When To Harvest Marijuana

Cultivating cannabis can be a very fun and rewarding experience. The reward comes after the harvest season. Yes, it is without a doubt that all growers look forward to that perfect time to harvest marijuana. Who would not? After weeks of carefully taking care of your plants, it is finally time to harvest your product. But if you think you could just harvest that easily, think again.

To get the best of your plants, you should know when to harvest marijuana. It is not just because you have grown them for weeks, then they are ready for harvest. It is not just because they have started flowering then they are ready for harvest. Harvesting marijuana may entail a little bit of work and keen observation. 

There is a perfect time when to harvest your plants. The process of harvesting marijuana may seem to be an easy task but it can be tricky but you have nothing to worry about if you know how to do it. In this article, we will provide you with the important tips of when to harvest the marijuana plants at the right time.

Important Tips on When to Harvest Marijuana

Timing and patience are important in harvesting your buds. Why? Harvesting too early may cause you in losing the potency of your weed while harvesting too late may give you buds with strong aroma and flavors but contain unwanted narcotic effects.

Harvesting your cannabis plant is determined by several important factors. It is very important to observe your plants especially as soon as they have started flowering. There are important details that need your attention like:

• Notice if the stems are broadening.
• Leaves are turning yellow, wither, and die.
• Resins are turning now brown and turn to dark brown.
• The pistils are turning red.

These manifestations can be observed as soon as your plant has started flowering. These are the things that indicate that your marijuana plant is ready for harvest. 

Methods Used in Identifying your Plant is Ready for Harvest

Harvesting can be easy if you know what to do. Here are the methods that you can use when you want to know if your weed id ready for harvest.

1. The Trichome Method

In this method, a handheld microscope is needed. The range of the microscope should be 30x to 100x. In this method, you will need to check on the trichomes that are present on your plant. The trichomes are the crystal-like features on your plants that can be found in the buds or leaves. These make the marijuana plant sticky. Plants with clear trichomes indicate that it is not yet ready for harvest. If you see that your plants are producing milky white or amber-colored trichomes then that is the right time to harvest.

2. The Pistil Method

This is a method where you harvest your marijuana crop based on the pistils that are developed. If your plant shows reddish-brown colored pistils, then they are ready for harvest. 50% of your plants must have reddish or brownish colored pistils so that it will be ready for harvest but if you see that our plant has about 70% of reddish or brownish pistils then it is ready for harvest with the richest amount of THC. If your plant has about 80%-85% reddish-brown colored THC, then harvesting it will result to buds with relaxing effects. 70% – 90 % reddish-brown this means that you can harvest your plant with a strong aroma and 90%-100% will result in cannabis products that are heavy and sharp.

Helpful Tips on When to Harvest Marijuana

The quality of your products depends on the timing of your harvest. Patience the key. If you harvest your plant early, it will affect its potency while harvesting it late will affect its overall quality. Consider these important tips in harvesting your cannabis plant.

1. If you choose the trichome method in determining the time of harvest, check if the trichomes are milky white or amber colored before you harvest your weed. Crystal clear trichomes indicate that your marijuana plant is not yet ready for harvest.
2. If your plants stop producing new pistils, then that is the right time to harvest. Check for the pistils. It should have at least 50% reddish or brownish colored pistils so you can begin harvesting. Do not hurry. Allow the plants to produce as much as 50% reddish or brownish pistils before you start harvesting. This amount of pistils will give you products with high THC content.
3. 50% to 70% reddish-brown pistils will give you THC rich products.
4. Milky brown or amber-colored trichomes indicate that your plant is now ready for harvest. If you can observe using your microscope, these trichomes have little balls on the tip. This is a good indication that your plant is now ready for harvest and you are getting THC rich buds.
5. Be aware that in some cases, trichomes do not change in color. In this case, you must wait for a couple of days and see it the trichomes change its colors. If it still does not change in color, then just go ahead and harvest it.
6. Checking the color of the pistils is very important in determining the quality of your bud. If your plant has about 100% reddish-brown pistils then it may have lapsed the harvest window. The trichomes may have already died down and withered. Do not expect a good harvest, this will give you low-quality yield.

Timing is very important to be able to produce top-quality yield. Yes, our plants need to be taken care of and provided by their needs but the perfect time when to harvest marijuana is an important factor that would affect the quality of your product.

Knowing when to harvest marijuana will help you produce not just abundant but top quality products. Patience is of the essence in harvesting your marijuana plant. Again, harvesting too early will cost you on having THC rich marijuana buds while too late harvest will let you have low quality yield. Perfect timing is the key so make it right.