With these long flowering sativa's, how do you know when they're done? I see descriptions of "12-16 weeks"...that's a long window. I have always gone by tricome color...when I start seeing some amber, I harvest. The rest are usually half clear/half opaque. Should I be using another technique? How much difference does waiting a week or a few make? Does an "OK" plant suddenly become "great" when it reaches the ideal harvesting time? Just curious... Another thing while I'm here asking about long lived sativa's... When they're stretching, sometimes a branch will "fold over", or "flop over" with a crease in the stem where it folded over. It doesn't seem to hurt anything, does it slow the growth any? Lately, I've started folding over ungainly branches instead of tying them. If a branch is headed right for the light, I just carefully "fold it" and let the bud hang down. It's MUCH easier and like I said, it doesn't seem to do any damage. Anyone else "train" this way? Thanks!
When do you know they're done?
- Thread starter joeuser
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I don't like too much amber on my pure sativas. The goal is to get a majority of milky with just a few amber. Always look at different parts of the plant as with really long flowering sativas, lower flowers may be much older than upper branches.
Bending a sativa branch doesn't seem to have any deleterious effects, as far as I have seen.
Bending a sativa branch doesn't seem to have any deleterious effects, as far as I have seen.
when the buds start to swell up and hairs slow grow but if it is still packing on weight keep her growing especially if they are not swelling up yet.
I used to focus on the trichs and if they were milky or amber and then I tended to cut early because I saw a few amber trichs but now I wait for them to either swell up as they should or stop creating new hairs ie: new bud growth
I used to focus on the trichs and if they were milky or amber and then I tended to cut early because I saw a few amber trichs but now I wait for them to either swell up as they should or stop creating new hairs ie: new bud growth
dunno, my only pure sativa (vietnamese strain.)
pretty much kicks my ass, even just the leaves in veg state (need to smoke more but leaves me feeling drunk after a few hits.)
it never really looks ready and does the job anyway, so i just cut it when i have lots of buds and leaves and dont want to wait no more.
leaves are nicely smokable too, wonderful flavor and far from harsh. buds are small but more potent, but not so much as you´d think.
with my indicas and hybrids, its when they look like absolute shit is when i harvest.
sativas can take up to a year, so who knows.
pretty much kicks my ass, even just the leaves in veg state (need to smoke more but leaves me feeling drunk after a few hits.)
it never really looks ready and does the job anyway, so i just cut it when i have lots of buds and leaves and dont want to wait no more.
leaves are nicely smokable too, wonderful flavor and far from harsh. buds are small but more potent, but not so much as you´d think.
with my indicas and hybrids, its when they look like absolute shit is when i harvest.
sativas can take up to a year, so who knows.
This is a good question because everyone wants to get the best quality smoke possible. I have plants that I've been growing letting them go a bit further every harvest(when I can). Being that most of my plants are clones except a few that I grew from seed(unknown breeder) I checked around the internet for flowering times and have realized that the flowering times are not always very helpful. For example, I have a hindu kush plant that says 7-8 weeks but is still poppin fresh pistils at 9 weeks 
. Most of my plants have been harvested early in the past but I have come to recognize the end of the bud plants bloom. Here's some signs your plant is NOT ready:
-poppin pistils (fresh pointy white hairs)
-fan leaves are still green
-tiny calyxes
-many stick-like trichomes(no head)
I've had plants with clear/cloudy trich's and a few amber that still could go another 2 weeks and swell up without amber trich's dominating the calyxes(just sugar leaf is predominatly red).
Sign's the plant is done:
1)cloudy round trichomes with some red round thrichomes scattered throughout*red always shows up in the older areas first so harvest according to your needs*
2) most calyxes are huge and chunky but have not swollen/grown much anymore
3) all the fan leaves yellowed and fell off(if you flushed)
4)the bud has not grown any new pistils and the last few white ones are curling around
5)the trichs glisten to naked eye like magic pixie sprinkles and you have an overwhelming urge to eat the plant.. or cut it down and dry and cure it, whatever works for you, medically.
