Some info on Pistils

I have a afghan kush plant thats been 7 weeks( give or take a few days)flowering.Most if not all of the pistils have turned brown and receded.Figuring I had about 1-1 1/2 weeks left.This was probably 4 days ago. But now I have a bunch of brand new pistils showing up, is this common with this strain? Also now that all these new pistils are showing up, do I have to wait until all these turn brown and receded too? Or can I harvest at the time I planned to. Im concerned about letting it go too long but I've read that if it goes a little longer then the 47-55 days flowering thats ok. If there is a few pistils still white and growing does it mean that there is a lot more budding to do? If not, I dont mind a few white ones as long as the plant is ready to harvest. I didnt know that the pistils would come in stages or is it just my plant? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hey CountDaMoney,

You should harvest your bud when the majority of the pistils turn orangey brown. Dont leave it too long as they will start losing potency !

Charbud :thumbsup:

Don't worry about the pistils, harvest based on the trichome colors, when they start to turn cloudy until they become amber is when ur supposed to harvest.

JackdaWack has it right, pistals have really nothing to do with the plants maturity or when they are finished. Get a samll cheap handheld microscope (Radio Shack less then $15) to get a good look at the trichomes. All cloudy seems to be a minimum and some (25%) amber is a good thing.

Once you see what is happening, you can get a better idea when YOU want to harvest. You may find happiness at just all cloudy or you might think 1/2 amber is what you like.:)

Well...I dont know how cool it is to post on one site and leave a link to another(ima noob)but I guess I'll find out :D
Plus I'm really not qualified to be second guessing anybodies input but this guys post makes sense to me. Im finding out theres a million guys on these sites and a million diff. opinions. But this isnt too bad. I'd like you Jack and mac to please read it if you havent already and then tell me what you think.

Thank Bro's


Zeus's Take on Harvesting. - Marijuana Growing

I dont see a whole lot reasoning over there just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Your trichomes are the only indication factor that your plant is hitting the right ripeness, Hairs will continually grow, and so will buds, some people may try and get more weight by waiting, saying there buds are small or not filled out yet, but the plant can very well be ripe and should be harvested. There is no good info in that page, i have had new pistils sprout up the week of harvest, but i wasnt going to wait for them to brown out, cause my trich's were already going amber. If you have insufficient lighting or growth is slow, u cant determine ripeness from the color of pistils or from the size of buds. Browning Pistils just means the plant is in the ripening stage, not necessarily ripe. Bud size will be completely dependent on growing conditions.
When your trichomes have hit the cloudy color, all those things he claims u should wait for, should have already happened or are happening.

Harvesting By Trichome Color - Stoner Forums - A Marijuana & 420 Friendly Community
A little more science behind the ball and not so much rebel why follow the rules attitude.

Well if Zeus's take that you can tell ripness by overall appearances, I can buy into that. For many years before I knew what a trichome was, or even where in the plant THC was formed I grew some very good stuff, from very good genetics. I always seemed to harvest at the best time, at least nobody had any complaints. Now a days a lot of what I grow is truly mmj, and hitting a certian finish point consistently, the best gauge of THC vs cannabinoids is the color of the trichomes, imho. :)

So let me understand you correctly Jack.Sounds to me that there's a "possibility" at harvest that all the pistils wont be orangee/brown if your trichomes are amber right? But you just said yourself that browning pistils means its in the ripening stage not necessarily ripe. So wouldn't that mean that when the pistils are finished turning brown then its at the end of the ripening stage and now its ripe? Or Im I understanding this wrong? To be honest with ya....I think I cant go wrong if I went half amber trichomes and what new pistils I have....I have. I think that way I know Im somewhere in the middle and the smoke cant be all that bad.I truly believe that if you never grew a certain strain atleast once to know its characteristics,plus the fact that everyone wont grow the strain in the exact same conditions(lights,soil,nutes and so on)and what type "high" your after, they'll be having this discussion 1000yrs from now. I really appreciate you dudes input and trial & error is probably the best answer.And even that doesnt mean your grow is gonna act the same as the last. Peace :smokin:

Oh....btw Jack I read the post in Stoner Forum and I must say it was very informative, so much it gave me headache :D j/k But I do know exactly when its ripe. When I chop her down is when its ripe!! :thumbsup: But learned alot,and will put it to good use!

