First time grower

[meganleigh]

I have been growing these girls for about 4 months and wonder how much longer til their ready to harvest. I know the pics aren't that great, but any help would be appreciated! I don't know what kind of plants they are, got the seeds from my last purchase. Anyone who can offer any advice? Been feeding them a miracle grow soultion and getting antzy on wanting to sample my product.

[wishpotwaslegal]

no not yet. i was thinking on harveting mine first week of oct and did the same thing as you did posted pics and asked if ther ready and i was told to wait till a month at least caus aparently the last two weeks is when they fatten up and prouduce most of the thc 25% more bud in the last two weeks so dont waist the season just wait you will be happy you did. they look realy nice by the way.

[irydyum]

I'm no pro, but I think those are marijuana plants. LMFAO. Just kidding. There are many different schools of thought about when to harvest, some do it by calendar, some by the amount of hairs that have died back, some just guess I think. You really cant be positive unless you have grown the strain before and know from the final product's quality when you should harvest. My method is to use the best magnifier you have and check out the trichrome (crystal) development on the buds. Should look like a sugar frost. Those will start out clear, then become milky white, and finally they will start to go amber. I like to harvest when I see half milky white, and half amber. There will likely be a few day window when you will be able to catch your plant like this, because once they start to go amber, it seems to happen at a pretty quick rate.:rasta:

BTW- Not sure of the origin of your seed, but from the pics, fuzzy as they are, the one on the left may have some dominant sativa in it. It has some pretty long skinny leaves on it which make me think that. If this is the case, sativas will typically take a little longer outdoors to mature than an indica (shorter fatter leaves). In some extreme cases it could take months longer. Just some food for thought. If you can post some clearer pics of it we could probably help out a little more.:thumbsup:

[meganleigh]

I know this sounds stupid but where can i locate the trichomes? I've read about them and their colors, but where do i look for them?

[meganleigh]

My husband keeps saying be patient, but it sooooo hard. Though I don't want to screw up what I have been doing all these months. I have been babying those girls for so long. I'll have to find a better spot next year, trying to sheild the neighbors, dogs and kids is a chore in itself. Just hope that the weather stays nice here in Alabama. Low is already dipping in the low 50's at night.

[keeko]

I know this sounds stupid but where can i locate the trichomes? I've read about them and their colors, but where do i look for them?

trichomes are the crystals on the plant.....you can find the majority of them on the buds and the small triangle leaves on the buds.

[meganleigh]

thanks Keeko

[irydyum]

In this pic you can see the trichromes. They are the small white dots on the leaves that look like crystals. Hope this helps.

[meganleigh]

Thanks so much. I can see mine with my microscope. They aren't that big, should I say they look just like pin heads. How long do they usually take to develop. The plants are located outside and get sun from sun up to about 4:30 in the afternoon now. (about 11 hours) Now with the days growing shorter and October approaching, I worry about the tempature. Is there anything I can do to speed up the process??????

[irydyum]

Nothing can really make it mature quicker, that I know of. How long has it been flowering, meaning pistils visible? Might be able to give you an idea based on that but it would be speculation at best. Growing a plant definitely isn't for the impatient. I have smoked enough premature herb that all I can say is you should wait for the right time. The small crystals you see may get a little larger as the plant matures too, they should swell up with thc rich resin. More pictures would help matters a bunch too. Hang in there!!

[irydyum]

Just read your post again and don't forget if you are still feeding it fertilizer that you will need to STOP with it about 2 weeks prior to harvest if at all possible. Any residual fertilizer that is in the plant when you harvest will be there when you smoke, and it can absolutely ruin the taste and smell. BTW, if you have been feeding it Miracle Grow for it's whole life (4 mos), it probably has enough nutrients in the soil for 15 plants. MG is some pretty harsh stuff and can fry a plant rather quickly too.

