My first plant: when will it be ready for harvest?

[CannaMochi]

This is my first plant. It's a Nuken strain (most probably). Germinated April 26. Currently in week 5 of flower. Female stigmas appeared May 31. I had to hold off on 12/12 because I had to travel and wasn't home for 3 weeks. My partner was looking after it while I was away. Started 12/12 June 27. Fed according to schedule for Green Earth 2-Part nutrients and ProCAL as I'm growing her in a mixture of organic soil, coco, and perlite (75 coco, 20 soil, 5 perlite). Temperature was up to 28C in the tent when we had that hot weather (it's against a south-facing wall in a bedroom). It's now around 23-25C with RH around 49 to 52%.

It's only been 5 weeks in flower, but about 30 to 40% of the stamens have turned amber. I found a mild infestation of spider mites July 19th. I don't know where they came from (maybe the soil was contaminated?) - the plant wasn't outside and the tent is pretty much out of the box. I keep the inside spotless. I took the plant out to spray it off with a hose and accidentally broke the main trunk down the middle. I had LSTd it. One of the main stems got caught on the screen door and that was that. I taped it back together with duct tape. I also noticed that it had a lot of male flowers and was already pushing pollen. I removed all the male flowers but believe that quite a few of the female flowers were pollinated. It's been trudging along and not making much progress in the bud fattening ever since. The buds have remained quite small.

I have Jorge Cervantes Cannabis Encyclopedia and have read the book from front to back. But there is no mention of early stigma senescence or senescence from excessive stress/damage. So I'm at a bit of a loss. I can't ask my friend who supplied the seed as he is on sabbatical after his father passed away.

Question is, is this plant almost ready for harvest even though it's so early on? Or is this due to stress or damage? Should I stop nutrients and begin flush? Advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TysonOG]

Get a scope and look at the trichomes. If she's stressed enough to hermie she's probably going to finish early. Maybe 2 weeks more to try and get what ya can. Read into bud washing if you've got mites this late.

 

[CannaMochi]

Ok thanks. The trichomes are mostly clear, some are just slightly cloudy, none are amber yet.

 

[TysonOG]

Not too far then

 

[West Hippie]

With a write up like that you should just move this to a journal!
Good thing you got the hermie out the tent !
I’m in the no flush club with @InTheShed since I came to 420 !
Can you take a pic without the burple light?
You’ll be taking pics for all these contest in 420 !

 

[InTheShed]

Harvest timing will depend on what you want out of the plant. Clear trichomes are unripe, cloudy trichomes are peak THC, and amber trichomes indicate that THC has degraded to CBN, the cannabinoid that is responsible for couchlock.

Here is a good way to look at when to harvest:

If you want a plant to knock you out as a sleep medicine, then growing an indica and letting it get over-ripe would be ideal.

However, if you just want to get the best expression of the plant's genetics, you would harvest all your plants at peak ripeness, which would be the most cloudy you can get along with as little clear and amber as possible.

If this is an indica, it's going to be a body high anyway, harvesting at peak ripeness should give you the benefit of the body high without the can't-keep-my-eyes-open feeling of the CBN. If it's a sativa, harvesting at peak ripeness should give you the benefit of the heady high.

Does that help you decide?

not making much progress in the bud fattening ever since. The buds have remained quite small.

Seeded buds stop fattening and spend their energy producing seeds. This is why we almost exclusively grow female plants.

Should I stop nutrients and begin flush?

Depends on why you were thinking of flushing. If it's because you heard that flushing makes weed taste better, that's false. Proper drying and curing is what makes weed taste better (along with good genetics ).

 

[StoneOtter]

 

[CannaMochi]

Here is the journal for this grow - First Grow Ever - Nuken????

 

[CannaMochi]

Depends on why you were thinking of flushing. If it's because you heard that flushing makes weed taste better, that's false. Proper drying and curing is what makes weed taste better (along with good genetics ).

What we learned in the course was that plants should be flushed prior to harvest to remove excess nutrient salts that could lead to a harsh smoke. Drying and curing will remove the 'green' taste that comes from chlorophyll, but it won't break down any left-over salts. I saw the test analysis that someone posted (can't recall who it was) and it shows clearly that flush does not affect the nutrients in the plant. I question why they teach us this stuff when it appears not to matter if the plants are flushed or not.

 

[InTheShed]

Probably me that posted the test results .

Flushing the nutrient salts from the medium has nothing to do with the quality of the smoke. It's done earlier in flower (about 3 weeks before harvest) to allow the roots to have easy access to the nutes you are feeding the plant. Doing it just before harvest would be too late for the plant to benefit from a re-set medium.

Salts don't enter the plant, they remain in the medium, which is why they can be flushed from it. The plant only takes up the ions of nutrients it needs.

 

[CannaMochi]

If you want a plant to knock you out as a sleep medicine, then growing an indica and letting it get over-ripe would be ideal.

Yes - I suffer from serious insomnia. I've been buying indicas that are high in the insomnia index. I didn't know that amber trichomes mean that the plant is producing more CBN and less THC. They didn't teach us that - just that it means the plant is past prime and essentially worthless.

 

[InTheShed]

That's not what it means. What it means is the cannabinoid profile of the buds is changing. That plant isn't producing CBN, the THC is degrading as it ages. It's a natural change that happens over time with THC, even in jars in the dark, just more slowly.

Amber means the harvest is gaining in CBN and losing THC. CBN is the cannabinoid that produces couchlock, so it is desirable for those seeking sleep meds.

 

[CannaMochi]

Ok. I got it now.