White pistils - Amber trichs - What now?

[tom420]

To chop or not to chop!
That is my question for the experts here.
This is my first grow and I'm sooooo confused by those trichomes!

Some basic info first:
----------------------
Strain: Skunk #1 Auto feminized from White Label Seeds
Medium: Canna Coco Pro 70% / Perlite 30% with layers of hydroton on the bottom and top
Container: 11 liter smart pot, hand watering
Lights: Mars Hydro Reflector 96 (183W draw) and COB LED with 90 deg lens (125W draw)
Grow tent: 3' x 4'
Other equipment:
- Dehumidifier in the tent,
- Carbon filter and outtake fan 200cfm
- 2 mixing fans in the tent
- PH, EC, temp and humidity meters

Light schedule has been 18/6 throughout the entire grow. Temperature in the tent is below 79F during lights on and above 66F with light off. RH was at 60% during first weeks and is now at 45-50%.
On day 15 I have topped the plant and LST'ed slightly few days later. Feeding was quite light, from 400ppm in the beginning to max 700ppm with GHE Flora Series + AN Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra in RO water.

It's now 64 days from germination and I'm confused. Should I harvest or should I wait? Majority of pistils are still white so I thought I have still few weeks to go. But just yesterday I've got myself a microscope to check the trichomes and was surprised to see a lot of milky ones and quite a few amber as well. So how come? So many white pistils and already amber trichomes?

As I would rather harvest a bit early than too late for more of a head high, I have decided to start 7 days flush yesterday. I have flushed with FloraKleen until my runoff read 60PPM and I will continue watering with pure RO water without PH-ing it (I'm convinced by the argument that there is no point to PH this flushing water since there are no more nutrients to uptake anyway).

All the leaves are still healthy green so I guess I could still come back to feeding if you recommend I should wait another week or two.

This is my first grow so I have absolutely ZERO previous experience. I would also hate to f*ck it up at the very end, after 2+ months of caring for my plant. I was reading about pistils and trichomes color and how to judge the right harvest time and I thought it would be easy. But when I actually look at my own plant I am not sure anymore.

So if anyone could offer some advice as to whether I should chop or wait that'd be grand!

Cheers!

Here are some pics of the plant, buds and trichs:

 

[Imhigh85]

When it comes to harvest it all depends on how you like your Harvest some people like it which is cloudy trichomes with just a couple Amber's I prefer mine with about 15 to 25% Amber and the rest cloudy but anywhere in those two areas are safe to harvest Amber trichomes means it's reached its peak and it's starting to degrade

 

[Planter420]

You still have a lot of clear left in there. Defo see some amber but check a little further down the plant. Don't chop based on topmost buds chop based on overall trichome cond. She is very green still so a longer flush may help her finish to your liking without too too many amber. Amber not necessarily bad but clear will mean reduced potency.

 

[tom420]

Thanks Imhigh & GrowchyGreenz!
Alrighty then, I guess I will continue with the flush but if she's stil green after a week and without too many amber I will just continue plain RO until she turns yellow or I see amber in larger numbers or no clear ones. Well, let's see if I can spot that ha ha
I will post some new pics in a week.
Cheers!

 

[SageGrower]

I don't see nearly enough amber for my liking. You're very close though!

 

[tom420]

Yeah, I'm just worried that if I wait for "enough" amber and THEN start one week flush, it may be too many amber by the end of that week. Decisions, decisions

 

[Imhigh85]

Starting your flush after you see your Emerald crystals is not going to hurt anything all it's going to do is let your butt right pin up a little bit more

 

[SageGrower]

Normally, you won't go from 10-20% amber straight to too much amber in a week. The sequence is clear, cloudy, and amber. You're around ~1% now.

 

[tom420]

Well, I better listen to the experts here - back to the light feeding then, until I see some more mliky and amber - then flush.
Thanks guys!

 

[SageGrower]

Well, I better listen to the experts here - back to the light feeding then, until I see some more mliky and amber - then flush.
Thanks guys!

Where did you learn about FloraKleen? It's a great product.

 

[tom420]

Where could I have learnt about it? Where I got all my knowledge from - this very forum - 420 Magazine!
Although I have also learnt that it's basically just sugar water But hey, I'm not taking any chances with my first grow and so I'm not going to start mixing my own flushing solutions just yet!