I want to pick individual buds early

hey man im right there with ya. im on my first grow and i have been sampleing a little bud about every 10 days or so since week 6. and after seein how much bigger the buds would have been that i cut i kick myself. but if ur going to do it the only good way to smoke fresh buds is in a vaporizer. then u just get high no headache, no bad taste. but in the end it pays off to wait.

between cardboard or in an poen envalope is the best way to "quickdry" buds, so i've found.

whatever its all cool guys, I'm patient, i just wanted to sample something I grew. I also have plans and the means to get a second cycle started from clones by the time I harvest (SOG). The buds definitely are getting bigger, but i haven't seen real growth spurts overnight, is that normal? Do buds just pack on at the same rate for the whole flowering period? I'm 5 1/2 weeks into flowering. Im hoping to see the buds beef up all of the sudden or something.

Well, there may be something that you haven't considered. If you have 2 plants outside, on August 30th, they are no longer vegging. Unless you live south of the equator, those plants have been induced to flower. They may not be showing any signs of pistil growth, but they are in the growth spurt.

HTH

maybe if you do it a week or two before harvest.. it wont be too bad, but if you do it now (3/12 weeks in) your barely half way through flowering.. so none of the thc is realy there, none of the buds have filled up and your taking a chance on stunting the bud growth.. you may pick 1 gram and lose 14 grams.. ask yourself if its worth it.. you still got 4 or 5 weeks until harvest the buds havent matured.. i would wait.. im also growing master kush tomorrow will be the first day of week 2 flowering did you get yours from nirvana? 6 feet is pretty damn tall.. how tall when they when you flowered them? i flowered mine at 1 foot/6 nodes.. post some pics

Ralphie said:

maybe if you do it a week or two before harvest.. it wont be too bad, but if you do it now (3/12 weeks in) your barely half way through flowering.. so none of the thc is realy there, none of the buds have filled up and your taking a chance on stunting the bud growth.. you may pick 1 gram and lose 14 grams.. ask yourself if its worth it.. you still got 4 or 5 weeks until harvest the buds havent matured.. i would wait.. im also growing master kush tomorrow will be the first day of week 2 flowering did you get yours from nirvana? 6 feet is pretty damn tall.. how tall when they when you flowered them? i flowered mine at 1 foot/6 nodes.. post some pics

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hey, yea i took a small bud after only 4 weeks, didnt do much. I now plan on probably picking on day 43 of flower, cause it seems like I'll have a hefty enough yield anyways to be able to afford small losses to future growth; they were about 20-22 inches tall when i flowered them (after only 31 days of veg), but there are buds all over and when I tied my colas in the first week of flowering, alot of shoots got very much bigger and taller. I hope I didn't screw over my end yield too much by picking one small lower shoot...
I got feminised seeds from Dutch Passion. I can't remember how many nodes there were when I flowered them. As for pics, I don't have a camera and would prefer to wait till near-end harvest before showing what I made. Since I didn't start the grow journal from the start, I don't think it would be that useful to people and quite bland, it's only nice to see from seed/clone to finish. Anyways, I vegged them under a 400 HPS in a 2metercubed room, and have left them under the same light the whole time! I also have some white widow that was originally grown at the same time as these 2 plants, but the MasterKush got taller much faster and the white widows are tiny, so I think I'm going to clone those and start a sea of green. I'm making a second tent this week and I ordered 2 250w CFL 6000ks for a veg room.
As for those 2 outdoors plants, I brought them inside under like a 60w CFL for the night so it doesnt go into auto-flower, and by wednesday or thursday of next week, I'll throw them in the veg room mentioned above. Any suggestions? I think I'm going on the right path here.

p.s. Can anybody tell me if the buds just get bigger gradually, or will I see a growth spurt at some point?
Thanks

p.p.s. I have the same question as dcoulsen does

lol i dont mean to be a jerk... but seriously... just wait. dont pick your bud early.. thats dumb.. plain dumb and EXACTLY as other people have said it "the high leaves as fast as it came"

foily said:

lol i dont mean to be a jerk... but seriously... just wait. dont pick your bud early.. thats dumb.. plain dumb and EXACTLY as other people have said it "the high leaves as fast as it came"

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The context people use that quote for is picking before you even see trichromes. Its okay, your not being a jerk; but thats a false statement. After 6, 7 weeks of flowering, the trichromes go cloudy and you apparently get a true stone from smoking then. Ive read alot of grow journals, and alot of top-notch growers say they like picking a bud when the trichs are cloudy and 50/50 so they can get, I quote, "the best of both worlds" in reference to the cerebral high for cloudy trichs as opposed to the amber-finished buds we harvest. Besides, another way of looking at it is harvesting a bud earlier than the full 8-ish weeks of flowering. This crop can definitely afford to lose 2-3 buds max...

