I love Trichomes. A Few Flushing & Harvesting Questions

Hello,

I have a Nirvana White Widow that is nearing completion. It is on day 58 of a Nirvana-recommended 8-10 week flowering period. I have read a lot of information on here, but I'm not quite sure when to start the flush or harvest. Also a few questions on things I couldn't find answers on.

I bought a 40x microscope and was checking out the trichs. On low buds on the plant, most seem clear or milky, no ambers. On buds near the top, most seem milky with a few clears and a few ambers. Also the hairs of the bud, the low buds still have about 85-90% white hairs, while the buds near the top have mostly red hairs, probably around 90% red.

I was thinking about starting the flush now using tap water and Botanicare Clearex. However, I read some information that stated that you shouldn't start final flush until all the hairs are red. Is this true, can anyone confirm this? Or perhaps you could provide your experiences as input.

Also, about the harvest, I want to achieve optimal THC content (obviously). How should I handle the harvest, since it seems that different parts of the plant are in different stages. Should I chop based off trichomes at the top buds? Or should I chop based off buds near the bottom of the plant? Someone said to chop based off the lower buds, but it seems like the beautiful top colas might be a little overdue for a chop if I wait til the lower buds are in line. What do you think?

Thank you for your advice and input. Looking forward to hearing from your knowledgeable minds.

Cheers!

Mr. Bond

My guess is that unless you say to yourself, "fucking ahole! I didn't know so many trichomes could pack onto a bud/leaf", then you could still stand to pack on a lot of trichomes. They start small and then get plumper.. The heads gro on them; they get rounder.. they get bigger and bigger.. The heads eventually get so big they deform and lean over. You want to see like a bunch of amber and a ton of milky white and not so much clear.. At least that's what I want.
Soma says, "wait until you think it is done and add two weeks". If you have balls of steel, or at least patience like a monk, that thinking pays off in nuggets very few get to smoke because every one is in a hurry.

tommy

There's been some debate over when the trichs are ready. They say amber is better and some say cloudy. Depends what you like. There is a post somewhere on this forum (can't find it right now) but they provide some scientific articles that says when the trichs turn amber the THC is degrading and cloudy is the best time to harvest. You're going to have to find that article though. A lot of people disagree with this though. But, for me. Science is science.

As for the hairs, if they're white and you harvest them. They will turn red during the drying and cure process. So you shouldn't worry about the hairs.

Flushing, majority says two weeks before you harvest. For me, I don't know when that is because I harvest when the trichs are cloudy. So around week 7 I just water my plants with plain water and no nutes. I don't flush either. I tried flushing and I tried not flushing. Didn't notice any difference in smell or taste of the final product. So for me flushing is just a lot of extra and messy work.

If I'm not mistaken, and I may be, you can harvest the cola(s) and leave the other bits for later if they're not maturing
at the same rate. I'm with you, I wouldn't wanna risk that juicy cola going past it's prime.

just make sure you flush reeeeely well... i grew the same strain, really awesome high. i smoked it and made half the plant into bhang to celebrate holi.. it was awesome!!! i gave it a total of 6 weeks veg, 10 weeks flower/feed sched, then flushed it for 2 weeks.. so total flowering time was 12 weeks. so worth it.. i use a brix refractometer, it tells you when the plant hits its peak sugar production which tells you when its absolutely done.

Thank you all for the wonderful advice!!!

Mr. Bond