Hello everyone, does this plant look ready to harvest to you? It’s my friend’s plant, grown completely outdoors, planted sometime last March.
Thanks in advance for any help everyone.
Unfortunately you’re going to need to get some clear pictures of the trichomes. Possibly even one of the cheap $20 microscope cameras on Amazon.
Also, try to get pictures of the bud itself. All the pictures above are of sugar leaves trichomes which mature differently than the buds themselves trichomes making it impossible to estimate the plant’s true status.
However the last picture that you posted I can see a lot of cloudy and a few ambers so you’re definitely close.
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Hello @Lostgirl, thank you for taking the time to reply. The trichome pics are taken with an Amazon microscope. It connects to my phone. I’m really not happy with it’s quality as you are seeing also 
@MagicCultivator420
Based on the overall look with the browned pistils and dying leaves I will say you will be fine harvesting it now. The structure of the buds will make it difficult to see the trichomes on the buds due to the large number of sugar leaves. There are amber trichs on the sugar leaves and while a lot of people want to see them on the flower buds too, thc is at its max when the trichomes are cloudy. Amber is degraded thc so it simply indicates that there is no more thc to wait for. Plus a little amber makes some CBN which reduces the edgy paranoid effects of thc.
Anyway, you can chop them and know they will get you medicated.
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Perhaps take a bud off the plant - calyx.
Put it on a table where you can use the microscope with a steady hand. I struggled for about 3 hours trying to get the best pictures I could to post on this site.
Once I removed a calyx from the middle of the plant, I was able to get much clearer pictures by putting the microscope on top of the calyx.
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Thanks @Spiney_norman, I relayed your information to my friend and he decided to harvest it now 
Thanks so much for your advice. It is greatly appreciated.
Thanks also @kconnelly224, that is a very good idea snipping part of the bud off. Very difficult to get good trichome shots, especially on an outdoor plant with a breeze.
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Trichomes baby - they never lie!
Remaining still…photographer and subject…is critical for good pix. This pic is from my samsung galaxy s21 ultra. Also, you gotta take lots of pix and dump the junk!
Near impossible to tell based on those pix…i do see ambering on the sugar leaves (the dominant structural feature of that pheno). I say pull em!
Best of luck!
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May I know your camera setup. Did you use Pro modes or macro?
Ive note9 (no macro mode here)and try to get a better shot.thanks in advance
Haha yeah @ChittyChittyBangin I have trouble getting good trichome shots indoors too, it’s one of the things I dread in this hobby when it comes to using that microscope haha. That’s a nice shot you got there though, well done
Wow @StickyFrostyBuds, that’s absolutely beautiful, well done! A phone with a better camera is definitely one of the things on my ‘to buy’ list. Getting shots like that is worth it.
Thanks again everyone that pitched in.
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I use regular photo mode, portrait and macro modes. I dont know enough about the pro mode settings but would like to learn more about them.
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Thanks @MagicCultivator420
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I cut small pieces and take into microscope room.
Very hard to get clear pictures, but what a sight when focused.
Hand shake getting worse, as I age.
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I kind of have the same problem. Thankfully, I can stand my microscope 
over the pieces I took to sample. Leaving one hand free and one to push the button to take photos. I leave my phone on the table as well. Don’t know if that will help you, but it works great for me.
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My microscope “software” allows one hand dial picture, other hand select software camera activation button. Focusing pictures is often limited to one specific viewed area, while surrounding goes out of focus.
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Thanks for the ideas @kconnelly224. I saw others here use a microphone stand for their microscopes in case someone wants to give that a shot.
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Microscope Stand employed for best bud porn
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The fact that you still have white pistols indicates that your plan is not ready. Once all of your white hair pistols turned dark and curl back into the butt area it’s time to start checking the trichomes.
Once your try comes have reached your desired liking a potency color then you harvest
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