i am new to growing bud. I have been growin just 1 plant, mostly sativa, for over three months now. The buds seem small and immature, but about 40% of the white hairs have turned red/brown. Is it time for me to harvest what little bud i have on the plant, or should I wait longer?
Hiya jstyled
First of all congratulations for being brave enough to take on a Sativa! Sativa and Sativa dominants aren't the easiest of plants to grow and are particularly tricky to know when to harvest as their long flowering time means the 'harvest window' or the timeframe of peak ripeness for Sativas can be quite long and can open and close during that long timeframe ie the 'peak ripeness' time can come and go within that 'harvest window'.
At the end of the day it's always going to be a compromise of yield v peak ripeness as Sativas are known for their skimpy yields and light fluffy buds if not given lots of light and a long flowering time.
The pistils or hair colouring is only a 'general guide' to ripeness and due to the long flowering time of most Sativas can take a longer timeframe for about 70-90% to turn red/brown.
Here's what you're going to have to juggle. The longer you flower the Sativa for the more yield you will get, but you also need to keep an eye on the Trichome spheres - you're shooting for about 50/50 clear cloudy. The balance is to get most of them 50/50 before any turn amber/brown but by flowering it for as long as you can so you increase your yield.
Patience is the key here I think !