To Harvest or not to Harvest

[babble212]

Hi guys and gals

This is my first grow for 18 years! I invested in 4 * Creme Caramel Autos, a 300W LED, 120 by 120 tent, charcoal filter and so on.
My girls were started out doors in the med, however the weather started turning for autumn so I decided to invest in the above. I have had a few caterpillar issue which I have tried to manually get rid of as I am pretty sure the girls are very near to harvest and I didnt want to spray as I wanted them as flushed as possible.

Advice if possible

1) These photos were taken today so my question is are they ready for harvest, apologies my little microscope and camera put together was a little awkward.

2) I also fed them nutrients around 3-4 days ago, so should I flush with just water for the next 4-5 days, any advice mucho appreciated.

3) I am looking to grow 4-6 plants next any advice on any further lighting required etc

All the best Babble212

 

[Took Red Pill]

You're almost there but I'd let it go for another 2 weeks. Nice looking plants though.

 

[Gelanes]

I also would leave for next week.

 

[OlderGrower]

I would let it grow at least another 7 to 12 days if for no other reason then to finish flushing it out. I am old and my eyes are not as good as they use to be, could not really make out if 100% of the trichomes were milky or not. There are a million different points of view as to when it is best to harvest. Some say as soon as 100% of all trichomes are milky and others say not until 20% of the milky trichomes start turning amber. and every possible combination of the above. Myself I wait till around 5% start turning amber, where as my brother thinks I am nuts and likes to run his all the way out to 20% amber. The trichomes will turn milky white when they reach maximum potential and begin to turn amber as a sign of that potential beginning to break down. Here is where the debate begins, if one trichome begins to go amber and deteriorate, are the rest of the milky white trichomes at 100% maximum potential? Probably not, some may be 40% some 60% and some even as high as 90% but they do not all develop at the exact same rate, so here is where the dilemma starts. What is the point where the plants potential is at its highest. Much like the number of licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world will never know

 

[pontiacman]

I just harvested a week ago. I flushed for 2 weeks. I would wait for the flush to complete before harvest.

 

[OlderGrower]

One thing I forgot to mention in my post above was:
Good call on NOT spraying at this stage in the game.
Also I have been looking in to bud washing which I first discovered on one of the posts by Doc. Granted I was very reluctant at 1st and have not actually tried it yet myself, though I will be trying it on the plants I am presently growing since when I found this article I had already harvested my outdoor grow. A few of the people i have met online here have talked with me about it and they are doing it and they swear by it. Since I presently can not partake due to my employment situation, I will be doing a test where I cut and wash all but one cola from 1 plant which I will dry and cure the traditional method and bud wash the rest. I plan to dry and cure both and keep them separated so it is a controlled experiment. Then once the bud is ready to smoke, I will let my brother, my son and my neighbor do a blind taste test and let them tell me which is smoother and has a better quality. Kind of like the coke pepsi challenge...lol