Patience is everything around harvest... Be smart!!

Well I've read a bunch of thread lately with people asking.. Should I harvest or wait.. Or people harvesting way to early... Soo many anxious people to cut there crop down... ruining there whole grows.. Be smart if ur gonna grow a plant for 4-5 months why not let it finish it's full peak.. Patience is everything around harvest..IF ur hairs haven't turned 75 percent amber or ur trichromes are not milky looking... leave them up.. It's well worth it.. On a good note for new growers count the weeks from when ur plants went into flower... And don't touch it for about 8-9 weeks... They will look good about 4 weeks in but there not done.. For all the early harvesters out there.. Probably smoking some buds that taste like crap but would've been really good in a couple weeks.. I'm sorry to all of u who have done this... It's a shame to see people put in so much time in a grow but are so impatient to wait the last few weeks.. So they harvest early... I've read so many post on early harvest lately it's crazy... Smh... And remember a #1 rule in the end.." PATIENCE is EVERYTHING!!

seemingly common sense advice yet growers will still pick early

I agree, it is so tempting to just chop em down because they look so sweet and especially if you are low on meds and cash. But i know patience is by far the most important aspect to a successful season. I have to much on the line to settle for unripened meds. So yes as hard as it is, just think of what these ladies can do in the final weeks of flowering. I think size can almost double in those last few weeks. Also potency can increase substantially! So there is my 2 cents.

Happy Harvesting

grapdawg said:

it is so tempting to just chop em down because they look so sweet and especially if you are low on meds and cash. Happy Harvesting

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this is the tricky part haha! being a first timer myself, i've been proud of myself so far, as i've taken only a few SMALL samples, but most of us are probably in the home stretch now so stay strong!

Yes that is exactly what I do too. I make my self a "target harvest date". My general rule of thumb is, plant the 3rd week of March and harvest on Halloween. There was one time i got desperate and chopped half my harvest too early. And it tatsted like i was smoking that stuff that collects on a lawn mower blade. I got buzzed, but did not get wasted. Lesson learned. PATIENCE!

highground said:

this is the tricky part haha! being a first timer myself, i've been proud of myself so far, as i've taken only a few SMALL samples, but most of us are probably in the home stretch now so stay strong!

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Yep, I have one plant that was a freebie, It is farther along then the others so that one i have taken a sample from. BUT THATS IT SAMPLE.

good meaning does what it should taste potency flavors etc... all peak as these plants ripen... think of all herbs have a ripen aka harvest date picking before it may give you the results.. but you are loosing something by too early... and gaining (getting to sample is ok)


you can have good buds by waiting....(3-4 weeks from harvest date)
(betting that immature buds would get about 75%-80% here stoned or medicated---)

you can have greater buds by waiting longer..2-3 weeks from (.I usually sample a few end of week 2 and either quick dry or air dry enuf to get me wanting to do shit like the whole trimming crap i am NOT looking forward too.. (so excited year one tho... till about 10 mins into a 3-4 lb harvest)

and perfect buds waiting till what you see on the plant looks like a fresh version of what you are use to smoking.. then learning how to dry is another lesson...and user pref as well.. some like to cut the whole plant and hang some cut up.. some etc...

I refuse to look at the calendar! torture it is. It's hard enough looking in during light and seeing flourishing flowers to not want to "try" some, but after a couple grows one realize's that in a few weeks that sample will be knock yer socks off smoke. Let it grow!!!!!!!!!!!

im counting the days already and tbh i dont even have the urge to cut em down early but truth be told ive already cut a small branch that had a nice nug on it due to damage from a storm

I think the threat of theft is what drives most people to chop early. I personally am having to take a xanax every day just to keep the nerves down. I get spun up like a dope head .. minus the dope this time of year. no sleep, high anxiety and, heavy work load is a bad mix.

I have retreated to a Rollitup member to coach me. I had a 3 footer purple kush last year that I just knew I was gonna get pounds & pounds off of her. This year I have more. I've been itching to harvest. All preparations have been made & now I wait. Try and stay busy people, but don't roam too far from the garden. Now is a great time to take notes & photographs of your garden in order to help you out in future grows & believe me us stoners forget. Photograph the transformation from juvenile buds to mature ones that you'll be proud of! Now if I can just take some of my own medicine (literally).

Thanks Coastal! You are the Sensai of Sensi!

For me it's a race against the caterpillars!! So I'm glad I chose to grow so many different types as they will be ready at different times, starting next week.

I don't look at the pistils, what for? They carry on processing after harvest. I'll use a microscope to check the trichs. Full cloudy for knock out indica and I'm happy with 50/50 on my early sativa Jamaican dream.

