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.

 

[Dizzler82]

Hey Muddy. Just read your life cycle post...then found my way here. I noticed in the pics that you have pruned a lot of the vegetation off. When do you start the pruning? Are you simply cutting off veg stems and leaves as they yellow very severely toward the end of the life cycle and are nearly ready to fall off by themselves? Or do you have a set time, like 1 week before harvest, all veg stems and leaves get chopped leaving only buds and leaves in the bud clusters?

 

[Muddy]

The only pruning I do is around week 4 when I remove any lower leaves that may be touching the soil. Otherwise I wait till the leaves yellow and die, then remove them when they turn brown. By that time they are about ready to fall of anyway.

Hey Muddy. Just read your life cycle post...then found my way here. I noticed in the pics that you have pruned a lot of the vegetation off. When do you start the pruning? Are you simply cutting off veg stems and leaves as they yellow very severely toward the end of the life cycle and are nearly ready to fall off by themselves? Or do you have a set time, like 1 week before harvest, all veg stems and leaves get chopped leaving only buds and leaves in the bud clusters?

 

[Dizzler82]

Cool! Thanks for the reply!

 

[Muddy]

You'll get differing opinions on whether to remove those leaves or not. I like to keep at least the bottom 2-3" of my main stalk bare if I can. I purposefully stretch my seedlings a bit so I've got at least 2" to the first node. Those, and possibly the next node, are usually removed. If my node spacing is around 1", that gives me a clean stalk and the remaining leaves are usually high enough that they don't touch the soil.

Start a grow journal in the New Growers forum, post some pictures of your plant and I'll take a look and let you know what I think.

 

[Dizzler82]

Thanks.

 

[swampman]

I add micronized humic acid to my mix and also use some in liquid form in my feedings from time to time. I also add a couple drops to the water when I soak my seeds. I've only seen positive results using it. It also helps to feed the mycorrhizal fungi in the soil.

Hey Muddy, when i read this awhile back thats where i got the tip for using liquid humic acid in my waterings .......

Now Roots Liquid has Humic from leonardite but its like >.25 % the miconized humic.....would that be like gREAT wHITE Microzial ...........

Do u also feel that making compost teas a week or 2 in advanced will benefit in the HUMic breaking down the nutrients into soup basically better for the plants Right?/Wrong? ....I am asking cause ive read alot of different opinions.......Yellow Leaves at the end Best Buds ......

 

[texasboy26]

Just read your life cycle post...then found my way here. POST?

Could you tell me where to find Muddys cycle post Muddys always cool. Sounds interesting.

 

[Muddy]

Mycohorrizal fungi and humic acid are two different things but work together well. The humic acid helps to break down the nutrients and make them more available to the plant. Myco works with the roots to absorb the nutrients better.

I've not used compost teas in a many years, so am not the person to talk to about that. JM could probably answer you better.

Hey Muddy, when i read this awhile back thats where i got the tip for using liquid humic acid in my waterings .......

Now Roots Liquid has Humic from leonardite but its like >.25 % the miconized humic.....would that be like gREAT wHITE Microzial ...........

Do u also feel that making compost teas a week or 2 in advanced will benefit in the HUMic breaking down the nutrients into soup basically better for the plants Right?/Wrong? ....I am asking cause ive read alot of different opinions.......Yellow Leaves at the end Best Buds ......

 

[Muddy]

Here it is: https://www.autoflower.org/f44/life-cycle-auto-flowering-cannabis-5113.html

Could you tell me where to find Muddys cycle post Muddys always cool. Sounds interesting.

 

[texasboy26]

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:

View attachment 46420View attachment 46421View attachment 46418View attachment 46419

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 flushing them. Two weeks later they will be well flushed 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.

thanks