Testing buds early

I have a pineapple express that has around a week, maybe 2 weeks left from what I can guess before the chop. Now I'm due to go away for a week, 2 weeks from now so my first question is:

Could I chop a branch early to dry and begin curing so I have something to take with me (thinking lower down not main colas although they seem far more along than lower down sites!)

And if it was ready for chopping and drying literally as I go would I be better to do it a few days early to dry and take the lot with me to cure, or give it another week and do when I'm back?

My friend will be coming to give them a look in while I'm away and will water but don't want him doing much more than that, would rather do myself.

Thanks in advance

You got probably 3-4 weeks left.

If you want something to bring with you, go buy some. Why waste the effort?

If you are only going for a week, if she is ready to harvest at that time I would cut the whole thing and let it hang for the whole week assuming your house or drying space is going to still be temp controlled during the trip.

She looks more than 2 weeks out though, lots of white still. I think maybe let her ride until after the trip

Agree with the other replies, I think you have longer to go than you realize. Three to four weeks at least. Anything you try and smoke now will just be a waste, stay patient!

Nice looking little plant though! She got some chunky nugs going.

Thanks for the responses.

Damnit was hoping it was nearer to the end than that, oh well. And general snipping of some lower buds is not reccomended then purely on the fact the quality is not what it should be still, or that it could damage the plant in some way to?

Taking buds off early once or twice should not bother the plant too much, but they won't be nice smoke if it is early like this. And if you keep sampling eventually you won't have much of a plant before harvest

If I did it would only be a very small amount just to take with me.

Usually I don't mind waiting but as it's a week away I was looking forward to having a little bit to take with me.

I probably smoke less than most people on here so for me I only need enough to do 4 or 5 small pipes worth!

Obviously what you do with your plant is up to you. I doubt you will get a good high from it yet. Hope your friend is nice to her during your trip

You honestly wont be happy if you chop and smoke that right now.

Rsawr said:

Obviously what you do with your plant is up to you. I doubt you will get a good high from it yet. Hope your friend is nice to her during your trip

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Most definitely wouldn't get a buzz at that point. Still a ways out. Do you have a jewelers loupe or a camera with a macro lens? A decent smart phone can probably do what you need. There are two ways to watch for doneness- watching the pistils which can be pretty inaccurate or watching the trichomes.

Here's an article on the latter (better) method:


Basically at this point your trichomes are probably clear and there aren't a ton of them. That's basically just empty resin with little to no THC or CBD.

I would rather go long than cut early. Cutting early gives lower THC and higher anxiety levels. Cutting too late just gives couchlock and some nasty munchies.

For reference, here's what my colas looked like on my last grow about two weeks out from harvest.... see how the top pistils are changing color?

The loupe I had at that point was pretty bad but you can kind of see how the trich's were still totally clear even when the pistils had started changing color.

Thanks for the responses. Just to clear it up I wasn't planning on cutting anything yet. I am not going for another two weeks so would have been just before then. I will wait to see how these are looking in a few weeks time

I wanted to have a look under the microscope as suggested, so used the magnification on my phone to take a picture when I was feeding today. It then occured to me the pictures I took were under my white LED lights which make it look a very similar colour to the younger plant next to her.

The top colas that look further along than the rest are the first pics, the others are random other sites on branches slightly lower. Do people still feel the same in terms of 3 to 4 weeks as some look quite cloudy already, I don't want them to go to amber as reading into the link given above would indicate it's losing its thc content.

Thanks again everyone

Once you have more receding pistils she will be a lot closer. I bet though that if you were to cut something the day you left and let it dry til you came back then the test bud would get you high.