First Harvest Need Help!

U

Unclebilly

Member
Hey guys, this is my first harvest. I'm having a tough time gauging when to chop these girls. they are a bag seed of northern lights cross pollinated from somebodies backyard lol. We are finishing week 11 since the 12/12 flip. I have read 100 different methods to go by... trichs, pistils, the list goes on... most popular seems to be the trichomes, But now I'm reading that some strains never or barely amber and that may not be a reliable method... and I really don't want to over ripe these girls. It's my first grow.

I bought a USB microscope and tried to get some decent pictures... the jewelers loupe didn't show me near as well. I'm looking for more of a couch lock high

the plants overall look pretty ripe... the leaves are yellowing and falling off... 2 of the 4 are showing the sugar leaves gone fall colours. I thought I should see more amber trichomes... if you look at plant #3... this one is the most advanced showing close to 50% amber. the others seem way less. I am thinking to chop plant 3 now and keep an eye on the others over the next week?

thanks so much for all your guys help along this journey :D
 

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drsaltzman

drsaltzman

Well-Known Member
I don’t bother with trich colors anymore.
I’m starting to believe it’s just bro science.
1, 3 and 4 look ready.
2 could go a little longer. Or not.
Nice grow.
 
osowhom

osowhom

Well-Known Member
nice plants how are you planning the drying period? wet trim or dry? hang whole plant or chop up? in a nice dark cool room at about 62 and 62 with indirect airflow for 6 to 10 days is my advice with a good wet trim and hang them in big sections
 
osowhom

osowhom

Well-Known Member
dont be discouraged if they shrink up during drying its part of the game also read up on curing save the best colas for a good long cure
 
U

Unclebilly

Member
osowhom said:
nice plants how are you planning the drying period? wet trim or dry? hang whole plant or chop up? in a nice dark cool room at about 62 and 62 with indirect airflow for 6 to 10 days is my advice with a good wet trim and hang them in big sections
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Thanks for chiming in!

I plan to use my cold cellar. It seems to stay around 60-65F and 55-60RH.

I’m not entirely sure on the trim and dry method. My plan was to chop the whole thing and hang it. I’m open to suggestions cause I really only have a YouTube education so far lol.
 
Dank Bongula

Dank Bongula

Well-Known Member
Unclebilly said:
Thanks for chiming in!

I plan to use my cold cellar. It seems to stay around 60-65F and 55-60RH.

I’m not entirely sure on the trim and dry method. My plan was to chop the whole thing and hang it. I’m open to suggestions cause I really only have a YouTube education so far lol.
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Your cellar has the ideal conditions for a nice long dry... probably go 12 days easy...you can either do dry or wet trim, could do a little of both and see how you like the results and what you plan to do with the trim. You could also cut/hang the branches individually instead of the entire plant because of your cellar conditions. But if you are concerned and you really wanna slow it down, hang the whole thing.
 
osowhom

osowhom

Well-Known Member
twentyeight.threefive said:
That's because we like our plants ripe. It only gets old to you because you don't understand what a plant looks like when it's ready.
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so then are these ready in your opinion? and sometimes if a persons harvest goes south and is dying they have to chop early it is still smokeable though
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Unclebilly said:
Hey guys, this is my first harvest. I'm having a tough time gauging when to chop these girls. they are a bag seed of northern lights cross pollinated from somebodies backyard lol. We are finishing week 11 since the 12/12 flip. I have read 100 different methods to go by... trichs, pistils, the list goes on... most popular seems to be the trichomes, But now I'm reading that some strains never or barely amber and that may not be a reliable method... and I really don't want to over ripe these girls. It's my first grow.

I bought a USB microscope and tried to get some decent pictures... the jewelers loupe didn't show me near as well. I'm looking for more of a couch lock high

the plants overall look pretty ripe... the leaves are yellowing and falling off... 2 of the 4 are showing the sugar leaves gone fall colours. I thought I should see more amber trichomes... if you look at plant #3... this one is the most advanced showing close to 50% amber. the others seem way less. I am thinking to chop plant 3 now and keep an eye on the others over the next week?

thanks so much for all your guys help along this journey :D
Click to expand...
In my opinion none of these look ready for where I would harvest.

it’s also hard to tell from so far away from a bud shot and with so many dead/dying/necrotic leaves.

it looks like you cut out Nitrogen too early and or fed with too much P and K.

Ask again in a week but with some decent bud shots.

it looks like you’ve only just hit the first swell of the buds and the stacking and ripening swell still has to be done.
 
U

Unclebilly

Member
jondamon said:
In my opinion none of these look ready for where I would harvest.

it’s also hard to tell from so far away from a bud shot and with so many dead/dying/necrotic leaves.

it looks like you cut out Nitrogen too early and or fed with too much P and K.

Ask again in a week but with some decent bud shots.

it looks like you’ve only just hit the first swell of the buds and the stacking and ripening swell still has to be done.
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thanks for the reply. I was growing all organic soil. I top dressed Gaia green 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 1tbsp per gallon medium total 50/50 each fertilizer at about week 6 flower and then a smaller top dressing of 2-8-4 maybe 0.5 tbsp/gal week 8 or 9.

so much conflicting information I really don’t have a comfort zone of my own yet to make these decisions
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Unclebilly said:
thanks for the reply. I was growing all organic soil. I top dressed Gaia green 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 1tbsp per gallon medium total 50/50 each fertilizer at about week 6 flower and then a smaller top dressing of 2-8-4 maybe 0.5 tbsp/gal week 8 or 9.

so much conflicting information I really don’t have a comfort zone of my own yet to make these decisions
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Well I’ve been growing for 12 years with quite a few documented grows on RIU.

you’d probably find if the Gaia Green 4-4-4 has all 16/17 nutrient elements you could have used just that for most of flowering and then switched to 2-8-4 around week 5-7 of flowering.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
osowhom said:
so then are these ready in your opinion? and sometimes if a persons harvest goes south and is dying they have to chop early it is still smokeable though
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I'm not saying it's not smokeable. Just not at it's peak.

No I wouldn't consider those close to ready. Better pictures would help.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
Unclebilly said:
So what’s your opinion on my plants? Curious to know
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No I wouldn't consider those close to ready. Majority of pistils are solid white and sticking out. And it doesn't look like they are just a few new ones still pushing out. It's hard to see the condition of the orange/brown ones.

The trichome shots are terrible but the only amber I saw was on sugar leaves which you don't check. The rest looked clear.
 
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