I have a question for someone who understands trichome development. Do all trichs mature once they've formed? That is, will all trichs turn cloudy / amber eventually regardless of nutrient deficiencies? I just hit week 10 of flower and my trichs are probably 50/50 [clear/cloudy]. I flushed my girls around week seven because I thought I only had a couple weeks to go. They're in small buckets for their size [probably all root bound], and since I've been giving them straight water for the last couple weeks, they're probably nutrient deficient. My worry is that either the flowers / trichs won't mature completely, or that their maturity will be slowed by a lack of nutes. Would I be better off switching back to feeding them nutes and / or molasses or is it too late in the game to do so without compromising taste? This is my first indoor grow, first grow with this strain, etc. If you can't tell, I'm getting a little antsy to harvest - I guess ultimately I'm wondering if someone can give me a time frame, given my stated variables. FYI, I'm using a 1000W HPS, 12/12, temp's on point.
You're doing it right. Trichs develop from nutes initially, then the color change is something that happens over time. Once the trichs are there they have everything they need to become cloudy/amber as long as you're giving them time. Now that you've started flushing the plant will start sucking whatever nutes it needs from the leaves, as those have become less important to the plant. 2 weeks of flush then you should be ready to cut and dry. Since you started flushing early you're going to see deficency in the leaves. You could start adding nutes and run the risk of affecting your bud's taste, or you could chop early and affect the end result high. Up to you. I'd probably cut and dry, and then see how my product tasted. If it's great, then good job. If it's ok or not as great as you were expecting, change your system and flush later.