When to harvest?

[cyclops]

I've looked around, but this question is one of the basics that I'm having trouble getting a concrete answer on..

When should I harvest ?

I'm growing Sensi Skunk. The buds are very full, and have white "hairs" coming out all over them. They are stacked pretty thick even on the stem.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[JJScorpio]

If the hairs are all healthy, you have a ways yet. At the end the hairs will shrivel up and turn color....

 

[cyclops]

I read somewhere that the "hairs" will change from white to a dark amber color, then they are ready when most of them are amber.. Is that right?

 

[Lofty]

ye sometimes i wait till they're 100% ginger and the sugar leaves start going yellow, sometimes i cut them wen the hairs r 80% of the hairs r ginger. either way u want good change in colour.

 

[admiralcornport]

I read somewhere that the "hairs" will change from white to a dark amber color, then they are ready when most of them are amber.. Is that right?

The amber you are hearing about refers to the trichomes (crystals) .

Take a look in the cannibis harvesting page in the growers forum. There are a bunch of threads that will point you in the right direction.

Also, Plan on 8 weeks of flowering time, this is usually about the amout of time in flower a plant takes to finish, pure indicas will be shorter time and sativas will be a longer time.

hope this helps

 

[Guest]

Here are 2 pics for reference. Go by trichome color.

 

[linksys]

get yourself a microscope from radio shack, best 10 bucks i spent... and use the images DirtySouth has posted.

 

[514-Represent]

You guys rock! Most resourceful site EVER.

 

[Guest]

Yes get the scope,you'll use it for a couple years maybe,then you'll know when its time for sure without it.Thats when you find the real reason for the scope,to check on spidermites.Learn to spot the damage real early(tiny dots) and you'll need the scope to confirm the presence of eggs on the undersides of the leaves.You'll see,it's all you'll use your scope for lol.I do an underside leaf check almost every week now

 

[Dan42nepa]

I just ordered a 30x jewlers loupe online. I have the RS microscope but using the loupe would be faster if it works well. We will see.

 

[kooki]

well i agree and disagree lol .. I personally grow only a few plants at a time so using the scope to check trichomes is important to me, to get the plant at the right harvest time how i like it.. i smoke it so i want it how i like it , thats simple n fair enough..

Some people grow lots of plants, wether for self or commercial, and checkin every plant for hermie growth and triches can be a time consuming affair , and some things can be missed, so i assume many will take a general overview of the plant, and using their built up over time knowledge will judge the colouring of hairs , and the triches on a few plants to judge the harvest time, some may just go on hairs, as they are gonna be sellin this commercial..
Im no expert grower, but have grown for more than a few years.. and still i go with what the trichomes look like.. that is i look through flowering to see them build in both in ammount of the trichomes and the colouring of the trichomes.. when its nice and bulit up frostily, and he hairs are starting to colour and the triches are milky mainly, with some amber dotted about im happy, for others the amounts of amber or milky clear cld be diff to how they like it too.. i grow mainly indica varieties so my own experience is built on those types of plants..
As for checkin for bugs n eggs , also a great use of the scope, but i say if u have one, its certainly not the only things u shld look at, no matter how long u grown for, to me the only question to that is how much time u got how many u grow etc , if its personal and not many use every tool u can to get that plant how u like it( that often means growin the same strain a few times before u get the mix right) and u wont be dissapointed ..

 

[spensaur]

Here are 2 pics for reference. Go by trichome color.

THANK YOU! Those 2 pictures saved me a load of trouble.

 

[cyclops]

Wow thanks for all of the replies. There is some real useful information here!!