SOIL Trichome check and harvest time.

[PeckNS]

Hey experienced growers I’m looking for advice on when to harvest my girls.
Have a Critical Mass, OG Kush and White Widow (all autos from Canuck Seeds) started seeds to germinate June 14 so now at day 93. Have created a 6x6x6’ space with 440 cfm fan, 6” exhaust and filter.
Had a 600 watt MH bulb doing the work until Aug 25th when I switched to a 600 watt HPS. (Also have two OG Kush regular girls going at the same time ... rec. those seeds by mistake)
Didn’t realize I should’ve switched to HPS when the autos started to flower but I was looking to the OG regs to decide when to switch. Did I mention it was my first grow?
They started a little slow as I had the ballast turned down to 250w for a couple of weeks as I was afraid to fry them and then the late switch to HPS I think further delayed them.

White Widow is further along than the others, to me the Trichomes appear to be mostly white but no sign of Amber. I have read that sometimes White Widow doesn’t change to amber so I’m wondering how I will know?
Am using a micro camera for pics, doing the best I can.

Any advice would be appreciated and thanks.

[Pyro1711]

I have not heard that white window doesn't Amber... That's kind of a new one to me especially since I have one going now... Amazing that yours is an auto as well, and looks nothing like mine!! But, yours sure does look nice!! I'll be following this to see what others have to say about the no Amber.

[Redwasp]

Thanks D.A.A.S.69 I have 8 going atm and will be able to comment further when they are done. We talked about this last grow. I never had a single amber show even when every leaf on the plant was gone. But mighty fine smoke.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Redwasp, same way with the last 2autos I grew from New420Guy, They were showing 30-40amber at 60days, and that ain't no joke either, but they were both Sativas, and we were trying for 70-80percent amber, but they would never get above 40-50percent,after about 10more days, one of em, even started foxtailing a little bit, so we cut them both down, and if you come huntin ,I can't wait for you to try this stuff out, I ain't braggin, but this is some killer, I'm sure you got some killer two.

[Redwasp]

I am looking forward to it. And cant wait to see what you have. I learned alot from you my friend.

[Redwasp]

Some plants never turn amber. Not sure why. I still see alot ot clear. But can you get a better picture? But good that you got to this point. Growing these plants is very hard. Until and then it's easy. I think sending more pics would help.

[Redwasp]

But your plants are close or there. Very hard to tell. A bit small but you will learn with time.

[PeckNS]

Hey thanks for the responses. Yes this guy is short because I topped it to promote other cola growth. I also topped the OG Kush auto, the Critical Mass auto and the two OG Kush regs ...... the White Widow auto was the only one that didn’t continue to grow much taller but there are 8 to 10 beautiful buds on it. Will know to let it get taller and more colas if i choose to top again next time round.
The Critical Mass auto and OG Kush Auto are doing wonderous things given my learning curve. Will update thread with better trichrome pics tomorrow. In the meantime here are pics of the three of them.

[PeckNS]

Sorry all, I’m just learning how to use the forum. Having some trouble uploading photos and editing. Bear with me.

[Redwasp]

Looking good their mate.

[PeckNS]

These are new White Widow auto pics from today. Find it hard to get into focus with digital micro camera. To me some of the trichomes still look translucent or cloudy and not white and no sign of amber. I’m not in a hurry to harvest just don’t to let them go past proper time. Thanks for the help!

[Redwasp]

Yes give her some time

[PeckNS]

Thanks Redwasp that’s what I thought. Do you think she will go amber or should I go for it when they’re all white?

[Redwasp]

I would wait fo see if some go amber. No worries about waiting to long as the window is pretty long. When all go cloudy/white start flushing her. If none have gone amber after a nice flush then harvest when your ready. White widow is some great smoke. But I've talked to alot ot people who never had an amber trichome show up on one. Not to mention that I've grown quiet a few. People are disappointed in their smoke usually when they harvest with lots of clear trichomes left. Alot of people prefer all cloudy. On most smoke I prefer a decent amount of amber. But no idea why but a few strains just never do that. But I've never heard anyone say that white widow was not some really good smoke

[PeckNS]

Yes I’ve had some WW that was very good. Will give it at least a week and see where I’m at then. Will update when I finally make a decision.
Also looking forward to the Critical Mass harvest .... smells full of resinous delight, almost like Gorilla Glue #4.

[D.A.A.S.69]

PeckNS, nice pictures and nice buds,.
They are still early though, another week or two.Nice job

[PeckNS]

So on today’s inspection of my stunted White Widow auto I noticed that one of the second lowest buds was very dry and turning brownish. Only one bud of the four pairs. Have also noticed it has been taking less and less water the last several days so down she came.
If it turns out to be a little “speedy” in its effects that’s okay. I consider this one part of my learning curve and whatever I get is bonus. The other two are getting close, probably another week.
Would’ve liked to see if I could get it to go amber but it was clearly staring to die. (I think) Looks like it’ll probably yield 40-50 grams anyways so still worthwhile. Had success with LST on the others so I don’t think I’ll top autos again.

[Redwasp]

I've had many white widows never go amber.

[PeckNS]

Took some time and trimmed the girl up, not perfect but all the dry brown leaves were cut out and a large percentage of the sugar leaves are off. Removed the driest part of the brownish bud and it appeared much greener once crumbled. Have never tried uncured cannabis before so sampled it in my Pax3 vaporizer. You could tell it needed to dry out more but no harshness and no hay taste at all. I’ve had products from my LP (currently Tweed) that haven’t been as tasty or as good as this uncured sample. It’s absolutely White Widow!
Trimmed weight 70 grams as you see it so likely 45-50 grams once the stalk and moisture weight is removed. I’ll take that for my first cannabis plant ever. Won’t top a WW auto again .... could have had so much more yield.

For the record, at the end my trichomes NEVER TURNED AMBER. Only a very few of them even had a hint of amber with most still cloudy/white.

Thanks for the comments and advice!

[Toripony]

Congrats! After 12 weeks some of my WW buds started to dry out, too. About 1% amber, only on the sugar leaves, none on the calyxes. And, it was smooth enough to smoke right after harvest, too. So not a totally bad thing that I probably stopped feeding them too soon. Now cured, it is definitely the smoothest smoke I ever remember! Not a lot of flavor or smell, but I'll take no coughing over that.

[PeckNS]

Another TRICHOME related question fellow gardeners .... as I said before I have an OG Kush Auto and a Critical Mass auto that were started at exactly the same time as White Widow. That puts them at day 102 since put in paper towel to germinate.
TRICHOMES are mostly cloudy/white with a tiny hint of amber in a couple of spots. As with the White Widow, this week they are taking less water, the buds appear to be less fragrant and sticky. Is this normal as they are reaching maturity or are they likely as mature as they’re going to get regardless of TRICHOME color?

Not adding additional water until the two Smart pots get light again and I find out what I should be doing.

[D.A.A.S.69]

PeckNS ,at that age I bet they are ready, even without any amber.
I know on my plants, when they quit drinking, and start to look like they are drying out, I harvest them, regardless of amber.
You might want to try a sample ? Just to see how it is.
Anyway at 100days, you have got to be in the harvest window, I would think.
And whatever wet weight you got, when it dries, you will get one third, of the wet weight.
I hate to tell you to cut them down, without seeing them in person, but I bet they are ready, anyway good luck with your harvest.