# Harvesting top buds only

**URL:** <https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018>\
**Category:** Harvesting\
**Tags:** flowering, autoflower, indoor-grow\
**Created:** [March 11, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018 "2021-03-11T21:33:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![William04](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/william04/32/416419_2.png) [@William04](https://ilgmforum.com/u/William04)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018/1 "2021-03-11T21:33:22Z")

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Is it possible or wise to harvest top buds that are clearly ripe actually have some amber leaving the popcorn buds on to ripen further? Will it cause too much damage to recover from or just make them say screw these buds and cannibalise them? I need to harvest in like a few days so time is of urgency I really don’t want to harvest the entire plant those buds are not even ripe on some growth sites.

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**Author:** ![MidwestGuy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/midwestguy/32/914277_2.png) [@MidwestGuy](https://ilgmforum.com/u/MidwestGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018/2 "2021-03-11T21:34:22Z")

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I always do staged harvests. It works out fine.

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**Author:** ![William04](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/william04/32/416419_2.png) [@William04](https://ilgmforum.com/u/William04)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018/3 "2021-03-11T21:35:37Z")

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Sweet I thought you could thanks for the rapid response I was stressing out for like the last two days lol.

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**Author:** ![Watt-Sun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/watt-sun/32/193796_2.png) [@Watt-Sun](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Watt-Sun)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018/4 "2021-03-12T13:44:03Z")

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Just did this with my last grow. Harvested the top half and let the bottoms go for another 2-3 weeks . Worked out fine , no issues

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**Author:** ![MidwestGuy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/midwestguy/32/914277_2.png) [@MidwestGuy](https://ilgmforum.com/u/MidwestGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/harvesting-top-buds-only/64018/5 "2021-03-12T13:58:03Z")

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Here’s a pic of one of my plants during a staged harvest (after the 1st cut) from a few grows ago. I cut down the top colas and left the rest to ripen more.

 ![OB 20 May 2020 (1)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/e/6/6/e66f21f76244342ee397915e3193ff5df9f097ad.jpeg)