The Trichomes are Whispering, But What Are They Saying?

[grouchyoldman]

@Farmbuck: Ah yes, Wine & Weed, the basis for a great friendship!

The Saintly Spouse & I have our Christmas Bottle ready: Clos Saint Michel, 2016 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Yummy!

"Wine is proof that Gawd loves us and wants us to be happy!"
-Benjamin Franklin

[Farmbuck]

Ah un connaisseur de bons vins, bienvenue dans ma passion mon ami..! You are right sir, I treat my weed like if it's a good Saint-Émilion. Wine is a passion of mine, I'm lucky to have great friends in France who they have relatives working in some well known Châteaux in the Pessac-Léognan area.

Chin Chin mon ami..!

FarmBuck

[grouchyoldman]

Change comes at you fast!

This dialog is getting very interesting. I have posted some updated pics below and you can see the overnight advance of the ripening process. It's hard to see in the pics, but a subtle color change is emerging, not so much snowy-white to dark amber, but a more general smoky tint over an entire calyx near the emergence of the rusty pistil. I think you can see much the same thing in the pics posted by 9fingerleafs above, more a "yellow-ing" than amber. That's kind of what Cannoli seems to be hinting at in his article.

The comments above reminding us that there is much more to this than Trichome gazing are spot on. Trichomes are only one metric in a holistic perspective to harvest time. As a grower, I want to understand and utilize as many "Levers" as possible to obtain the desired result. My background includes a great fondness for good wine and I've spent a lot of time prowling the vineyards of Napa, Australia, South Africa, etc. I spent a few Autumn months in the Loire valley, harvesting Muscadet grapes with a gang of pot smoking Frenchies. (Oh, to be young again!)

What impressed me most (besides the pleasures of great wine) was the control that the great winemakers had over their final product. That's what I'd like to have over my cannabis harvest.

So, it's definitely not about the percentage of Amber Trichomes as much as what those trichomes really mean in relation to the overall health of the plant, the size & constitution of the buds, etc. Everything FarmBuck & 9fingerleafs mention and probably some we haven't even noticed yet! The most interesting thing to me about Frenchy Cannoli's article was that even our reading of the Trichomes is still somewhat mysterious! Understanding that one aspect is my quest and the purpose of this post.

Despite all that pompous posturing, I'm still floundering in the dark here. I made some trichome color estimate notes on the pics, but it's total guess work.

Paz y Amor compadres,

-Grouchy

[Farmbuck]

Do you mean hacinado grouchyoldman ? Just kidding !! Well I ask myself at every grow when it's the PERFECT time to harvest. When it's the PERFECT ripening of the flower. When it's the PERFECT combination of trichomes. Tools help to determine when, a few grows under your belt determine when, some knowledges determine when. Exchanging ideas, info's determine when. Learning determine when. Talking between growers determine when. Learning strains's properties determine when. Breeders's specifications determine when. But most of all knowing your strain determine when. Your environment determine when. Bud visualisation determine when.

You know. it's just an ongoing process. Some with success and some with failures.

Yeah also be with your plant everyday help.

So to answer your question " How do YOU know when it's time?", All of the above and my gut feeling..!

Everyone is different so the above may apply to some but not to all.

And remember each time you grow you learn something new.

Cheers,

FarmBuck

[grouchyoldman]

SoOrbudgal, That is a *really* good question: Does delaying harvest actually cause Hermi growth, or seeds, or foxtailing for that matter?

In my limited experience, and what I've read, all of those are mostly related to stressing a plant in one way or another, Light, Heat, drought, nute lock(?)

I wonder if a perfectly pampered healthy flowering fem would develop any of those absent some antagonistic external stress?

One thing for certain is that my "Senior Citizen" White Widow is getting a whole lot of yellow leaves! It's like the whole plant is givin it up for the buds. I took a pic that seems like a perfect example of the "Final Push" that my personal guru, BU2B described in his tutorial.

[grouchyoldman]

So, Farmbuck, what does a "Hashinado" look for at harvest time?

What characteristics of a harvest-time bud do you look at and how do you prioritize them?

How do YOU know when it's time?

-Grouchy

[grouchyoldman]

JohnEmad, LOL, really! I just "Invented" that trick myself: I found a little clip that could position a cheap 10x loupe in front of my old, lame iPhone. I found I could take acceptably sharp hi-res micro-photos!

I wanted to deliver pics for this posting that a viewer could zoom into and ssurf the Trichome mushroom field, but I think the Forum software has a picture size limit, or something. Still tryin...

Anyways, anyone with a loupe and an iPhone should try this!

[bboyfromwayback]

Nice one

[AccidentalGardener]

so that would be...Hashionate?

[Farmbuck]

Yeah a lot of Hash passionate here including myself.

Some good reading here about it:

https://gizmodo.com/hashing-it-out-the-art-and-science-of-pushing-pot-to-i-1563047955

[9fingerleafs]

I used a cheap usb microscope from China. Also took the male and female pictures of the preflowers in the main site. Was 20 bucks I think

[JohnEmad]

One easy method I have found is holding or placing a loupe in front of the phones camera lens to get decent close up picture.

[JohnEmad]

agreed there is more to this then just letting them ripen. I have found the odd pollen sack or two when letting the flowers continue to ripen longer and longer.

[bboyfromwayback]

I’m following! What’s everyone using to get those closeup trichome pics? I have a iPhone 8 Plus and if I zoom in that far it’s just blurry. I guess I could try the scope for the high grade app. Funny how you can answer your own damn question while typing it 😂 I’ll try this evening when the lights come on and see what I get

[9fingerleafs]

I just rarely check trichomes anymore. I harvest by flower development. You can see with your bare eyes when you get a special plant that has darker trichomes and needs a closer look, I’ve never had a plant over ripe that doesn’t “feel” ready for days before trichomes start degrading. Even abused plants under heavy rain and wind tend to go amber on tops but the rest on the trichomes(and new flower) keeps growing with new clear trichomes.