Harvest when 75% of pistils are brown... what if theyre ALL brown?

[Tom Swierzbinski]

OK, so Ive done a rather stupid thing and paid more attention to bugs than my plant in general, and Ive just noticed that ALL the pistils - bar one or two - are brown. Sadly I dont have a microscope (well I do have one that a mate lent me, but its not powerful enough to see the trichs) and Ive just remembered that you harvest when 75% of pistils are brown. Well, thats rather vague as we all know, but I dont have the luxury of a 30x microscope. So, do I harvest now or wait a few more days?
Oh, another thing that may complicate matters. Yesterday and this morning Ive been using a 20:1 solution of water and washing up liquid as a cheap, effective pesticide. If I do have to harvest now, will this affect the smoke at all or not? Should I opt for the water curing method to get rid of the toxins, or is it fine to smoke considering its only been used for about 18 hours? Its been sprayed three times if that helps, once yesterday dusk, once at night and once more right now. Also its been flushed considering its had the majority of its life outdoors and has been fed by Gods own rain
Also, could the homemade pesticide have affected the pistils at all and made them start to die for some reason? I havent been keeping check of how old she is, lately Ive had a few too many things running through my head to check on a plant lol. I live in England, so does anyone from the UK know of someplace that sells 30x magnifying glasses? Even a 15x one would do, but 30 would be best.
Cheers peeps

Tom Swierzbinski Reviewed by Tom Swierzbinski on 07-03-2006. Harvest when 75% of pistils are brown... what if theyre ALL brown? OK, so Ive done a rather stupid thing and paid more attention to bugs than my plant in general, and Ive just noticed that ALL the pistils - bar one or two - are brown. Sadly I dont have a microscope (well I do have one that a mate lent me, but its not powerful enough to see the trichs) and Ive just remembered that you harvest when 75% of pistils are brown. Well, thats rather vague as we all know, but I dont have the luxury of a 30x microscope. So, do I harvest now or wait a few more days? Rating: 5

[KHAN]

Search for 'Pocket Microscope' on ebay dude, there are lots cheap.

You didn't say how long you've been flowering...?

[Tom Swierzbinski]

Lol, I cant bloody remember how old she is. My minds been to the South Pole and back lately lol. Ill try and rack my brains a while...

[Tom Swierzbinski]

Just worked it out, shes around 45 days old. Nowhere near harvest yet... so has anyone got any ideas why all the pistils are brown? She hasnt been pollinated either, and has spent all of her life from around day 15 outside.

[elcheapo]

I've seen the following turn pistils brown prematurely. :-
Over fertilizing.
Light Burn.
pH problems.
Misting with water or other mixtures.

[Tom Swierzbinski]

Well it cant be over ferting, because this is being grown organically (well, she gets a little bit of 5-5-10 if it hasnt rained for a while... and I mean a little, its at half strength). Light burn - again, shes outside, so she has decent ventilation!
Im guessing its the misting. Im gonna tone it down a little now, just misting once every two days and see what happens. Oh, and shes nowhere near ready, I just bought a 14x loupe from the clockmaker across the road for a fiver (bargain really, cos I had my watch fixed at the same time) and the trichs are 75% clear.

Cheers for all the input and help peeps

[Opie Yutts]

The hairs turning brown is no way to tell. It's all different for different strains. You need a $8 pocket microscope from Radio Shack to look at trichomes.

[Shallow Hal]

here u go tom ... u'll have it in 2 days .. i got one works a treat .. i am also in the uk.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JEWELLERS-Magn...QQcmdZViewItem

[LIP]

Well the pistiles on my low were all amber after 3 weeks in flower. Payed no attention to them, just used the trichs, harvested early cos im impatient and still got a KILLER smoke off the plant.

[Tom Swierzbinski]

I hear ya LIP, I harvested a plant a little early (well, I think, hard to tell without magnifying glass) and it was pretty decent, as you could tell from my Lowryder Smoke Report where I was rambling like an idiot.
Shallow Hal, cheers for the link, but Ive managed to get my hands on a 14x loupe from the guy across the road... bargain really, got my watch fixed aswell and paid a fiver for both. Ive had a look and the trichs are clear with literally a few turning cloudy, maybe 25%. I know that pistils arent an accurate way to tell when to harvest, but for the last couple of months its all Ive had to go on sadly.

Its an outdoor plant (Hal or LIP will probably know the answer best seeing as they live in the UK) so when do you think the trichs will be all cloudy? Im harvesting on the 15th no matter what so I have some bud for my birthday - 5 days drying will be more than enough, at least, it better be lol - but I just want to know how quickly they turn cloudy. I prefer more of a sativa high anyway, and when the Lows are harvested cloudy they make you slightly couchlocked and babble at the same time, which I love.
Ive got a small bud which I picked off earlier to look at drying right now anyway. Its literally a small bud, when its dry ittl be the size of a penny ah well, its something to smoke on Friday afternoon watching Countdown