Harvest Time is guided by trichomes, determined by personal flare

In some cases, though the trichomes could continue to produce more amber heads, sometimes the plant may signal its end of life and ripe-most state, in which case it is better off harvested in days time.

I never look at trichomes.

MickFoster said:

I never look at trichomes.

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Not even out of curiosity?

onegallongrow said:

Not even out of curiosity?

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Once you've grown enough plants you know what 'done' looks like without a loupe. You'll get there.

I like to base my harvest on the change of profile of each plant, it's hard to explain fosure but you just know when it's time and it's dank after you went through so much cycles with so much plants.
Most strains have some smell to them, then in late flower it will flip to overpower same smell or something else entirely, that's also a good sign things are finishing.

I rarely look at them either, but there is a personal preference. Amber trichomes mean the THC has degraded to CBN which will put you to sleep even in a classic Sativa. Most growers will tell you to wait for the trichomes to turn from clear to cloudy, with like 20% being amber. I prefer less than 5% (zero is impossible as the earlier they form the earlier they will turn amber) and don’t mind a lot of clear ones, as it typically gives a more uplifting buzz, but you can tell when the buds are mature enough to chop by the firmness and amount of dried up pistils. That’s why some growers will chop soon, and others will give it an extra week after maturity. To me the pistils tell more than the trichomes anyway, they also will tell you if something is herming out if you see a section of used pistils early in flower, as that’s where the pollen travels through to make a seed.

onegallongrow said:

In some cases, though the trichomes could continue to produce more amber heads, sometimes the plant may signal its end of life and ripe-most state, in which case it is better off harvested in days time.

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I don't really consider flowers ripe, I use that term for fruits and vegetables. What are these end of life signals? I notice the plant stops drinking water, almost entirely when you are at the very end. After the plant has eaten most of the fan leaves as it's starving for nitrogen it will start to eat the sugar leaves next. You don't want sugar leaf dying back into the buds because that's a recipe for bud rot.

Beeswings said:

I don't really consider flowers ripe, I use that term for fruits and vegetables. What are these end of life signals? I notice the plant stops drinking water, almost entirely when you are at the very end. After the plant has eaten most of the fan leaves as it's starving for nitrogen it will start to eat the sugar leaves next. You don't want sugar leaf dying back into the buds because that's a recipe for bud rot.

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Yes, I was referring mainly to yellowing and dying leaves. Also colas starting to bend from the weight. Not every grower will run into this, especially if they’re more experienced. I can hopefully avoid some of these things and have my next plant carry on an even longer and healthier life than my last.

Beeswings said:

I don't really consider flowers ripe, I use that term for fruits and vegetables. What are these end of life signals? I notice the plant stops drinking water, almost entirely when you are at the very end. After the plant has eaten most of the fan leaves as it's starving for nitrogen it will start to eat the sugar leaves next. You don't want sugar leaf dying back into the buds because that's a recipe for bud rot.

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Also come on now, flowers can definitely be referred to as “ripe” - it’s just one of many ways to comment on their maturity.