A looming harvest is a very exciting time. It is also possible that you will get bitten by the harvest bug. It’s not a real bug, but none-the-less, its bite will give you an extreme desire to harvest. Don’t fall for it!
A grower with whom I consult called me excitedly this last weekend and proclaimed that it was time to harvest. I knew mid-September in Missouri was quite early and I knew that it usually takes one long cool-off for buds to ripen outdoors. I tried to convince him to wait until I could help confirm but was not successful. Fortunately, I did convince him to only take the biggest colas and to leave the rest for a bit. This was a good thing because they were definitely not ready for harvest. This grower is a bit ill knowing he took the best part of his harvest too early.
So how can you tell when to harvest?
Method 1: Pistil Method
This low-tech method really only works indoors as conditions are a bit more ideal. I just witnessed a situation where this method would not work outdoors.
The idea in this method is to wait until ~75% of the pistils (‘hairs’) on the buds have turned from white to another color (rose, purple, red, brown, etc). This is a reasonable indication of the buds maturity and can be used in a pinch. However, I generally use this method to know when to start looking at my trichomes – more on that in a second.
Method 2: Trichome color
A jeweler’s loupe or other small portable magnifying device (40x magnification should be sufficient) will be needed to clearly see these tiny structures. Trichomes are where the vast majority of cannbinoids are contained. In order to allow a cultivarA cultivated variety, often mistakenly called a 'strain.' More to fully realize its maximum cannabinoid & terpene production potential, you must allow the trichomes to fully mature to a cloudy, milky color. When almost all of the trichomes are opaque and cloudy, they’re ready!
As a final note, many cultivators have noted that an early harvest (half clear trichomes / half cloudy) will result in a short, “up” effect and most side effects will be felt in the head. Meanwhile, if you wait until most trichomes pass from cloudy to colored (amber, purple, brown, etc) the resulting effects will be a good deal more sedative (more CBN), which may be exactly what you need.
If you want to experiment, I recommend harvesting a few buds early, most of them when trichomes are cloudy, and a few when they’ve gone amber. Be sure to label them!
Beware the bite of the harvest bug and use a little science to determine the right time for harvest. Its hard to trust intuition in this matter because your intuition will become clouded much more quickly than your trichomes. I know there’s nothing quite like delicious, freshly cured homegrown – but be patient!
Happy Harvests!
–The Lit Farmer–
Nice article Eric. Thanks.