They say to watch the trichromes turn to milk and pistels turn brown just before harvest. But my flowers are growing a new batch of hairs. Should I let it continue while the trichromes ripen more? I don't want to end up with couch-lock. Week 17 and and I'm suppose to be winding down the nutrients then flush. Should I delay the final phase and let it grow more, or do I stay on the plan?
Pistols and Trichromes
- Thread starter Indicolas
- Start date
Some plants don't stop showing new pistils for weeks - I don't think they add much to the product so in answer to your question: at week 17 I'd stay on track and harvest at mostly milky regardless
Just FYI.. It’s spelled pistils, also, if you’re referring to the hairs on the plant, those are actually called stigmas, not pistils. Pistils are the entire female reproductive part, stigmas are the “hairs” we see protruding
We’re trending toward legality nowadays, with that, it’s time to start referring to the parts by their correct names. I’ve already encountered newish growers becoming confused by OG terminology, especially calyxes and bracts.
We’re trending toward legality nowadays, with that, it’s time to start referring to the parts by their correct names. I’ve already encountered newish growers becoming confused by OG terminology, especially calyxes and bracts.
- Thread starter
- #4
Nice close-up of the trichs. What do you use for that?
No problem, it’s super common and until recently I was doing the same thing. Gotta start somewhere though and since this place is where so many come to learn, it’s a great place to start.
As far as your plant.. whenever she stops taking water is when she’s ready. That’s how I gauge it. She’ll slow down drinking and the stigmas will turn red/brown and curl in.
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- #7
Nikon D800e with a Tokina 100/2.8 macro lens. Because of the 36mp sensor I can do extreme crops.
Re: flushing the plant, you may wanna check this post out, it has a link claiming that flushing doesn’t actually do anything except for reset the medium when you’ve had an issue, it has no effect on the nutrient content in the buds:
InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time
I’ve never flushed.. I grow organically with super soil so it wasn’t ever a thought but according to the science it doesn’t matter if it’s organic or not
InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time
I’ve never flushed.. I grow organically with super soil so it wasn’t ever a thought but according to the science it doesn’t matter if it’s organic or not
- Thread starter
- #9
What would be the signs of that slower water intake?
Your medium stays wetter for longer, and/or when you water your normal amount you have a larger than average amount of runoff or it seems like all the water you give it just runs out the bottom.
How long has the plant been in bloom for? Pictures of the colas would be nice.
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- #12
Thanks for the link. I will just dial down the nutes then pure water the last week to be safe. I'm thinking proper curing and time determines the smoke quality.
Organics obviously don't need flushing, but in coco or hydro 'flushing' is a misnomer anyway
It doesn't flush anything out of the plant, just stops wasting nutes on plants that have finished processing ferts
Just 'watering' would be a better description of it; whilst allowing the leaves to yellow and fall off
- Thread starter
- #14
Week 5 is too early. You're looking at a minimum of 8 weeks pretty much regardless of the strain you're growing.
But also, you shouldn't really judge ripeness based on the trichomes of the sugar leaves, check the buds themselves.
Looks like a couple weeks to go still and by then the pistils will have receded too.
But also, you shouldn't really judge ripeness based on the trichomes of the sugar leaves, check the buds themselves.
Looks like a couple weeks to go still and by then the pistils will have receded too.
- Thread starter
- #16
The trichromes are clear on the bud itself. Sugar leaves have some milkiness. Week 5 &6 i'm winding down the nutes. I may extend this phase if trichrome allows. So I'm on track with the 8 to 9 week plan. Thanks!
Ya. The sugar leaves will turn amber first.
Some people count days from the moment the pistils start to show up,
most from the moment they change their light schedule,
so you could very well be around week 7 too I guess but either way it does look like a few weeks to go.
Harvesting early wouldn't be doing you any favors. Np man. Also, Welcome to 420mag.
Had to edit cause I screwed that up but I'd keep feeding until the end.
Maybe just plain water for the last week like Roy mentioned. Cheers.
Some people count days from the moment the pistils start to show up,
most from the moment they change their light schedule,
so you could very well be around week 7 too I guess but either way it does look like a few weeks to go.
Harvesting early wouldn't be doing you any favors. Np man. Also, Welcome to 420mag.
Had to edit cause I screwed that up but I'd keep feeding until the end.
Maybe just plain water for the last week like Roy mentioned. Cheers.
Depends on why you want to flush. You did not mention what you are growing in; natural soil, coco mix, hydro as examples. The others have mentioned flushing will have little effect on removing removing or adding to the taste.
Flushing is often recommended for plants being fed with processed fertilizers that produce a salt buildup over several weeks. These salts in the medium can cause a slowdown of both the growth and the plant being able to absorb what it needs.
It sounds like you are on course to what you want. Several more weeks and when the vast majority of the trichomes on the buds are milky colored it will be time to harvest. The more amber colored trichomes on the buds then the more likely that you will end up with a 'couch-lock' harvest.
And as we get closer to legal status we will see more botanists, horticulturists and professional gardeners becoming involved.
The one that really gets me is the use of "nutes". As simple as that word is I see so many alternate spellings including nets, nuts, netes, nats, nates and what seems like hundreds more letter combinations that are not in any dictionary. The most fantastic misuse is when instead of 'nutes' someone uses "newts". I can imagine what someone in a non-English speaking country thinks after running that though their translation program. Are they asking themselves why they have to catch some cute little salamander and should they cut it up before mixing it into the soil?
Newts
Honestly I can only imagine how difficult it is to learn English as a non native speaker, especially if you’re trying to learn online. The majority of people I have met in my lifetime are pretty poor spellers. Even the more articulate and educated are still horrendously poor spellers with a weak grasp on grammar (even with spellcheck on their phones and PCs). The only reason I know what most are trying to say is because I’ve spoken the language for so long, I know what people are trying to get at.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “who cares about the spelling, you know what I’m trying to say”. It’s even a step further because so many words have multiple spellings with different meanings. This is without even introducing the different spelling in the queens English.
