I have read that we wait for the trichomes to turn amber and the percentage is up to you. I have also read about how we maybe flush for 3 - 5 days. Let it dry for a few and then 2 days of dark before we cut.
So where exactly is the amber descision made and at what part of the finish? I assume they keep changing to amber until cut or do they stop in the dark? Do the trichomes keep changing after the cut when drying hence get them early? At what point are we losing max potency?
Hi @Nicehit !
How long to wait is up to personal preference and the effects you are looking for. Personally, I wait until they are 20-30% amber, and yes, trichomes continue to ripen after cutting. @Khatru has a fantastic chart.
Kushman also touches on this at the beginning of yesterday’s live homegrown. I like his comparison to ripening of fruit. He talks about it the first few minutes of the cast. https://youtu.be/5GI3ZPaIny4
trikes continue to mature, even after being cut…it is part of the process and drying is a part…
Thanks for the link. I realized too late I missed the live event.
My lazy self finaly searched and found some articles on THC/Terpene degredation and yes unfortunately it continues for the most part until smoked. Proper care can extend it’s shelf life as with most everything in this world.
Do not be fooled into thinking your bud degrades that much. I have had cured from jars that were 2 years old and better. There is a conversion from THC to THV and increase in CBD effects but still got you plenty high…I grew like 5 lbs of Blueberry when it first came out. I kept half for my wife as it was stellar for her medical condition/s. I had it in a lemonade jar…almost 3 years. I recall a trip to Az for the rock show. We turned on a friend on the ride and he thought he was gonna OD…and he is a seasoned toker!
If you have 20+thc and it degrades to 15…that is STILL DOME KICK ASS erb
Sometimes you don’t even have to know what proper care is. I’ve known people to find old bags from years ago, discovered when moving or something and it smoked just fine. From what I’ve heard. 
I still have bud in it’s airtight curing jar that’s nearly 2 years old.
Not the freshest anymore mind you, but still plenty tasty and potent.
I appreciate all of the old weed is good weed support!
You chop by your trichome not your pistils, when i see 25% amber i give a good flush try to expose to cold hard to this time of year but 7 days after the flush they go in dark 48 hours then i chop, i have a big plant sleeping but here is a dwarf i grew in a burger king cup lol
a bit droopy about to go to bed.Tim, there is a correlation between the pistils and the trikes…You can determine readiness by pistils just as well as by trichomes…
When growing autos sometimes there pistils dont want to turn, you can flush your plants with cold water or expose them to cold but when your trichome is ready it’s ready so i ignore the pistils and chop by the amount of amber trichome i have. This is usaley not a problem, in fact it never has.
Whatever works…50 years ago, we did not even know what a trichome was. We harvested by pistils. I think we did just as good as the new fangled methods…we did not have microscopes, jewelers loupes, we had eyes. And now, most of those eyes don’t work very well anymore 
What i was trying to say is autoflowers are not photoperid plants and are not run the same but yes you chop by your trichome, autoflowers are funny the top will finish first but you have to let the bottom half run longer this is called harvesting sequenuley thats why half the pistils r fine but the flower low on the plant is not done, when i see 25% amber i know im going to chop at least the top half of the plant in 7 to 10 days flushing with cold not ice but cold water helps a bit but the pistils low on the plant are not done so you need to run them longer once you see 25% amber trichome 20201126_081247|375x500 your pistils will be done by the time you chop. This plant was like that half was done and had to let the rest of plant run longer.
What if that giant something “They” are tracking in space flew by and magnetized all the electronics? How would anyone operate manually? 
my brain would fry. I would get Discumbubulated
I’ve gotten so lazy about manual methods. 
