Learning to Read the Trichomes

[SweetLeafGrow]

Greetings Cultivators!

I am nearing the end of my 3rd grow and wanting to get some feedback from fellow farmers on reading the trichomes, and really the plants themselves, for harvest. I think I harvested my first grow early and I screwed up my 2nd. Neither grow did I get very good looks at the trichomes because I could not use the jewelers loupe very well. However, I just bought a digital microscope that takes the best look at the trichomes I have had yet, so I am learning how to read them and would appreciate any and all feedback.

I'm growing in soil under a Spider Farmer SE3000 in a 3x3 tent. I have a current grow diary here-

New Grow, Trying out Ethos Genetics

Day 58 flower update- Yesterday was a challenging day and I made some mistakes, hopefully all will be well. We had severe winds and power went out for about 3 hours. I was around at the time so I pulled all the girls out of the tent and put them by windows. Once the power was restored, I put...

www.thcfarmer.com

I have 4 plants in the tent, 2 Purple Zkittlez and 2 Crescendo, both strains by Ethos Genetics. Ethos says the Purple Zkittlez is 9 weeks and Crescendo is 9-10 weeks. Today marks day 60 since I flipped to 12/12 and the end of week 9 will be the end of the day Monday. I am seeing some amber on sugar leaves but not a lot on the calyxes themselves and maybe even some clear? I dunno, my eye is untrained so what say you?

Purple Zkittlez 1

Purple Zkittlez 2

Crescendo 1

Crescendo 2

I can post some full flower shots if necessary and I do have a current update at my grow diary for these beautiful girls. Of note, there are still white pistils and they are still drinking their normal amounts of water, have not slowed down on that. Also, I am not sure exactly if some of these, especially on the Crescendo 2 are amber on sugar leaves or not and if that counts or not. These particular shots were small sugar leaves near the very top of one of the flowers.....do these count as bud trichomes or sugar leaf trichomes?

Thanks for looking!

 

[Maxwax]

IDK man but that all looks way cool.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Agreed....the beauty of these plants never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Maxwax]

Id start shutting those off. I see very little clear....I think youre ready in my rookie opinion. Youre flushed yes?

 

[weed420420420420420]

Ya I would yank those before bad things start happening.

 

[steamroller]

I am picking mine before the bud gets much amber .
I see milky trichs on yours .
You could b ready any time IMO . ??
I watched this yesterday from week 7 .

 

[hawkman]

generally harvest when there is a 50-50 mix of amber and milky (you will always have some clear) now with pistals havest them the same 50 05 mix -- 50% amber/brown and 50% clear some say 20% brown is whenthay are ready --- Harvesting is a personal thing - some also say that to reach the highest thc amounts harvest when trichomes are 10% amber -- a good rule of thumb is that trichomes trun amber at the rate of 5% per week example: when one sees a few amber trichomes it's time to start your 2 week flush ( if you flush)

 

[ImpulsiveGrower]

Everyone does it a bit different so find wut works best for you. Look at the buds not the sugar leaves but they look pretty good man good job!

 

[mancorn]

These trichomes look earlier to me and I’d wait until you see the bracts get so fat you think “damn did I fuck up and accidentally pollinate the plant?”

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the great input!

So would you consider this a sugar leaf? It's located near the top of a flower and I guess technically, it's a sugar leaf, but I dunno....

 

[steamroller]

Yea leaf .
It is hard to look in-between but it is the bud [body] that counts .
One of my Crescendos is rock hard and the other the only fluffy bud in my room !
I am 95% locked in to chopping mine today .Just letting them get their last light .

 

[mancorn]

Technically it’s a leaf, but with all those trichomes I’d guess it’s going to end up in the smoke pile (as opposed to compost pile). When people talk about checking bud bracts as opposed to leaves it’s because the majority of the leaf is trimmed off (but turns red first). But you really just want to be monitoring whatever you’re going to keep. So a very tight trim I won’t go on a leaf, but if it’s a loose trim then I’d take these leaves into consideration.

