Harvest - Trichomes not ready but big time fade.

[Bootsy]

Hi. Asking opinions on whether to chop one plant now or wait a bit. I am sorry for the shitty photos. I have my spring grow getting near finished. Six plants in two tent, all fairly much sativas. 10 weeks from 12 12 . All except one have done great and two are soo close with fully cloudy trichomes awaiting more amber. However, one "Congolese sativa" (the most sativa looking) started showing issues a month ago despite being treated the same as the others. Seemed to be showing maybe some nutrient lockout, over feeding and/or light damage. She is apparently a lot more sensitive than the others. I did some remedial attempts but only half heatertedly . she is really fading every day now, while still producing new pistils. Today she is really faded a lot, and trichomes are maybe 80% cloudy. I am not sure how to get best out of her now - either chop or wait. If I chop she wont get any flush, but has been on reduced nuts for the last week anyway. there are still lots of tiny green leaves, but most of any size are yellowing more each day. Would you suggest chopping her, or wait more? I am leaning towards harvesting before too much more yellowing occurs. Cheers all. Happy late 420!

[Sixwinds]

In my non-professional opinion you should wait a few more days. I'm basing that on the fact that some of the pistils are still straight. Don't worry about flushing it makes no difference at all.

[SoOrbudgal]

Hello Bootsy I'm running into the same with mine. They are only 35days into flower should go at least to 60days but looking early harvest except my trichs like yours don't show any amber yet so i'm waiting. The back left is not close it's still getting bloom food but the other larger 3 are only getting unsulferated molasses now cause they are ripening fast for some reason. So yes just wait it out keep giving them what they want just my 2cents

[Rootsruler]

The molasses you're giving them is only feeding the microbial life you have in the soil. Granted, increasing microbial life will increase available nutrient in the soil but I doubt it's able to keep up hence why you're getting the early fade. That's my guess.

[Allenpro]

I agree, your starving them when you should be feeding the hell out of them. Within reason lol

[SoOrbudgal]

Yes i agree i under fed them this growing season and my effort with this grow was minimal.

[Rwise]

Have you been feeding her some calmag? And yes wait!

[Bootsy]

yup. they all got cal mag untill 6 weeks into 12 12. i thought same thing but didnt bother treating her different from the others which are looking awesome and typical. i have heard pure staivas can be finicky with feeding. the only thing i did with her was to water the nutrients given to half concentration (she had leaf tip burn as well as premature fading). too late for anything much now. they will all start flush in a week. grown in coco.

[SoOrbudgal]

And i had a outdoor big gal mostly sativa yellow up very early last summer and could not correct it was a huge producer too

[Bootsy]

Thanks SoOrbrugal. was the product decent on your yellow sativa? Mine's pretty big, and with new pistils i assume she's still fattening ,so I'm a little sad that she may not be great - now hopeful? Glad i posted . i've been swayed to let her go further for sure. Looking like Black Death will keep me busy for a few hours in a day or so. Definitely all snowy trichomes and starting amber. She's pretty much ready, but tomorrow I have outdoor stuff (fishin n golf).

[Rwise]

Or maybe we can just say Luvely fall colours!

[Bluey]

I would wait if conditions are good and you can keep mold away.
I have the opposite to you, I slowed the growth of mine right down by accident, harvested a few buds on the earliest plant which was the least developed with ambers. I'm just giving water now but she is still going. Leaves in the most advanced buds are the weirdest black but she is still maturing very slowly...RH is 45% & temps a solid 24⁰C with great airflow so I'm confident I won't get mold.

[o0644]

I harvested my auto hybrid when it was yellow without curled in pistils like yours, wish I had waited longer. I think flushing might've made it yellow faster?

[Bluey]

Probably. I'm flushing mine only because of the dark green N overdose. Normally I wouldn't bother.

[No3odiesShad0w]

I'm waiting for mine too. The fade is nice, the buds are nice but the trichomes are still clear. She's finally starting to get that white first in the trichomes on the top most cola so it's only like 3 to 5 days more. She's going to be 3 weeks overdue 🤷♂️. What can you do? Unless you want to smoke unripened trichomes for a crappy high. Best recommendation is just to wait a little longer. It's not like they'll ask turn amber over night if you're over day late.

[Bluey]

I think stress may bring on the trichomes early at the risk of lower yields, but that's just what I've observed here. Too much stress and she may not fully develop which I've seen and possibly abort the flowers but I haven't seen that first hand.

[SoOrbudgal]

I agree with you Bluey about the plants being stressed. I'm guilty of lower yields do to my lack of proper enviromental conditions. My growing conditions indoors are fully my lack of wanting to buy better controls for the tent. I just simply use the light and fan to " under replicate " the outdoor growing style which is easy. At least i make it easy, but i could do so much better if i did use humidifiers or more precise DLI or PH , PPD all the proper ways that were used by larger commercial growers and are now being picked up by homegrowers or hobby growers. I know my weed is just as good as mid level dispensary weed but could be top shelf if i really cared more. I'm not as interested anymore in doing it differently going deeper into perfecting my grows. I admire all who find all these new terms and ways to create better controls over indoor growing great for your new growers who've grown up in a more tech savy world.

[Bluey]

I use my lights heat to set the environment during veg, save on power. It can work well hey.

In flower I have everything dialed in now but I still stress them with out of wack nutes. Last auto run wasn't too bad but they won't fully develop so yields are down from a bit too much N.

Will be interesting how these three sativas will veg out. It's flower that I'm struggling with either deficiencies or too much but I'm getting there. Veg no issues.

I'm cloning now and it's working great so can afford to work on getting it right.

