New Grower When to harvest autos? Your leaves will tell you.

One of the most frequently asked questions is how do I know when my autos are ready to pick? The convention wisdom from growing photo period plants was to watch for color change in the trichomes, or crystals. For an uplifting high, harvest when the trichomes are all cloudy, for more of a stone, wait till a percentage have turned amber. Sound advice, for photos. But autos are a little different. While some strains have shown amber trics, many do not.

So how do I know when they are ready? I watch the the fan leaves. Over the past several years of growing autos I started taking samples at various stages of growth to evaluate the high. I tend to prefer my smoke with a little stone so began to leave them longer than the 8-9 weeks that are advertised. I find that around 11-12 weeks the plants are ripe for me. I also began to see a correlation between the color of the fan leaves, the color of the trics and the high/stone quality of the smoke at the various sample intervals. It seemed that the greener the fan leaves, the more clear trics the buds had. As the fan leaves started to yellow and die off, the trics became less clear and more milky. By the time that all the fan leaves had died off and the bud leaves were starting to yellow, I got the quality of smoke I wanted. At that time most of the trics were now milky with no, or only a few, clear ones. Here are some examples:



I've found this to be a very reliable method. It takes about 3 weeks for the fan leaves to die off. During that time the buds will continue to fatten up as the plant uses the energy stored in the fan leaves. So when I see my leaves start to yellow, I wait a week, then begin cleansing them. Two weeks later they will be well cleansed and read to harvest.

Of course there will be other factors such as genetics, lighting, nutrients, pot size, etc. that will effect how long a plant takes. But as a general guide for when to pick, just watch your leaves.

NOTE: If you have questions regarding your personal grow, please post them in the appropriate forum and not in this thread.

 

[Reedroguez]

We just had a big discussion on here about cutting of leaves.
The general consensus is that it's best not to cut and tuck some leaves if neccesary to let the bud get more light, so that would fit in with your plan of keeping it simple. The thought behind this is that anything that stresses an auto will have an effect on harvest as autos with their set life span have no time to spare to recover.
Really quite interresting reading:https://www.autoflower.org/f2/3-weeks-go-no-light-getting-inner-buds-41830.html

 

[sturgex]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Reedroguez]

i have a question is there also a best time of day to chop a plant? Like before the lights go on or after the lights go out or something? Does that even matter?
Only did a few outdoor grows before (photosensitives) and always chopped in the dark for the obvious reasons, but now that I'm indoors I was wondering.

 

[Dankisstank]

Very good info. I usually stop at fan leaf yellowing dying. But will try a longer grow time. I have an Auto Acid at 6 weeks .:dance2:

 

[Cringer]

I have a Auto Sour Diesel (Dinafem) Week 6 Started also Very Good Information for me i have never Chop a plant with yellow leafs i dont now at at that time but now i do it! Thank you Muddy.

 

[A Gardener]

Thanks to Muddy. It's a great piece of knowledge sharing, which goes against a lot of the conventional advice on the subject, and is correct in my experience.

Let your girls ripen, you won't regret it.

 

[BayLee420]

Thanks to Muddy. It's a great piece of knowledge sharing, which goes against a lot of the conventional advice on the subject, and is correct in my experience.

Let your girls ripen, you won't regret it.

I like my bananas with brown spotty skin. Not yellow skin. The bananas are sweeter, have better flavor and aren't pasty when eaten.

Ripen cannabis should be like a well ripen banana. Brown spots in the buds and should smell like a well ripen piece of fruit.
Then chop, dry and cure.

A Gardener is correct. Let them ripen and you won't regret it.

 

[BayLee420]

I like my bananas with brown spotty skin. Not yellow skin. The bananas are sweeter, have better flavor and aren't pasty when eaten.

Ripen cannabis should be like a well ripen banana. Brown spots in the buds and should smell like a well ripen piece of fruit.
Then chop, dry and cure.

A Gardener is correct. Let them ripen and you won't regret it.

 

[akreso]

Super, super helpful. I've been hand wringing over harvest coinciding with a vacation, but now I really feel I am in the clear. All my leaves are still so very green and lush (and the pistils remain very very white - though it seems from this thread that is less an indicator).

In the end, though, good to know I have some time. I am not in a rush and would rather wait longer than sooner!



Thanks again for this thread, a review of all comments shows it's helped many newbies for several years!

 

[BayLee420]

Super, super helpful. I've been hand wringing over harvest coinciding with a vacation, but now I really feel I am in the clear. All my leaves are still so very green and lush (and the pistils remain very very white - though it seems from this thread that is less an indicator).

In the end, though, good to know I have some time. I am not in a rush and would rather wait longer than sooner!

View attachment 456565 View attachment 456566 View attachment 456567

Thanks again for this thread, a review of all comments shows it's helped many newbies for several years!

These girls have a ways to go before they get the ax. Cannabis is harvested in the fall. All we do inside is trick them to think they are out side. Let the girls go until all the fan leaves yellow and the girls get an autumn color to the colas. Think about how plants look in the late autumn. That's what you need to replicate inside. Yellowing corresponds to trichomes coloring.

I hope this makes sense.