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HELP! Is it Just Me or is Reading Your Trichomes Really Hard (Pre-Harvest Help Needed)

GreenArmadillo

GreenArmadillo

New member
Man, I started monitoring my trichomes to see where i'm at, and how many weeks left i'm looking at. And damn, that $hit is difficult.
I have a 40x jewellers loupe, a 60x phone attachment magnifier, and a 200-240x magnifier.

The loupe isn't strong enough to show me the trichome heads clearly, and the 200x magnifier is really hard to keep still. Cause it's so zoomed in any slight tremor of the hand or the bud and you can't see jack-all. Not to mention that when the magnifier touches the bud, it moves the bud and once again, you can't see jack-all.
The 200x magnifier is great. Like I'm getting glimpses of the trichomes and the image is really clear and distinct, it's just that I can only see them for a split second before the image moves or disappears.

Am I missing a specific technique on how to look at the trichomes?
It ain't as easy as I imagined. :p

/rant over/


These are the pics I managed to snap with the phone magnifier. What do you guys say?
Honestly, I can't make much of it. I'm not sure what it means?
Like, I know that i'm best of harvesting when 50% of all trichomes turn cloudy, but it's just not easy to tell.
Help a brother out. Pretty please. :laugh::love:


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Here's all the pics that came out relatively decent, for analysis purposes:
 

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Hi! Im a new grower, never harvested even once. So my experience is none. But my eyes are as good as anyone ;) From what I can see, there are none amber. Most cloudy. And some still clear. So, its almost ready to harvest for a mind high rather than a body high? (I personally look for body high, plan to harvest when amber color show up...)
I clicked on your post wondering "what more problem will come up now", seems looking at your trichomes is not as easy as it sounds! Sigh...
 
I'd give them another week at least, as Minoo96 said, no amber trichs yet, and some are still clear. You're best harvesting when you get some amber trichome and ALL milky/cloudy, no clear ones.
 
Hi Armadillo, I'm with the others, they don't look quite ready yet.
You ideally want all your trichomes to have swollen cloudy heads, the cloudy bit is the THC. Once they turn amber the THC is transforming, personal taste dictates how many amber heads but I've never heard of anyone doing more than 50/50 cloudy/amber.

It is certainly very tough to get focused pics of trichs! I use the USB zorb microscope and find that if I take a video there'll always be some frames that are in focus. Otherwise you really need a little tripod. Remember, that it's the trichs on the buds that you want to look at rather than those on sugar leaves :)

The good thing is that you don't have to be that accurate. I've heard people say the optimum harvest window is anywhere from 3-21 days so it's not like you'll miss it and your harvest will be ruined.
 
No Title

GreenArmadillo said:
Here's all the pics that came out relatively decent, for analysis purposes:
Click to expand...

GreenArmadillo I totally feel ya!! It's VERY HARD to hold one of those stupid hand-held things and get a good view of triches. After buying two cheap hand-held scopes and a jeweler's loupe, I find this one works best BUT I GOTTA TAKE MY GLASSES OFF:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It moves like you describe, but I can get glimpses of the triche color. It helps if I drink a glass of wine to steady my hand.

When I know that I'm getting into the harvest zone, I have best luck using this one that connects to my computer:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've taken it into the grow room a few times, and since the microscope suctions onto the pad that comes with it, if I get it situated right, I can catch glimpses of triches. What has worked best for me is to snip off a little bit of bud, and I can see exactly what state the triches are in. It allows you to take pics and even make a video!!
 

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thats a good scope that alltatup suggested I try to let my trichomes get to about 30 percent, and its better to harvest a week late than a week early alot of magic happens in that last week .that being said when I see amber I start to think about flushing, I grow in coco and I like to get at least two watering cycles in before I harvest
 
Howdy GreenArmadillo, I use a 20X lens attachment on my iPhone to photograph the tricomes. I do not use the flash (the light reflects back) and try to get some background illumination, so of to see 'through' the tricomes, this makes it easier to see their condition. I have trouble holding steady as well and usually wind up taking several photos before getting one or two usable ones.
 
