harvesting an indica as a sativa - my experience

growone

Well-Known Member
Here's my experience in harvesting an indica as a sativa. This was a nl#5.
I cut at 11 weeks of flower, which is late by the breeder guidlines, but seemed
to be a pretty 'sativa' looking trichome set. I was flowering under cfl's in a micro
setup. I believe that the cfl's slowed the maturity a bit, but have no proof.

Anyways, many have claimed that you can get a pretty sativa like high if you harvest
an indica with a minimum of amber. This could be their experience, but I know what I got
from my harvest.

I cured for 3 weeks, not long, but some of the clear trics changed to a golden yellow
after the cure. There were still plenty of clear trics left though.

In no way would I mistake this buzz for a sativa. It's not 'super' couch lock, but it
it is definitely an indica feel. Strong head rush, followed by a body high. Real strong
and long lasting, 3+ hours, then some. No complaints really, I can use an indica for
insomnia, but this is no 'sativa feeling' plant.

Here's is a tric/plant picture right before harvest. There is an island of amber trics, but the
bulk of the trics are clear/frosty. And this was the most amber looking spot on the
plant i could find. This was a an indica early in its maturity.


 

tnrtinr

Well-Known Member
Blasphemy around these parts.

Almost every single harvest on this site is premature trying to capture a sativa high out of an indica. Or even a more sativa high out of a sativa. Just let the damn things grow to maturity.

The idea that if you harvest cloudy trichomes you are maximizing THC (and somehow that means you are maximizing the high) is retarded because THC isn't the only thing that gets you high.

See for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9J2N6_bl0A

The high of a properly grown and harvested indica / sativa is MUCH different than those harvested prematurely with cloudy trichomes. Neither of which are more potent when harvested for "maximum THC" (cloudy trics) than when harvested after THC has begun to "degrade" (amber trics) and brought to maturity.

I cringe everytime I see a beautiful plant on here get chopped early; either by impatience or chasing a different high.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
good reply tnrtinr, here's what my goal was, didn't have one
not too experienced with indica either growing or smoking, so i didn't have much of an idea what i was going to get for effect
so you rolls the dice and takes your chances, overall pleased with what i got, but just as you said, getting sativa from indica is a pipe dream ;)
maybe some other indicas will behave differently, glad to hear about other experiences
 

Darkuser

Well-Known Member
Blasphemy around these parts.

Almost every single harvest on this site is premature trying to capture a sativa high out of an indica. Or even a more sativa high out of a sativa. Just let the damn things grow to maturity.

The idea that if you harvest cloudy trichomes you are maximizing THC (and somehow that means you are maximizing the high) is retarded because THC isn't the only thing that gets you high.

See for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9J2N6_bl0A

The high of a properly grown and harvested indica / sativa is MUCH different than those harvested prematurely with cloudy trichomes. Neither of which are more potent when harvested for "maximum THC" (cloudy trics) than when harvested after THC has begun to "degrade" (amber trics) and brought to maturity.

I cringe everytime I see a beautiful plant on here get chopped early; either by impatience or chasing a different high.
It has nothing to do with "maximizing" the high for many. Some people just prefer the lighter high that comes from an early harvest.

I'll probably never let my indica strain fully mature ever again. Last time I did I found myself wishing it would end cause I couldn't do anything. Being couch-locked is undesirable for me. I like to be somewhat active and be able to socialize without feeling like I can't comprehend what's going on around me.

My sativa strain I even harvest a little early. The guy I got the strain from harvests 2-3 weeks early for a very light high, which is actually kind of nice when we are having a few drinks at a BBQ or something like that.

If you are taking for pain or just enjoy getting wrecked, then yes, let it wait. But to each's own imo.
 

tnrtinr

Well-Known Member
good reply tnrtinr, here's what my goal was, didn't have one
not too experienced with indica either growing or smoking, so i didn't have much of an idea what i was going to get for effect
so you rolls the dice and takes your chances, overall pleased with what i got, but just as you said, getting sativa from indica is a pipe dream ;)
maybe some other indicas will behave differently, glad to hear about other experiences
Unfortunately this thread will fade into oblivion and BrickTop will once again repost his Trics chart when someone asks if their plant is ready.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately this thread will fade into oblivion and BrickTop will once again repost his Trics chart when someone asks if their plant is ready.
all threads must fade eventually, but it's worth passing on the info
the prior poster was quite close to looking for the same thing as i was, a 'indica-lite', not a 'indica'hammer'
but i noticed that some claimed harvesting with a lot of milky/clear and little amber is going to give you a sativa - i would have been fine with that, but i didn't really believe it - my indica sure didn't feel like no sativa
on the other hand, a fully mature northern lights is still hard hitting even by indica standards - maybe some other indica's behave differently when harvested like this
 

aknight3

Moderator
Unfortunately this thread will fade into oblivion and BrickTop will once again repost his Trics chart when someone asks if their plant is ready.


