How Long Until Harvest Time?

[MyCologist]

Jack Herer auto flower growing in Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil. Plastic 4 gallon pot. Just over 12 weeks old today. Feeding Jacks 3-2-1 when PPM drops below 1,000. pH runoff averaging 6.5. Fan leaves started yellowing and shedding over the past couple weeks. Here are a few pics of full plant, buds and trichomes. Looks to me like almost all trichomes are cloudy and some are starting to amber a little. I've had some people say that I have another 3-4 weeks to go and others say it's in the harvest window now. I'm feeling like maybe another week myself. Please let me know what you think based on the pics...

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

Mostly cloudy with a few amber is where i usually harvest. I used to harvest with more amber, but as ive gotten older my preference has changed.

You are indeed within harvest window already. It's all down to preference at this point.

Good job

 

[MyCologist]

Thanks for the input. I am going to wait for a little more amber but it looks to me like it's within the "harvest window" as well, based on what I've read.

I asked on another forum and the response I got was that the plant looked terrible, was starving for nutrients, had 3-4 weeks or more to go yet and probably wan't going to make it. I started second guessing what I was looking at because it looks pretty good to me, compared to a lot of finished autos I've seen.

Some people seem to think the yellowing fan leaves are a catastrophic sign of a dying plant. Based on my numbers in and out, I think it's just "fall fade" in this plant and not some sort of nutrient problem. I'd rather it stay greener but this one just didn't want to.

 

[LowLifeTK]

Nice grow. Looks amazing. Personally I'd harvest now for a good head high. More Amber trics are about 1 to 2 weeks out!

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

Thanks for the input. I am going to wait for a little more amber but it looks to me like it's within the "harvest window" as well, based on what I've read.

I asked on another forum and the response I got was that the plant looked terrible, was starving for nutrients, had 3-4 weeks or more to go yet and probably wan't going to make it. I started second guessing what I was looking at because it looks pretty good to me, compared to a lot of finished autos I've seen.

Some people seem to think the yellowing fan leaves are a catastrophic sign of a dying plant. Based on my numbers in and out, I think it's just "fall fade" in this plant and not some sort of nutrient problem. I'd rather it stay greener but this one just didn't want to.

That almost sounds like a very distasteful troll tbh.

A lot of strong sativa leaners are a more yellow shade of green even when thriving in veg, and more often then not, yea they yellow off a little more by late flower then some other plants. The hazes very notably tend to be quite yellowed off by harvest when done right. The only way to even make that not happen with most true haze lineages is to give them N toxicity and ruin your yield as well as turn your flower into a dry kiefy mess lol.

If you are seeing that fall fade before the cut, you're probably going to enjoy the cleanliness of your smoke a lot more then the harshness and aftertastes that come from plants kept looking like a florist shop until flower. That is not the natural order of things for a plant. That is forcing a plant into a situation it normally wouldn't be to please your own personal sense of aesthetics. Much like the florist shop.

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

Plants of different lineages can vry quite wildly in their shades of green expressed when thriving. And they can vary just as wildly come harvest if not more.

This was a run a did with a sativa, an indica, and a pretty even hybrid just because why not.

 

[MyCologist]

I appreciate the input guys, makes me feel a lot better! I thought my plant was pretty darn solid for an auto, with a lot more bud than I've seen on many other posts. The poster I referred to earlier was chastising me for using cal/mag with a plant growing in soil and speculating that excess calcium has caused a lock out of other nutrients which in turn caused the leaves to turn yellow and drop off. He might be correct, I don't know. But either way I can't imagine that this plant has another month to go before it's ripe. That would put it out past 16 weeks old, and it already looks to me like it's within the early end of the prime harvest window.

 

[Sunin]

Nice Jack
Milky there, I would cut in a few days but that depends on gustas of consumer

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

I appreciate the input guys, makes me feel a lot better! I thought my plant was pretty darn solid for an auto, with a lot more bud than I've seen on many other posts. The poster I referred to earlier was chastising me for using cal/mag with a plant growing in soil and speculating that excess calcium has caused a lock out of other nutrients which in turn caused the leaves to turn yellow and drop off. He might be correct, I don't know. But either way I can't imagine that this plant has another month to go before it's ripe. That would put it out past 16 weeks old, and it already looks to me like it's within the early end of the prime harvest window.

cal-mag is indeed not as necessary in most contexts as many think it usually is.

