Urgent!! Daylight approaches... Harvest now?!

Hello fellow growers!

This is my first plant. According to the photos I have been taking and posting, the jury says I should harvest any time now...

She seems to be pushing out new pistils still. Does this mean I should hold back on harvesting? If not, I will harvest in the morning (in less than an hour!) as suggested.

All advice from more experienced growers will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

I need to apologise for the photos today. There was very little light and I could not get good shots.

New pistils:



2 random flowers photographed earlier today:



If it helps with the analysis, here are the photos from 2 days ago:





I've already cut off the top of the main cola, and some of the sides. But I should've done it sooner instead of hoping to control the infestation and save the colas. It's better now, but the mites are still around.

Cut that bitch down!

I second that. She's ripe.

kgp said:

Cut that bitch down!

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Hahaha! Will get right to it... I will be harvesting in stages. So the colas will come down first. I'll let the immature flowers continue blooming for a while more.

Thanks for replying!

SpicySativa said:

I second that. She's ripe.

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Thank you for replying as well. Opinions from more experience growers help a lot...

Nice pics. (Some of them anyways).
Ya, looks like loooootsa cloudy and a few amber.
Head for the chopping block!

imchucky666 said:

Nice pics. (Some of them anyways).
Ya, looks like loooootsa cloudy and a few amber.
Head for the chopping block!

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*hahaha* Thanks! Yeah... some of them for art, and some of them for documentation. Will try to improve on the photos on the next grow. It's monsoon season and it's either raining or cloudy mostly, not the best conditions for photography.

So, I went out to harvest the plant. I took down one of the side colas, but I didn't feel right taking the rest down.

I know everyone is saying to harvest already, but I just want to be doubly and triply sure...

I am trying to understand the plant and letting it tell me when she's ready. But as I am new, I can read her signs wrongly. That's why this community has been great and I appreciate all the sharing that happens here.

The few things I noticed that made me reconsider harvesting:

i) She's putting out even more new pistils.
ii) There seems to be more new growth on the calyxes.
iii) She's even frostier than yesterday.

I wonder if these signs are saying that she's still blooming and that this isn't her peak yet. Maybe this could be the final 100m sprint of the 400m race. What do you all think? Should I stop being silly and just harvest already? Or should I let her continue pushing?

Have a look at the flowers and discuss with me my observations...

Chop that biatch and enjoy your buds

Thou must harvest now. I see lots of curly orange pistils, not to mention I'm pretty sure I can see a lot of amber trichromes.

Harvest now -- you've got all the signs that it's time -- 5% clear trichomes, 80% cloudy and 15% amber. You can wait longer, but remember the plant continues to mature a bit after cutting. If you harvest now, you'll be at maximum potency. If you wait longer, you'll be looking for an alignment of conditions that might not come, and you'll be losing potency all along the way.

Get to drying and curing -- you still have at least a month or two ahead of you.

ArCaned said:

Chop that biatch and enjoy your buds

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Yes, and I will enjoy them! Thanks for replying.

DuplicatePie said:

Thou must harvest now. I see lots of curly orange pistils, not to mention I'm pretty sure I can see a lot of amber trichromes.

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I thank thee for thy command. I shall harvest...

kryptoniteglo said:

Harvest now -- you've got all the signs that it's time -- 5% clear trichomes, 80% cloudy and 15% amber. You can wait longer, but remember the plant continues to mature a bit after cutting. If you harvest now, you'll be at maximum potency. If you wait longer, you'll be looking for an alignment of conditions that might not come, and you'll be losing potency all along the way.

Get to drying and curing -- you still have at least a month or two ahead of you.

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Thanks for that. You're right about the alignment of conditions. I shall move on to drying and curing. I will be harvesting in stages, so let's see how that goes. But I am looking forward to some long-cured, organic, home grown. Should be wonderful...

Now I have another important question...

I am wondering if soaking mite infested calyxes in a container of water for 5 minutes right after chopping is a good idea. Will this drown the mites and their eggs, and prevent them from causing more damage during the drying process? If not, what's a good way of getting rid of them during the harvest?

Although they aren't there in large scale anymore, I can still see them in the photos. I am worried that if I leave them there while drying, the eggs may hatch and they'll consume the drying flowers. I didn't spray neem oil for the past 3 days as I was preparing for harvest. I also didn't hose her down with water because the last few times I did that, I don't think she was very happy with it. The neem oil helped a lot though.

I can't comment on the mite situation, but as far as the new pistils... You've gotta think of it like harvesting when the greatest number of calyxes (and the trichomes on them) are at peak maturity. If you wait until those new calyxes are perfectly ripe, you will have over ripe buds with little perfectly ripe foxtails and tips (the new pistils/calyxes your seeing now). Most plants (especially those with some sativa genetics) will continue to sprout a few new calyxes toward the end, but you've gotta look at the whole picture and go for peak ripeness on the greatest number of calyxes.

I had a plant that had mites before. When I cut it down I just washed it off in the sink with running water. The trichs are not water soluble so you don't lose anything, just be sure not to use to high of a pressure.

Jeesis for fucks sakes chop that shit, your getting over ripe IMO... I chop at 90% milky, fuck all degraded amber shit.

SpicySativa said:

I can't comment on the mite situation, but as far as the new pistils... You've gotta think of it like harvesting when the greatest number of calyxes (and the trichomes on them) are at peak maturity. If you wait until those new calyxes are perfectly ripe, you will have over ripe buds with little perfectly ripe foxtails and tips (the new pistils/calyxes your seeing now). Most plants (especially those with some sativa genetics) will continue to sprout a few new calyxes toward the end, but you've gotta look at the whole picture and go for peak ripeness on the greatest number of calyxes.

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Thanks for replying. I understand. Just that I have seen some plants foxtail and still be in peak harvest. Being my first plant, I'm just not sure footed, you know? But yeah, harvest time is here...

mjjbabel said:

I had a plant that had mites before. When I cut it down I just washed it off in the sink with running water. The trichs are not water soluble so you don't lose anything, just be sure not to use to high of a pressure.

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Yes, what I do is put them in a container and fill it to the brim with water, then cover it for 5 minutes. Just wanted to check if anyone had other ideas how to get rid of the mites. Running water works too from what you're saying. I wasn't too confident with that earlier on because I have hosed down the plant a few times, but the mites just seem to always be around. That's the reason I started doing the 5 minute water soak when I had to harvest some sections early due to the infestation. (Don't ask me why 5 minutes because they'd probably drown much earlier. Just to be extra sure, I guess.)

Thanks for the reply!

stumpjumper said:

Jeesis for fucks sakes chop that shit, your getting over ripe IMO... I chop at 90% milky, fuck all degraded amber shit.

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*hahaha* Don't call my baby that! Thanks for replying. I'm not going for amber at all. It's just that she seems to still be producing more than there is degradation, so I'm just wondering if I should let her continue. But yeah, the jury is out... it's harvest time.

aurora stardust said:

Thanks for replying. I understand. Just that I have seen some plants foxtail and still be in peak harvest. Being my first plant, I'm just not sure footed, you know? But yeah, harvest time is here...

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The plants you see that are foxtailed AND fully mature grew that way earlier on. This "last ditch effort at pollination" foxtailing you have is not the same deal. You have ripe buds that sprouted new calyxes, they had strains which grow foxtailed buds.