checking trichomes

[kailiwela44]

Do i need to check different bud sites for trichome colors? Or could i just check one spot and assume the rest are the same?
Also, I am unable to hold the microscope i have steady, is it okay to pull of one pistil to check the trichomes?

kailiwela44

[scott06]

great question

depending on strain and growing conditions plants may mature in a uniform manner, top to bottom, bottom to top, and random...so check a few spots

to check the tric development simply cut off gaurd leaf --the tiny sugar coated ones around the bud proper --- and lay it flat, then get out your mic (thanks Iso, until he told me this I was having a heck of a time) you should now be able to focus much more easily

let us know what you see

[ISO2BWELL]

Originally Posted by kailiwela44

Do i need to check different bud sites for trichome colors? Or could i just check one spot and assume the rest are the same?
Also, I am unable to hold the microscope i have steady, is it okay to pull of one pistil to check the trichomes? kailiwela44

The trichs at the top are likely to be more mature than the ones down lower, so I usually start about 1/3 way down the plant and use that as a guide.

As for nipping off a small sugar leaf or tiny bud chunk, that is the ONLY way I do it..LOL! Not to worry...just be careful and you won't hurt a thing.

ISO

[jangel]

yes, do check sugar leaves all over the plant. It is a real education and I always expect a little guy in a funny hat to walk out from those mushroom like trichs! VERY sci-fi!

You can also just take the buds that are the ripest, and leave the rest, usually lower down, to fill in more and ripen to the same state.

It is a lot of fun checking them out, and also you can experiment with what state YOU like your pot to be at when harvested. Each variety is different and I too am just learning this, but if the trichs are some cloudy, some clear and just a few amber, it is a less heavy high, more cerebral. All cloudy and lots of amber is more couch lock and not as active. It all depends what you like and what works for you.

Peace

[scott06]

I forgot....tric coast --- trics will continue to devolop for a bit after havest....keep on checking to see....this is why some growers havest just before total amber..
also for a longer discussion of the points Jangel posted
http://www.greenpassion.org/f21/tric...-harvest-1053/

[jangel]

Originally Posted by scott06

I forgot....tric coast --- trics will continue to devolop for a bit after havest....keep on checking to see....this is why some growers havest just before total amber..

Okay, scott. Now that this has come up I was wanting to ask someone about this. I found that buds I harvested at a certain clear cloudy amber ratio did go more amber and my question is why make such a big deal of harvesting at a certain point if it is all going to end up amber anyway? What is the reasoning behind this? My sweetie and I where just discussing this last night as a matter of fact.

Thanks bud.
Peace

[scott06]

Please keep in mind this is speculation on my part, but mildly well informed speculation none the less

We agree that tricome development is signified by color...clear - forming - cloudy - building - amber - fully potent and subject to degridation by heat light air ect

So when a plant is first havested it is still doing some cellular synthesis....the cells are still living and doing their thing...so the trics will continue to devolop to some degree until the tissues and cells actually die..thus some build-up of cannabiniods occures immeadiately after harvest...I have noticed this even more in water cures.

Then over time any trics will begin to degrade...and so the amberness advances even more....if this were not true I would think we could make clear or cloudy hash from clear or cloudy trics
the reason for waiting is simply this...more time...more converstion of cannabiniods...they all end up amber- but by waiting there is more cannabiniods in the eventual amber goodness

anybody have other speculations on this phenomenon or even a fact or two?