Here’s the latest. I really have no idea what I’m looking at.
They are part of the secretive system of the plant; in essence both an attractant and a defensive system.
The use of a 60-100x microscope is best for trichomes.
They will begin clear and change to cloudy as THC develops, other cannabinoids become present at later stages when you begin to see the cloudy trichomes change to amber.
Peak THC levels lie in cloudy trichomes, but an ideally ripened plant with full profile lies at about 20-30% amber.
A longer ripening period yields a heavier more indica like high, while an earlier harvest will offer a speedier more sativa like high.