[meganleigh]

Well, when I said I used a microscope, I mis-spoke. I used a maginfying glass. Will go to Radio Shack and get a microscope, to scope things out. Remember I am new to growing and if by pistils you mean the white hairs, it's been that way for a while.(at lest 2 months) I started about 6 plants outside, right in the ground... 3 lived...one was a male..pulled that joker outta there. Left with the two females. My hubby's buddy told him he used MG to grow his and told us to do the same. I'll quit and go to plain water. We have very hard clay soil here and I only water them about 3 times a week..I've been reading post after post all day today to try to find answers to my questions, but there is one that still eludes me. I did, I think figure out that my plants are both Sativa, but here's the question. Should females plants still have seeds? There is only like one per branch at the base next to the stem??? To me it should produce seed... most plants do in some form or another...I was not sure what the little pod growing there was and noticed yesterday that a seed had popped out of one and I took another off by hand that had opened.
As far as patience goes.. i have a lot...learned from fishing and my kids... if I wasn't outta smoke..it would be easier..I have a full house this weekend and it will probably be monday when school is back in before I can venture out to take more pics. Thanks so much for you help and time. It's been a blessing. I do remember sampling some homegrown from my hubby's buggy... not so good... makes sense not to listen to him anymore since I found Cannabis! Thanks again...

[irydyum]

As far as seeds in your girl go, if you see one there are probably many more hiding. Looks like you either have someone in the vicinity with a flowering male, or more likely, you have a hermaphrodite. In order for the female to produce seeds it has to be pollinated, and the only way that happens is from a male flower somewhere. Way too late in the game now to worry about that though.

By pistils I did mean white hairs, have any of them changed color on you? From white to brown or anything in between? In the beginning you may have only noticed a hair or two at the nodes (places where stems intersect), but there should have been a pretty quick acceleration to their growth? About how long ago was that?

No need to waste cash on a microscope. Ideally you would have something that could magnify at 30x. I'll paste a link to the thing i'm talking about. I use a magnifying glass that is 10x and I can usually get a good idea as to their color and condition.
Control Company Illuminated Pocket Microscope 3356 Description Pocket Microscope, 30x / 36934-111 FREE UPS Control Company Magnifiers (http://www.opticsplanet.net/control-company-vwr-illuminated-pocket-microscope-3356.html)

What makes me curious is that you said you already have seeds falling of thieir own accord. I would have to think that if the plant has experienced this that it must be nearing the end of it's life cycle. I'll see what I can find out about that. I'll also try to get the attention of some people with more experience to help out. Get us some pics as soon as possible, definitely worth a thousand words.:thumbsup:

[meganleigh]

First, YOU have been wonderful.
The pistils are starting to turn brown, about 1/2 and 1/2. My buds look pretty and smell wonderful. I can smell'em just walking by. I ran back outside after reading your post and I really don't see but about a handful of seeds on them. I KNOW that I shouldn't have, but I did squeeze one of the tops of a bud and felt NO seeds. The acceleration took place about 2 months ago, I would say and they've been going ever since. Yes, I did notice 2 seeds this afternoon one on the ground and another still in its little pod. They were tan with black if that makes a difference. Look just like what I grew. As I mentioned earlier, I did have one male that I yanked up and threw in the garbage can, but my girls, they will okay won't they? I mean ever quarter that I have ever bought contained seeds. It's it normal to have some? I would think, but this is my first time. I will do my best to take pics early in the AM while the kids are watching cartoons and post ASAP!!!! I promise. Thank you so much for you help, kindness, and most of all your valuable time!

[meganleigh]

It's late and I'll check back online in the AM... well, later in the AM :)

[irydyum]

I burn a lot of midnight oil so I'll let you wake up to this.

Your girls will be just fine, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, that I can see with the pics you have up. Every ounce of data that I have researched leads me to believe that presence of seeds will not hurt the overall potency of the final product. That being said, since the stuff is usually consumed by weight, you are only losing on yield of your final product. If the plant is using engery to produce seeds, it won't be using that energy to produce buds, and they will factor into your final weight.

In a perfect world, your plant would not have been pollinated, and would not have produced any seeds. One of cannabis' reactions to there being zero pollen is creating more pistils and flower mass to catch pollen, so in theory even if there is no pollen to be had, the plant will keep amassing material to try to catch whatever stray may come by. These are the reasons that most growers (unless they are breeding) throw away the males.

Don't stress over being a little rough with your girls. They are built to withstand abuse, albeit within certain parameters. I pinch and smell my buds all the time, I love to follow the smell as it changes. I think that is one of the rewards of the growing process. The worst you are going to do pinching your nugs, lol, is bruise a few of the aforementioned trichromes. Nothing to be concerned with. I'll check back in with you in the morning and see what we can find out.

