Harvesting cannabis at the right time ensures a couple of things. First, that you get the maximum amount of buds that your plant can produce, and second, that the cannabinoid ratio of your buds is optimised (regarding THC %).A lot of growers smoke their own produced weed and having as much THC as possible is what they want.
Too early:
So, what happens if you harvest your cannabis flowers too early? When harvest much too early, you’re going to be losing out on bud weight, as there will be some that haven't had a chance to grow yet till their maximum.Also, the cannabinoids in the trichomes won’t be fully developed. This means that there won’t be as much THC in them as there could be, meaning that your harvest will not be as strong as it could be. It might be tempting to start harvesting a week or so early, as you’ll probably have waited a long time already. But for the best results, have a bit of patience, and you’ll be well-rewarded.
Too late:
If you harvest cannabis flowers too late, then the THC in the trichomes will change into CBN, which doesn’t get you high in the same way that THC does. For those who cultivate weed to get maximum thc percentages, it’s worth understanding that you may be able to increase this effect by harvesting a little late, it’ll mean missing out on a potent, maximized euphoric high.You can spot that you’ve left it too late if more than around 15% of the trichomes have turned amber, or if more than 90% of the pistils have turned orange/red/brown/purple.
The Best moment to Harvest:
Checking the trichomes with a pocket microscope is by far the best to know when you should harvest. As these are the place where the cannabinoids are produced, it is the colour of the trichomes that tells you at what stage of flowering the plant is regarding THC production. The foto demonstrates the 3 different stages that trichomes go through, and what it means if you harvest at each point.
Use colour of Pistils for Harvest Time:
If you don’t have a pocket microscope, then you can use the naked eye to estimate if it’s harvest time or not. The pistils are the hairs that grow on cannabis flowers, beginning in white and ending life as red/orange/brown/purple. The purpose they have (in nature) is to catch pollen from males, allowing the females to be pollinated so they can reproduce.
Be aware cannabis plants experiencing heat and light stress will continue to produce new white pistils. This means that even as the plant matures, she will have an amount of white pistils.
Other alternatives to know when to harvest:
When it comes to the optimal time to harvest your plants, instead of looking at the entire plant, it can be very usefull to look at the color of its trichomes and leaves and the shape of its buds.
Shape of buds:
At the end of her life the cannabis plant does everything to get pollen to stick to their flowering buds. This means they will get in a sort of "emergency flowering stage" that causes they produce points of flowers sticking out of their buds. This to increase surface to make it easier or more likely the pollen can land on their flowers. In a few days they will fill up the space in between these 'points'. Now you will have your maximum weight possible! This is especially very visible with indica flowers.
General colour of leaves:
When your plants leaves are fully healthy green overall, she is not ready to harvest for maximum results. The reason is she doesnt feel as at end of her life and for that reason will not be at highest thc % or weight of buds.
Conclusion:
As you can see there are many ways to determine when it's time to harvest. The same for how to cultivate plants. Choose for what you feel the best with, and your Harvest will be as you wish for!