Hard time determining ripeness

Hi guys, I'm at my 4th grow, 3rd strain, and I'm really having a hard time determining the ripeness of the buds based on the trichomes... I don't know if I'm doing something bad, but they never seem to turn as milky as on the guides/tutorials. The first 2 grows I even waited 3 weeks after the harvest window and all it did was to turn the trichomes more amber. The other indicators are all there, the plant uses less water, calyxes are swollen, pistils are orange, the only thing that keeps me from being 100% certain is that most trichomes are still clear. If I take a magnifying glass I can see maybe 10-20% (max!) milky, 5-10% amber and 70-85% clear. It was exactly the same with my other grows, all under the same conditions (QB@ 30-40w/ft2; "living soil"; 5ga fabric pots). The final product is really enjoyable, hits hard, well balanced, good smell.

How does it turn out for you guys?

Just want to confirm: you are growing under 40watts of power?

If so, am guessing age is pushing through the ripeness factor because your lights are barely feeding the plant.

Not an exact figure (there is math, but this is my opinion) kinda feel you need about 100w per plant minimum.
If you get what your looking for, don't sweat it.
Good luck.

JimmyNuggs said:

Just want to confirm: you are growing under 40watts of power?

If so, am guessing age is pushing through the ripeness factor because your lights are barely feeding the plant.

Not an exact figure (there is math, but this is my opinion) kinda feel you need about 100w per plant minimum.
If you get what your looking for, don't sweat it.
Good luck.

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Ah my bad, I wasn't clear enough I'm growing with 30-40w per ft2 and have a 2x2x4 tent, which means 4ft2. Total output from the QB is mostly 135w. I'm growing 1 plant in the tent. I don't really sweat it hehe, this is just the last thing I haven't completely figured out and I try to improve my skills Do your trichomes become all milky? Thanks for the answer!

40w per square feet

OK, well pushing through, what are you using to see the trics?
I bought jeweler's loupe and tbh its very difficult even at 30x for me.
Can only suggest a more widespread inspection with a focus on flat sets as opposed to cluster where reflections make it harder.
The window from clear to amber is usually a week/10 days.
May help to check the seedbanks version of strain finishing time from reviews around net (you tube et el)
Because seed banks often give "Best Advice" for harvesting times its not always helpful, but knowing most others are 2 weeks over would help.

But ideally, as in your case, I'd like a decent digital magnifying camera (100x) to aid me/in deciding.

JimmyNuggs said:

OK, well pushing through, what are you using to see the trics?
I bought jeweler's loupe and tbh its very difficult even at 30x for me.
Can only suggest a more widespread inspection with a focus on flat sets as opposed to cluster where reflections make it harder.
The window from clear to amber is usually a week/10 days.
May help to check the seedbanks version of strain finishing time from reviews around net (you tube et el)
Because seed banks often give "Best Advice" for harvesting times its not always helpful, but knowing most others are 2 weeks over would help.

But ideally, as in your case, I'd like a decent digital magnifying camera (100x) to aid me/in deciding.

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Yeah I think I got a 30x jewelers magnifying glass. Do you have any suggestions for a 100x magnifying camera?

The “harvest window” is longer than you think. Seeing the actual color of the trichome is not the only indicator of ripeness. If you are growing in living soil it’s a bit easier to tell; you’ll notice first mostly all the pistils have turned orange and receded back into the bud, the buds swell a bit about a week after this. The larger/lower fans will have begun to shrivel up and die by this time. If you flip to 12/12 and then give your plants a full 10 weeks this is the start of your window. Don’t count by days count full weeks and throw the breeders flowering time right out the window. Some strains take even longer, 12 or 13 weeks is not unheard of. Even if you pick them at a low percent of cloudy trichomes it will be decent smoke but waiting a few more weeks is usually worth the effort.

Richard Drysift said:

The “harvest window” is longer than you think. Seeing the actual color of the trichome is not the only indicator of ripeness. If you are growing in living soil it’s a bit easier to tell; you’ll notice first mostly all the pistils have turned orange and receded back into the bud, the buds swell a bit about a week after this. The larger/lower fans will have begun to shrivel up and die by this time. If you flip to 12/12 and then give your plants a full 10 weeks this is the start of your window. Don’t count by days count full weeks and throw the breeders flowering time right out the window. Some strains take even longer, 12 or 13 weeks is not unheard of. Even if you pick them at a low percent of cloudy trichomes it will be decent smoke but waiting a few more weeks is usually worth the effort.

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So what you are saying is that I may have to grow after the "harvest window"? It is kind of tough as all the other indicators are there, just the trichomes are not cloudy enough... I'm on my mobile phone rn, I will post some pictures of what I mean a little later! Thanks for your answer

If you left it weeks after the harvest window you should have mostly amber. Grow more trichs will do what you want better rhen most likely.

mariowarner said:

Yeah I think I got a 30x jewelers magnifying glass. Do you have any suggestions for a 100x magnifying camera?

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Not off top of my head M', look on amazon and you'll find 1000x digital ones for twenty quid.
Prolly worth the invest.

mariowarner said:

So what you are saying is that I may have to grow after the "harvest window"? It is kind of tough as all the other indicators are there, just the trichomes are not cloudy enough...

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If you are referring to the seed companies "harvest window" estimate then yes. I think you'll find the vast majority of harvests should be done at least 1-2 weeks after their recommendation.

One thing I've noticed recently more and more often are people harvesting early even when they check the trichs. Some trichs will cloud up and amber long before the plant is ready. Add that to impatient new growers and plants are getting chopped weeks early while still covered in white pistils because someone saw an amber trich on a sugar leaf. Trichs can amber early for a variety of reasons one is over fertilization which is becoming more and more common as people dump more and more stuff on their plants thinking that the more they dump on their plants the bigger the buds will be.

Trichs are just one factor that can be used to determine if a plant is ready to harvest but it is not the holy grail and is being used incorrectly more and more. I don't even look at the trichs anymore. I can tell if the plant is ready by looking at the flowers. When all the pistils turn and shrink back into the swollen calyx's I let the plant go another week up to 2 more weeks and then chop.

Here are some pictures. The strain is Charlotte's Angel from Dutch Passion. I think I got some foxtailing (I'vre read it might be too much light... I tried to push it a bit more this time, you learn every grow ) but what is your feeling about the ripeness? I also try to stray away from the trichome only mentality. The last pistils turned orange yesterday and the plant is swollen. I might wait another week or 2 as you suggested!

Those look done; ready to pick when you are. Think you just need better magnification to actually see the color of the individual trichome heads; the battery on my 420 scope died years ago but I don’t need it anymore. You really don’t have to physically see the heads if you simply wait until the bud looks about like this. Usually 10-12 weeks. Im willing to bet those heads are mostly cloudy with some amber as of right now.
I was trying to say before that while most strains claim a flowering time of 60-65 days it is more like 70-80 days for rock hard density and full potency. Count full weeks not days and if you are unsure of ripeness it’s always better to wait a little longer to harvest if you can. That is what I meant by saying the harvest window is longer than you think.