Ripe buds ?

The babes have been flowering for a little over 7 weeks. They definetly show signs of maturity (red pistils, calyx swelling, very visible tricomes) but maybe could go for another week.

If I want to let the drying period go for ten days, then I have to harvest in a cuple days. Do you think it's too early? I really don't have much choice, but wanted to know what the consequences of a little early harvest were.

Thank you.

i had to harvest one of my last grows plants at 7 weeks because of an unidentified problem,the weed from that plant was no better or worse than from the plant that went 8.5 weeks,but i'd only recommend harvesting early if absolutely necessary,couldn't you cut your drying time a bit?i've seen me get gear dry in 4-5 days,quicker if i point a fan in it's general direction

Yes I could, but I prefer having well dried and cured bud that tastes good than having a little larger harvest with an inferior taste.
What I want to know is how will the bud be affected if harvested a little early?

like i said,i never noticed any difference between the one i had to cut early and the one that went full time,this is a small sample of how it looked dry

I have yanked lower growth off of plants that flowered for 6 weeks and the smoke was just fine. I didn't see any reason to throw it in the trash, so I dried it, cured it, and smoked it.

Obviously you are lowering your yield quite a bit by going 1 - 1 1/2 weeks early, but the smoke will still be fine. Should be really cerebrial (sp?).

Does it relly make a big difference yield wise?? I'm not shure if it's better to wait one more week and let them dry in 5 days or harvest in a cuple days giving it a fair ten days do dry and cure.

Damn I don't know what to do!

just a thought,you aint gonna smoke it all at once,so if you harvest later and dry quicker,it'll only be the first few days worth that might not be up to scratch,as the rest can continue to dry and cure,perhaps split it for drying,small amount quickly,rest slow and easy

Thanx for the help eimer, but the problem is that the 14th I'm leaving town and don't have a chance to dry and cure after that day. So it all has to be finished by the 14th. The only question is if it's better to leave it to grow a little more and dry it in 5 days, or harvest a little early and dry and cure properly.

Looking at the pix what seemes to be the best solution?

well that has to be your decision,when it comes down to it,cured weed only tastes better,the effects are the same,so what do you want,immature fully cured bud or fully ripened not so cured bud,it's your choice man,are you going to be smoking it??

Well let it grow as long as you can looks like 1-2 weeks away from being completed.Even in 10 days you cant dry and cure in that time as the cure in jars alone should be 10 or more days alone.Preferably 3 weeks minimum

Yes it's only for me, so I'd like a pretty good tasting result.
FilthyFletch, I really don't have that choice. I have less than 2 weeks to have the final shit, then I will store it in a cabnet or something. Do you think it's better to spend more time drying or curing (in 13 days)?

Space, if you harvest a little early and your trichs are milky, the plant is not at the optimum THC content. That occurs when about 75% are amber. You will also get a more cerebral high (compared to couch-lock) than if you let the plant go another week. If your trichs are still clear, I'd say you will be losing some of the potency of the bud.

ohhhh those loooook realllll niceeeeee

Personally (imho), i would let it go a bit longer. They pack on alot of weight in the final few weeks. Besides, you can let it cure while you're out of town. You only need to dry it before you go and get it into the jars.

he has a REALLY good point, i didnt think of that i smoke too much weed.

well arent you supposed to open the jars once a day to let them cure slow? they definately need about 2 weeks from that pic, i would rather have really potent weed that didn't taste super good over immature bud that was dried well, the taste of under ripe buds compared to ripe buds is like comparing the flavor of underripe bannanas to ripe ones. i would let them go the entire time if i were you and let them dry while your gone, honestly i think those buds would dry in 5 days tops, and it would probably taste better to have mature buds without cure than unripe buds with a cure, not to mention much more potent.