tnr i also feel your pain, ive had many a arguements with many others (bricktop more than once, haha) that say to harvest, its just a justifiable excuse to chop their plants early in order to get high, then once doing so, of course they arent going to admit they are wrong, they just chopped early after working for weeks, but hey same could be said about what im saying, i just hate when people pick shit that hairs havent even receeded, ill say this once and will get hell for it :twisted:DONT ONLY GO BY TRICHOMES, THE PLANT WILL TELL YOU WHEN SHES DONE, YOU WILL FUCKING KNOW I SWEAR TO GOD, it will tinge, glisten, give you a boner and make you cry all at the same time :peace:bongsmiliehope this helps someone good luck fuck charts
 

tnrtinr

Well-Known Member
tnr i also feel your pain, ive had many a arguements with many others (bricktop more than once, haha) that say to harvest, its just a justifiable excuse to chop their plants early in order to get high, then once doing so, of course they arent going to admit they are wrong, they just chopped early after working for weeks, but hey same could be said about what im saying, i just hate when people pick shit that hairs havent even receeded, ill say this once and will get hell for it :twisted:DONT ONLY GO BY TRICHOMES, THE PLANT WILL TELL YOU WHEN SHES DONE, YOU WILL FUCKING KNOW I SWEAR TO GOD, it will tinge, glisten, give you a boner and make you cry all at the same time :peace:bongsmiliehope this helps someone good luck fuck charts
kiss-ass

I see well grown perfect looking buds get chopped prematurely all the time.
 

Brick Top

New Member
Many people misunderstand or misstate the effects of harvesting my trichome color and think it can or expect it can have a greater difference than it will. Each strain has a genetic coding and that will make almost 100% of the decision as to what the final high or stone or combination will be. The harvesting by trichome color lets you fine tune that little bit of variable to how you enjoy it the most.
 
Also it has been proven that in what might be that window of opportunity for peak harvest time the level of THC is at its highest. If you harvest previous to the window of opportunity the THC level has not peaked. If you harvest after that window of opportunity THC levels have begun to fall due to the oxidization of THC lowering THC levels and increasing CBN levels.
 
Even if someone does not want to go to the trouble of fine tuning their herb to best suit their taste I would still like to think they would at least care enough about what they will end up with to want to harvest when it has been scientifically proven that the THC level is at its maximum. Doing so would only be logical.
 

tnrtinr

Well-Known Member

 
Even if someone does not want to go to the trouble of fine tuning their herb to best suit their taste I would still like to think they would at least care enough about what they will end up with to want to harvest when it has been scientifically proven that the THC level is at its maximum. Doing so would only be logical.
It is only logical because people are ignorant to what makes them high. There is more to getting high than THC and if they understood that; they would harvest differently. Other cannabinoids including CBN ENHANCE THC's effectiveness.

Watch the first 2:15 to see what I mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9J2N6_bl0A

Cannabis is a mixture of compounds that work together. Targeting one compound and harvesting to maximize that with no regard for other compounds in the final product ignores the importance of the cannabinoids. It will reduce not only your yield, but ironically potency as well.

If you want a head high - GROW A SATIVA!!!
 
I believe trichomes are just 1 of many factors that make up the high feeling cause Ive smoked tops that got me wasted and they didnt have any crystals on em. Of course that was way back when I had been smokin only a few years but there has to be more to the high than just thc. I believe more intense study of MJ is needed.
 

Brick Top

New Member
It is only logical because people are ignorant to what makes them high. There is more to getting high than THC and if they understood that; they would harvest differently. Other cannabinoids including CBN ENHANCE THC's effectiveness.

Watch the first 2:15 to see what I mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9J2N6_bl0A

Cannabis is a mixture of compounds that work together. Targeting one compound and harvesting to maximize that with no regard for other compounds in the final product ignores the importance of the cannabinoids. It will reduce not only your yield, but ironically potency as well.

If you want a head high - GROW A SATIVA!!!

