best time to harvest? please!!

[Soulman869]

i hope this doesnt seem like a stupid question, i've done my research, but i just wanted to make sure i got this right, this is my first grow. right now i have two plants, mohan ram, just starting their 7th week of flowering. the seedbank i bought from says to let them flower for 8 weeks. however recently on one of the other boards, someone said i should let them flower for at least 10 weeks. my question is, what is the surefire way for knowing when i should chop them? i know looking at the trichomes with a magnifying glass is one way, but is there anything else i should know? i dont wanna chop them too early, or too late. please someone help me out

 

[CannaExists]

You can harvest by pistil color but it's not as reliable...

... and here's a when-to-harvest-by-trich chart.

 

[Soulman869]

nice, thanks a lot. super helpful

 

[Soulman869]

the reason this is kinda important for me right now is, i have two plants that are the same strain, however the pistils on one of them kinda started to turn colors before the other, and on the one the pistils started turning, the bud on the main stalk isn't nearly as big as the other plant, idk this made me think it might be time to harvest it, since it's not growing as big, and the pistils are changing color, idk im gonna get a magnifying glass and look at the trichs

 

[DocLeaf]

There's no such thing as a stupid question! :wink:

CannaExists has good and helpful info. diagrams there

Harvesting is down to personal preference,, esp. when for medi. ,, earlier harvests are more uplifting in outlook and approach than the later chops from the same crops that smoke heavy.

Top tip: Check the maturity of flowers / plants away from hps,, under natural sunlight !
The hps and even house bulbs make plants/flowers look more mature than they are in reality.
Judging the maturity of flowers /plants and when to harvest them is itself an art

Hope this helps

 

[jonkanoo]

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[CannaExists]

sorry for the silly question, but how the trics can influence the type of high?

It has to do with the different kind of cannabinoids and how they affect the... effect. When the trichomes go from cloudy to amber the THC is degrading into another cannabinoid, I cant remember what's what but essentially that's what's going on. I'm sure there's a good thread or two on the subject here, I should probably peep one myself.

how much important is the lineage of the strain related to the maturity of the trics?

Hard to say, but you'll definitely get higher off of a sativa harvested at cloudy trichomes than indica at cloudy, and more stoned off an indica at amber than a sativa at amber.