THE RIPENESS OF CANNABIS PLANTS:
Growing cannabis can be fine art, from how you germinate to what you feed will all come down to each grower’s preference. Determining when your cannabis plant is ready and ripe is no exception. However, there are key factors and cues that help us to determine when your cannabis plant is at its optimum ripeness.
HARVESTING YOUR CANNABIS PLANT:
One of the most key aspects to master is knowing when your plant is ready to harvest. Being able to tell when the flowers are fully developed and have reached prime maturity. When your cannabis plant first starts to flower, pistils will begin to develop. After week two or three, the white pistils will become denser. When grown in the optimum conditions the calyxes will grow in number and get increasingly more swollen.
When the flower stops developing and are bulky, filled with resin – even on the foliage, and when the pistils no longer reproduce. You have reached the end of the ripening stage. Now, this is where the individual preference comes in, for a slight euphoric high, harvest when 15-20% of the trichomes have turned to an amber color. However, if it’s a fall blown relaxing, a narcotic effect that promotes sleep, harvest only when about 80%+ of the trichomes are amber.
HARVESTING YOUR INDICA-DOMINANT STRAINS:
These girls flower fast, I would say a maximum of 7-9 weeks. They form nice highly compact flowers. The flowers on a well-grown Indica strain can often weigh unbalanced in relation to the size of your plant. They are dense flowers and generally coated in resin. They deliver a soothing effect; some call the body high. Great examples of this kind of strain are:
- White Widow
- Bubba Kush
- Purple Afghan Kush, and many more.
Now like I said above, although they may be Indica strains with an all-around common effect. The end results and can certainly vary greatly. Depending on how ripe your cannabis plants are at the time of harvest you could either go for a slighting invigorating and relaxing effect by harvesting when 20% or less of your trichomes have turned amber.
For a slight sedative effect that muscles and promotes sleep wait till just over 30% of the trichomes are amber in color. If it’s the full-blown heavy sedative, couch lock, heavy eyes and numbing effect you are after, 80-100% of the trichomes should turn amber before you harvest.
HARVESTING YOUR SATIVA-DOMINANT CANNABIS STRAIN
These babies can take long, anywhere from 9 weeks right up to a full 22 weeks of flowering alone! Keep that in mind when germinated your outdoor crop.
The flowers of a Sativa-dominate strain are usually quite elongated that appear to be open. They are not as dense and genuinely they weigh less than the Indica strains even if their flowers are much larger in size. However, can still produce heavy amounts of resin. Sativa strains have more of a clear and psychedelic effect. Some examples of Sativa dominate strains:
- Dinamex
- Santa Sativa and,
- Moby Dick
Again, when harvested and the trichomes are between 15-20% amber. The effects are stimulating, euphoric and clear. Harvest at 30% and you add a psychedelic edge and for a heavy narcotic and psychedelic experience – 80-100%.
HARVESTING AUTO-FLOWERING CANNABIS PLANTS:
Like any other Indica, Sativa or CBD-rich strain. The principles for harvesting an auto-flowering strain are the same. The difference between autos and regular feminized strains is that the calyxes’ will probably be more swollen and slightly more open. The production of resin will be similar to that of a Sativa-dominant strain. These traits are the result of the Ruderalis parentage. Some examples to look at are:
- Critical + 2.0 Auto
- Moby Dick XXL Auto and,
- Amnesia XXL Auto
To get your desired effect, just think of your auto-flowering as an Indica or a Sativa and follow the tips above.
WHEN TO HARVEST YOUR CBD-RICH CANNABIS PLANT:
Same as autos, the key aspect here is whether it is an Indica or Sativa dominant strain. Just check your trichomes as explained above. Use these tips to better determine the most perfect time to harvest your plant.
CBD-rich strains, however, whether Sativa-dominate or not is not as psychoactive as their THC equals. Depending on the cannabinoid content and THC-CBD ratio, the effects can be mild or slightly more therapeutic.
If you want to enjoy the full therapeutic benefits of cannabis whilst savoring its flavors’ and without the psychoactive effect, try:
- Dinamed CBD Auto-flowering or
- Dinamed CBD Plus
But, if it’s a slightly uplifting effect you are after as well, try:
- Critical Mass CBD
- Moby Dick CBD
I so enjoy the flowering stage of growing cannabis, the sweet aromas’ and beautiful blossoming of the cannabis plant are so enchanting and certainly mouth-watering. Growing cannabis has quickly become my absolute favorite hobby.