Having said that, I also have a second grow therefore I will have a harvest only 8 weeks after the first one. My mind is made up at this point, why would the experienced growers pick a couple small buds to smoke citing it gives them a variety of highs from the same strain, if it gave a high that leaves as fast as it came? The only reason they dont pick on every grow is because after the first one they already have a boatload of buds and dont need anything before the next harvest is done.

If you can give a real, solid reason why I shouldnt pick after 6-7 full weeks of flowering (not to mention MasterKush is a fast-flowering predominent indica) besides the very real fact that it slightly reduces yield, then I will give you reputation points

purplecstasy said:

The context people use that quote for is picking before you even see trichromes. Its okay, your not being a jerk; but thats a false statement. After 6, 7 weeks of flowering, the trichromes go cloudy and you apparently get a true stone from smoking then. Ive read alot of grow journals, and alot of top-notch growers say they like picking a bud when the trichs are cloudy and 50/50 so they can get, I quote, "the best of both worlds" in reference to the cerebral high for cloudy trichs as opposed to the amber-finished buds we harvest. Besides, another way of looking at it is harvesting a bud earlier than the full 8-ish weeks of flowering. This crop can definitely afford to lose 2-3 buds max...

Having said that, I also have a second grow therefore I will have a harvest only 8 weeks after the first one. My mind is made up at this point, why would the experienced growers pick a couple small buds to smoke citing it gives them a variety of highs from the same strain, if it gave a high that leaves as fast as it came? The only reason they dont pick on every grow is because after the first one they already have a boatload of buds and dont need anything before the next harvest is done.

If you can give a real, solid reason why I shouldnt pick after 6-7 full weeks of flowering (not to mention MasterKush is a fast-flowering predominent indica) besides the very real fact that it slightly reduces yield, then I will give you reputation points

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6-7 weeks id have said hey go ahead try some, but your first post was talking about sampleing at 3 1/2 weeks

If you can give a real, solid reason why I shouldnt pick after 6-7 full weeks of flowering (not to mention MasterKush is a fast-flowering predominent indica) besides the very real fact that it slightly reduces yield, then I will give you reputation points

Fuck how many weeks ir is, check your trichomes, thats what matters...YOU ARE NOT REPLICATING THE EXACT CONDITIONS WHERE THEY GET THESE FLOWERING TIMES...you may finish early or late...check your trichomes, im sure every journal and faq you have read tells you how to check your trichomes or visual confirmation of the hairs turning...personally, after reading this thread, it seems as though youve already decided whats gonna happen and are just looking for comnirmation rather than advice

my advice...check your trichs....or dont

Trichs mean everything, but you are GUARANTEED in a standard setup grow which I have described to not get all cloudy trichs until week 7, by definition. I understand what you mean that it's the trichs that matter, but the truth is it's synonymous with how long your type of plant takes to flower. Maybe you've had a different experience and have had plants that grow after only 5-6 weeks of flower when that type of plant says on all the seedbanks (8-10), or whatever it says. However, I look at my plants and everything seems somewhat predictable.
I was looking for advice and then stated that I knew what I wanted to do, the thread's been continuing simply to help others who read this thread when they are in the same predicament as I was.

p.s. everyone that rightfully voted against me picking after a mere mere 4 weeks seems to agree that it's about 6-7 weeks before I'd actually get stoned. In my opinion, on these types of forums, majority rules.

p.p.s. there is no "right" time for picking ... that's obvious, it's subjective, some people might not like cloudy trich weed.

Thanks

I would say that you would like to read Marijuana Botany, particularly Chapter 4, Maturation and Harvesting of Cannabis, the paragraph titled Harvest Timing.

HTH

I bet you already picked some and smoked some, that's why you are having head trips about "guilt" of not waiting.

I don't listen to anyone. Hehe, that's why I am a rebel by nature.

Master Kush should give you a good head high without the headache at early harvest, i.e., 6 weeks into flowering. I clipped off a good 4 inch spear off my two footer, placed it in a brown bag, kept it open by low heat (bbq grill), and next day it was "semi-dry" moist, smokeable bud. You will notice the taste is there, but there will be some harshness because of the nutes, and chlorophyll after taste. Do not listen to experts. Maturity of the plant is based on the grower. Potroast pointed out a great tip. Clip off every other day or so, taste the bud and see if you are satisfied with the effect. This is going to be your stash, so it is up to you. But if you are going to donate some to a dispensary, you would want to wait until maturity because of the maximum yield, but it may not be necessarily potent, it depends on the strain.

You just learn so much from BIG mistakes. LOL.

Keeping it green.

