Harvesting cannabis require monitoring of various physical indicators that help determine the correct time to harvest the cannabis plant. The two main indicators of when to begin harvesting the cannabis plants are the pistils and the trichome. The pistils are the small hair that emerge from the cannabis plants, while the trichomes are the glands that contains the essential oils of the cannabis.
If the grower harvests the cannabis too early, it will contain low level of potency. However, if the cannabis is allowed to remain on the plants for too long after the cannabis plants have matured, the effect of the cannabis will shift from stimulating to sedative effects. The pistils can be used to visually determine when to begin harvesting the cannabis.
When to Harvest Cannabis
However, since there are various factor that can impact the growth of the cannabis plants, such as environmental stress, the indicator from the plants can be somewhat unreliably. When the plants are first beginning to flower, the pistils will be white in color. As the plants mature, however, the plants will begin to curl and turn orange in color.
The reason for these color change is due to the oxidation of the plants resin. The development of orange color in the plants’ pistils indicate the cannabis plants are reaching maturity. Most growers will begin to harvest the cannabis plants when a majority of the plants’ pistils have turned orange.
Additionally, the calyx of the cannabis plants will become swollen, which indicates to the growers that the plants have matured. The trichomes provides another means of indicating to the growers when the cannabis plants should be harvested. The trichomes contain the THC and terpenes of the cannabis plants.
Additionally, the color of the trichomes indicate the level of THC of the cannabis plants. If the trichome head contain clear resin, the cannabis contains not yet fully developed THC and should not be harvested. However, if the trichome heads are milky white in color, the THC is at peak levels in the cannabis and it will produce stimulatingly effects.
If the trichome heads have turned amber in color, however, the THC has degraded into CBN, and the cannabis will have sedative effects. These can be viewed using a jeweler’s loupe or a digital microscope. Additionally, only a portion of the cannabis plants will have matured at the same time as the remaining portion of the plants, so it is important to inspect the trichomes from various portions of the cannabis plants.
The top portion of the cannabis plants will typically mature at a different rate than the remainder of the plants. Prior to harvesting the cannabis plants, it is important to flush the plants of any excess nutrient that may remain in the plants tissues. To flush the cannabis plants, the grower should water the plants with water alone.
Flushing can begin when the plants’ pistils begin to turn orange or when the plants’ trichomes begin to turn cloudy. If the cannabis plants are grown in soil, flushing may take two weeks to complete. If the plants are grown in hydroponic systems, however, the flushing process may take only one week to complete.
Once the cannabis plants are mature and flushed, they can be prepared for harvesting. The cannabis can be chopped at the dawn hour, as the terpenes are at their highest level during these hours. The cannabis plants should then be dried in a cool and dark environment until the stem of the cannabis plants begin to snap cleanly.
The cannabis can then be placed in jar. The cannabis should be cured for a minimum of two weeks in these jars. Additionally, the grower should burp the jars once each day while the cannabis is being cured to ensure that the cannabis retains its beneficial properties.
While the breeder of the cannabis plant may have indicated how long the cannabis will last after curing, this time frame may need to be adjust based off the genetics and growing environment of the plants. By carefully monitoring the plants’ pistils and trichomes, growers will be able to determine when to begin harvesting the plants and ensure that the cannabis contains even potency.