*Hermie Bananas: Harvest Jerk
I read somewhere that at the end of a budplant's life, a female, in an effort to pollenate herself, will begin exhibiting signs of hermaphroditic status. My hindu kush does this and had been harvesting at 8 weeks max in the past because of me not wanting to have pollen in the grow room. Turns out, the pollen is weak and one of the plants is still going hard at 9+ weeks now. I didn't know whether to put this in the ready or not ready section so in the end, I'm mentioning it for those who may worry about the hermie bananas and are cutting back the harvest time in due caution. I've had this strain(the only one with H.B.) go 2 weeks past recommended flowering times and it seems to be done at 10(mostly cloudy) to 11 (amberizing)weeks. I just pulled a 10.5 week hindu and it's good
Well I hope that my observations have helped you figure out the right or wrong time to harvest your flowers.
. Most of my plants have been harvested early in the past but I have come to recognize the end of the bud plants bloom. Here's some signs your plant is NOT ready:-poppin pistils (fresh pointy white hairs)
-fan leaves are still green
-tiny calyxes
-many stick-like trichomes(no head)
I've had plants with clear/cloudy trich's and a few amber that still could go another 2 weeks and swell up without amber trich's dominating the calyxes(just sugar leaf is predominatly red).
Sign's the plant is done:
1)cloudy round trichomes with some red round thrichomes scattered throughout*red always shows up in the older areas first so harvest according to your needs*
2) most calyxes are huge and chunky but have not swollen/grown much anymore
3) all the fan leaves yellowed and fell off(if you flushed)
4)the bud has not grown any new pistils and the last few white ones are curling around
5)the trichs glisten to naked eye like magic pixie sprinkles and you have an overwhelming urge to eat the plant.. or cut it down and dry and cure it, whatever works for you, medically.
*Hermie Bananas: Harvest Jerk
I read somewhere that at the end of a budplant's life, a female, in an effort to pollenate herself, will begin exhibiting signs of hermaphroditic status. My hindu kush does this and had been harvesting at 8 weeks max in the past because of me not wanting to have pollen in the grow room. Turns out, the pollen is weak and one of the plants is still going hard at 9+ weeks now. I didn't know whether to put this in the ready or not ready section so in the end, I'm mentioning it for those who may worry about the hermie bananas and are cutting back the harvest time in due caution. I've had this strain(the only one with H.B.) go 2 weeks past recommended flowering times and it seems to be done at 10(mostly cloudy) to 11 (amberizing)weeks. I just pulled a 10.5 week hindu and it's good
Well I hope that my observations have helped you figure out the right or wrong time to harvest your flowers.
Hello joeuser,
It depends a lot on your taste, preferences, size of the plant and the growing conditions of the tropical sativa.
The maturing flowering window is long cos tropical sativas usually reflowers and reflower again under constant 12/12 photoperiod and good growing condition, or they mature fast under extreme cold weather or other stress.
Outdoors in non tropical climates usually the limit is the winter. In tropical-subtropical climates, maturing depends a lot on the size of the plant, smaller plants mature more uniformly, real big sativas can be harvested in different parts. Indoors is good to lower down uniformly the photoperiod from 12/12 to 10:30 and finally lower down a bit the temps. Another tip to mature them is suddenly change phtoperiod to 14 light/10 darkness in the last week.
Best wishes!
It depends a lot on your taste, preferences, size of the plant and the growing conditions of the tropical sativa.
The maturing flowering window is long cos tropical sativas usually reflowers and reflower again under constant 12/12 photoperiod and good growing condition, or they mature fast under extreme cold weather or other stress.
Outdoors in non tropical climates usually the limit is the winter. In tropical-subtropical climates, maturing depends a lot on the size of the plant, smaller plants mature more uniformly, real big sativas can be harvested in different parts. Indoors is good to lower down uniformly the photoperiod from 12/12 to 10:30 and finally lower down a bit the temps. Another tip to mature them is suddenly change phtoperiod to 14 light/10 darkness in the last week.
Best wishes!
