Harvest Question....thoughts please!

Hey everyone,

I am getting ready to harvest my first grow but I'm a bit conflicted about whether to chop or wait. I am growing 4 Liberty Haze plants and tomorrow it will be exactly 11 weeks since I flipped to 12/12. Barney's says 8-9 week flowing time....but I don;t trust the breeder on flowering time.

So here's the deal - the plants look ready. They have nice swollen meaty calyxes. 70-80% of the white hairs have turned amber and are receding into the bud. The leaves around the bud are yellowing and curling up. The plant is showing ALL of the classic signs that it is ready to harvest. That said, when I look through the scope, the trichromes are virtually all cloudy. A few select clearones here and there - but ABSOLUTELY NO amber. I recognize that amber is degraded THC - but don't you want to harvest just as the Trichromes start to turn amber? I keep hearing that the biggest noob mistake is harvesting too early. Too me it all looks done - but I'm worried that since I see no amber trchromes I am going to pull it too early and spoil all my hard work. Any thoughts??

if they are all milky, id let it go until i see a few amber ones. a few wont hurt the thc level. but it also sounds like you could crop today. up to you, but id wait a few more days

Yes agreed. Wait how ever long it takes to see 5-10 percent amber trichs. Then chop. My last strain was 80-90 percent receeded orange hairs, with nearly 100 percent cloudy trichs. I waited two weeks and harvested. Glad I did, buds had one final swell.

The leaves shouldn't be turning yellow, thats indicating your plant needs some extra nitrogen. Without a picture its hard to tell, but if your unsure, give it another week.

I'd personally take it now, but it's my preference to have it be a more heady as I like high THC and low CBD but I dont know the characteristics of the plant you have there, so I'd say it depends more on you preference, nothing wrong with letting it go a little longer though if thats what you're asking. also davickm1 is right your leaves shouldn't really be turning yellow but again like he said a picture would be nice. pictures are worth a thousand words.

White cloudy trichromes should start to turn translucent, then Turning a light amber color. I allways try to harvest coming out of that translucent to the start of amber transition. You have to take into account your cure.
you got your scope. Look at several flower clusters from top to bottom. Only harvest the flower clusters that are mature. (Your cola, and most of the flower clusters at the end if your branches) Leave the other flower clusters on your plant until there mature. (Sorta like picking strawberries. You only pick the best ones)
if its your personal smoke I would harvest this way. You'll have some better smoke. All the buds are matured the same.
if its comercial, I would just chop it.

Yup , pictures would make it much easier to give our Opinions. I am also im growing a liberty have right now as a mother and I have a few weeks before i take clones to flower. Would love to see what she looks like , cuz she is the only 1 in my garden in veg that has a smell a strong 1 at that...

Good Luck..

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll try and upload a pic later when I get home. The leaves aren't really turning yellow - just the very tips on the leaves coming out of the buds where it starts to curl up. Plants have been gettting sufficient nitrogen....so not concerned there. interstingly though, the leaves are starting to show a deep purple/burgundy tinge. Also one of the branches collapsed beyond repair from the weight of the bud. I chopped that one branch and started drying. I am going to smoke it when dry but before curing to see what the high is like. If satisfied, I'll start chopping the rest. If no good, I'll wait. Seems to me like a reasonable solution.

cocakola said:

Yup , pictures would make it much easier to give our Opinions. I am also im growing a liberty have right now as a mother and I have a few weeks before i take clones to flower. Would love to see what she looks like , cuz she is the only 1 in my garden in veg that has a smell a strong 1 at that...

Good Luck..

Click to expand...

Yeah - mine were pretty stinky during veg too. Wait til they start flower. They stink to high heaven.

Here are a few pics that I took two weeks ago. not helpful for my current dilemma - but good for you to see what the LH will look like.

hey darkstar check this out my brother!Newbie Central[h=1]trichrome 101[/h] in the [h=2]The Grow Room[/h] forums; i found this on another site... hope someone finds it intersting just a quick thanks too KamelRedLight from grasscity.... i ...


i forgot how to link it to the page lol but the thread is chock o block full of the best trich info ive seen here.

topfuel29 said:

White cloudy trichromes should start to turn translucent, then Turning a light amber color. I allways try to harvest coming out of that translucent to the start of amber transition. You have to take into account your cure.
you got your scope. Look at several flower clusters from top to bottom. Only harvest the flower clusters that are mature. (Your cola, and most of the flower clusters at the end if your branches) Leave the other flower clusters on your plant until there mature. (Sorta like picking strawberries. You only pick the best ones)
if its your personal smoke I would harvest this way. You'll have some better smoke. All the buds are matured the same.
if its comercial, I would just chop it.

Click to expand...

My growing teacher taught me different that this. I was told trichs go from clear ,then to cloudy then to amber and degredation. Then i saw this video and im thinking im on the right track but to each his own i guess.[video=youtube;er2Giw26ZUo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er2Giw26ZUo&feature=share&list=PL4DD7CAAB8 5313456[/video]

Amber = degraded...
If it was my plant, and it was in 12/12 a week longer than I was told it would take...
"Almost no clear tric's, most milky/cloudy..."
I'd harvest...or at least a test harvest/cure
You can harvest just a part of plant while you wait....

Hey thanks VT! Appreciate the Help on the Way! Once in while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right! I can't seem to find the trichrome 101 posting - I searched for it but it doesn't seem to come up. If you can link the page, that would be great.

As i mentioned in a previous post, I chopped a branch that had fallen over from the weight of the bud. I dried it for four days and smoked it (uncured) last night. The result: I was well baked and very impressed with myself being that it is my first grow. The girls are commin' down tonight.

haha wonderful my mang! I tried to access that thread and link the thread let me try again im def not puter savy lol.

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/147136-trichrome-101-a.html there ya go my mang!

Darkstar lookin good. And yes its totally normal for the leaves to yellow near the end. Dont chop early! It only does more good to wait. Are you looking at trichs? Its a pain but a good 30x led scope is essential.

bearing in mind that early is relative to the growers preferance smoke wise.

I was very happy with what I smoked last night. If anything, the stone was a little too heavy with strong indica characteristics. It also carried a very very strong body buzz and would be an excellent smoke for pain relief. It was surprsingly smooth, being that it wasn't cured - but it did taste and smell pretty bad.

Thanks VT for the link - it is very helpful indeed. @Passout - I check the trichs daily. I have a 30x scope as well as a 60x-100x scope Virtually all are cloudy but none are amber - maybe the odd one here and there, but less than 1%. Based on my sample smoke....these babies are done! Thanks everone for your help and thoughts - all greatly appreciated. I will post some pics of the buds hanging to dry when I get all chopped, pruned and hung up. Wheel to the Storm and Fly!

I feel ya. Well a few more days will only help it mature longer. But by all means chop if ya want The smoke test works for me too.