It's been a long time since that tiny sprout first popped out of the soil, or you placed the delicate clone into some soil. The plants have grown and developed into bigger and more grown buds. It's time to pull the buds off the plant and put them into your lungs.
When it comes to gardening, harvesting the crop is often the most thrilling. Your efforts all culminate in the moment you cut down the crop. However, the process of harvesting isn't only cutting your plants and cutting buds. You'll need to dry and cure plants before you can smoke them.
There are many methods of harvesting depending on the method you choose to cut dry or wet.
Wet trimming involves cutting the plants, removing buds from branches (called "bucking") as well as trimming the buds. Then, drying the buds in one sitting is possible.
After dry trimming, you'll cut down the plant and hang it up to dry for a few days, After that, you'll take the buds off branches and cut them.
First, how do be aware of when your plants need to be cut?
How can you tell when marijuana is ready to be harvested
Since weed is a warm-season annual, even if it grows outdoors, the time to harvest is between the months of September and November in Northern Hemisphere.
Indoor plants must be harvested within 7-9 weeks of being changed into flowers. It will differ depending on the type of plant. Certain strains will take longer than others.
There's some variation between the two. Northern California growers can harvest their crops until November or even December and the Pacific Northwest growers will need to get their crops down before November or even in October, before the fall rains set in.
Find out about your climate local to you and get in touch with other growers in your specific region to find out what time of year they harvest marijuana.
The best way to determine whether your marijuana plants have reached the point of harvest, whether outdoors or indoors, is to inspect:
Stigma:The hair-like hair strands that surround buds will change from white to orange, and begin to curl.
Trichomes:They'll change from opaque to transparent followed by amber.
Since they receive more sunlight, top colas may grow faster than lower buds. In some cases, you will need to pick plants when the buds are still not fully ripe.
Information from the grower and breeder can also be useful in determining cannabis harvest the time a certain strain is best harvested.
When looking at trichomes you'll require the aid of a microscope. Small handheld microscopes, from 30x to 100x can be found at any growing supply store.
The maximum amount of THC can be achieved when trichomes shift from opaque to transparent and amber. Following that, they begin to break down because of exposure to oxygen and UV rays and result in CBN (cannabinol).
CBN as with other cannabinoids present in cannabis has its own set of specific benefits. CBN has been proven to provide relief from pain, insomnia, inflammation and other conditions. However, CBN does not have any psychoactive properties.
No matter the advantages of CBN it is a common desire of growers to harvest their buds before THC is converted into CBN.
It is crucial to keep in mind that every gardener has his own preferences about when to pick cannabis plants. Some prefer harvesting earlier than others. When you harvest can also be influenced by other elements in life, such as your job at full-time, the weather, etc.
Although harvesting weed one week either way will not necessarily be fatal, don't leave your plants to decay for too long.
How to know when to pick up weeds in the outdoor
Strains from regions close to the equator--sativas--need a long, seemingly endless summer to fully ripen, while strains from harsh, cold climates--indicas--tend to finish earlier. In reality, some indicas take a long time to complete, and certain sativas end up at the beginning of the season.
Keep an eye on the weather
As the plant matures, there are likely to be weather fluctuations. There could be cold storms or rainy days dependent on where you live.
This isn't a disaster but it's important to keep an eye at the weather, and perhaps making a game-time decision on the best time to cut down your plants and balancing peak ripeness with conditions that could compromise the quality of your harvest.
Cold temperatures
The majority of cannabis plants can go through a gentle freeze of 28-32degF three hours or more without problems. A severe freeze could result in damage to the plants, especially in longer time periods or at lower temperatures. The damage caused by frost can cause ice crystals to form, leading to cell damage.
The leaves appear to be dying before becoming crisp and dark. The more frost is more deep the more damage the plant will suffer.
Potted plants are more prone to damage from frost than plants that are planted in the soil. They experience higher temperatures than those in pots.
Rain
Like a cold storm, rain isn't too big of a problem, but the length and severity of the storm is. If it's predicted to become warmer and dry out quickly, you can leave your cannabis that is almost ripe to outlast the storm. Mold is a threat should it rain. Cut your losses so you can harvest your crop before it grows too much.
It is important to note that during cold rainfall, particularly when it could become hail, you can cover plants using several stakes of height and an the tarp. To allow the plants to get enough sun and warmth be sure to remove the cover once it's rained or cold.
How often do you pull the weed?
Indoor marijuana
When you plant weed indoors you can harvest as much or as little you want. The sky is the limit, but your grow space, not the sky is.
A weed plant's growth can be anywhere from 3-8 months from the time of seed until harvest. You can take as much as four smaller plants or as little as two plants larger each year.
A greater harvest means that you'll have fresh, homemade plants to smoke more often, but there is also more work in cleaning the space between harvests, trimming etc.
You can even fit in more than four harvests a year when you begin with autoflower seeds or clones and both of these cut off some weeks of the grow cycle.