[Dutch Pimp]

Looking good....meganleigh...:thumbsup:


A little something to read ...later...:)...http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/60954-drying-curing-your-buds.html

[meganleigh]

Her are a couple of pics that I took this morning. :) I think they look nice and hopefully will smoke better. I will look for the pocket microscope, next year I plan to yeild to many more beautiful girls and it will come in handy. My neighbor has a veg garden, could that have pollinated my girls? I wouldn't think so, but you never know. Next year will be better though and I'll try to keep a log. Back to the matter at hand. SO you think the girls may be close to harvest time? With the fully developed seeds on them? I don't want to wind up all seed, I don't have that now and don't want more to produce, if that is what will happen. OH only if we did live in that perfect world, it would be legal to grow and smoke your own! :rasta: No suck luck here. Okay, off to Radio shack. Thanks once again for you advice and knowledge.

Dutch Pimp... I print that article to have on hand, thanks!

[irydyum]

Veg garden = no seeds. MJ needs it's own pollen to reproduce, not possible to be pollinated by anything else.

Really really hard to tell from the pictures how far along they are. When you get your magnifier you will get a much clearer picture as to how far along your plants are. I'll check in with you later and see where we are at.

Only the pistils/calyxs (calyx=small green thing that pistils protrude from) that have already been pollinated will produce seeds. If it's a hermaph and spitting out pollen regularly, chances are, you will get some more seeds. If you were pollinated from a random wind, maybe no more seeds.

Since you will be watering with straight H20 now, you should wait at least a week before you decide to do anything like harvest. We need to see how the girls are going to react to the new diet. You should see some yellowing of the larger leaves, don't panic, it's completely normal. Plants only need nitrogen in large doses while they are in the vegetative growth stage. Once they switch to flowering, their dietary needs change to where they need more potassium and phosphorus. Since nitrogen is responsible for green lush growth, withholding that now will cause leaves to go yellow. Everyone goes through this. We do need to keep a close eye on how this yellowing occurs though, it should start near the bottom and work it's way up. If it happens in a different order, it could be a signal for some other deficiency. We can cross that bridge when it comes.

Take care and I'll be back on later.

[zekeyboy]

Looks like you have a while to go. Let em fatten up some more. How about a Holloween harvest? You'll be glad you waited. If your're out of smoke, take a lower branch and throw it in the microwave (at medium power) for a few sec. Dont touch the top cola though. Good luck.

[meganleigh]

Thanks, Zekeyboy, I did just get my mini microscope and could see the the Trichomes are just starting to turn from white to milky. So, yes, I'll wait until I see few amber color in there. I just hope that the weather holds off. It will already be getting into the low 40's this week.

Irydyum, I'll keep a check on those leaves and let you know what happens. Hope all goes well, like I said next year, we intend on planting more, hopefully amongst a veg garden to hide the girls as they mature.

[zoott]

What happens if you go past harvest?
What would a frost do?
Thx

[anbesol]

What happens if you go past harvest?
What would a frost do?
Thx

If you go past harvest your THC will degrade. I dont grow outside so im not sure about frost.

[irydyum]

I'll be here for the ride. The frost deal and late harvest are unpredictable since strains react differently to cold weather. Some strains may not be happy with it,(like your sativa, which is probably tropical) but that's not to say that all is lost with a frost. We will just have to keep an eye on things, and let me know if you see anything deteriorating, or changing in a way that makes you uneasy. Cant wait for an update.

[meganleigh]

I know that several plants tend not to like the frost, especially if there is a freeze that same night. I very well can't cover mine in any way or that would draw too much attention to them. They are planted directly in the ground, so I can't move them either. As I have seen frost on a cold cold night can kill some plants or send them into a dormant state and I don't want to take chances with my babies. I'll do what I can and hope for the best of weather. Just wish we would have some good 'ol rain to water them! So far so good. Tomorrow I'll water them again some more H2O. Thanks for checking in Irydyum. I'll keep posting.

[irydyum]

I have never experienced a frost with a plant before, but I would assume that once the frost melted off the next morning, you would have a good shot at some bud rot and possibly develop mildew issues. More importantly, if plant fibers that contain H2O actually freeze, I would have to imagine that cellular breakdown would happen as the H2O freezes and expands within the plants cell walls. Maybe one of the weed docs can come in and give a little better explanation here.