Its risky as the buds become denser. You can't spray, u can't search properly. Heavy rainfall threatens with mold. Can u tell that I want them down?? Lol

lahadaextranjera said:

For me it's a race against the caterpillars!! So I'm glad I chose to grow so many different types as they will be ready at different times, starting next week.

I don't look at the pistils, what for? They carry on processing after harvest. I'll use a microscope to check the trichs. Full cloudy for knock out indica and I'm happy with 50/50 on my early sativa Jamaican dream.

Its risky as the buds become denser. You can't spray, u can't search properly. Heavy rainfall threatens with mold. Can u tell that I want them down?? Lol

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50/50 clear/cloudy?

It's easier for me to spot caterpillars as the bud matures. I got hit last year on my only plant. I had just fertilized so I had to wait. It's easier to spot that piece of bad bud & worm shit.

The more cloudy the trichs the more couch lock effect you get. This is more for my indicas. If I want the sativa high from my 90% sat plant then 50/50 is enough on those. It's personal choice. I know a lot of people who go over the rec'd time by 2 weeks and this leads to degradation and balls of trichs falling off.

i'm starting harvest tomorrow. i've taken down a couple branches so far out of necessity (branch rot) and can see it is about time to start moving.

i will start with any branches in mold-prone locations, like touching the GH wall. also will thin out walking areas where they will never get much light.

this should allow the rest of the ideal tops to finish up nicely while i work on the premature stuff. better to have premature stuff than mold, i'd say. especially since mold can spread.

but if you're not in a situation like mine in the GH, it is best to wait as the OP says. let it fill out and ripen. but be careful of the mold and mites and moths.

One thing that pushes people to harvest a bit early is when mold starts to enter into the equation. Where I live, moths lay their eggs inside the maturing buds, then the caterpillers or little bud worms if you want to call them that hatch, start eating and pooping in their "nest", the poo attracts mold especially with the onset of colder damper nights that start happening here anywhere around mid-September. Plus some strains that were started early enough and maybe even those which were triggered to flower a bit earlier by limiting day light exposure are close to finished, but probably by mid September are not quite perfect. I think the last stages of harvest for outdoor grows are in fact not so cut and dry - no pun intended - so I sympathize with everyone. You know, the plant is well into budding and nearing the end, educated thieves are waiting for the right time to pounce on your babies, bud rot is knocking at the door, your eyes are playing tricks on whether the trichomes are cloudy and amber or still too clear, the plant might be starting to look like the pictures of your strain that you've seen online that show when others have harvested the plant and the whole final decision gets tricky.

For example, it's Sept 17 at the time of writing this post and I have a Shaman auto-flower strain that started flowering earlier than all my other plants and by the trichomes, it looks really close, but it has not even started to get the purple look to it that it's apparently supposed to have. Everyone says to go on trichomes, but under a microscope, things are deceptive. From the outside, it just doesn't look purple enough, but the buds are fat, sticky and look mature. I also caught a few caterpillers on some leaves and am getting worried about bud rot and theives. It's not an easy decision, but I'm leaning on the side of patience and am going to wait, for better or worse.

I guess the best advice is to make sure you are aware of all of the mentioned factors and to not let anyone factor make your decision for you without considering the others. So, yeah, no easy rule of thumb, unfortunately...

my general rule of thumb is when i think its done, and i mean when i truly thinks its done and i would be 100% ok with pullin it at that time, i still wait another week. i know how to tell when bud is done you know when it gets that golden tinge and the hairs recede back into the bud u know its done. but the harvest window of peak ripeness is about 7-10 days so when i think its done i wait a week. ok maybe only 6 days once or twice...

southsacboy916 said:

my general rule of thumb is when i think its done, and i mean when i truly thinks its done and i would be 100% ok with pullin it at that time, i still wait another week. i know how to tell when bud is done you know when it gets that golden tinge and the hairs recede back into the bud u know its done. but the harvest window of peak ripeness is about 7-10 days so when i think its done i wait a week. ok maybe only 6 days once or twice...

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yep the whole bud gets a golden look and goes a few shades darker. if you go in the harvesting section, FDD posted a sticky on visually telling when a plant is done, by far I think it is the best harvest guide out there today.

I spoke to Eva seeds about 2 weeks ago and asked them if one of their plants had to be cut between 23-30 sept or would it run into the first week of Oct and they told me that'd be too long. I've started flushing now and this plant typically has white pistils at harvest which continue processing. Book time on 12:12 is 42-45 days.

i just cant see a plant being done in 45 days, dunno tho...