[No3odiesShad0w]

That's definitely what happened with the Tangie that I ran last. She finished up quick because grow conditions weren't ideal.... This tangie is just taking her sweet time but she's looking better and better everyday. That was my issue in the past too. Improper environment control. Now I have it set to within a 2° or 2% margin of error but that's acceptable. No crazy swings no weird humidity. I spent a good chunk of change to make sure the environment was more controlled and I got CO2 meters to keep my CO2 up. The only thing I didn't account for was adding more fertilizer because they're going to be bigger they're going to need more food. 🤪.
Just another goober move by yours truly. I used to have so much issues with the environment and with soil acidity that when I resolve those two things and they started growing explosively, I'll admit, I wasn't prepared. They needed way more nutrients than I had put in the soil. I think this grow is mainly just under fed than anything else. The MAC seems to be happy though. And no problems with the Tangie. Just long ripening stage. Maybe having the lights around 480 and 650PPFD is too low for ripening?

[No3odiesShad0w]

I'll be honest. I haven't checked pH for the last 3 grows. I just make sure the water going in is around 7.0 pH. Peat is acidic. It's going acidify the water. The calcium with keep it from going too low. Hopefully balance. I haven't really had much issues except for the underfeeding part. There's no way these big ass plants were going to make it from seed to harvest in 5 gallons of soil without some sort of major top dressing. Which I did too late. I wanted to figure out the maximum minimum of my soil. And now I know. So it's not like I didn't learn anything. 1Tbsp of amendment per gallon of the lowest I can go for photos. I already knew that but it's different when you see it because the MAC is thriving while the others are hungry

[Allenpro]

I have grown Sativa strains that the trichomes never seemed to turn amber but those look like they need more time. from the pistils.
"Oh know ,I ruined my weed by letting it go to long before harvest" is almost never heard

[Bootsy]

Well, she's fading super fast. and regarding stressing, I did use a UVB light 3 days for 2.5 hrs each day, which i now find is a big stressor in it's supposed enhancing of potency (as well as killing WPM. it could have set her off. I am still gonna wait more, asuming hopefully that the quality of what's there wont be compromised anyway. see photo also of the other tent with babies of same age - which have been getting the UVB every day for a week and they look great at 74 days- so it seems to be an okay thing for them ( 2 are already flushing - maybe a bit too early. I typically dont flush based on previous trial where I couldnt tell the difference but thought Id give it a go anyway - Hmmmm , reasoning not sound.

[o0644]

Yeah at least it doesn't look like this or mine 3 days before harvest. Just curious, what's the humidity and how long are you leaving the lights on?

[Bluey]

This is my first auto grow. Lights are 18/6 and I have three photos vegging and 5 clones well rooted in aeroponic bucket all in the same room. 40% to about 50%RH. Temps solid at 24⁰C Day and 21.5⁰C night.

[Bootsy]

And i am leaving the light on 11.5 hrs for last week, and wa 12 12 before that. Humidity stays pretty good this time of year with the tent in my basement around 45 to 55%. Heater is off, so at night they drop down to 63 to 65 F , and in daytime are typically around 74. i seldom have to change the fan setting.

[Fjeff]

Looking great!

[Bootsy]

Now at exactly 11 weeks since 12 12 , she is fading even more, and there is not a lot of green left at all. In the photo of 2, she is the right one. Noting that she is a red strain and most of the leaves were getting red anyways. However, she still has some white pistils so looks like it is still advancing, and maybe my imagination, but the bids look a little fuller. Only a couple of amber trichomes in view, but to me, most look pretty cloudy. I think i could harvest now, but I am still gonna wait. Congolese satia shows 70 to 80 days for maturing. oh yeah - correction re the Flora Flex nutrient Full Tilt they are getting just before flush - it is a 0-47-35 late bloom ripener. I was hoping the 6 girls would finish at different times so I could space out the trimming effort, but that may not work out. They all look at similar states. Maybe a couple or few will get a dry trim instead. Can't wait for the finger/scissor hash! It is quite pretty in the 4 by 4 tent as someone said "fall colours" so i had to show it off! Opinions always welcome. Cheers all.

[SoOrbudgal]

OMG i'm in love with your tent. I haven't seen such beauty since last falls outdoor harvests. I think you have done the right thing by letting it go longer and now it's just getting ready to quit drinking. Those trichomes shots i wish i could take sometimes sure helps with my crappy eyesite anymore. My old gals leaf nearly fell off during trimming it was pretty easy as i removed some daily before harvest. I just did a light wet trim on my 3 as they had'nt drank much the last 5 days and i was thinking they'd dry sooner? Congrats

[Allenpro]

Looks great but I still see a lot of clear trichomes on the Calyx dont i?'
FYI, I dont count flower until I see some pistils pop out and that is usually 2 weeks after 12/12 but I have had Sativa's go 3 weeks before they show signs of flower

[Bootsy]

Hey - Thanks. i was looking for opinions - it is certainly not clear to me (pun intended). I agree that there are some still clear, but I think not many. Regarding the timing, I realize lots of breeders and people count flowering from when pistils show. thats why I always clarify 12 12 - which is a black n white number.

[Bluey]

My sativas are about 3 weeks from flip for flower pistols also. Harvesting them prior to amber seems to have positive benefits re effects especially if you are susceptible to anxiety. Many people get anxiety when they smoke but an early harvest on my sativas seems not to bring that on.

[Bootsy]

I too prefer the up type of buzz. I am kinda hyper to start, and like it! heavy sativas are my fav except for bedtime or post workout.

[Allenpro]

Sativas are good for my afternoon 12 oz curls

[No3odiesShad0w]

Me realizing I only grew Sativa dominant cultivars 😅😅this round.