Trichome color and when to flush?

howlinmike

New Member
My babies (Nirvana Aurora) are 3 weeks into flowering. Does anyone have a guideline on how fast the buds go thru the trichome cycle? Meaning... I am growing 2 ladies hydro in my closet setup, from everything I have researched and read, I will want to flush about 7 to 10 days before harvest, so when I see clear trichomes, about how long til they are cloudy, then they are 50-50, which is my goal. I want 50-50 cloudy/amber, I am unsure when to start flushing, I don't want to start too early and mess them up, but don't want to start too early.

Any help out there??!!

Thanks, Howlinmike
 
Thanks Snack!

I did some checking on other sites, from what I understand, to get my goal of 70% cloudy/30% amber, (yeah I changed the % of what I want), I am going to flush when I see the FIRST amber trichomes. I grow hydroponic so I only need to flush 7 to 10 days from everything I read. I know it isn't a set rule, so I do have a 60X - 100X Zoom pocket microscope to check progress.

I went to youtube, --------- and a couple of other places and just took what the general consensus was, I too am disappointed no one responded!

Don't know if this helps, but I don't depend just on this site, I always check several sites by googleing my question and get a general consensus of all information!!

Happy Growing! HowlinMike
 
No problem Howlin. I also checked a couple of other sites and found some more info, as well as a couple of threads here that I didn't initially find. I think if you/we want to harvest when the THC is at its maximum, we'll want to harvest when some trichomes are just starting to turn amber (maybe 10% of them, or less). Apparently, the amber color is an indication that the THC is starting to break down, so I think flushing when you see amber for 7-10 days will mean you'll be harvesting a little later than when THC is at the maximum level. My impression that harvesting later will mean less THC and more CBD and other cannabinoids and will results in more of a couch-lock body stoned, whereas harvesting earlier when most of the trichomes are cloudy white will tend to result in more of an uppity cerebral high.

I guess it comes from experience to know exactly how long it take from the trichomes to go from clear to cloudy white and then to amber, but from what I've gathered, this varies a bit based on the strain and other environmental factors, so there aren't any hard and fast rules. That said, going by feeding charts, I get the impression that it probably all happens within 2 weeks or so. Using my 60x loupe, it looks like my lady has clear trichomes, but possibly starting to turn cloudy - it's actually kind of hard for me to see the difference, but I don't see any amber yet. I'm growing in coco, which doesn't tend to hold nutes much, so am planning to start flushing this weekend and hope that I start seeing the full transition to cloudy within the coming week and harvest the following weekend. I guess we'll see. After all the time, effort and money, it would be good to get the harvest time as close to optimal as possible :)

I wish you a successful harvest! Got a pic of your plant?
 
Hey Snack,

I have no camera, wish I did, most of the little money I have saved goes into this! But, I am growing Nirvana Aurora, and they are sweeeet! Only 2, I am a vet with PTSD, so its strictly personal. Growing 2 every 3 to 4 months that will be fine for me!

Looks like we have the same understanding though which is good, lots of good info out there if weed thru the B.S.!

This is my first grow and actually has been very easy, researched allot before and got some good answers for the couple of posts I have done! I went to Nirvana website, knew I wanted a Northern Lights strain for the short strain and awesome THC content, and ended with the Aurora, which for me is great for my closet grow setup! Now that I'm down to the wire, I don't need no screw ups!

I WILL have a camera for my next grow probably starting early to mid November.

Can/will ya post your harvest!?


Have a good one and thanks for the info!!

HowlinMike
 
Hey Mike,

Happy to try and help! 2 plants every 3-4 months sounds divine. Don't think I'll be able to do that, but wish I could. My thanks go out to you and all vets for your service to our country. It is a tough job and unfortunately causes way too much PTSD.

I did some light research on Nirvana Aurora, and looks like it has a flowering time of 70 days or 10 weeks. Do a google search for 'seed finder' and you'll find some good info. So, sounds like you have at least a month to go, if you originally posted at 3 weeks. My girl is on week 9 now and flowering time is supposedly 63 days, so should be ready very soon. I'm going to start flushing tomorrow and watch her every day for signs of cloudy goodness. I might try to pickup a stronger loupe tomorrow too if I can find one so I can see the trichomes better. Seems like a worthwhile investment as I'll need it for future grows too.

For some pics of my grow, click on the link to my journal in my signature. I've posted several pics there. Hope you enjoy 'em!
 
Snack,

Actually I switched to 12/12 on August 15, so I still do have a month or so to go.

I don't have a loupe, the one I got is off amazon: SE Illuminated LED Microscope


1667086262486.png


I looked thru it and can see the furry crystals on the buds AND leaves real good. Amazon has some good ones, this is what I could afford.

Thats for all the help and info.

I'll be looking for your pics, HowlinMike
 
Snack,

Your Blue Dream looks allot like Aurora! Your tent looks mine but mine is 2x4x5. I have a 4" fan and carbon filter, I am using an awesome LED Light....Advanced Platinum Series DS200 300w 11-band LED Grow Light - DUAL VEG/FLOWER SPECTRUM

NOT promoting amazon, have allot of stuff between them and ebay!! Really don't around allot!

