Huel Perkins
Well-Known Member
I been growing the same cut AK-47 pheno for 4 or maybe even 5 years now. I love everything about the plant, structure, yield, aroma, potency but i have never been able to judge the trichomes to determine when it's perfectly ready for harvest.
It seems that the common forum belief here is that when the majority of the trichomes turn from clear to milky and when 20%-50% (depending of preference) turn from milky to amber it is ready for harvest. With this strain the breeder suggests a harvest after 7-8 weeks of flowering yet at 7-8 weeks my plant's trichomes are almost all still clear. I've actually let this strain go as long as 14 weeks and the trichs still never really achieve the 20%+ amber level. Another interesting trait is that the buds never really stop growing...
Weeks 2-4 are the standard pistil explosion of growth shooting from every flowering site on the plant. Weeks 3-4 are steadily adding mass to all the flowering sites. Weeks 5-6 is when the fur-ball looking masses of pistils actually start to appear full bud structure and dense with noticeable calyx development. Weeks 7-8 nothing much seems to happen, there is still some growth but the vigor in prior weeks seems to be put on pause yet the vast majority of the pistils (95%+) are still white and full of life. During week 9 is when the calyxes really swell up and the buds truly appear full, dense and beautiful. Although the bud looks full and ready for harvest, 90% of the pistils and still white and at least 75% of the trichomes are still clear. After 9 weeks the buds begin to get crazy fox tail formations and i tend to start loosing leaves as well as a great deal of yellowing and purple leaves. Weeks 10-14 continue on in the same fashion that week 9 ended, lots of color change in my leaves (losing the green) and lots of fox tailing in bud growth but still never achieving many amber trichs and still at least 50%+ clear trichs.
I've grown plenty of other strains that seem to follow the typical standards peak maturity in the last couple weeks (calyxes swell, pistils start dying off and trichs turn from clear-cloudy-amber) but this strain which happens to be my all time favorite just doesn't seem to follow the rules....
Has anyone gown a strain like this or just want to share their thoughts on it????
It seems that the common forum belief here is that when the majority of the trichomes turn from clear to milky and when 20%-50% (depending of preference) turn from milky to amber it is ready for harvest. With this strain the breeder suggests a harvest after 7-8 weeks of flowering yet at 7-8 weeks my plant's trichomes are almost all still clear. I've actually let this strain go as long as 14 weeks and the trichs still never really achieve the 20%+ amber level. Another interesting trait is that the buds never really stop growing...
Weeks 2-4 are the standard pistil explosion of growth shooting from every flowering site on the plant. Weeks 3-4 are steadily adding mass to all the flowering sites. Weeks 5-6 is when the fur-ball looking masses of pistils actually start to appear full bud structure and dense with noticeable calyx development. Weeks 7-8 nothing much seems to happen, there is still some growth but the vigor in prior weeks seems to be put on pause yet the vast majority of the pistils (95%+) are still white and full of life. During week 9 is when the calyxes really swell up and the buds truly appear full, dense and beautiful. Although the bud looks full and ready for harvest, 90% of the pistils and still white and at least 75% of the trichomes are still clear. After 9 weeks the buds begin to get crazy fox tail formations and i tend to start loosing leaves as well as a great deal of yellowing and purple leaves. Weeks 10-14 continue on in the same fashion that week 9 ended, lots of color change in my leaves (losing the green) and lots of fox tailing in bud growth but still never achieving many amber trichs and still at least 50%+ clear trichs.
I've grown plenty of other strains that seem to follow the typical standards peak maturity in the last couple weeks (calyxes swell, pistils start dying off and trichs turn from clear-cloudy-amber) but this strain which happens to be my all time favorite just doesn't seem to follow the rules....
Has anyone gown a strain like this or just want to share their thoughts on it????
