Hello TeeAcheSee,

Time to throw the bible away. Pistals have nothing to do with the plants finishing, many strains keep producing new pistals right to the day you chop.
It's the trichomes you go by, all cloudy is really very young and that is the "lighter" high. When you get the trich's to be 25-50% amber (or even more) is where you get THC and the conversion to certian cannabinoids...this is the heavy, couch lock some people look for.