Ready to harvest?

[BetterThanBeer]

As I am unsure I figured I would get a professional opinion here. :) My plant has been flowering for just over 5 weeks (went 12/12 on September 15) and I was wondering if you can tell by these images if it is time to harvest. I know 5 weeks seems short as most threads I read seem to be in flowering for 8-12 weeks, but the pistols are beginning to turn amber so I was unsure. I would say over all about 10% of the pistols are turning this color. Any help is appreciated, I have attached images. Yield is not large, but at least it made it to flower for my first attempt, I am sure it is due to the sub par lighting, all flouro and cfl. Thanks for the help.

[mushaboom]

it's too early to harvest. wait a few weeks and those things should be gi-normous

[Dutch Pimp]

Follow the trichomes...forget the pistals (hairs)....:thumbsup:

[BetterThanBeer]

Oh, I thought it was by hairs, thanks guys. I will keep an eye on the trichomes. I thought it should go until roughly Nov 15th anyway, I appreciate it.

[mushaboom]

i find it hard to say "harvest when blah looks like blah." just looking at the trichomes are a pretty good way to do it, but the best way to do it is just to combine a little bit of every technique. watch the pistils, new pistils should be popping out every day or so. when this slows down check your trichomes. the chart up there is a good thing to follow. most people dont pay attention to pistils but i say that if more pistils are popping out every day and you have some cloudy/amber trichomes, let it grow and swell. remember,crystals are a great indication of how to set up your time table, but it shouldn't be the final factor. a good deal of what you feel does come from those trichomes, but a good deal of what you feel also come from within the flowers themselves. also, keep in mind all trichomes are not created equally, there are varying degrees of potency. so just because something is completely dusted over doesnt mean its going to knock your socks over; it is pretty though. :) i hope this rambling makes sense... anyways, is that a bag seed grow?

[twoguysupnorth]

some people go by the hairs too, it is an indicator but not the only one. most go by trichomes, i dont have a scope so i have to guess. i know what you mean, i am so ready to grab the scissors right now, i can see the trichs with the naked eye(stems and balls). i cant tell the color though. i'll either get mad at myself or be very happy for doing it, let you know tomorrow. ;)

[BetterThanBeer]

I will do my best to watch the trichs, I only have a magnifying glass which helps, but not much. The size of the bud sites has not changed much, went through a decent growth spurt about 2 weeks back but has been stagnant ever since. I am of course losing leaves on a daily basis, which I understand to be normal, but it makes the plant look sad. Yes, that is bad seed so I have no idea what strain it is. I started with three, but ended up with two males which of course are gone now. Maybe I will start with just plain old water from now on to start flushing since I am unsure of exactly when it will be ready to harvest.

[BetterThanBeer]

Also, regarding picture three from up top, far right of image. You can see a brown tip on the leave, all the large fan leaves below closer to the bottom and working its way up are beginning to look like that. They get much worse too, basically getting the brown spots on random places throughout the leave and then drying up to a crunchy, shriveled leave. Is this normal for this stage of the plant (5 weeks into flowering) or is there possibly another underlying issue. I know the yellowing is normal, which is also happening. Most leaves at the very top where most of the bud sites are, are ok for now, but I am losing lots of leaves fast. Thanks for the help if anyone is still reading this post.