Ready to chop?

[Teejrocks]

Hi all,

So I have a journal, but not much going on there aside from my updates.

Here is a microscopy video of my Lemon Drop Auto at Day 66, got decent shots of 3 different buds and they all appear pretty milky to my newbie eyes.

Really thinking she's ready to chop, but don't wanna rush my first harvest...

Opinions very welcome!

Oh, sorry for the lack of steady cam, but using a $15 microscope over OTG on my cell was painful...

Many thanks!

and check out my journal in my sig if you're interested in Dry amendments in coco under 630w of CMH. Advice is very welcome there too , I have two Gypsy Widow Auto's at 66 days and another Lemon Drop about two weeks behind.

 

[Grassmaster]

It depends on what you want. You could cut it down when the color is cloudy for a head high. Or wait longer for more of a pain killing narcotic. I usually wait until I see some build up of amber color, the buds don't seem to be getting any larger and most of the fan leaves have dried up and died to nourish the buds.

The longer you wait the bigger the buds and more yield. Some species never get any amber color. You could just wait until the plant has completed it's life cycle (stopped taking water), if you want.

For the plant you have displayed, I would wait at least another watering and check again.

 

[Calvados]

I’d say no. You have a lot going on with some of your plants judging by the pics, but just about all the hairs are white on everything. Probably another week.

 

[Teejrocks]

Thanks both for the advice, and yeah, had a few hiccups with the grow for sure!!!

Was super excited to see that the trichs were mostly milky but as you mentioned the pistils were mostly white too. I was actually a bit surprised that they scoped "nearing harvest" as that plant has been the most tortured looking of the four and I was assuming the newbie abuse would delay and reduce the harvest.

Silly question regarding trichome color at harvest time... Is the shift to amber something that is specific to; sativa/indicas or strain genetics or down to the phenotype of a specific plant?

For the Lemon Drop strain, it's a hybrid and was stated to have a "sativa like high, cerebral in nature", which is why I thought I'd seek input. I guess I just wasn't sure if I should still wait for the trichomes to start to darken, and was shocked that they were already mostly milky with barely off white pistils.

Even with the issues I've had with the plants, this has been a great learning experience!

Stupid 4 plant restriction...

 

[Calvados]

I’ve no experience with those strains or autos. I scanned your journal. Like I said I don’t think they should be even close to done given you started them in mid-February. Not that it matters too much, but what does the seed company say flowering time is? What are you PHing your water at? It looks like you’ve burned them with nutes and your light. I would pick off the dead leaves. They are just in the way. Aside from the obvious problems they look really good. I wouldn’t get too excited about the THC. Given their age there should be a bunch more where that came from.

 

[Teejrocks]

Just like every other newb, wanting to harvest too soon.

The Lemon Drops are 9-11 weeks from germination, 7-9 weeks flowering according to Oasis, but as I've read numerous places that is usually exaggerated for sales purposes...

As for the burning I had bumped the lights up higher, and the Gyspy Widow girls both got grumpy at their top dressing. Water in is pH 6.5-6.8. (Running organic dry amendments in coco, not DTW hydro style)

I'll do some searching on the forums to see where everyone else has luck hanging their 630w CMH fixtures, and (hopefully) have sorted out the nutrient regimen a bit better for next run.

Again thanks for the input everyone, appreciate your skimming my journal to offer feedback.

 

[Calvados]

I’m confused about your water. PH watering for coco is 5.7 - 6 after you’ve added any nutes. You also need to keep it wet, so water every day.

 

[Teejrocks]

Not running drain to waste hydro nutes my friend. I'm running organic dry amendments, coco is just an inert substrate to support the microfauna that converts the organic goodness into what the plant can use. I like the way Mr. Canuck puts it on his YT channel... "We are feeding the medium, not the plants."

Go much below 6.5 pH and you shut down the system by killing off all of the bacteria that make the raw inputs usable for the plants. It's much more akin to TLO theory than DTW hydroponics. I'm sure the TLO purists would scoff at the comparison, but I had found this technique before I saw all of the TLO goodness on here, and was happy to see several similarities in the ideas and inputs.

Maybe this is like TLO for Dummies... (It's not, I know)
Maybe LLO (Lazy living organics) is more accurate...

Premix medium w/ Dry Amendments,
Plant auto seed direct in final pot,
Water regularly, when almost dried out,
Top dress medium ~4-5 weeks,
harvest when ready,
enjoy...

Cost savings are nice too... One bottle of pH down, which should last forever at this rate... And two fert blends, available in consumer size 2kg tubs around $25 (CAD) at Canadian Tire or as commercial 10kg bags from the hydro store @ $50 each. With our four plant law up here, even the 2kg tubs would be good for 4-6+ auto runs in 3 gallon pots. Even with my adding too much ferts at the start, I've barely made a dent in the 2kg tubs.

If my next run goes smoother, I'll be continuing down this road for sure. If not, I'll be debating between trying TLO or joining the hydro nute camp...

 

[Teejrocks]

Back to the original topic of the thread, I gave the Lemon Drop in question a haircut to remove all the dead leaves as suggested and gave her another healthy drink.

Honestly, the hairs appear to be starting to curl more now and a touch darker today. I'll scope again in a few days and post a follow up here with some pics.

Glad I asked here before being too excited about my first harvest.

 

[Grassmaster]

I'm just letting mine go as long as possible. When the amber levels get to amount I cut them down. I notice that with my Cob's they seem to never get that much amber. So I think amber CBN is caused at least partially from light damage.

I have 2 plants growing that could have been cut down weeks ago. But I'm glad I didn't because the buds are continuing to get larger (bigger than my for arm) at this time. Ever bigger buds stacking all over the main stem.

 

[Nickystickybuds]

Just like every other newb, wanting to harvest too soon.

The Lemon Drops are 9-11 weeks from germination, 7-9 weeks flowering according to Oasis, but as I've read numerous places that is usually exaggerated for sales purposes...

As for the burning I had bumped the lights up higher, and the Gyspy Widow girls both got grumpy at their top dressing. Water in is pH 6.5-6.8. (Running organic dry amendments in coco, not DTW hydro style)

I'll do some searching on the forums to see where everyone else has luck hanging their 630w CMH fixtures, and (hopefully) have sorted out the nutrient regimen a bit better for next run.

Again thanks for the input everyone, appreciate your skimming my journal to offer feedback.

I found that 100 days is a good barometer. Quickest ive finished one was 92 days on a plant that said 65/70 from seed. So its all up to the plant(trichomes) but 100 is good