Apologies for asking the same question that many have already asked, but this is my first year and I’d appreciate the collectives opinions.
Info: Lemon Dawg clone, moved into sunlight at 6" height on June 1. Budding began app. July 20. Buds now of good girth (top buds about as thick as a beer can). Hairs turning to red, trichomes moving from clear to opaque and now to amber. To my eye, trichomes began showing a % of amber about 5 days ago. I estimate the current percentage as 10-15% on most buds, but some of the sugar leaves are higher than that. (see photos).
Desire: I’m more interested in an uplifting buzz than couch-lock, and nailing that type of high is more important to me than getting every possible gram of weight out of the plant but risking coma inducing bud… So I’m more into a bit early than hanging on till the very end.
Question: Pick now? My uncertainty based on the fact that the trichomes seem matured to me, but the hairs seem further behind.
. My main concern is that I don’t want to pick so soon that I get green/grassy flavor. If I give up some weight but get a lighter less body-crunching high by picking a bit early, that’s fine with me.
Welcome to these forums. we’re glad to see you here.The Jewlers Loupe image says it’s ready. You could put it through a 24 hr dark period to fatten up some if you want.
Thank you for your reply GF Duke; and the suggestion about 24 hour dark is intriguing. Will have to start researching that. (So much to learn with these seemingly simple plants!)
I can see your leaves look full of amber, but the buds appear to be white/cloudy. I would focus on the trichome condition on the buds. When you start to see a little amber come in there, they’ll be ready. Until then, looks like they’ll still put on some weight.
I do extended dark before harvest (when possible) but do it to improve the quality of the finished product. By taking advantage of the plant’s natural cycle of sending nutrients and sugars from the canopy during the day into the root mass at ‘night’. This produces a cleaner finished product and much much smoother. Couple that with an extended flush before harvest and it will greatly help your cure.
Thanks again for the welcomes and the welcome information. I’m a bit flummoxed on the contradictory opinions of harvest vs. wait, but not worried. Everyone has an opinion and I don’t mean to set folks against each other pointing this out.
The positives that I do take away are that it sounds like drying/curing will play a much more important role in influencing flavor than will risking a slightly early harvest. I’ll probably give this plant a few more days and then harvest it at dawn. I’d rather get it a bit on the young side than a bit on the over mature side. Rather lose some weight in exchange for getting a less-zonky effect from the high. The darkness stuff is intriguing, but I think I’ll save that for future plants…this being the first to be harvested, I’m gonna keep it simple. Dawn harvest = 10 hours of dark and 14 hours of no direct sun = good enough.
I suggested that because it sounds like you prefer an upbeat high. GSC-X would be another good one. but run sativas instead of indicas and you will be happy.
