Knowing when to harvest

[nugghead]

OK, so, I sowed outdoor some seeds on April 17, they germinated, and now it's Sep 4 and I've got some ladies with a healthy crop of buds - first harvest. That's 140 days. Temps were mid-50's/cloudy for a lot of the summer, but for the last 2 months have been 70s and sunny; buds started developing about 6 weeks ago.

I bought a few cheap loupes off Amazon but they're not high mag enough for me to tell if the trichs are cloudy or not. About 3-5% of the tips of some of the oldest pistils have been starting to brown and wilt, more on the branch I pollinated.

Not looking for a couchlock so I don't want all the pistils to turn brown; but I'm having trouble knowing when to harvest for max potency of the THC/sativa/head high that I'm looking for. My genetics aren't well known to me but clearly mostly sativa and a lot of purple in the stems; buds smell a touch skunky and a touch berry-fruity.

What's the right way to know when to harvest? Do I need a better loupe? If so, what kind and where to get it?

 

[ijim]

Try to get a nice white neutral light close to the colas and look with your loupe's. If you are in North America and have Sativa dom plants outside you should have at least a few more weeks. But their are so many people doing weird crosses now that you never know what to expect. It is hard to tell by hair color with all of the designer strains out there. Just my thoughts

 

[angel4us]

radio shack about 10 bucks 60 - 100 magnification with light

 

[yesum]

30x is the minimum for me. I can see the trichs a lot better at 45x. On ebay they have cheap 45x and 60x scopes for like $5. I would wait till you can see at least some amber trichs, as there will still be clear ones as well at that stage.

 

[FreezerBoy]

That's 140 days.

It is and it isn't.

From the moment they're born, they try to flower but, the flowering hormone is allergic to light. All the hormones built at night, die during the day. When the days start getting shorter and nights longer, eventually small amounts of hormones survive. Every shorter day, more and more survive. Eventually, these surviving hormones hit critical mass and BOOM, flowers.

Because you're outdoors, you flipped the lights on June 22 (the day after the summer solstice.) Because all the days before were getting longer and longer, your plants were locked in veg. Its not until days get shorter that flowering hormones start to survive and you start counting. You're closer to day 68. Depending on location and how sativa your sativas are, you may not get a chance to "finish" before cold sets in and forces your hand.

 

[nugghead]

That makes sense, Freezerboy. If this year is like last year, we should enjoy a few more months of 60's - low 70's, so there ought to be time. It never really gets cold here.

I will try to get a better scope.

 

[Bud Light]

Dont go by the pistils ,you have to go by the trichs. If you dont want couchlock harvest when trichs are cloudy with some amber