to pull or to cut??

Here's a question for the expert outdoor growers....a few of my outdoor girls are ready to harvest and I'm wondering if I should pull them up by the roots and hang them upside down to dry or cut off the main stalk (maybe leaving a few underdeveloped buds near the base to fill out) and hang up the main stalk. Will the flavor be sweeter if I pull the whole root structure? They are root bound now but the color and trichomes seem to be ready on 3 of the 8 plants.

If I could figure out how to post a pic I would. :wtf:

i would cut and hang. Inless you wants dirt to stick all over your buds. But everyone has ther way..

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Originally Posted by nugssgalore

Here's a question for the expert outdoor growers....a few of my outdoor girls are ready to harvest and I'm wondering if I should pull them up by the roots and hang them upside down to dry or cut off the main stalk (maybe leaving a few underdeveloped buds near the base to fill out) and hang up the main stalk. Will the flavor be sweeter if I pull the whole root structure? They are root bound now but the color and trichomes seem to be ready on 3 of the 8 plants.

If I could figure out how to post a pic I would. :wtf:

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For what's it's worth, here is how I harvest my girls outdoors:

I spend 4-6 weeks harvesting. I remove arms from plants early b/c I find that they will continue to flower from the arm point of removal for up to 4 weeks.

I short, don't cut the entire plant unless necessary IMHO.

bobjob....you are hilarious! I didn't even think of the dirt but I WAS going to hose off the roots....seems silly now. I sometimes miss the obvious. :D

and sunbiz what do you mean "the arm point of removal"? are you talking about topping the biggest colas or the very top or the side branches or what?

I know a grower up north that tried to take off the biggest center colas in hopes of raising the yield and he said the bottom ones never filled out and just went to cr*p, which was a shame because he was going to sell to dispensaries. I hear they won't buy unless you have a full pound to sell.

The old school way of harvesting was to pull the plant, roots and all, then hang them upside down so all the THC would leave the roots and go to the buds. Well it doesn't work that way. The THC or trichomes grows on the buds and stays there. The reason we hang them upside down is because it is easier. So when it's time to harvest I cut off the load bearing branches and go from there. I wish there was something I can use the branches for after harvest.:jointsmile:

thanks 9fingers.... I was also thinking that to pull the roots was just an old "hippy myth".

And if you have nice sized branches you can always use them after harvest as skewers for kebobs on the barbecue.;) That's what I do with my rosemary branches.....twould smell great also! Course there is the legality problem or maybe the problem with all the neighbors showing up ready to eat. :smokin:

Wan't the biggest harvest possible...stage harvest them. Wander out each morning, cut the fattest buds, take them in and trim them down. Next day repeat.

This slow harvest will increase your available yield by 20% easy. I just made the mistake of taking a few whole plants to get my patients off my back. Mistake. Lost some decent yield.

Sunbiz is right. 4-6 weeks

You came this far, get the max out of them

oldhaole...thanks for the advice...does it make a difference if they are in pots and getting kind of root bound? Also one plant has completely lost its dry yellow fan leaves so I'm thinking that one might be done.

I'm also going away sailing for 3 days so I have my fingers crossed they can get by on being flushed tonight and also that I won't get ripped off. They are on a top story outside deck of a remote locked house so any thieves would have to do some serious breaking and entering to get at em or else have a big ladder!:D

If its in the pot, stage harvesting will let the smaller buds that don't get good sun fatten up. It can't hurt. It is worth it.

The problem is leaving them for 3 days...big no no. If I were in your shoes I would take the top that has lost her leaves. Leave the rest. If you get ripped, at least you got something. And if they are still there when you get back, then take your time and stage them.

Good Luck
OH

PS Lock up or stash or bust all ladders in a half mile range. :D

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Originally Posted by oldhaole

Wan't the biggest harvest possible...stage harvest them. Wander out each morning, cut the fattest buds, take them in and trim them down. Next day repeat.

This slow harvest will increase your available yield by 20% easy. I just made the mistake of taking a few whole plants to get my patients off my back. Mistake. Lost some decent yield.

Sunbiz is right. 4-6 weeks

You came this far, get the max out of them

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:thumbsup:THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I COME ON HERE!!!! Great idea!!! would have never thought of that!!!! thanks oldhaole:smokin::cool:

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Originally Posted by yetibear

:thumbsup:THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I COME ON HERE!!!! Great idea!!! would have never thought of that!!!! thanks oldhaole:smokin::cool:

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If anybody can learn from my mistakes, it makes me happy as a pig in slop!

ha!! Good advice on the ladders! There aren't any around there that I know of but thanks. I have my fingers crossed and hope to see my ladies when I get back, and will stage harvest after that.

I'm off sailing from Ventura, CA over to Santa Cruz Island for 3 days....very remote and pristine place, part of Channel Islands State Park. Hope my back holds out....if the water is warm enough the swimming and snorkeling will be good for it. 63 degrees aint bad...ha! wish I was in Hawaii or the Caribbean, but life is good.

