I have observed a phenomenon. I now call it EHS. I may growing experiences the most difficult thing to master is harvest timing and in particular waiting long enough till they are ready. I think many people get the wrong impression about weed due to the fact that much if it is prematurely harvested, giving the user the idea that all weed will make them nervous and paranoid. This can tend to give it a bad rap in some circles.
Even many who have years of experience have to be extra patient, to wait for peak potency. This is true now more than ever with so many new growers coming up. So to avoid EHS, please don’t even start looking at trichomes till the pistils turn rusty. Hey you can get nervous and anxious, just looking at magnified preemie trichomes! Also, I’m reading things like “harvest moment”, this is a misnomer at best. There is no perfect moment to harvest. It’s more like a harvest week or so. I think if we start thinking of it in terms of something on the order of a harvest week, this will calm down the harvest anxiety.
And to, the breeder listing of X weeks in flower or X weeks till harvest is telling you the earliest harvest week possible. This also fuels EHS. Just remember rusty pistils all around, a week before amber trichomes are found,…yes I’m a poet. But I’m also reminding myself!
Hope this helps someone.
I agree to an extent. However, I cannot blame new growers. I blame the seed banks for advertising obviously low flowering times on about every seed they sell! I’m only on my 4th or 5th grow depending on how you count, but I’ve yet to see a bud ready in the time frame described on a sales site.
And of course there’s the personal preference aspect of it. I recently figured out that what most people around here call “couchlock” is what I refer to as “getting high”.
I did harvest too early, and too late in my first 3 harvests! Bought a wifi microscope and havent had the stress or made the mistake since i starting using it. Problem solved. At least for me!
Like you say, a harvest period may be accurate. This video has been linked many many times. But, since we are on the topic might as well put it out there again
I see the same thing. I watch the “Show us your buds now” thread and see post after post of plants hanging that are nothing but white pistils and skinny colas. The forum is kind and usually complement the growers but inside we all feel the same thing which is “Buddy you just wasted 2 months of growing time.”
I agree too that the posted flowering times are misleading and too readily accepted by new growers.
But we all know how hard it is to keep waiting those extra weeks as they mature.
Ill also ad that the use of a moisture meter lets me deside when it is properly dried. Criticle!
I needed this
I spend so much time analyzing my trichomes through a microscope trying to find that PERFECT time to harvest. Especially being as new to this as I am. And you’re right it does cause anxiety- at least to me.
Thank you
I will say that now that I have a fine stockpile of previously grown weed it has become much easier to just wait longer for the plant to mature. I have even just left some in the tent after taking the best colas and let the rest of the plant nearly die of old age. Its amazing how long it takes to really go amber.
This is one of the best non-video guides of harvesting.
Can’t do a direct link because of forum rules, but you should be able to figure it out easily enough!
https:// growweedeasy. /harvest
Has some of the best example pics I’ve seen, IMHO.
I think the grow weed easy link would be ok. They dont compete or sell anything. Its just info.
I have linked it in the past. They actually even promote ILGM
Doesn’t it contain ads for other seed sellers though?
I figured that wouldn’t be acceptable, but either way it’s easy enough to figure out!
It is a great guide!
@Audiofreak, just curious, what did you start to look for once you got the wifi microscope? I’m in my first grow and the girls are in flower. @6stringT has made some excellent suggestions on my post and I bellieve I am battling his EHS. Don’t want to blow a good growing experience with poor timing of the harvest…
Focus on the bud, not the sugar leaves. Start watching when most if not all The hairs have turned brown and receded back into the bud.then start watching closely for tricome colors.
Yes. Me too. As a first time grower (also in Virginia) I worry about having a great grow experience going south because my missing the “right time” to harvest…
@Audiofreak you know I love trichomes
Bud shot - calyx where the pistils come from
I also look for a near by sugar leaf to get a comparison. Sugar leaves ripen sooner
@Deadhead5
Eeeyyyyyy- good to meet a fellow Virginian grower 
I’d ask you what part, but not sure you want to post that all over the interwebb
This is a great thread, i’ve heard so much conjecture on this topic. I agree with @Tylersays on the “couch lock” thing lol. I am hopeing to keep them healthy enough this time with my latest changes to let them go over 9 weeks this time to actually get some amber.