Talk to ya later,

HowlinMike
 
thought I'd share what I do know. to know when to flush means you need to know when to harvest. Figuring a harvest date is next to impossible without experiance with the strain growing from what I have read why ? The listed flowering times isn't exact they are estimates(tends to take longer) enviormently factors come into play play also. and what % cloudy/amber you want. all that works against me giving you a good date that's not too eary or late.
Also I wouldn't use the date you flipped to 12/12 as the start of flowering it can take the plant a day - 2weeks to respond to the light change. I figure they are about 10 days-2 weeks into flowering when I can sex them
 
Thanks Old Hippie,

I actually started my count at 1 week after 12/12. They looked good then. I studies Aurora before I decided to grow with that, because I want couchlock and help with my pain, and to me its' easy to grow, I haven't had one issue as far as growing goes, it is surprising me how fast this stuff is progressing. I want 70-30 cloudy/amber so I think I have it figured out when to flush, and from what I've read in allot of places if I run/flush clear water up to 2 weeks I'll be OK. Plenty of reserve in the plants. Beings I'm growing hydro I have to flush 7 to 10 days anyway.

Thanks or your input!!

HowlinMike
 
thought I'd share what I do know. to know when to flush means you need to know when to harvest. Figuring a harvest date is next to impossible without experiance with the strain growing from what I have read why ? The listed flowering times isn't exact they are estimates(tends to take longer) enviormently factors come into play play also. and what % cloudy/amber you want. all that works against me giving you a good date that's not too eary or late.
Also I wouldn't use the date you flipped to 12/12 as the start of flowering it can take the plant a day - 2weeks to respond to the light change. I figure they are about 10 days-2 weeks into flowering when I can sex them

Ah, this is helpful info, thanks oldhippie64. I was wondering if there were some environmental factors which affected the flowering time, as I'm on day 70 now and I think it might still be a little early as I don't see any amber triches yet. It's also interesting that the flowering time should be counted from when the sex is evident, rather than the switch the 12/12 date. I can check my past pics, but I want to say it took around 2 weeks or so after I flipped to 12/12 that I started seeing some budding start. So, maybe I really have more than a week to go? I wonder, can you tell anything from this bud I picked yesterday? Thanks!

2014-09-21_23-28-42_249.jpg


2014-09-21_23-30-17_368.jpg
 
Snack,

I am wondering what kind of environmental factors are there when growing hydro? My temp is always the same, humidity is always the same, my nutes are always correct, and my water is changes every 10 days. If there is anything I haven't heard of far as environmental factors please let me know. As far as sexing for me, my Aurora is feminized so I didn't have to worry about that, and at a week mine were responding, I already saw hairs coming from all over the place, so, I started counting a week after 12/12 switch. I hope this helps ya a little, if you or oldhippie64 know anything else I need to know please let me know!

Later

P.S. Your buds look NIIIICE!

HowlinMIke
 
I can't tell the cloudy/clear ratio in the pics but it doesn't look too cloudy so I'd guess at least another week before you think about flushing. 2-3 weeks till harvest. Some of the enviorementy factors affecting flowering too much N can delay/prevent flowering, Too high humidity you wont get good trics growth.
 
OK, when I checked my notes I see I started 12/12 a few days later than I had originally thought. Also, the first pistils were visible on July 25, so I'm at day 60 now, not 70 as I had thought earlier. So, I think you're right oldhippie! I probably have a good 2 weeks to go, if not a bit more, until harvest. Went back to feeding with ripening nutes today, instead of flushing, and will plan to start the flush in probably a week or so. Thanks a lot for your input. It definitely helped me make more sense of things!!

A couple more pics of that bud, cause everyone likes pics, right? :)

2014-09-21_23-30-17_368.jpg

2014-09-21_23-30-00_417.jpg
 
Sorry I did not see this post earlier or I would have thrown in my two cents worth of knowledge. Soooo snack420 & howlinmike, how did your buds do? Were you happy with the results? The next time you grow that strain you will have a deeper pool of knowledge to draw from and your expectations will be tempered by your previous grow. Happy farming!
 
My babies (Nirvana Aurora) are 3 weeks into flowering. Does anyone have a guideline on how fast the buds go thru the trichome cycle? Meaning... I am growing 2 ladies hydro in my closet setup, from everything I have researched and read, I will want to flush about 7 to 10 days before harvest, so when I see clear trichomes, about how long til they are cloudy, then they are 50-50, which is my goal. I want 50-50 cloudy/amber, I am unsure when to start flushing, I don't want to start too early and mess them up, but don't want to start too early.

Any help out there??!!

Thanks, Howlinmike
Came here doing some research on when to flush my first harvest and what a coincidence. I got some Nirvana - Aurora seeds for my next grow! Any update on how that strain turned out? Very curious!
 
Came here doing some research on when to flush my first harvest and what a coincidence. I got some Nirvana - Aurora seeds for my next grow! Any update on how that strain turned out? Very curious!
Hi stoopidgrower...so I wish there was an update but those members were last seen in 2018.... Original post 2014
 
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