[meganleigh]

Yes, I just hope that the colder temps wait until after harvest. They have had two waterings with plain ol' H2O. The bottom fan leaves are starting to turn yellow. I'll keep an eye on them, but they look really nice. :D I can hardly wait unitl harvest.

[Dutch Pimp]

Stay tuned in folks...we're getting to the good part, now...the harvest cerebrum ritual....:rolleyes::rastabanna:

[seattlesmoke247]

Don't harvest a lower branch and throw it in the microwave, I have read this is destructive to the THC and it dosen't get you high afterwards.

On the curing FAQ's page there is a fast dry mentioned that is better suited if you have to.

It looks very nice, good job. :thumbsup:

[afriendwithweed]

Hi Meganleigh Just a few words of wisdom for next time... try not to use seeds from a deal they never produce 1st class results and are very unstable most of the time. In most cases to get a stable strain the female needs to be crossed back to its father. Look for seeds from seedbanks that will suit your climate so they will finish earlier in the season when the weather is more favourable. Money needs not to be an issue there is a great seedbank here in the uk called pickandmixseeds.co.uk where you can purchase single seeds for as little as $4.00 each not sure if they will send seeds to the USA though. Hapy growing!

[meganleigh]

If they don't ship to the USA...that wouldn't help me. Though it would be nice to find a good strain to grow here. This is though, my first grow, and I am very well pleased with my two plants. Next year, I may try a seed bank, so if any one could recommend a good one that does deliver to the good ol USA, let me know. Thanks for all the help!

[LifeSaver23]

why is it too hard to cover them? are they in your front yard?
besides... you'll only need to have them covered at night.. who's looking on your private property at night? i dont think 40 degree weather will go over well with them.... dont plants like 70-80 degree weather? maybe even 60-80... but 40's just too cold... your buds might turn purple, which isnt necessarily bad... but its not natural for the strain you're growing.. the cold weather makes them basically go into defense mode... u know how when humans are cold they kinda tense up and shiver, and maybe try to compact themselves, like hold your arms and legs or something to keep all the heat in one area... plants do pretty much the same thing... it might not make ur bud bad... but if i were you i wouldnt wana risk it... i DEFINITELY wouldnt want to risk them dying from the cold or even hybernating, i have no idea how hybernation would affect a cannabis plant. as for the seeds... if they have been outside the whole time, theyve been getting about 12 on 12 off of light since the beginning, no? that is a prime factor that causes hermaphrodites... for the seedling and veg. stage they should be under 18:6 or 24:0... next year try growing indoors if you can... it'll make things a lot more controlable, not to mention the quality will most likely be wayyyy better. a typical closet works for a few to several plants.... it gets kind of expensive but i think its worth it... i live in cali, so i can pretty much buy weed any time i want to... idk how it is there but if good quality shit is scarce.... id say its even more worth it to grow inside. im growing inside right now, i just started 3 clones a few days ago, theyre looking nice. your plants look really nice for this being your first or second try..


but yeah as for the weather.... do your best to cover them at night... if you cant, hmmm idk maybe get an outdoors heater and stick a fan behind it... dont leave it too close to the plants cuz u dont wana burn them... but yeah idk im just being creative ... somebody with more experience might say thats a horrible idea.. probably wana check with someone else b4 u give that a go.. id say get a big cardboard box or a black tarp n put em under there for the night time.. if not the whole night... just like 11pm or midnight till just before sunrise... thats when its coldest, no?

[irydyum]

dont plants like 70-80 degree weather? maybe even 60-80... but 40's just too cold... your buds might turn purple, which isnt necessarily bad... but its not natural for the strain you're growing..

Lifesaver if you know something about figuring out strains by looking at them, I'd love to know your secret. I would hope you read the thread before posting, she doesn't even have a clue what strain they are.

I agree that some sort of fortification would be beneficial, but in this grow, for now and now only, you may be better off hedging your bets and harvesting soon. Spend your winter on these boards picking knowledge off everyone where you can, and you will be infinitely more prepared next season. Could possibly even design a spot that you can easily fend off cold so you can grow into November. Just a thought.

Got any updates on health or anything, pics? I'm dying to know how this is going to turn out for you. Talk to you soon.

