Quote Originally Posted by Colodonmed
Hi all, a general question with I am sure many complex answers. After trying to learn everything I can before attempting to grow my medicine, I have come to a crossroads and am sure the answer is here. OK, most sites giving advice say that the trichomes should be an amber color or at least say 50% of them should be amber to get the full effect, however I have started checking the medicine I get from a few dispensaries with a 50-100x pocket scope and I'll be dammned if I can find very many amber trichomes, most are clear to cloudy. I am not complaining about the quality as they all seem to be pretty effective, but am wondering why I cannot find that many amber trich's and would the medicine really be that more potent if harvested a little later. Hope this is not too confusing to read and really looking forward to your answer(s). Thanks all
Because it takes a good eye and experience to know the opimal time to cut and the waiting can add an extra 10 days to the flowering cycle. ....plus you've got to watch them carefully. I prefer to cut when the trichomes are cloudy with just a beginning tinge of amber. It's tricky......amber means that the trichomes are a bit past full maturity and are starting to degrade. As far as potency is concerned, this is also dependent on a proper curing environment and taking the time to do it instead of rushing it out the door. A two month + curing process can make a huge (and positive) difference relative to potency.