Right On Dude, Thanks

:jointsmile:

Hey CountDaMoney,

The concept of trail and error with a new strain is always a good idea to do. As an example we grew out a few auto flowers, just for shits and giggles. The auto-ak47s according to the seed packet would take 9-11 weeks. At week 9 we looked at the three plants, noted they were all at about the same stage, abt all cloudy trichome wise. Cut the smallest down. 1 week later noted what the other two where abt same, abt cloudy with some amber. Cut the middle plant down. At week 11 took the last one, which was now abt 50% amber.

After drying, trimming and curing the fun of trying them begins. Remarkable difference in the three plants, and the only way to know which is your favorite to to try them.:thumbsup:

Plus now, you know how to repeat those results.....by looking at the trichomes.

Ok mac, I dont know if you remember, im new at this so these questions might sound a little dumb,but you wont know if you dont ask :thumbsup: Now when your saying 50% your talking from the tip of the leaf to the center? Cause as of now mine are abt 50%. Halfway up the leaf the trichomes are amber. Its done right? Almost sounding over done correct?

There's no such thing as a dumb question......there are just dumb answers.;)

From the sound of it, your done. When I look at trichomes, I try to look at the small bud leaves or buds themselves. This is what you are going to use to vape or smoke, the trics on larger leaves will be left over in your trimmings of the buds. This stuff is what you can use to get kief or hash makings from.

Many times you will find, especially if you grow large (4'+) indoors, that the tops of the plant will be starting to turn amber, but the lower bud sites are clear. The answer is simple, harvest the top 1/2 of the plant and let the bottom, which will now get more light, to ripen.

This process that takes place in the trichomes is very dependent on the light you are using. A CMH bulb does a great job to get to full ripness while most LED grow lights will never get to amber.

Alright then, your saying the trichomes closest to the bud and actually on it are the ones to look at. Now those are partially cloudy,no amber ones in that area.So any day now? Just keep a real close eye? Or I can go ahead and pull it? It's probably just as cool im guessing. I'll make up my mind in a day or so :thumbsup: Thanks for all your insight bro! It really helped alot. Just remember....puff puff pass :smokin:

Peace

When the pistils are browning the plant is the ripening stage, thats basically the only indication they reveal. New pistil can grow, and i've seen it happen myself. So the plant will have white and brown pistils...how do u know which ones indicate the plant is done? the white ones say its still not done yet, but the brown ones say it is? To much guessing going on in that equation. The trichomes should all be at the same stage unlike pistils and bud size/denseness. Sometimes when the top colas reach max growth, the lower parts of the plant will start to use all of the stored energy and nutes that were utilized by the top part that gets the most light where growth is optimal. So u get new growth at the bottom, even tho the plant is ripening, but the top part is done and so is the older growth at the bottom, New growth can throw you off, and u say to urself, oh i guess its not done yet because i have new white pistils, not true. The plant will keep producing becuase unlike in the real world, we control the thermostat, the plan will keep growing because u dont change any factors, but degradation of thc and other chemicals will happen becuase the plant utilizes them, we just cut them down before that happens. Most people harvest the plant as a whole, and there not going to let the big top colas degrade, so they chop it down even tho the minimal small growth at the bottom isnt done yet, not really a big deal unless your plant is really starting to pop buds at the bottom. It's better to cut it down where it counts, no point in letting the small bud sites finish when the mass majority off the plant is done. I prefer to chop when 80% has hit cloudy. It ensure that i hit the middle ground of the plants smoking characteristics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldmac

There's no such thing as a dumb question......there are just dumb answers.;)

From the sound of it, your done. When I look at trichomes, I try to look at the small bud leaves or buds themselves. This is what you are going to use to vape or smoke, the trics on larger leaves will be left over in your trimmings of the buds. This stuff is what you can use to get kief or hash makings from.

Many times you will find, especially if you grow large (4'+) indoors, that the tops of the plant will be starting to turn amber, but the lower bud sites are clear. The answer is simple, harvest the top 1/2 of the plant and let the bottom, which will now get more light, to ripen.

This process that takes place in the trichomes is very dependent on the light you are using. A CMH bulb does a great job to get to full ripness while most LED grow lights will never get to amber.

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Oldmac, I've heard that LED do take longer to finish. Mine are at 14.5wks flowering now and still have all clear trichs, with a few ambers. I've been more than patient. IF they don't turn amber under LED, how do we know when to harvest? Being a bagseed adds another ? to the equation as well. Also, I still have a handfull of white pistils.

It just sounds like it's taking a while, if ur pretty much cloudy on all trichs ur good to harvest. CFLs take longer as well. You dont have light intensity working on ur side.