Quote Originally Posted by psteve
Pistils are not a good indicator of when to harvest. They may turn color for many reasons, not all indicating finished buds.
I harvest when the trichomes start to turn amber.
I was going to say the same thing. Trichomes, not hairs are the way to really tell. In the vast array of weed varieties, some hairs are way brown at the proper harvest time, and for other varieties hairs may have just started to turn brown. Also harvest time is subjective. It's up to you. Like all of the grow, it's an art. If you want a clearer, able to think high, then you harvest when trichomes are clear, but starting to turn cloudy. Normal is cloudy. If you want an extreme stoned high, then harvest when trichomes are amber. More amber means more THC degridation however. You really need an $8 pocket microscope from radio shack.

And I too harvest when amber is setting in, but if I can, I like to have both clear and amber weed around.