 

[SofaKingHigh]

Greetings Cultivators!

I am nearing the end of my 3rd grow and wanting to get some feedback from fellow farmers on reading the trichomes, and really the plants themselves, for harvest. I think I harvested my first grow early and I screwed up my 2nd. Neither grow did I get very good looks at the trichomes because I could not use the jewelers loupe very well. However, I just bought a digital microscope that takes the best look at the trichomes I have had yet, so I am learning how to read them and would appreciate any and all feedback.

I'm growing in soil under a Spider Farmer SE3000 in a 3x3 tent. I have a current grow diary here-

New Grow, Trying out Ethos Genetics

Day 58 flower update- Yesterday was a challenging day and I made some mistakes, hopefully all will be well. We had severe winds and power went out for about 3 hours. I was around at the time so I pulled all the girls out of the tent and put them by windows. Once the power was restored, I put...

www.thcfarmer.com

I have 4 plants in the tent, 2 Purple Zkittlez and 2 Crescendo, both strains by Ethos Genetics. Ethos says the Purple Zkittlez is 9 weeks and Crescendo is 9-10 weeks. Today marks day 60 since I flipped to 12/12 and the end of week 9 will be the end of the day Monday. I am seeing some amber on sugar leaves but not a lot on the calyxes themselves and maybe even some clear? I dunno, my eye is untrained so what say you?

Purple Zkittlez 1

View attachment 1234512
View attachment 1234514View attachment 1234515View attachment 1234516View attachment 1234517

Purple Zkittlez 2

View attachment 1234521View attachment 1234520

View attachment 1234523View attachment 1234522


Crescendo 1

View attachment 1234525View attachment 1234524

View attachment 1234526

Crescendo 2

View attachment 1234528View attachment 1234529View attachment 1234530View attachment 1234531View attachment 1234527

I can post some full flower shots if necessary and I do have a current update at my grow diary for these beautiful girls. Of note, there are still white pistils and they are still drinking their normal amounts of water, have not slowed down on that. Also, I am not sure exactly if some of these, especially on the Crescendo 2 are amber on sugar leaves or not and if that counts or not. These particular shots were small sugar leaves near the very top of one of the flowers.....do these count as bud trichomes or sugar leaf trichomes?

Thanks for looking!

I like to use this photo for a reference, it is definitely personal preference but I wait until 10-20% amber

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

the sugaeleaves will mature differently than the inflorescence, so just look at the buds themselves.
also the lower parts wont mature as quickly as the tops so you want to draw an average for your whole plant
growing for most dry mass you will get quite some amber as calyxes tend to bulk up during the last weeks

 

[weed420420420420420]

I'd say they're right about perfectly milky. Maybe a tad early. But ive had bad luck from leaving things go.

Then again I'm speaking outdoors. One extra week can take things from perfect to fully ruined with a bit of luck.

 

[Peat_Phreak]

Private Site

 

[growsince79]

generally harvest when there is a 50-50 mix of amber and milky (you will always have some clear) now with pistals havest them the same 50 05 mix -- 50% amber/brown and 50% clear some say 20% brown is whenthay are ready --- Harvesting is a personal thing - some also say that to reach the highest thc amounts harvest when trichomes are 10% amber -- a good rule of thumb is that trichomes trun amber at the rate of 5% per week example: when one sees a few amber trichomes it's time to start your 2 week flush ( if you flush)

Every plant/strain is different. I never saw one that was 50% amber trichs and 50% white hairs at the same time. Most if my strains don't get amber trichs until the bud is done.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks everyone for you valuable insights! Let the Purple Zkittlez go to day 64 and was seeing more amber so I went ahead and chopped them. I am letting the Crescendo gals go a bit longer and keeping an eye on them.

I posted some photos at my grow journal here for those interested.

New Grow, Trying out Ethos Genetics

In the same boat on vids . Others were mentioning it yesterday also . We could both post our videos if we wanted to publish them on Youtube it appears ? I'll take a hard pass on that though .😏

www.thcfarmer.com