Harvesting Too Early?

From all the information I've gleaned regarding cannabis I have developed many theories.

My latest search has taken me through seed predisposition, hermaphroditism, root development and trich' production... the why's, and the wherefores.

This thread is in regards to, i think, all of them... except the root development, maybe.

If trichomes are produced throughout the cycle what makes us think that the right time to harvest is when a certain percantage are amber? Or when a certain amount of the hairs are red?

fdd2blk touched on this very subject in another thread... so why not take it further?

I have been smoking just pure trich's now for 3 weeks. From a plant that had been flowering for 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks... and 5.5 weeks. Later today, or tomorrow I will be smoking oil from a 6 week flowering plant.

The 3 week oil was good. The 4 week oil excellent, and since then I have noticed no difference in the quality of the high. Could it be that trich's will just keep developing no matter how many amber ones we convince ourselves there are, or is it that there is actually a certain point where new trich's will stop forming? Why do they stop forming?

Also, I've heard that if left long enough all cannabis plants will hermie and produce seed. I've heard this from a few growers I actually know, that have been growing a very long time.

So maybe, the certain point where trich' development ends is the point when the plant starts to put it's energies into seed production.

I've had a few plants go hermie on me when left to flower for a long time - usually around 14 weeks, towards the bottom is where I start to see the male flowers. Never left it go long enough to produce seed.

I ran a similar experiment - though not so early - on my strain a few years ago. Cut buds each week from 8-14. What I noticed was the burst in size at weeks 10-12, and the high was much more intense around 13 weeks.

I'm interested in your results - love the work you did on root development!

i have also had a plant turn hermie from flowering too long

Yes, I've said this quite a few times already on this site, but there's no harm in mentioning it again here. Cannabis is born with both chromosomes, one will usually be more dominant than the other. It stands to reason then that not only are all cannabis plants hermaphrodites, but that they will also come in varying degrees. Just as both chromosomes could also be equally dominant, the stronger chromosome would come in varying degrees of dominance from plant to plant.

Obviously the best way for cannabis to breed is male to female as this ensures genetic diversity, blah blah. But as the female plant grows and flowers and the longer it takes for her to get pollenated the more stressed she will become. I believe that this stress activates a hormone which in turn activates the dormant male gene.

Certain plants will go over (hermy) much sooner than others... but eventually all female cannabis plants will hermie. At least, this is what makes sense to me.

Pizzzh said:

i have also had a plant turn hermie from flowering too long

Click to expand...

Me too. From clones on a 9.5 week flowering plant, I allowed one clone to go further... over 10 weeks (maybe 71 or 72 days). After drying etc, and smoking some of the bud I found, altogether, 4 very undeveloped seeds. Yet in the other clones taken early and at the right time I found none.

makes sense from an evolutianary survival standpoint. so in theory seeds can be produced this way would the seeds all be herms or identical to the mom or both?

This is a very relavent topic for me right now, yet again RIU comes up trumps. I've recently dried a sample to test (wrist slap) and noticed these tiny, soft undeveloped seeds. Not in any great number, but present nevertheless. Maybe some others have some experience of how quickly these will mature, if they can mature fully at all.

I've been pushing my 2 Nebula to really swell up and It's been flowering for ages now. It's looking and smelling wonderful; there's still alot of new bud sites pushing their way up through the top buds and the calyxs are becoming swollen and slanted.

Is this plant going to end up totally going to seed? Should I harvest immediately, perhaps a week or two from perfection? The sample i smoked was fine when dried. The whole plant is covered in frost (even large leaves) so potency isn't a problem, i'm just worried about having to remove seeds if they continue to develop over the week.

At least the super silver's ok

Cannabis is a survialist type plant. So herms seem to be either apparent at flowering, or brought on by the enviroment and stress.
I had a out side flowering plant one year, when I havested, and the other couple plant i had, I would leave a lower bud on, In case i wanted to reveg the plant. But this particurlar plant I about striped clean. down to there was just a four in stem sticking out a pot with smallest bit of green on the edge of the stalk. I don't even know if there was one at first. Regardless, I just left the pot set out, and they got rained on, took them in side when it started to get cold. The next batch, that next winter, that left over stem had grown a small amount in two months, couple of node of a little dwarfed limb. two months later it got put into a flowering room, and it took of great guns, grew about to a total of 14 in plant of the side of a dead stem. but by hell,bout six weeks into flowering I noticed that one having seeds! I was very careful, I thought. Took a small bud off on of the nodes, to try and noticed a old herm flower underneath. I just caught that plant in my grow, so that was good but, gave me some seeds.
Know one thing of course with herms. If you get one doing that and giving you seeds from a good strain. Mature thoughs seeds and keepem to plant. They will be a high percentage of female, just have to watch for the herms as well.
Sorry for talking so much, thanks.