All except that 63 degree water temp part :D Take your wetsuit and weights

Take a couple of fishing poles and hook yourself dinner. Lucky F**ker

That was a joke about the water temp....I dont like it that cold but whaddya gonna do? I dont wear a wetsuit, not even fins, totally a la natural for me, but I'm a girl and have my own "insulation" from the cold...kind of like a sea lion. ;) (don't say "blubber" ! ) hehehe. I envy you your warm water in hawaii, I luv to snorkel there.

I decided that it WAS actually too early to cut my plants since after cutting a couple of heavy tops a week ago, those plants seem to be putting out extra white pistils all over the place...gee, I had thought they were almost all orange with milky trichomes but nooooooooooooooo.

I read this here a ways back. I forgot who said it but it still holds true. How many posts do you see that read... Oh Shit I let my plants overmature vs Oh Shit I took them too early?

Have Fun.

And when I dive here I wear a wetsuit and a lot of weight. Once you get below 10 ft it gets cold...everywhere, even here. It make it so you can stay in the water for a long long time. Check it out if you can.

Thats how im going about my harvest, take whats done and leave the rest to get bigger, just hoping for more sun. And i always harvest this way inside, the lower buds get so much bigger, plus if you give them time, they will grow more buds inside. I had 3 harvests on the re vegged ones outside around Jan.



I hope ya get what your wanting sis:rasta:

What a bright idea!!!! Im gonna try that on my last plant. Top buds are done but the lower ones are not...

Stage the byatch....Whodda thunk:wtf:

Okay, I'm back...the sailing was good except that 2 out of 3 days it was cloudy and drizzled rain. I came back to rain but the ladies were still there. I didn't get ripped off but I shook the water off and hauled them inside the sliding glass door and put a fan on em. The next day I took some of the heaviest buds but left them inside since it was still raining and rained hard today.

Since the weather seems to be clearing up I am going to move them back outside tomorrow but I'm wondering if the decreased sun for 2 full days will screw up their flowering cycle? Gotta try anyway, I know they need the light. They are probably already stretching.

Two days of inside should not hurt. Be safe and look for mold spots though. It can't hurt. As soon as the sun comes out back out they go.

Hope ya have a nice warm couple of weeks. Glad nobody found a ladder. :D

Ain't harvest fun?

ok, thanks for the support. They are back in the sun and here in so cal it's supposed to be in the high 80's to 90's this weekend for 2 days. I'm thinking that will plump up the buds even more. My Silver Haze seems to be turning purple, the C-4 is just giant colas with pistils turning orange and very sticky. I am trying to be patient and trying not to harvest too soon but then I think....how strong do I even want this stuff?? I am a lightweight when it comes to smoking. :D:cool::D

I am stage harvesting my current crop and its been a great call.

well, in stage harvesting my plants, I noticed that after I took off a couple of strange looking fat colas at the top of the C-4, that underneath all that mass there seemed to be indications that it had turned hermie on me maybe a few weeks ago during a killer heat wave. Now that I'm looking at the buds they seem to have a bunch of unripe seeds in em....I can't really tell what I;m looking at but it doesnt look like the rest of the plants.

My question is, I cut most of the colas off the C-4 and only left 2 small branches down at the bottom in case they make seeds. But is it good smoke to smoke the top colas that might have alot of green mass in it that to me looks like unripe seeds?? Very very sticky with resin...if you touch it and then touch two fingers together, hard to pull apart....I'm thinkin it must be good smoke but maybe I should take longer to cure it?

I need pics of masses of unripe seeds...they are still squishy, could that just be the blossoms maturing?They look round, not hairy so much anymore.

The stage harvesting is going well, I'm taking the top heaviest colas first then leaving the bottom ones a week or so longer...seems to be working fine...

I have a few pics, I'll try to post or else you can go to my profile page and look at the 3 pics in the album, if that's possible....it's not public so I don't know, I think you have to be in my contact list.

BTW, the C-4 must have gone hermie very very late because it didn't go to seed, the flowers are just different looking than my other strains but still very sticky and even drying it smells great.

The Sour Diesel smells like fuel, I guess it's supposed to, and even the Silver haze smells slightly sour but huge colas, I will grow that one again. The best frutiest, nuttiest smelling plants are the ones I grew from seed that came from up around Santa Cruz, Calif.

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Originally Posted by nugssgalore

BTW, the C-4 must have gone hermie very very late because it didn't go to seed, the flowers are just different looking than my other strains but still very sticky and even drying it smells great.

The Sour Diesel smells like fuel, I guess it's supposed to, and even the Silver haze smells slightly sour but huge colas, I will grow that one again. The best frutiest, nuttiest smelling plants are the ones I grew from seed that came from up around Santa Cruz, Calif.

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Id say your doing fine...If they are good pull um... The looks of the lower buds wont change much. Youll have popcorn buds but they are good too:rastasmoke:

I did an out door of Sour Deisal and I dont like its taste At all:wtf: But my buddy loves it...Smelt like fuel:(

Great looking grow:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Definitely a great looking grow! Good work, nugs... :D

Enjoy :hippy: