Does this look ready to pull?

[Herborizer]

Trichomes cant be seen with the naked eye? Huh? I can see them. While I may not be able to determine their color or cloudyness, I can certainly see them! Secondly, you don't need a jewelers loupe or scope to determine if a plant is ready to be harvested.

All you need are eyes better than a skunk.

They are fun tools but not a necessity.

That is all!

Good luck with your harvest navyguy, look forward to pics! And Yes, you can see the trich color with a decent camera, my 10 Mega Pixel picks them up rather well. But I dont base my harvest date around trich color, more so calyxe swell and overall appearance.

Well you are probably right, there are probably some people who can see them. Though, isn't it sort of like browsing the Internet on dial up? . So far I harvest when all trichomes are cloudy and I see the first few specs of amber. That coupled with a great cure has produced, what others say, is A+ meds. Anyway, I am sure plenty of of the best growers don't use loops, but why not use one. Makes things dead simple for $3.

Also, it's great for finding mildew/mold. IMO the only sure way to know it's clean.

 

[navyguy14420]

I'm just trying to find that special day to pluck them out the ground. I think I'm more scared about curing them properly. Any advice on this?

The basics that are in my head are, hang them upside down on hangers, trimmed for about 10 days or when the stems on the buds can be just about snapped. then put them in jars and vent them for 15 minutes a day for about a week, then vent them every other day for another week to two weeks. Am I close here? do they need to be in jars in the dark? does it matter?

 

[Herborizer]

I'm just trying to find that special day to pluck them out the ground. I think I'm more scared about curing them properly. Any advice on this?

The basics that are in my head are, hang them upside down on hangers, trimmed for about 10 days or when the stems on the buds can be just about snapped. then put them in jars and vent them for 15 minutes a day for about a week, then vent them every other day for another week to two weeks. Am I close here? do they need to be in jars in the dark? does it matter?

You are very close. I read an article about curing from a guy who had won one of the past cannabis cups in Amsterdam.


He would make sure to flush the plants for 14 days before harvest, then chop. He would trim and then set to dry. He would dry for about a week or so until the stems just begin to snap. He said that the key was to dry them in a room at 70F at 45-50RH. Interesting enough, he says that light on/off doesn't matter (though I do this in the dark). Once dry, then he would put in jars and burp them twice a day (5 minutes each time) for 2-3 weeks depending on strain and bingo, perfect. Then you can keep them locked up in the jars and check on them about once per month to make sure they are not too moist.

I follow this method and have had some awesome taste and potency results.

Also, if this is for personal medical use (like myself), then when you trim you don't need to be too aggressive with the bud leaves. If it has trichomes you should leave them. My bud leaves are usually covered in trichomes. So what I do is just cut the very tips of those leaves off, because the tips are known to be harsh. Again, if for personal, you don't need to be aggressive here. Just cut the very tips (or anything without trichomes).

If for non-medical use, then you might want to ask someone else because I am not familiar. Though, most non-medical stuff I have seen are extremely manicured. To me I believe that is just a waste. I complete flush before chop, and a proper cure will give you the smoothest and tastiest results.

 

[navyguy14420]

cool, that clarifies things a lot for me. I have been saving pickle jars, jelly jars, mayo jars, etc. anything I can use to do this. I'm sure it would probably help that I have many jars in case something goes wrong and I end up losing a jar to mold or something. It wouldn't be a total loss. I can keep the temp to about 70, but I don't know about the RH. I'm growing outdoors so I don't have the equipment to monitor the RH. I'm sure it won't be a problem....I hope I'm growing these for my wife because she uses it for medicinal purposes. So I would like to be able to store this for a while without it going bad.

 

[navyguy14420]

I think it's ready!!!!

I think it's ready!!!!

just got my loupe in the mail and took it outside and tried to see the trichs. I saw a lot of the clear ones and it was hard to tell if they were clear or milky. So i got right up on the bud with the loupe and the camera and here's the pic I took. I didn't see the amber trichs until I downloaded the pic. so I went outside to have another look with the loupe and sure enough, there they were. I totally overlooked them. you would never be able to see them with the naked eye. it's hard to see them with the loupe unless you know what you are looking for. they are only amber on the leaves close to the buds, like within 1/4" of the bud and not on the outer leaf. So here's my dilema. I've only really started to give them straight water about 3 days ago. 5 gallons each morning. Should I just flood the thing today and let it go another day or two or just pull it today?