WHEN TO START
The most important aspect of harvesting is knowing exactly when to start . You don’t want to harvest too early or too late. So…
1. Examine the Pistils (the white “hairs” / flower clusters that cover the buds). In the beginning, they are white (in rare cases, pink), but as flowering comes to an end, they begin to change color— from white to orange and then once again to a dark red or brown. They appear to be drying up and getting thinner and look dehydrated. The changes signify the maturation of the flowers. That being said, these changes can vary significantly on a strain by strain basis.
2. Also examine the Trichomes. These are the resin glands that contain THC and other psychoactive elements. Remember, they are easily ruptured so be careful and try not to touch them. The Trichomes cover the buds and smaller leaves. They “glisten” and look like a bit like white sugar on the leaves. Grab a good magnifying glass and you will see each one has a stalk and a round resin head. They are usually clear or white in color. In fact, they actually start clear, then turn opaque and then amber. Some growers like to see a mix of all three. That said, if they are amber they have begun to decompose, which leads to less potency. Thus, you don’t want to wait until they’ve all turned amber to harvest.
If you can get a magnifier between 50x and 100x, it’s easier to see. When most of the Trichomes are opaque or a milky white color (some clear ones are ok as long as the overall majority are opaque) she is ready to Live Trim, Flush and Harvest.