Watch the pistillate/calyx development to harvest for weight, when all pistillate “hairs” have reddened, or in many strains they turn orange, but generally they are turning “brownish”, and no new pistillate/calyx are developing, the “bud” is finished swelling and putting on weight, for the most part. Watch the trichomes for a more precise way of determining ripeness and the type of characteristics to the “high”. Ideally all trichomes should have turned from crystal clear to a more milky look inside them, as evidence of maximum THC. This milkiness will deteriorate some and turn amber as the buds continue to ripen on the plant, and if too many turn amber the “high” becomes more sedative like, hence the term “couch-lock”.
Here is a link where I recently discussed determining if the buds were ripe enough for harvest, we cover this topic often, and it contains more links where we also discussed it in detail, in a few different ways, recently as well.