The Dr Feelgood Auto pictured here is a high CBD plant (about 15% CBD). It’s 10 weeks old. I got it because I heard it’s good for insomnia.
My question is, do the trichomes need to turn amber to get the best effect or does this not apply to high CBD plants? the trichomes are currently 100% milky with about 10% amber (on lower leaves).
I can think of a few here that grow high-cbd plants, I will tag them and hopefully they can help. I would also like to know because I just ordered the Autoflower c b d mix pack.
@Bulldognuts @MrPeat
I ask the same question awhile ago. @blackthumbbetty told me that you don’t want to allow trichomes to get to much past 100% cloudy. The more amber they get the less CBD there will be.
I pull mine when it has the most cloudy. It will degrade in time so I never worry about Amber. I also pull my Autos and Fems the same way. It works for me.
Would this strategy work best for strains that are roughly 50-50 CBD-THC like White Widow CBD, CBD Kush, & Critical Mass CBD?
They are all about 6 - 9% of CBD & THC.
I’m growing Critical Mass and intend to harvest at 100% with very little amber. 
Best I can think is pull a nug now let it dry and test it and keep the new. Nug it til u find ur liking and go from there on them. My CBD was all milky no Amber little clear well alot but the clear was the foxtails lol. It took a week of winter frost and a week of water to get that one to finish up.
Thank you everyone for you help, I’ve decided to take your advice and cut it down, it’s ready.
Just to piggyback on this thread one more time, I want the hair-like things milky & little to no amber, right?
Hey there @WormyUnicorn, those white hairs at the top of the buds are pistils not trichomes. They are referring to the trichomes turning amber, not pistils. The pistils should turn rusty colored and curl around inwardly days or weeks before trichomes go from cloudy to milky, then to amber gradually. This is when the THC starts to “degrade” into other cannabinoids. I don’t know how CBD transforms or degrades. This is of great interest to me since I have a CBD Cream+Cheese near finished, that is listed to be able to produce 20%THC and 18% CBD. However, I’d be happy to forgo any hint of couch lock to retain a wrapping 18% CBD!
Nice healthy looking buds forming there - my guess is you’re about 2/3 weeks away from chop? ps what strain are you growing?
Yeah, I’m into the 3rd week since I noticed pre-flower start. I figure 3ish more weeks.
Fiddling around some more with my new lens & a camera app, is this fine enough detail for determining cloudiness?
Remember those are the pistils (the hairs) not the trichomes (trichomes are the tiny while bags you see on the leaf surface) but yes, that is perfect magnification.
Yo there @WormyUnicorn, again I say; The pistils are not the things that you should be looking to turn amber! It is the trichomes that turn amber. The trichomes are the glassy looking mushrooms on the buds and sugar leaves. The trichomes that really count are the ones on the buds themselves. The ones on the sugar leaves will start turning earlier than the bud ones. Forget those pistols! They will turn rusty and start to curl inward. Trichomes will stay clear usually until the pistils are mostly rusty. Trichomes go from crystal clear, to cloudy/milky, to amber. The trichomes are where the (cloudy/milky) THC is stored.
Also, you have some trichomes showing in the very lower left edge of that pic. Remember so that when taking pics of these crystalline mushroom looking trichomes, that light angles can easily wash out, and reflect in the trichomes making them appear milky. There is really no mistaking amber trichomes. Keep looking and adjusting light angles as you take pics of them. Most educational!
I know what pistils are. I think my mistake was thinking tricombs were also on the pistils.
So this markup would be correct.
So P= pistil, T=trichomes, C=cloudy, A=amber. Note the majority of the trichomes are out of focus and washed out at this magnification!
