Harvesting

[JayDubya]

Hello! I have been through a couple of harvests now and have noticed that my main colas seem ready to harvest but the other, lower half of the plant doesn't look anywhere close. I bought a jewelers loupe and when looking at the colas I see some cloudy and an amber or two. Lots of hairs have colour. However lower on the plant there are smaller buds, hair still white and tri's still clear.

Now that I am writing this I have 2 questions.

Does anybody ever harvest the top half of the plant and leave the bottom to continue growing?

I've read that a good way to test if plant is ready is to snip a bud, quick dry and test. How do you quick dry?

[Gingerbeard]

Hey JayDubya
The answer to your first question is yes. You are talking about a staged harvest where only 'mature' buds are harvested and the slower developers are left.
Your second question is age old There is no 'good' way to quick dry a bud to see what you're getting. You have to have patience.

[JayDubya]

Thanks! On that note I am trying to be more patient with my harvests but I keep finding that I will have some clear trichomes, a lot of foggy and a couple amber. Is it best to wait until all are foggy or snip as soon as a single amber appears?

[Ckbrew]

@JayDuyba , If you need a quick dry use a food dehydrator. I know before anyone says it, yuck. But if you want to get a sample to test potency it will work. It will be harsh and maybe even bad tasting but that is not what you are testing. If you take to many buds from the top it may shock the plant. idk what to many is though. Anyone else have that answer?

[Canuck147]

Staged harvesting is viable - for a quick dry just cut up your bud like you're going to roll a joint - spread the cut up bud a bit and let it dry in the air a few hours or even let it sit in the sun for a bit - might be a bit harsh but............

[BR2K]

I just trimmed off some of my larf buds, harvesting in the next week or so. I put them in my trim bin and let them dry. Hopefully I'll get a few trichomes to fall out. If I wish to sample, I use a solar oven to quick dry for testing but beware not to over dry. I seem to have a tolerance for uncured bud...

[JayDubya]

I assume the larf buds are the lower, scraggly and small buds..... I am starting week 7 of 9-10. Should I be trimming the larf or should I have already done it?

[BR2K]

JayDubya - Absolutely and totally up to you. We all pretty much do our own things here. I'm learning as I go but the one thing I CAN tell you - THE JOURNEY IS WORTH THE EFFORT!!! I wish you much success!