Cal-mag is full of nitrates (N) though. Would usually cause the opposite problem they claimed if using too much in flower tbh, plants would get dark and shiny, and ripen slowly, especially on a sativa leaner. If your fall fade is happening with healthy flowers present and ripening is happening on schedule, you arent using too much cal-mag.

 

[MyCologist]

cal-mag is indeed not as necessary in most contexts as many think it usually is.

Cal-mag is full of nitrates (N) though. Would usually cause the opposite problem they claimed if using too much in flower tbh, plants would get dark and shiny, and ripen slowly, especially on a sativa leaner. If your fall fade is happening with healthy flowers present and ripening is happening on schedule, you arent using too much cal-mag.

I appreciate the input. I've spent hours reading and researching and the only thing I know for sure is that when marijuana starts showing problems in the leaves, half the people will say it's too much nutrients and the other half will say it's not enough and figuring out what is actually wrong from pictures is nowhere near cut and dry.

I'll give this plant a few days, check trichomes again and post some updated pictures here. I think it's got a little further to go yet but I don't think it needs another 3-4 weeks to ripen.

 

[Beachbumm]

Thanks for the input. I am going to wait for a little more amber but it looks to me like it's within the "harvest window" as well, based on what I've read.

I asked on another forum and the response I got was that the plant looked terrible, was starving for nutrients, had 3-4 weeks or more to go yet and probably wan't going to make it. I started second guessing what I was looking at because it looks pretty good to me, compared to a lot of finished autos I've seen.

Some people seem to think the yellowing fan leaves are a catastrophic sign of a dying plant. Based on my numbers in and out, I think it's just "fall fade" in this plant and not some sort of nutrient problem. I'd rather it stay greener but this one just didn't want to.

I appreciate the input. I've spent hours reading and researching and the only thing I know for sure is that when marijuana starts showing problems in the leaves, half the people will say it's too much nutrients and the other half will say it's not enough and figuring out what is actually wrong from pictures is nowhere near cut and dry.

I'll give this plant a few days, check trichomes again and post some updated pictures here. I think it's got a little further to go yet but I don't think it needs another 3-4 weeks to ripen.

In the zone, If you want more Amber let It go for a week like you mentioned above

if you want a speedier buzz take it now ...nice work!

 

[cbrians]

I’ve seen alot of intimidating bro grow shit but anyone who wouldn’t smoke bud from that auto is just wrong.

Sometimes there’s more than one way to do a good thing

 

[Phyto]

I appreciate the input guys, makes me feel a lot better! I thought my plant was pretty darn solid for an auto, with a lot more bud than I've seen on many other posts. The poster I referred to earlier was chastising me for using cal/mag with a plant growing in soil and speculating that excess calcium has caused a lock out of other nutrients which in turn caused the leaves to turn yellow and drop off. He might be correct, I don't know. But either way I can't imagine that this plant has another month to go before it's ripe. That would put it out past 16 weeks old, and it already looks to me like it's within the early end of the prime harvest window.

Sounds like Kruger-Dunning effect on the other forum. You're in the harvest window most certainly, I like a bit more amber, but, that's just a personal preference. Give em the "habeus yankus" whenever you want.

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

I’ve seen alot of intimidating bro grow shit but anyone who wouldn’t smoke bud from that auto is just wrong.

Sometimes there’s more than one way to do a good thing

ime theres more ways to grow a plant then to not grow plant

Often times, plants happen even where you dont want them to happen lmfao.

 

[MyCologist]

I checked trichomes again today and they're pretty much 100% milky but still very few amber at all. I did however find a couple of mature seeds developed under a couple small buds near the bottom of the plant. I looked for a while but don't see any on the big, thick buds. Obviously it's possible that there could be some buried inside of them but I don't think so. I have not seen any "nanners" on this plant, but it must have made at least one at some point since there are a couple seeds showing up. I suspect this is stress induced, due to the long flowering period (about 13 weeks old now), maybe coupled with heat stress or nutrient/pH stress or something.

