Checking Trichomes? Unsure =

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by weksos, Apr 19, 2012.

  1. Alright guys so Im VERY close to my first ever crop :D
    But I am unaware on when to harvest ... I've been checking the trichomes but it seems as the trichomes are cloudy and clear? I dont see amber at all..

    How OBVIOUS is the amber? Does it stick out ? Or maybe my mind is playing tricks because I think I see some clear ones with a tinge of amber?

    Do amber trichomes go clear and turn amber or is it cloudy and stays cloudy but turns amber?

    My plants have been flowered for 9 weeks and the hairs on some plants have turned all brown and its receding into the bud... under non HPS light, the bud is VERY crystally with a tinge of brown to it ? But I cant seem to find these amber trichomes!

    I have the patience to wait but im scared i may leave it too long and let them get over-ripe?

    Genetics is "northern lights" but my other plants are exhibiting sativa phenos .. Ill assume thats the breeder's fault.
     
  2. Oh ya Im looking for a more couchlock high. I was thinking to harvest when 40-50 trichomes are amber? I still want to enjoy a bit of the high so I dont want to wait to 80% amber.
     
  3. it should be more obvious than not i guess... depending on how you are scoping them

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  4. ^ Thanks for the quick reply,

    Quick question. . when people say that the trichomes should be a percentage of amber, does that mean EACH individual gland? or the trichomes in a certain area?

    Here is a pic of a plant I harvested the top cola because It was experiencing heat stress directly udner the light... and the top of the bud had these yellow dry tips?? I was scared the light would dry the bud out so I harvested it finding virtually no amber trichomes ..

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    Looks like that top nug may dry to about 3-5 grams ... giving me a yield of maybe 6-7 grams total that plant after I harvest the lower buds ... A Little dissapointing but I guess thats what happens when you dont go with a reputable seed bank.
     
  5. Check the Trichome 101 link in my sig, there's some good pictures in there if you still need help. And as a side note, I wouldn't have harvested that. What's done is done, but if it's still growing you may have cheated yourself out of some bud.
     
  6. ^ Yeah right now it does seem like it was a tad bit early ... It looked the most ripe out of my plants but I guess it may take a few more weeks...

    Upon further inspcetion with my DSLR , (flipped my lens around) I found the TOP of the cola to have quite a bit of amber while going down the stem maybe 2 inches has very clear/cloudy trichomes ..

    This is week 9 of what is suppose to be northern lights .. I had a few mothers (suppose to be NL) which i took clones off of and a few of my clones are exhibiting pure sativa growth patterns. This plant seemed to be the most "indica" of the bunch with its shorter flowering time.. Though 9 weeks may have been good but I guses not...

    How much longer would you have left the bud?

    I had to take a pic of a pic on the view finder on my DSLR because my current laptop crashed and I cant upload pics through my sd card on this laptop...

    The first two pics are the trichomes towards the TOP of the cola (closests to light)

    and the last two pics are towards the bottom of the small cola, so maybe 2 inches down the stem.

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    question is from the trichomes , how much longer before it would be ready to pick?!

    Its hard determining how early or WHEN to start flushing ... I started a week ago but may consider feeding again ..

    also sucks because of genetics, I have a bunch of sativa like plants in my grow box (SOG GROW) and every plant is flowering at different rates (half looks almost ready, while theo ther half look like they have 2-3 weeks to go)

    This is my first grow btw, this grow was to determien which mother plants are favourable ... but so far none seem like theyre keepers .. esp with the long flowering times!!
     
  7. Eh the top two look ready to pick by my standards. The bottom two, no. But more importantly, you flipped your lens around? What do you mean? That works??
     

  8. Weird how the top is so much more ripe than the bottom.. Might be a PITA harvesting bud by bud but it beats having both ripe and none ripe bud.

    And yup I just took my 18-35mm lens off the body of my cam, and just turned it over and held it where the opening is, worked quite well and it saves you from straining your eyes looking at the trichomes!
     
  9. Yeah some people harvest like that all the time. Mine were always pretty evened out, so I just did one big chop.

    That is wild I didn't know you could do that and it'll still release the shutter. Though I have a Nikon, since I'm obviously way smarter and cooler. :p
     
  10. ^ I wish I could do one big chop, tops are maturing quicker than the bottoms and my strains arent even consistent :(

    and hahaha looks like we got a nikon fan boy over here! As long as the camera takes nice pics I'm happy :p

    Anyways .. Was hoping for a week 8-9 harvest, part of the whole reason why I chose the northern lights strain ..

    These look like they still have quite some time to go..
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    I've flushed all my plants for a week now , will it hurt the plants if I re-feed? I picked northern lights for how forgiving they are with a noobie, but these plants seem to be sativa dominant and well arent they harder to take care of ? Leaves are starting to yellow on them already.

    The plants are 9 weeks ... my estimate finish time would be probably ... week 13-14. Well thats if I wait for the trichomes to turn amber.

    what do you guys predict?
     
  11. Wait, NL is sativa? I thought it was indica. 9 weeks should be right. If the top is ready, the bottom shouldn't be too far behind. A week maybe.

    Acutally, I don't know if you should bother feeding. Maybe just ride out whatever's going on there.
     
  12. good info here
     

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