I have preached the purchase the right genetics rather than try to alter in some way wrong genetics to get what you want, for years. Some people get caught up in the what’s the flavor of the month, which one won the last cup, which one are people talking about the most right now, what was the name of that one they used for the title of that funny movie ….. that’s the strain, that’s the strain I want most, that’s what I’m buying mode. They often make horrible choices of what to grow in relation to their actual likes and dislikes and at its worst, in the case of a med patient that has particular needs, they go off searching for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride rather than the best possible medication for them that is available.

I hate it when I see that … and I have seen it many times.

The one I have mentioned the most is the opposite of this topic, the I want couch-lock but I purchase high THC level, low CBD level, low CBN level genetics and then try to make up for the CBD that should have been in the genetics, and more CBN too, and flower longer letting more THC oxidize and become CBN and try to get couch-lock that way.

That sort of thing makes no sense to me.

You can fine-tune things and considering all the genetics existing there really is no singular across the board fits every situation perfectly way to fine tune. But even if you are the best at it all you can do is fine tune.

Just like in the example above it would make no sense at all to purchase genetics that are predominantly indica, especially when a heavy one, and attempt to end up with a true or close to real sativa buzz just by harvesting early.

It is only an opinion but at times I think so many growers today are from the era of the ‘modern strains,’ the crosses of various types and who seldom if ever have grown or even smoked a pure anything let alone a very good example of both a pure indica and a sativa. What they are used to somewhat falls into a group that for the most part is not all that different.

What is really indica or really sativa to them is really not all that much different, not as different as they tend to believe, so when they fine tune one from one end of the spectrum they know can get it half-close to another from the other end of the spectrum they know.

It gives the perception of greater variability and range and control existing than it does.

It is only my opinion but based on what I have read and observed over the years it half seems to explain it at least in part, how the perception that harvesting by trichome color makes a major almost genetic altering difference.

When I read or hear an exchange about genetics and making choices it is common to hear or read something where it is obvious someone, if they do not change their mind, is about to make a mistake.

If people really want to get the most enjoyment out of what they grow they need to learn more about what cannabinoids do and in what levels are they in the types of strain they like and then they have some guideline for future choices that will eliminate true errors.

Once they do that it if they can cancel their subscription in the strain of the month club and look for something more specific that opens them up to looking into breeder lines that they otherwise might not look at or try.

There are some real gems out there that I seldom if ever read or hear about, but right after “Pineapple Express” hit the theaters that is all anyone talked about and all the rumors and urban legends and quotes from interviews and people were argued over it, but the same people also searched the seedbanks for anything by that name. Once found, it was purchased.

That sure is one heck of a solid reason to base one’s decision for picking genetics on.

Research and pick the very best genetics that you can for yourself, ones that best fit your likes and or needs, even if it is something no one here ever heard about before. Forget about having to have the Nike and Reebok strains. Then if you want to experiment some and try to fine tune it to see if doing so makes it that little bit better that makes it perfect, go for it.

But don’t pick genetics that are way different than what fit your likes and or needs and think you will turn water into wine by harvesting earlier or later, or at any given trichome color. It just ain’t gunna happen.

Genetics will always hold the overwhelming majority of control over what something will be when finished and regardless of how great the genetics might be for someone else, if the genetics are wrong for you, they are crap .. and you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit no matter how much mayonnaise you add, so start with real chicken and you will be far better off in the end.
 

Brick Top

New Member
I believe trichomes are just 1 of many factors that make up the high feeling cause Ive smoked tops that got me wasted and they didnt have any crystals on em. Of course that was way back when I had been smokin only a few years but there has to be more to the high than just thc. I believe more intense study of MJ is needed.
Perception and the visual combined with lack of knowledge to cause people to get totally caught up with more and more trichomes with gigantic trichome heads. For an example, if someone could just pick from the various famous pure strains of the past one plant could be found where finding trichomes on a mature plant would almost be as hard as finding a needle in a haystack … well maybe not that difficult but when looked at judging by the number of trichomes and their sizes one would not be at all impressed. Another plant could be found where it was covered in trichomes and the trichome heads were so filled with resin that you would think you might need to put a drop cloth under them before harvest day arrives.

But when smoked the plant with few trichomes could put you on the moon thousands or more times faster than Neil Armstrong got there and the gooey plant might not give much of a high or stone.

It would not have to be a case of say a sativa and an indica but it would be a case of in the plant with fewer and smaller trichomes had levels/combination of the various cannabinoids that were much better than in the plant covered with far more trichomes with much larger trichome heads.

