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.

 

[Muddy]

I only remove some of the lower fan leaves that are close to the soil and may get wet during feeding. They tend to get ruined anyway and removing them provided better air circulation to the bottom of the plant and the soil. The fan leaves store energy that is used by the plant in the final weeks to fatten up the buds. As the plant feeds off of them, the buds swell.

Not to remove fan leaves, why?
Is it because of stress of pruning plant or less leaf area for photo synthesis?

 

[leeold7]

I understand you must use a translator.

I think your question is about removing yellow leaves.

Only remove when they are brown and dry.

Understand

Thank you so much

:dance:

 

[Muntered]

Harvesting Autos

Hi Muddy
My first post on this forum...I've grown many regular Photo crops in soil, but this is my first foray into the World of Autoflowers... I already made a foolish childlike error in that I'm 7 weeks into the grow with extremely promising results... then I had an epiphany moment when I realised that the varieties I'm growing in a metre square tent, 2m height, under a 600w Sodium, come into harvest at different times (groan)... so I've got to figure out a way of drying them... However, I think I can get round that problem using a large cardboard box and a desk fan...
My question after reading your very interesting and informative post and examining your Picys is this, "In your experience, can one apply the same principal of yellow leaves indicating the time to flush, then harvest, to ALL Autoflowers?"... I'm growing 3 Afghan Kush Ryders, 3 Fast Buds and 3 Northern Lights... The first two have grown at a similar rate to about 1.2m with full, tight and handsome colas... plenty of crystals, but the Northern lights are going to take quite a while longer...
I have to say that after spending the last 6 weeks of all my regular grows, fighting to stop my plants committing suicide, either against the light or pushing themselves out of the tent... these Autos have been a nice relaxing grow experience... I'm loving it and I'll choose my varieties more prudently next time...
Many thanks, in anticipation of your response...

 

[Muddy]

Welcome to AFN. Yes, it's been my experience that this applies to all autoflowering strains. It's also a pretty good indicator for photo period plants as well.

 

[Muntered]

Many thanks for that Muddy... Its an excellent benchmark to work from... Kind regards and all the best!

 

[uneducated1]

Thanks Muddy, this is just what i wa slooking for. But i do have some questions. My baby is 7 weeks old now. she is doing great. I have not been giving her nutes, and i have not beenn phing the water that i feed her with. She is in miracle grow potting soil ( and yes we have had the discussion before that i am doing everything wrong lol ) but regardless, she just keeps growing.

#1- You said that autos dont always have trics that turn amber, so you find other ways to tell when they are done.
Well, the trics on mine are already starting to turn amber. Mind you, i would say about 30% as of right now are amber, and the rest are still cloudy. Does this mean that she will be done early? I am already impressed with her size, but i think she still has to grow a lot.

#2- You said to look at the leaves and that when they turn yellow that means the plant uses all the energy from them and puts it into the buds.
Because i have not been PHing my water, the leaf tips are already yellowing. ( i believe we talked about that also) But my question is.. Will the leafs turn completely yellow? All of them? And your saying it will take up to 10 or 11 weeks? Do i NEED to wait till the very end?

#3- What happens if i harvest pre-maturely? will the bud not be as "stoney" as you said? Or will it be a total loss?

#4- Because i use miracle grow potting soil, do i still need to flush her? How much water should i put through? (shes in a 3 gallon pot) How many times should i flush it? Anything you can add?

Sorry for all this, but i know you guys are the best and i want as much input as possible. Maybe i will put some pictures up to show my progress.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Muddy]

If you've got 30% amber trics at this point, then yes, your plant may be finished sooner. More amber equals more stone, less amber more of a head high. You can also factor in the color of your pistils. If most have turned color it's another indicator that the plant is about finished.

The yellow leaf tips usually indicate the plants have been overfed at some point. The slow release nutes in the MG soil may have an effect on when the leaves yellow. They may still be feeding the plant so the plant isn't using up the stored energy yet. No, you don't have to wait the full 10 or 11 weeks. With the amount of amber you already have they may finish earlier. But if the buds are still swelling, I would leave them a bit longer.

The purpose of the cleanse at the end of the grow cycle is to remove any remaining nutes from the plant and improve the taste. Just give your normal amount of water for the last 1-2 weeks. With the slow release nutes in the MG soil you may not be able to totally cleanse them, so you could end up with a bit of chemical taste to your final smoke.

Thanks Muddy, this is just what i wa slooking for. But i do have some questions. My baby is 7 weeks old now. she is doing great. I have not been giving her nutes, and i have not beenn phing the water that i feed her with. She is in miracle grow potting soil ( and yes we have had the discussion before that i am doing everything wrong lol ) but regardless, she just keeps growing.

#1- You said that autos dont always have trics that turn amber, so you find other ways to tell when they are done.
Well, the trics on mine are already starting to turn amber. Mind you, i would say about 30% as of right now are amber, and the rest are still cloudy. Does this mean that she will be done early? I am already impressed with her size, but i think she still has to grow a lot.

#2- You said to look at the leaves and that when they turn yellow that means the plant uses all the energy from them and puts it into the buds.
Because i have not been PHing my water, the leaf tips are already yellowing. ( i believe we talked about that also) But my question is.. Will the leafs turn completely yellow? All of them? And your saying it will take up to 10 or 11 weeks? Do i NEED to wait till the very end?

#3- What happens if i harvest pre-maturely? will the bud not be as "stoney" as you said? Or will it be a total loss?

#4- Because i use miracle grow potting soil, do i still need to flush her? How much water should i put through? (shes in a 3 gallon pot) How many times should i flush it? Anything you can add?

Sorry for all this, but i know you guys are the best and i want as much input as possible. Maybe i will put some pictures up to show my progress.
Thanks in advance!

 

[uneducated1]

I think I was wrong about the trics. I was thinking the pistols were the trics, and since they are turning Orange I thought it was almost done. I need to get a mag to look at the trics.

 

[flub]

great guide muddy thats helps a lot being new to indoor auto growing

 

[JurZDevil]

My taste always changes so what i do is remove a branch of bud when the time is suppose to be up, then remove one when the fan leaves start to change, another when the fan leaves are gone, another when bud leaves start to change... etc.... unless i find it perfect anywhere in between, then i take it all right there... Awesome guide muddy!!! question... who is the man in your pic? I know ive seen him before but dont know where...