harvesting questions for the experienced growers....

I just began week eight of flowering, and my weeds look amazing! Take a look at last weeks entry....
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/566678-casey-j-s-first-grow-2.html#post8173948
I am growing four different strains, one of which is "Chemdawg" from Humboldt Seed Co. The info on this strain says it flowers at nine weeks. I think it could be ready to harvest, well, today. That would be be about 12 to 13 days before the end of the 9th week of flowering. Being a newbie, I don't know what to think about harvesting almost two weeks prior to it's recommended harvest time.

Why do I think she (her name is "Betsy") is ready to harvest?

My first clue is general appearance. Look at the pictures I took this morning. Many of the pistles have turned a beautiful reddish-brown color, the nuggets look hard, resinous, they smell, and she just looks ready to harvest.

My second clue is by examining her trichomes. I have a 60x 100x pocket microscope. Let me tell you what I have observed with absolute certainty. First, I have observed some, not alot, of amber trichomes. I have also observed cloudy and clear trichomes as well, the vast majority being cloudy. And to make thing worse, there are alot of trichomes that "might be" yellowing, but I am not really sure.

The ambiguity is driving me insane! Should I harvest? Or should I wait? Ultimately, I am the one to make the call. I know I would rather be safe than sorry. I definitely want to avoid harvesting too late because I know the potency decreases with increased amber trichome production. I would rather have the "up", head high at peak potency than the decrease in potency that might occur if I wait too long.

I took some great close-ups. You can zoom in and get a great look at the trichomes. I want to know what all you experienced growers think. Have you ever encountered situations where your flowers were ripe and harvested a week or two prior to it's recommended harvest time? What would you do in my situation? Harvest now or later?

This is all funny because my Afghan Kush Special-Lexi is her name-is supposed to finish at eight weeks, a week before Betsy, and yet, she still looks at least a week out! Weird, huh?

My plants are right around the same stage as yours. IF IT WERE ME - I would let them go longer. Maybe two weeks max.

HighLowGrow said:

My plants are right around the same stage as yours. IF IT WERE ME - I would let them go longer. Maybe two weeks max.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I posted on another forum and a couple experienced growers there think it is immature and that I ought to wait a couple more weeks. My God, what will it look like then? You should see the cola's from my 5 White Widow's. They are like twice as frickin' huge as the Chemdawg's cola's!

Looks good man. I'm growing Chemdawg from them also, about 4 weeks into flower.

My pheno looks identical to yours. Hope it's as frosty too!

Those plants look great for your first grow ..... well done !!! Personally, I like the hard ' knock you on your ass' type of head high you get from a lot of amber trichomes so I would wait a bit longer....lol

There's a great sticky under "Harvesting" called "Harvesting and Trichomes" by koijn that is fantastic. When I was in your exact situation just a month or go or so, I read that thread from beginning to end (it's likely still active). Anyway, koijn provides a sea of great information, all of it substantiated scientifically with references/bibliography. He is also very responsive to questions, though you'll probably find an answer in what's already been asked. I had a sativa dominant Shaman that I ended up harvesting almost 2 weeks early, and it was a good thing I did. I'm in the Caribbean, so my circumstances are likely different than yours. This is not to suggest that koijn is an advocate of early harvesting. After all the fantastic scientific proof he provides, I think in the end he also believes you must "Know your plant, and your plant will tell you." Your pistils look like they could stand to recede a bit more, but only you know the trichome situation which it seems is most critical. I'm with you with preferring the head high, so I wouldn't wait too very long. Good luck!

Chemdawg rocks..they bulk up..not done it thats the pics of it.