What is important is the balance or levels or combination of various cannabinoids in what trichome heads are there that is most important, and not how frosty something is.

Of course if you can get both together that is bloody fantastic I guess, but people tend to think if the visual is there, so is the rest, and it isn’t always the case.

Before I began to grow, and then at times when I was not growing constantly or failed to grow enough to keep myself supplied, or I was new to it and what I grew blew chunks, like others I would purchase the best as I could find available. In the late 60’s when I started getting high and in the 70’s almost all commercial pot was well over-dry and unless you were one of the lucky few that knew someone who grew and knew how to do it right the highest grades to be found might be every so slightly moist, but still dry by today’s standards. Trichomes were knocked off dry pot like mad in shipment and handling and packaging, that is just how it was. Most strains of the era were sativas, not strains known for their icy look, and with what was knocked off at times you could inspect a bud, and if you knew to look for trichomes and had something to view them with, compared to virtually everything today they looked like a desert, almost barren.

But the effects some of them would have on you were beyond awesome.

I am sure if someone were to be able to produce a sample of such a bud today and compare it to a modern bud and say all cannabinoids could be separated from all other matter and weighed/measured/amounts calculated, almost certainly the results would show any modern bud overall had more cannabinoids. I am talking as in volume or amount and not about any range or scale of potency in that comparison. But that does not always equate to it/some being better. About the only thing that you can really feel sure you will find it to be is ‘different.’

The right combination in very tiny amounts will be far better than the wrong combination in larger amounts. It all comes down to a ‘mix’ resulting in anything from ‘that was really horrible’ to ‘holy shit.’
 

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
So i read the whole thread, but i dont see ANYWHERE where you guys that say you cant use trich alone to harvest tell us what to look for. It sounds like if you dont chop a bud off and have it anilized by a professional you will never get it right.It sounds like more blathering, not that you guys dont know how to harvest, just that guys say you cant go by trichs or you cant go by weeks or days, then they really dont say how a grower can do better. so its blathering. i have grown outdoors and ma nature told me when to harvest by frosting and killing it for me so now i must use this method indoors i guess.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
interesting that this thread got updated, just got my 2nd harvest of this particular strain/pheno
to summarize my1st post, the 1st run was 11 weeks, it overall looked pretty ripe but trics still had a lot of clear
was not experienced with indica's and 11 weeks of flower, well, that was enough for me at that point
so what i got was a strong indica with a pretty strong head rush, the trichomes did not lie

just a bit of clarification on what i was looking for, something relaxing but not stupefying
depression/anxiety is my issue, and my 1st harvest was pretty good, not perfect

my 2nd harvest went to 12 weeks of flower, the damn trics were still more clear than not!
12 weeks for an indica was really enough, if this didn't improve the effect this pheno was going to the trashcan
not much cloudy, seemed to go to amber from clear, and even the amber trics were 'clear', not opaque

so after a 4 week cure, i've tried the 12 week ripened bud
difference is huge, the head rush(which i didn't care for) is gone
and i mean really gone, effect now is a smooth tranquilizer, not 'hard couch lock' but just very relaxing
the trichomes changed of course between the 2 harvests, there were more amber
but the total had to be well less than 10%, which you would think would still be a pretty heady smoke
 

Woodstockfan

Active Member
I believe trichomes are just 1 of many factors that make up the high feeling cause Ive smoked tops that got me wasted and they didnt have any crystals on em. Of course that was way back when I had been smokin only a few years but there has to be more to the high than just thc. I believe more intense study of MJ is needed.

Man I think you really have a good point there. I am in my first grow ever and been flowering my first batch for five weeks.

I had not had any pot for 20 years prior to deciding to grow my own. Too long to not be stoned, but marriage and life dictated going strait.

So I just got into growing and started my first plants. When I decided to top 2 White Rinos and 2 Northern Lights I had germinated, I dried the tops for my first stone in 20 years. Now granted my resistance was at an all-time low, but I know what being stoned is since "back in the day" I always had a sack of good sensimilla around and got high at least once a day.

Those tops from my White Rino and Northern Lights plants KICKED MY ASS. It wasn't a bad high at all, and it lasted for two hours. And that is not bud, it's tops. Now my understanding is there was actually little THC in those tops, and other cannabis compounds caused my stone. And it was a real good stone.

I can't wait to see what bud from these are like, if the tops will get me stoned like this.

Those about to finish are Amsterdam Indica strain and I smoked the tops from those as well and they were noticably not as potent. The WRs and NLs will go into flowering room after these AI ladies finish.
 
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