Ready for harvest?

[Zebidee86]

Hey everyone, I’m growing Barneys farm Blueberry OG, it’s nearly 12 weeks into flower now and has been under a 400w LED and fed with Biobizz nutrients in a soil medium.
My instinct is to cut it down but I don’t want to chop too early. Does this look ready to come out of the oven?
Thanks

 

[Old Salt]

By the pistils, she seems to be in the harvest window. Can you get a shot of the trichomes? That would be a much better indicator than the pistils.

 

[HugePeckerhead]

By the pistils, she seems to be in the harvest window. Can you get a shot of the trichomes? That would be a much better indicator than the pistils.

When we look at the trichomes for the desired high....does it matter what strain or plant type? Or is the trichomes rule of thumb for every plant?

 

[Old Salt]

To an extent it does matter. The trichomes on some sativa strains are known not to turn amber. Amber usually indicates THC is being converted to CBN, for a stronger couch lock effect. It's pretty much universal that 90% cloudy trichomes means you've reached maximum potency.

 

[Zebidee86]

I can’t get a pic but the Trichs are a mix of cloudy and amber, I can’t see many glassy looking ones, but most of the amber looks to be on the tiny one-fingered leaves

 

[Old Salt]

I can’t get a pic but the Trichs are a mix of cloudy and amber, I can’t see many glassy looking ones, but most of the amber looks to be on the tiny one-fingered leaves

Then it's harvest time!

 

[Zebidee86]

Another thing I’ve noticed is that on every grow I’ve done, the buds are only dense at the top or five inches and the rest are Isolated buds, is this due to lack of light or a genetic thing?

 

[Old Salt]

It's both. Some grow long colas with a few individual buds below them, others a shorter cola with more buds below them. Sativas generally are in the second group. Light is needed for the development of the flowers, so with insifficient light, you'll get less of them and they'll be light-weight, or larfy.

 

[bobrown14]

I can’t get a pic but the Trichs are a mix of cloudy and amber, I can’t see many glassy looking ones, but most of the amber looks to be on the tiny one-fingered leaves

When looking at trichomes dont look at the leaves (your not smoking them) look at the flowers (calyx) where the pistols are coming from.

Trichomes on leaves will be different than whats on the flowers you're gonna puff. Its common to see amber on leaves well before the flowers are ripe.

 

[Zebidee86]

When looking at trichomes dont look at the leaves (your not smoking them) look at the flowers (calyx) where the pistols are coming from.

Trichomes on leaves will be different than whats on the flowers you're gonna puff. Its common to see amber on leaves well before the flowers are ripe.

Thanks for the heads up, I’d say the leaves were about 70% amber and the calyx are probs about 30-40%
Am I likely to get much more bud swelling or development at this point?

 

[Old Salt]

No, harvest the ASAP.

 

[bobrown14]

What at @Old Salt said.

40% amber on the flowers - chop chop get chopping.

You'll wanna take a nap 1/2 thru trimming. no joke.

 

[Zebidee86]

I chopped it down, how do I avoid a hay smell setting in when I dry? I’ve not had much luck with my last few grows. I’ve left the majority of the sugar leaf this time as I have heard that can help retain a good flavour and odour when drying. I just worry about mould, when I’ve tried to dry in my tent before I lost about 1/5th of my grow due to furry mould developing. I’d had a circulating fan and my extractor on too

 

[Old Salt]

Dry in a dark place with about 50-60% humidity, or put it into paper bags and dry it in the fridge. When dried, jar it up with a 62% Boveda Pack. If you don't have the Boveda Packs, keep an eye on your jars, whenever you see moisture on the buds or the sides of the jar, you'll need to 'burp' them. Burping involves emptying the jar onto a cookie sheet, or something similar, and letting them breath and dry a bit. It usually takes 10-30 minutes for the moisture to evaporate, depending on the humidity in the room.

 

[bobrown14]

Yeah you need some lower humidity with drying and for the hay smell don't let it get too dry. Thats when you get hay.

I cut my plants down and hang em upside down and trim off all the fan leaves and let it dry like that in a room with anything less that 65% rH. Takes about 3-6 days to dry depending on size of plant. Then trim and into jars. The curing process and drying process as important as growing process.

Don't let your guard down. I'm a firm believer that drying is extremely important.

 

[Zebidee86]

Is there any chance you get the hay smell when drying no matter what? I’ve been drying at 59-64 RH and 18C and the hay smell is back

 

[BigD13]

The hay smell will go away with time. Usually after 7-10 days of burping your jars, the smell of hay should mostly be gone. Mine is.

 

[Zebidee86]

The hay smell will go away with time. Usually after 7-10 days of burping your jars, the smell of hay should mostly be gone. Mine is.

Thanks man

 

[BigD13]

Now I'm just waiting for that "dank" smell everyone talks about.

 

[scrogster]

Those flowers look nice.