[meganleigh]

Irydyum.... their health looks good. Just the bottom fan leaves that are starting to turn yellow like you said. Other than that... they are just beautiful. My camera is a cheap one from Wal-Mart, so it does not take good pics, or it could just be me. :) Anyhow, with the highs being close to 80 during the day, I'll leave them in the ground as long as I can, but plan on pulling them when most of the trichomes are milky. I've read that was best. There is literally no where to grow inside here. Not with my two kids... just not safe enough. This winter I'm planning on getting the ground ready for where my Veg garden will be next year and I plan on using the veg garden to hide my plants. I've heard of several people here who alternate tomato plants and pot plants. SO, I'll give it a try. Also I plan on having the whole yard fenced in and the garden itself fenced in as well. Just to keep the dogs out mostly and I plan on getting rid of my neighbors dog before hand. Their dogs will come and take item off your porch and drag whatever they can to their yard. I've rescued so many pairs of shoes, it ain't funny. If I was to cover my plants outside, well, it would draw too much attention to them and yes, I have one very nosey neighbor. November is just way too cold to grow outside. The only thing I have in my yard that blooms in October is my Conferdate Rose Tree. It's full of blooms that will be opening soon. Unfortunatley we live on top of natural underground springs, that when it rains a lot they will pop up in the yard, which is great for my green grass, just not the right kind of grass. :) Only the back of yard will work cause I don't want to dig into the springs. Too much water will cause root rot. I did, I think figure out that my plants are either Indica or Sativa. My husband and I argue over which. I'll try to get some more pics and see if any are good to post. Thanks for checking in and all your help. I've printed several articles on Harvesting and Curing. Going today to get some mason jars with lids for the curing and storing.

[irydyum]

Sounds like you have it all under control now. All milky white is good to me too, I tend to do it when I see the first ones turn amber. I'm sure you will be blown away by your next endeavor into this. Best of luck and we're all here if you need us.

[meganleigh]

When or Should I trim the fan leaves. Some say do and some say don't. I've looked and can't find that answer. I only have a dial up connection (dark ages) so it does take me a while to go through all the pages.. After an hour or so, I give up and ask. Thanks.:)

[irydyum]

I only trim off fan leaves when they are 50% dead, as in half of the leaf is shot and not producing. Another good way to tell is if you tug on it and it comes off with no resistance, then it is safe to remove. If it doesn't want to come off don't force it.

[meganleigh]

Yea, the bottom ones I told you about that are turing yellow. They are dying and starting to turn brown. I'm going to check the trichomes out tomorrow and see how they are coming along. Thanks for all the help. Your help has been wonderful.

[meganleigh]

Well.......... I didn't want to say anything until I knew how it turned out. Last Sunday we took a sample off and dried it in a small paper sack. I put it in a jar yesterday and sampled some tonight. Wonderful. I looked at the trichomes again and I see that most are milky. SO, what do you think about this? There are two nice buds on top. Those are two that are mostly milky in color. The lower part of the plants still appears to have mostly clear. I've read where some have taken off the top in this situation, which allowed the lower buds more sunlight and they grew bigger. SO what do I do??? Leave it and risk the top nice buds going past potency or cut them off now? Okay so you'll have to forgive me for beating around the bush. Just that I'm, in that place in time where I keep rambling. Anyone done this before?

[irydyum]

It's all a matter of personal preference at this point. You could just harvest it all and then you will have some different maturity levels to sample so you will be more educated on your own tastes next time. Remembering that you are learning the ropes, I don't think that you will lose that much if you do. You could leave the bottoms on to become more developed, but you aren't really forcing any nutes right now, so I don't know exactly how much difference there will be in yield. Also, for the first day or so after harvest the trichromes will keep maturing even though it's cut, so the bottoms may come out milky looking when dried even if they aren't all the way at harvest. Use your gut, no one can tell you the perfect time for your plant, you are the only one that has to be satisfied with the results.

[meganleigh]

You know what? Your exactly right. I'll pass on what you said to my other half and see which way he wants to go. But your right, it's a matter of preference.
I can't thank you enough for all the help and support you've given, I know it's been a couple of weeks, listening to me and I want to thank you, Irydyum for sticking it out.
Best of luck with your grow, they look beautiful!