Should I let it keep going until I start seeing some amber? Or is this a good sign that maybe it's time to go ahead and harvest it? I can't imagine that a few seeds is going to affect the bud development much but I don't know if it's a sign that maybe it's time. I don't want to chop it too soon, but I've also read that some plants can be very stubborn about Ambering trichs and she seems to maybe fall into that camp considering she's about 13 weeks old now.

 

[Moonwater]

if you whole plant hang it will still continue to ripen for several days keep that in mind. I would take the plant now but that's because I don't like the sleepy effects I get from later in the harvest window harvests. It also truly boils down to knowing the strain and running it several times and trying them at different harvest times. You'll find great difference in aromas and effects. Then u can chose the optimal harvest time for YOU

 

[MyCologist]

if you whole plant hang it will still continue to ripen for several days keep that in mind. I would take the plant now but that's because I don't like the sleepy effects I get from later in the harvest window harvests. It also truly boils down to knowing the strain and running it several times and trying them at different harvest times. You'll find great difference in aromas and effects. Then u can chose the optimal harvest time for YOU

Thanks for the advice, I've waited this long so I don't want to blow it at the finish line by chopping too early. Seems like most people say to always wait until there's some amber showing. I don't really see any dark amber, but I do see some that are almost a faint yellow among the cloudy ones.

The buds are fat and hard, the central "cola" stem is about 2 feet long, 10 inches around at the thickest part (which consists of several fat buds but looks like one "cola") The actual top cola is probably 7-8 inches long and the same around. I think it's a pretty impressive looking plant for an auto flower grown by a novice under a single 2,000 Spider Farmer light. Now that I found a couple seeds under a couple small lower buds I'm wondering if there could be more inside the big buds. On the bright side, I'm thinking the few seeds might be a gift for the future since they're obviously feminized and likely caused by stress, not a plant with a serious propensity to Hermie.

Who knew deciding when to harvest was going to be such a hard decision!

 

[Moonwater]

Thanks for the advice, I've waited this long so I don't want to blow it at the finish line by chopping too early. Seems like most people say to always wait until there's some amber showing. I don't really see any dark amber, but I do see some that are almost a faint yellow among the cloudy ones.

The buds are fat and hard, the central "cola" stem is about 2 feet long, 10 inches around at the thickest part (which consists of several fat buds but looks like one "cola") The actual top cola is probably 7-8 inches long and the same around. I think it's a pretty impressive looking plant for an auto flower grown by a novice under a single 2,000 Spider Farmer light. Now that I found a couple seeds under a couple small lower buds I'm wondering if there could be more inside the big buds. On the bright side, I'm thinking the few seeds might be a gift for the future since they're obviously feminized and likely caused by stress, not a plant with a serious propensity to Hermie.

Who knew deciding when to harvest was going to be such a hard decision!

When it comes to the trichome observation method I do not subscribe to that anymore. Back when I did I found anything past all cloudy was just sleepy stuff.

 

[Asmodeus]

When it comes to the trichome observation method I do not subscribe to that anymore. Back when I did I found anything past all cloudy was just sleepy stuff.

I don't think I've ever checked the trichs. I just go by when the pistols have receded back into the flower, they've quit packing on weight and not drinking much anymore. Ya just kinda know

 

[MyCologist]

I don't think I've ever checked the trichs. I just go by when the pistols have receded back into the flower, they've quit packing on weight and not drinking much anymore. Ya just kinda know

I don’t want sleepy, but worse to me is that racy, paranoid, anxious stuff. That is what I definitely DON’T Want!

I don't think I've ever checked the trichs. I just go by when the pistols have receded back into the flower, they've quit packing on weight and not drinking much anymore. Ya just kinda know

Every time this plant’s pistils turn red it seems to throw out another batch. Hard to tell if it’s still bulking up but I think it is. Water use has dwindled from 2 days to 3 between waterings. This is how it looks today, with and without flash. And a couple trich pics.