Almost there!?!

[The Alchemist]

Okay i'm almost finished my first grow of Northern lights, just gone seven weeks so another week or two left but i have a little problem.
My buds have been fattening over the last week or so and the trichs are springing up all over the buds and the lower leaves are yellowing and falling off and its spreading upwards(even though i'm still giving them plenty of food) so all these things tell me that its almost harvest time.
However the trichs seem to be crystal clear all over the plant.

What i need to know is can the trichs go from clear to cloudy to amber over the space of a few days, 4 or 5, or does it take much longer. Just want to know so i'll be able to flush them in time.

Thanks!

 

[JJScorpio]

I assume you are looking at them through a scope? They are not going to change that quickly over a few days. I see no need to flush as you say the leaves are turning yellow. That means the nitrogen is very low. I would just start giving just water....

 

[The Alchemist]

I'm using a 30x microscope and there still clear. How long does it normally take for them to go from clear to orange? Just need an estimate?

 

[JJScorpio]

It could take weeks. Maybe for some reason they are not going to turn amber, but they should at least get cloudy. My NL were cloudy around day 35....

 

[The Alchemist]

Hopefully the'll start turning cloudy asap. I want to harvest when they're mostly cloudy anyway so here's hoping that in a week i'll be able to see something.

 

[Guest]

Dont pull too early man its easy to get exited and make a mistake,when you think it's ready for harvest and the trich's cloud up,give it 3 more days for the hell of it.

 

[The Alchemist]

I'm going for around 20% amber to 80% cloudy for my harvest time for the first plant and then maybe 60% amber to 40% cloudy for the second one. Just so i'll have a bit if varity within the strain.

I'm also thinking of experimenting with the curing of a few buds but i'll get into that at another time

 

[Guest]

Yea I was really into the trich checking thing for awhile too,I never felt any difference between clearish/cloudy trichs and amber trichs really,when I harvest most will be amber with a cloudy mix lol.After awhile you'll use the scope to check for spidermite eggs along the main vein of the leafback,and know instinctively when to pull your plants.A good magnifying glass for the veg phase is more important to me so I can identify seedplants sex without having to go 12/12 with it.

 

[linksys]

can you really tell the sex of a seed plant without going to 12/12?

 

[Guest]

Definately,3 out of 4 times normally,the exception is having to go 12/12 to sex them,not determinig sex in veg.A good magnifying glass is a must though.

 

[Dan42nepa]

my northern lights didnt really pre flower. They had veged for 2 months under 24/7 400w MH. I harvested one at 52 days and another at 57 days. The one at 57 days will knock your socks off. I personally cant get past smoking one bowl. you may not ever get all trichs showing not clear. maybe 10-20 percent still showed clear on mine but the rest were cloudy except for 20 percent amber. Also i had 3 females and each one is slightly different. One female I didnt harvest until 66 days because it took that long to mature. I also let that one get more amber because i wanted more of a sedating effect.

 

[The Alchemist]

Thanks Dan42nepa. I had mine veg for two months 24/0 aswell and they've had 51 days veg so far, though mine had preflowers going into the flowering stage so thats why i'm suprised it's taking so long for the trichs to change colour. Hopefully in the next week most of them will have gone cloudy.

 

[linksys]

ballastman - i had no idea that was possible lol... how powerful is your magnifying glass?

 

[Guest]

Just a regular one really,its not really necessary if you have good eyes,mine are old lol.Most seedplants I've grown I've been able to tell sex in veg by preflowers,I'd say 75% is a good approximation.Some you can veg till the cows come home and they just wont show until you switch photoperiods,but most will.Vegging 18/6 is my cycle or 16/8 so I dont know about 24/0 but I dont see why they wouldnt show in veg either

 

[smokeymacpot]

linksys, ballastman is not using 24/0 therfore he may well get his plants to preflower early. its nothing to do with eyes, its to do with him being too close to the amount of light/dark it takes for a plant to flower.
the rest of us that like our veg peried to be as vigorous as possible use 24/0 and wont see preflowers untill we flip to 12/12.

 

[linksys]

ahhhh i see now.... thank you for clearing that up for me smokey... i thought this was some sweet way to find out sex early lol

 

[The Alchemist]

I vegged mine for 24/0 and i got preflowers. Though i had them vegging for two months though.