Purple Wreck &mystery strain.Flowering day 55 with PICS!!! when 2 harvest? help!! plz

i have a purple wreck and a mystery seed (appears to be a sativa or sativa dominant strain).

majority (if not all) of the hairs have sunk back in on both and changed color. i took a sample last friday from each plant and used a quick dry method. well i tried the steam in the microwave method...still turned out pretty damn dry. it did produce a high but when i looked up the quick-dry method it said it would lose taste and potency. i was loaded off both though...and i only took enough to roll a j of each sample.

im still not sure and dont have a magnifying glass. so im hoping someone can give me a time frame of when to chop.

thank you. one pic is the giant cola from the mystery strain...the other plant up close is the purple wreck. and the pic from further away is of my whole setup complete w/ a 600w hps...all the other plants in orange buckets are big bang seeds (fem) that i have just started flowering last week.

any and all opinions welcome. this is my first grow/harvest by the way. how did i do?

any tips for when trimming the buds after harvest? i already have a space set up to hang them from pins and hangers with a fan for air circulation and paper bags from safeway...and mason jars (for each stage of drying).

You'll need a way to see what condition your trichomes are in. I use a 5x magnifying glass, but some need a 100x pocket microscope from Radio Shack. ($12.00 or so?)
In general:
Mostly Clear trichomes - undercooked. light heady buzz. Light body effects.
Mostly Milky trichomes - mature, and it's up to you how far you want to take 'em.
A few Rusty trichomes - The meds are as good as they are going to get. Heavy body stone and...mind clearing. Taking the ladies past this point, and you risk nanners she might throw-out in a last-ditch effort to self propogate.

Make sure you're looking at the globular head of the trichome, and not the hairs. Just like in life, hair color does not denote maturity.

I know at this point you can't make the taller ones duck, but...any way to raise the shorter plants up to the light(s)?

actually i did have them raised up. i just took them down because the only thing i had to put them on is now too big for them to be on...so they had to go on the floor. the babies i have goin were just as tall as my big mystery strain plant so i put it back on the floor.

this should be the last time i have to deal with this problem as next grow all plants will be started at the same time...this time i had to start 6 more plants before the 2 i have going will finish.

they been flowering forever...i flushed two weeks ago this saturday. so in terms of needing to wait to chop for the flush im covered. its hard for me especially with this mystery strain...im not sure if i should let it go beyond 8 wks (prolly should since its a sativa or sativa dom)...the main cola just keeps getting thicker and thicker. for a week or two it looked like it was done maturing...now its really gettin heavy...not leaning yet but im sure its going to by the end of the week.

Patience has served you well. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: