How Much Longer Do You Think 'Til Harvest With Pics

Xeno420 said:

Go to radio shack and buy a magnifier for $15. Check the trichomes and/or snip a little bud, dry it and smoke up. You're the only one that can decide "how long". Don't be afraid about hurting the plant, just get a small bud from the bottom where they wont even grow big anyway. Good luck ^_^

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cannabisguru said:

*sigh* I guess I could help this noobie out.... but for now on people, please.. stop being so damn lazy and use your brains. I know its difficult for some of you to put your brain to good use.. but its really not that hard. Growing isn't rocket science.. nowhere near it.. but I've noticed with some of the questions that are being asked around here.. you people tend to make things MUCH harder than they really are.

This is the last time I will be posting this article. RIU has a search engine.. try using it! Or, there's this thing called GOOGLE.. might give that a try too, you'd be amazed at what GOOGLE can find for you.

Anyhow, here's the article.. and again, as a reminder.. this is the LAST time I will be POSTING this ARTICLE. No more after this post.. - thanks

Knowing when to harvest (the correct way)

Tired of not knowing for sure, if your plant(s) are truly ripe and ready for harvesting? Read this article.. it contains correct information on how to check to see if your plant or
plants are indeed ripe and ready for harvesting.


Is it ready yet?: This is by no means meant to be the definitive guide to knowing when to chop your plant, only my views on the subject.

Its my personal opinoin that 90% of the noobie growers on this site (And probably in general) harvest too early. By letting the plants go a little longer you're ensuring that the've plumped as much as they're going to.

Despite popular opinion to the contrary(and don't fool yourself, the jury is still out on this one) Recent studies have shown ;contrary to what was previously believed, that THC itself (And its predecessor THC-A) are quite guilty of causing the confusion and drowsiness associated with burnout and other cannabinoids (our friend CBN, and a handful of others) to be the catalyst (along with THC) to being 'high' rather than 'baked'

Regardless, whether or not theres any substance to the aforementioned study, its easy to get the high you want.

If you want a soaring 'cerebral' high: Get yourself a tropical sativa that contains a high level of THC-V and grow it until it is ripe.

If you want the narcotic couchlock stone, grow a rugged indica until its ripe.
Notice a pattern of growing it until its ripe? Its a really good rule to live by.

OF course we have to remember that there is more to a good high than just THC. At last count there are at least 66 cannabinoids, and we don't know what most of them do.


Now alot of people will tell you that you should harvest based on the colour of your trichomes. But (again, in my opinion) that is far too simplistic and there are too many variables to make that an effective strategy. I've made that point a million times before and i'm not going to re-hash it here,(maybe just a bit) but rest assured there is more to the picture than just trich colour.


A ripe marijuana plant will be filled in, will have an amber tinge to the buds. The pistils should have browned (or orange-d) off and receded into the buds. The seed bracts should be swollen and the trichomes should be sticking straight out with bulbous ends. Also, because you're coming close to the end of plant's life cycle, the leaves should have yellowed off and started to die.



Another very important (imho) reason to let your plants mature is Terpenoid production. Terpenes are responsible for alot of the complex (And enjoyable) flavours that cannabis produces. Some of the most intense flavours are produced on the "downslope" of cannabis's life cycle. My personal experience with this first came when i was growing GH cheese. One of the plants i harvested at 8 weeks and it tasted pretty nice and had pretty dense buds. The other i grew until about 9 1/2 weeks and it had most amazing, sour, skunky, delicious taste with rock hard buds.


If I could offer one piece of advice on picking the right time to harvest, it's all about watching the pistils. Not so much the colour, but the movement. They should have receded into the bud and the seed bracts should be swollen.


Follow this information correctly.. and you won't be disappointed. I know there are alot of incorrect articles going around. Hell, IMO, there is WAY TOO MUCH incorrect information floating around out there on the interweb.. and its hard to find correct information. However, this article.. is from my personal experience.. 5 years worth of growing.. and I just shared with the people that read this, how I personally check my plants to see if they are ready for harvesting. Again, keep this article somewhere safe where you can come back for future references. Lastly, once again.. follow this information, and you WILL NOT harvest your plant early.. but you have to MAKE sure you remember these important things in order to have a full ripe harvest.

Thanks for your time and thanks for reading.


Remember the following and you'll do great each and every harvest.. never worrying about an premature harvest again:

Maturation - Eventually the pistils start to turn color from pale white to red or brown At the same time the flowers close up, forming false seed pods. The small glands on the flowers now start to grow. These are called stalked capitate glands and are composed of a tiny stalk supporting a thin clear membrane. As THC is produced near the site, the membrane swells with the potent liquid. The membrane stretches and the gland takes on the appearance of a mushroom. When the glands have swelled and the pistil has receded into the false pod, the bud is ready to pick.



- One last reminder.. this is the LAST TIME this article will be posted by me. So, if your smart.. you might want to copy/paste this article somewhere on your computer.. so you have it for a future reference. -Thanks.
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