My plants have been flowering for a few weeks now and I was wondering when the trichromes start to show up. I hope to be harvesting in about 3 weeks. Will they be visible to the naked eye? What power of magnification would I need to see them? Thanks
sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if you haven't seen any trichomes by now your probably not ready to harvest in 3 weeks. But a "few" weeks could mean anything, exactly how many weeks are you into flowering?
They went into 12 hour light on July 10 and saw the first white hairs on July 20th. Maybe 3 weeks was a bit over optimistic. One of those buds would sure be nice for about mid September.
Some people use a 30x jeweler's loupe but I haven't found them to be that effective in judging the trichs. Radio Shack sells a small handheld 100x microscope for about $10 that works great.
Whats your humidity at? The lower it is the more there will be. If its around 60 there will be hardly any. Best to be around 40-45%. Ive also read about Uv-B lights adding to the trichome production.
I'm not sure what my humidity is at. It is sitting in a closet with the doors open all day while lights are on with the central a/c unit running. It couldn't be very high I wouldn't think. I bought a microscope from Radio Shack today. I looked at a fan leaf that I trimmed from it and it has what looks like little dots of light all over it. I plan on looking real closelyt at a bud later to see what I can see. I don't really know what I am looking for though. Maybe I can find a good pic of trichomes.
Looking at it under this microscope, I think this is trichomes I am seeing. The "light" I mentioned earlier was light being reflected off of the trichomes. Looking at another leaf closer to a bud the "lights" are much more numerous. When I look at a bud it almost look like a goo all over them. I guess those are trichomes. It would make sense that these are trichomes. From time to time I have had to trim a few fan leaves off. I tried smoking them once before and although it didn't taste all bad or homegrown, it didn't do much for me. Since then I have made hash with my little bit of trimmings. A week ago I had trimmed off several lower leaves. I decided to try smoking them again and surprise, I got a buzz. Nothing great but it was from lower leaves and was more than before. The buzz was a nice buzz too. Better than mids. This is my first grow. I have been meaning to get a humidity guage but keep forgetting. I will have one for my next grow that I am just getting started.
Four weeks after sex showed you should be able to see trichs with the naked eye. You can't use the naked eye to judge when the plant is ready to harvest, but you certainly can see the trichs. They will appear as a coating of sugary crystals, up close you should be able to see them as distinct, clear-ish bumps. It's possible your grow conditions and/or your genetics are poor and so you aren't getting many trichs. Pics would help.
I don't know I have always thought if I look really close I can definitely tell when they are turning amber.
Consider getting a dehumidifier. They keep the humidity low. The water it collects is distilled (but not drinkable) and as an added bonus you can use it to water your plants.
was it a fan leaf you used under the microscope? ime bud leaves are the ones ya want to check. i personally like to take a small snip off the tip of one (bud leaf) & put it on a white piece of paper to view.
azybaby are you asking how long it takes for trics to turn half cloudy & half amber? if so, that is impossible for me to answer. there are many factors attributing to it such as genetics & if the plant endured any stress. for a plant that is supposed to flower 42 days i would suggest checking about a week before & then every couple days til it gets like you want it. that's what i do. & if ya continously grow the same strian ya will be able to learn its specifics & not have to check so often.
trics turn amber when THC starts to degrade, when they start to turn amber you should pick em unless you want weed thatll put you to sleep...
i imagine many medical users look for this quality in their smoke. personally i prefer couch lock. & thats' the thing, it has to do w/ preference. some folks harvest when trics are half clear & half cloudy, which produces a more up, head buzz. but it's up to the grower to find a ratio that pleases them.
Swa_Swa, you can see with the naked eye when the trichs have gone mostly amber, yes, but by then it is too amber for most smokers' tastes, THC is already degrading, and the high will be more couch-lock indeed. I like to harvest when there is the first sign of amber creeping in for a more head high. Kirara is right, best way to check is to snip a tiny bit of bud leaf, put it on a white piece of paper, move it away from the grow-op to regular lighting (HPS can make everything look amber), and examine with a scope or jeweler's loupe.