Vince-
Actually, after 4 weeks I smoked a tiny bit because my brother broke off a piece accidentally. Then at 5 1/2 weeks, I had to take down a bunch of shoots cause the hermaphrodism was spreading - it all smoked like crap and i barely felt a buzz.
You seem to know alot about master kush, have you grown it before and if you have, around what week did the trichs get 50/50 (cloudy/amber)?
Thanks

I grew 5 this year. It's my first time growing, and without any research, I ended up stunting them. But they got to about a couple of feet, and have loads of flowers. I did not keep track of when, or what. It is outdoors, so I let the sun take care of it. When I noticed some pistils turned orange, I took a small piece. Pressed inside a piece of paper, let it dry, then you can smoke it, taste it, get a good buzz, and you will taste the harshness. That's what happens when the harvest is early. I waited another week and saw some flowers maturing, so I trimmed off a couple of nice branches, and dried that up in the attic for three days. The book suggested two weeks. Bad mistake, it was too hot, and it was so dry. I trimmed them, took out the big stems, and placed them inside a glass jar that is air tight, and aired them out every day for 5 hours, making sure that the bottom ones get turned. I keep trying each small piece when it is good to smoke. The dryness made it hard to roll, it just crumbles. Then one site that I forgot to bookmark, suggested that if you put a piece of a fresh leaf, NOT orange skin, or apple skin. fresh leaf of the same plant kept in there would bring back the moisture to your over dried buds. I am still testing those clippings. It was about a half ounce. It is getting better each day. Lots of head high, and then after you take a snack, brings you down to almost couch lock. Thanks to the sativa strain, you can come out of the couch lock pretty easy. I just observe the changes each day, and every once in a while I would see a portion of the bud appearing "dried", I would pick that, smoke it, and it has not plant taste at all. Overall, the most important part is the curing. Curing is what brings the taste, smell, and possibly the potency. I want to get some pictures, but I cant find my camera. I will use my cell phone, and hope it comes out ok.

I think some books suggest two weeks drying as a standard, but overlooked the quantity. If you are drying a small bud, it should dry pretty fast with air circulation, in a dark room. I pulled out two plants and they are almost dry in about a week. A couple more days and I can start trimming off the leaves. and start the curing process.

I am just a grower trying to save my life savings from disappearing. I want to get some of it back, but I don't think I can. I spent alot of it when I just got my MMJ card. So as far as keeping record,m I leave that to the experts. I just look at my babies, and they tell me to smoke them. Ain't that weird???? ROFL.

nice vince, kudos for describing your first-hand experience with MK with a "human touch" that I understand
Did you ever smoke dried but uncured versions of the bud? I have read in many places that it's curing that gives nice taste, but not that it gives significantly more potency.
Today completes 42 days for me; I'm gonna pick a little bud on day 49ish and cut it all down after a total of 8-9 weeks of flowering. It's really annoying cause I have to keep watching my plants and pulling out seeds before they spread, but the situation is under control. I was/still am thinking of drying it (i've got a cold dark room thats pretty dry) the standard hanging way for 4-5 days before I take my first puff, and then to just continue letting the other buds dry, smoking all the while, and then curing everything that I'm not smoking in the meantime.
From your experience-so-far with growing MK, do you think that I could get STONED from the buds that I let get 50-80% amber before harvesting, even after simply 4-5 days of drying? I know it wouldn't taste as good as the buds that would be cured, but would it be worth smoking considering I have no stash to smoke till this harvest?

WOW, I wish I can get seeds....LMAO. I tried cloning them, but they all got stem rot, from too much moisture, and too much light. DOH.

Not really stoned, but more of a cerebral high. Careful with that cause paranoia and mind altering properties kicks in. As far as "stoned" meaning, couch lock? I had to add some albino purple kush to give me that nice relaxing feeling. I am sure once it reaches a more mature level, you will get that stone feeling. I am smoking and curing at the same time. It's my personal stash, so I don't mind the chlorophyl aftertaste. And as the curing stage progresses, the taste gets better. I am almost in my seciond week of curing that half ounce I started with. Getting ready to trim the second pick/harvest, it has more mature flowers, and tighter buds. And as I cure that I will try little bits of it, not big blunts, but small rolling papers. HEHEHE. Just for taste, and until after I get a cough or choke from it. ROFL. If there are extra harvest, I will take them to my favorite dispensary to disperse to the rest of the patients. Then back again to buying clones. I need to setup a greenhouse so I can start making my own strains. I got GA3 !!!

Smoke a little, get used to the taste, then you can smoke a larger amount in a few minutes. It's a nice mild high, but for me, it is better than nothing, and definitely better than paying cash

purplecstasy said:

Hmm, to the replies that agree with Potroast, are you saying that its impossible to get any smoke that doesn't hurt your head until 8-10 weeks into flowering? Cause alot of people on this site in grow journals have contradicting results to what you're saying. And I'm not saying that they are wrong or you are wrong, I want to know who's right and thats why I made this thread

P.S. BigBud, you didnt mention whether it got you high, you only said that it tastes bad and stuff. Well ... did you at least get stoned?

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I'm not a master grower of weed,but i've been gardening for years & have been smokein burma for 27yrs.Ive been smoking mine its out side& i haven;t used alot of chems,but i have'nt got a head ache yet & have gotten stonned every time.