside but nothing major on my part so I'm getting there.