Harvest Help (please and thank you)

[shatzie24]

This is my first grow and I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself considering I've never successfully kept a houseplant alive...

It's been 78 days (34 flowering) and I know I'm getting near the end but I'm not sure how close... even though they are supposedly the same seed some of them look very different. I think there must have been some stress to a couple because 2 plants have 3-point leaves. Is there any concern for those 3-point plants?

Any thoughts on when to harvest? Any tips or tricks?

Also, once harvested what am I supposed to do with the tiny barely formed buds underneath? Is there any value in just harvesting the tops and letting the unders grow for a bit on their own? Any and all advice is appreciated!

 

[user 60570]

hey there

your plants look purdy

1. do not be unnecessarily concerned with the 3 point leaves

2. when to harvest thoughts?….yes , wait at least 3-5 weeks and then please ask again

3. tip or tricks?..no…just boring stuff like reading and researching When To Harvest Cannabis , or , How To Look At Trichomes To Tell When They Are Ready To Harvest

4. what to do with popcorn buds?….dry and smoke them

5. it depends on how one defines value…

.if you mean more buds , the difference would be minimal

but hey , why dont you do and experiment and harvest all the popcorn buds on one side of the plant , dry and weigh them , and then leave the other side to grow for a bit on their own and dry and weigh them and report back to us the difference?

cheers
big

 

[pute]

I use popcorn buds to make kief and bubble hash. I do trim up the bottom 1/3 of the plant. Nothing but suckers taking away energy from the top of the plant.

 

[boo]

another 30 days in flower if you ask me...get a loupe and examine the buds you will be smoking, nothing like being intimately familiar with your girls...as big said, read and learn about harvesting and trichome color...we're glad to help those that help themselves...

 

[oldfogey8]

At almost 5 weeks, as others said, you have a ways to go. Harvest times touted by breeders are usually wrong. You can count on 2 weeks or more from their number(if the say 65-70 days, figure on 80+ days). As boo said, an eye loupe is good to have. In lieu of an eye loupe, there are quite a few good USB/WiFi microscopes or lenses you can attach to your cell phone camera. I think @Slab has a good one and some pointers on getting good pics of your trichomes. Trichome appearance is the only way to gauge harvest time. Bigs suggestion to clip off some popcorn buds now and some later is good advice. Not only will you see a difference in weight, you will see a difference in the quality of the smoke and the buzz.

 

[shatzie24]

Thank you all for your insights!

I was thinking only a week or two more so thank you all for the advice! I will be patient and keep on trucking!

Boo, I think I've tried reading everything I can find on the internet about harvesting and trichomes (I bought a 40x jewelers loupe yesterday) but the problem for me is there is TOO much information and TOO many opinions that contradict each other that I get confused. Not to mention MANY of those opinions said to ignore the trichomes and just look at the buds. I figured the best way here was to ask directly about my plants to get a feel for where I'm at. I've never seen "real buds" before so I'm not entirely sure what they are supposed to end up looking like

Bigsur, I'm a scientist in my real life so you had me at the word experiment! I was already planning on fiddling with things here and there to see what happens but I was afraid of ruining everything. The way the internet makes it seem is like one wrong move and your whole harvest goes to sh*t. If I can get away with it successfully, I'm on board!
Oh and by "value" to the popcorn buds I meant do you think they will grow fatter once more exposed to the light after harvesting the top or are they as big as they'll get (at harvest time obviously)? I'm definitely going to leave a few plants behind to find out

One more question while I have you. I read (when it was already too late) that trimming should happen in the vegetative stage because of stress to the plant so since I missed my window, I started just trimming a few leaves here and there to thin them out with no real issues. Is that true? Does trimming too much during flowering ruin everything? Can I get a little more aggressive here?

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[oldfogey8]

I read (when it was already too late) that trimming should happen in the vegetative stage because of stress to the plant so since I missed my window I started just trimming a few leaves here and there to thin them out with no real issues. Is that true? Does trimming too much during flowering ruin everything? Can I get a little more aggressive here?

The majority of pruning should be done in veg but isn’t a deal breaker if you missed that window of opportunity. Plants in the wild have done fine without pruning for ever. Leaf removal during flower is best done slowly and methodically. If a leaf is blocking light to a bud site, you can tuck it away or clip it off. Fan leaves are like solar panels that help give the plants the energy the need for bud development but they also impede air flow which can lead to powdery mildew or bud rot(if humidity is too high which can happen especially when the lights are out and temps drop). So it is a kind of balancing act to keep as many fan leaves as you can while not blocking light from bud sites or impeding air flow. We all learn how to prune over time. When starting out, less is better and as you gain experience, you will get better at it. But no, trimming during flower does not ruin everything. The plants can handle a bit of stress fine and some schools of though say stressing a plant a bit is good for the plant. Supercropping is an excellent example of that. They are plants and have evolved to take some stress in stride. Bottom line is every new grower obsesses about their plants but most wind up very happy at harvest time. I think you will too.