WOW!! I love how clear your trichomes are in the pictures! Correct me if i'm wrong, but these pics represent ready for harvest, yeah? I'm clearly seeing lots of cloudy trichome heads.

I may just have to invest in a usb microscope it seems. I like the idea of scanning a video for stills rather than trying my luck in real-time with a handheld. =D
 
Excellent feedback y'all. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and infoz.
Could I trouble you guys to post some examples of amber trichome heads? I'm trying to imagine what it'd look like, but my mind is drawing a blank, haha.
I thought that when people were talking about amber, they were referring to the pistils, lol.

btw, just from looking at the pistils today, i'm sure I still got a while left till i'm at proper harvest time. Although I have a decent number of orangey pistils, most are still sticking straight out. Barely any of the pistils have started curling into the buds.

But if i'm not mistaken, my buds are already showing some cloudy trichome heads, yeah? So that means i'm definitely in harvesting territory, am I right in saying this?
As far as I understand..The next step is to keep monitoring till I see pistils curling in AND the beginning of amber trichome heads.
Is that when I should start flushing, or is there a sign before that to let me know it's flushing time? (I assume a flush should go on for 2 weeks, right?)

I'ma go as far as to guess I got another 4 weeks of flowering growth, followed by a 2 week flush, then harvest. Sound about right from the look of things?
 
As soon as there are none clear, harvest :D I don't think you should wait for amber then. But remember, I've never harvested once, so... Its an almost worthless opinion. Just read so much online.
 
YES, I see them! Thank you. =)

Another thing I just picked up from that read, my trichomes are still lanky with small heads. I'll know i'm on harvest schedule when my trichomes are screaming at me because they are so big and juicy. It's nice to know that they'll be easier to see when they are ready.
 
Yo, Yo, YO! I have an update and am in want of y'all sexy opinions my buddies and buddettes. :ouch:
Basically what alltatup said about the video microscope got me thinking, and voila! I thought, why the hell not attach the phone magnifier to my phone lens and SHOOT A VIDEO instead of taking pics. :laugh:

So i've shot videos of each of my girls up close. One video per girl.
I've decided to harvest my girls incrementally. So one first. The next baby a week or two later, and so on. That way i can compare the results and smoke from each phase of harvest. Pretty neat, yeah?
It's mainly because, from what I can see, I have lots of cloudy trichome heads already even though my buds are still pretty small (but the small bud is probably due to my inadequate light levels).
I don't wanna miss the chance for a purely "head high" as that is definitely my favourite. Not to mention that Nebula told me in my other thread that because my girls are such pure oldskool sativas, they might not ever show amber trichomes, so I may not be able to depend on them ambers as a sign of harvest-ready.
So i'd appreciate your help in determining which girl to harvest first!

I'm thinking of starting to flush one girl next week, which would be week 10 since I started seeing sex (the switch to 12/12 was done about 3 weeks prior to that, so would be week 13 since flippin to 12/12).

My personal choice would be to harvest Daphne first, just because she is the bulkiest of my girls and takes up so much space, not to mention that she is the closest to my supplemental 400 watt HPS floodlight. If I harvest her first, it gives the other girls a lot more chance to get some HPS exposure for the last few weeks.

NebulaHaze I would especially appreciate your super experienced opinion. Your word is gold! <3

Without further ado:

Alicia
https://www.sendspace.com/file/lqpvxi

Brittania
https://www.sendspace.com/file/edtds9

Daphne
https://www.sendspace.com/file/wueag6

Esmerelda
https://www.sendspace.com/file/fnwwxc




Sorry if the videos are annoying, but gaddamn is it hard to keep a steady image throughout, haha. >.<
Feel free to skim the videos. Much appreciated guys and gals.
Can't wait to experience my very first harvest. :love::love::love:
 
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