Can You Wait Too Long to Harvest
- Thread starter Tejas
- Start date
TanR
New Member
Hi Tejas,
Short answer is yes, you can wait too long to harvest. At some point the trichome development will stop, light and air will actually begin to degrade the THC in your bud and it will lose potentcy. Eventually, it would lose virtually all the psychotropic effect.
Short answer is yes, you can wait too long to harvest. At some point the trichome development will stop, light and air will actually begin to degrade the THC in your bud and it will lose potentcy. Eventually, it would lose virtually all the psychotropic effect.
How can you tell when this is happening and it’s definitely time to start harvesting?
What kind of time line are you talking about here? How many weeks do you think it would take for the THC to degrade? Say Indica average grow time is 10-12 weeks and sativa 14-16? After how many weeks would you say you can expect severe degradation?
That guy is long gone. Very old post. I don’t agree with what he said anyway. You’re not gonna get ‘severe degradation’ unless you leave the plant to completely die and let the bud rot.
Okay, thanks for telling me. So what happens when you go past the average grow time? And how much time do you think is generally acceptable without a considerable loss to potency? It's my first time dabbling in this art form and I think the op it's a really interesting question.
I think technically once the trichomes get past the cloudy stage they are not gaining in THC but some other compounds are increased But to me it’s kind of a non-issue. If you leave a plant till every leaf on it is completely dead and falling off, is your bud going to be less potent? Maybe a tiny little bit, maybe not. It might have a mellower effect.
I often harvest when they’re all but dead, and to me that’s when the bud seems best. It depends on the plant. Sometimes the bud will start to go downhill visibly and become less sticky and look less appealing than before - sometimes it only gets better as the plant finishes.
If you have access and can afford it the easiest thing would be to try it yourself and get a couple different samples lab tested. Otherwise just try it yourself and see what the smoke is like.
On these forums you tend to hear a lot of people just repeating stuff they read someone else say but have never actually tried themselves. Trying it yourself is by far the best way to get your answer
I often harvest when they’re all but dead, and to me that’s when the bud seems best. It depends on the plant. Sometimes the bud will start to go downhill visibly and become less sticky and look less appealing than before - sometimes it only gets better as the plant finishes.
If you have access and can afford it the easiest thing would be to try it yourself and get a couple different samples lab tested. Otherwise just try it yourself and see what the smoke is like.
On these forums you tend to hear a lot of people just repeating stuff they read someone else say but have never actually tried themselves. Trying it yourself is by far the best way to get your answer
Are you talking about once the plant is finished and how long can it sit before you harvest? Or are you just talking about going past “average grow time” whatever that is?
Some of my plants that say 70-80 days will take up to 100. Nothing is degrading if the plant is still growing.
If all your trichomes have turned milky and/or amber and growth has ceased, it’s time to harvest.
If you’re just worried because the package said 70 days and it’s taking 90, don’t be.
Awesome!! I'm very thankful, both are great answers. Basically what I was wondering. I'm going to experiment with it moving forward. Thanks for the advice.