Edited because autocorrect is rarely ‘correct’ for me.

 

[SubmarineGirl]

The majority of pruning should be done in veg but isn’t a deal breaker if you missed that window of opportunity. Plants in the wild have gone fine without pruning for ever. Leaf removal during flower is best done slowly and methodically. If a leaf is blocking light to a bud site, you can tuck it away or clip it off. Fan leaves are like solar panels that help give the plants the energy the need for bud development but they also impede air flow which can lead to powdery mildew or bud rot(if humidity is too high which can happen when the lights are out and temps drop). So it is a kind of balancing act to keep as many fan leaves as you can while not blocking light from bud sites or impeding air flow. We all learn how to prune over time. When starting out, less is better and as you gain experience, you will get better at it. But no, trimming during flower does not ruin everything. The plants can handle a bit of stress fine and some schools of though say stressing a plant a bit is good for the plant. Supercropping is an excellent example of that. They are plants and have evolved to take some stress in stride. Bottom line is every new grower obsessed about their plants but most wind up very happy at harvest time. I think you will too.

Well said Fogey

 

[oldfogey8]

Well said Fogey

I reread it and am unhappy with autocorrect for the millionth time…

 

[user 60570]

Thank you all for your insights!

I was thinking only a week or two more so thank you all for the advice! I will be patient and keep on trucking!

Boo, I think I've tried reading everything I can find on the internet about harvesting and trichomes (I bought a 40x jewelers loupe yesterday) but the problem for me is there is TOO much information and TOO many opinions that contradict each other that I get confused. Not to mention MANY of those opinions said to ignore the trichomes and just look at the buds. I figured the best way here was to ask directly about my plants to get a feel for where I'm at. I've never seen "real buds" before so I'm not entirely sure what they are supposed to end up looking like

Bigsur, I'm a scientist in my real life so you had me at the word experiment! I was already planning on fiddling with things here and there to see what happens but I was afraid of ruining everything. The way the internet makes it seem is like one wrong move and your whole harvest goes to sh*t. If I can get away with it successfully, I'm on board!
Oh and by "value" to the popcorn buds I meant do you think they will grow fatter once more exposed to the light after harvesting the top or are they as big as they'll get (at harvest time obviously)? I'm definitely going to leave a few plants behind to find out

One more question while I have you. I read (when it was already too late) that trimming should happen in the vegetative stage because of stress to the plant so since I missed my window, I started just trimming a few leaves here and there to thin them out with no real issues. Is that true? Does trimming too much during flowering ruin everything? Can I get a little more aggressive here?

Thanks again, everyone!

oldfogey explained the defoliation process real good so whatever you are doing , keep it up and you will have a happy harvest

what field of Science are you working in?

i was a Horticultural major but dropped out after a year to go to work at a dispensary

 

[shatzie24]

Thanks for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense. I'm a Marine Biologist by day

 

[RosterMan]

Thanks for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense. I'm a Marine Biologist by day

The sea was angry that day my friend

The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. I got about fifty feet out and suddenly the great beast appeared before me. I tell you he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence, he let out a great bellow.

 

[user 60570]

The sea was angry that day my friend

The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. I got about fifty feet out and suddenly the great beast appeared before me. I tell you he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence, he let out a great bellow.

was it a Titleist?

 

[RosterMan]

MAXFLIGHT

 

[user 60570]

that explains a lot

 

[boo]

shatzie, this is a real flower, just like most of the rest of the entries in the bud of the month contest...the more you look the more the opinions vary...stick to a trusted and true source for your info...many growers here know their stuff and are happy to answer your questions...the best thing about asking questions online here is if the answer isn't correct someone will chime in and get the facts straight for you...

 

[shatzie24]

So it has been 2 weeks and I feel like a check-in... loving the magnifier to watch the trichomes, HATE trying to photograph them

I'm seeing some amber in one of my plants and it is starting to yellow all over... I'm thinking it is time to harvest this one?

 

[shatzie24]

Still more time for my others... are these considered milky? How long until they turn amber do you think?

 

[Ganjier]

Looking at the flower I would say 1 more week. Let the pistols recede into calyx some.

 

[spunom]

To me, the super pretty first ones up there ^^ look like long sativa leafs with ripe buds, and the amount of amber you have is right inside the window.

Those second ones need more time. Darn fine job!