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Why Low Percentage Of Trichomes?


rockinsteady

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I mentioned in my other post that I never get many amber trichomes after the 2-month flower, and have let one grow continue (experimentally, but still disappointingly) a few weeks with little improvement!

 

I use a 20X maginification hand lense (loupe) as well as a small hand microscope to view the progress. I can see the clear trichomes turning cloudy, but only a few turn amber before harvest: never more than 10 or 15% max.

 

Is it that the 8 or 10 strains over the years are just shy to show amber?

 

I've grown in soil, and alternately coco and clay pellets in a small "flow and drain" grows using organic Fox Farm line of nutes until this last grown which I used inorgainc MaxiBloom alone.

 

I could post my whole grow procedure which is in line with other growers I read about with regular pH and PPM checks, as well as temperature and humidity stuff. I run a humidifier in veg, and dehumidifier last weeks of flower.

 

So I may just have too great an expectation of amber trichomes, rather than botching the grows.

 

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I don't think it is anything that you are doing. Not sure why the amber is not showing up but you did say you are seeing 10 to 15 percent and that seems to be all that I see at any given time myself. I do not let mine go to very amber anyhow so it may  be normal what you are seeing.

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I don't think it is anything that you are doing. Not sure why the amber is not showing up but you did say you are seeing 10 to 15 percent and that seems to be all that I see at any given time myself. I do not let mine go to very amber anyhow so it may  be normal what you are seeing.

I was trying to determine the difference in the "high" if I harvested early (with fewer amber trichomes) and later.

 

I can never seem to get significantly more trichomes by delaying the harvest.

Edited by rockinsteady
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do you water less towards the end of flower?

 

are the 10 strains all sativas ?

When I used to flush properly, I'd give Ph'd clear water and lower air humidity to under 35% with a dehumidifier. I may cut back slightly on watering amount and frequency, but it's hard to tell since the low humidity drew off soil moisture quickly. I definitely didn't over water before harvest [changed from: flowering].

 

Of course, when I let the plants go a month past the normal 8 week flower, the big fan leaves were tan and dry, indicating over-ready to harvest.

 

Until 2 years ago I never had any sativa-dominant plants. I forget if I should expect more or less amber trichomes in sativas.

 

 

edit: changed "before flowering" to "before harvest"

Edited by rockinsteady
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I was trying to determine the difference in the "high" if I harvested early (with fewer amber trichomes) and later.

 

I can never seem to get significantly more trichomes by delaying the harvest.

you are confusing amber/white pistils with trichomes i think.

 

trichomes are the "frost" or crystals on leaves and seed calyxes (seed pod).

white pistils come out of the calyx (seed pod) to get pollinated. those pistils turn amber and dry out.

trichomes start out clear, turn milky/cloudy and then finally amber. but you cannot see this with the naked eye much, you need a microscope.

 

i've heard of plants that just shoot white pistils for a long time even at the height of harvest time.

 

http://www.rollitup.org/t/can-a-plant-be-ripe-and-still-have-white-pistils.330779/page-2

 

many threads on the subject, with example images of white pistil buds.

 

some say you have to go by the color of the trichomes themselves. which means you need a loupe or microscope. going by the pistil colors isnt the best.

 

i dont know the answer.

 

jorge's marijuana horticulture book says this:

Pistils turn from white to brown or brownish-red as the flower tops ripen. Pistil changing color indicates plants are turning ripe; however, it is not the best indicator of peak ripeness. After more hands on research, I have learned that it is difficult to tell peak ripeness by the color of pistils in all strains. The best gauge of peak ripeness is the color of the resin glands or trichomes.

edit: oh wait , i re-read your original post, you are saying the trichs are still white. no clue!

 

jorge's book also says a pure sativa can take 4 months to finish. so you said you did 3... but you'd know the diff as pure sativa would be 20 ft tall and have huge leaves.

Edited by t-pain
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When I used to flush properly, I'd give Ph'd clear water and lower air humidity to under 35% with a dehumidifier. I may cut back slightly on watering amount and frequency, but it's hard to tell since the low humidity drew off soil moisture quickly. I definitely didn't over water before flowering.

 

Of course, when I let the plants go a month past the normal 8 week flower, the big fan leaves were tan and dry, indicating over-ready to harvest.

 

Until 2 years ago I never had any sativa-dominant plants. I forget if I should expect more or less amber trichomes in sativas.

 

I do my best to harvest before I see any amber trichs. Usually I would consider amber trichs in my growroom to be a damaged product. When I harvest it is more based upon the percentage of red hairs and how swollen the trichs are, not the color. Even better, is to consider how many trichs have tipped over. If 15 to 25% have tipped over, like fallen trees, is the best. There is a big difference between growing indoors and outdoors. With a lot of my strains, when I think it is best to harvest, is when the plants have been dry stressed and most of the trichs are clear, around 15% are tipped over, and they are at their most swollen state. I will harvest either at lights out or if it is a whole crop being harvested, I will go back a few hours after lights out.

 

Not too experienced on sativa strains though.

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I've started watching for lack of production of new hairs in the morning (at lights on) to indicate harvest time.

 

I don't even look through a lense lately. Now I have a reason to: I'll watch for tipped-over trichs!.

 

edit: Drat, I missed T-pains post and got my nomenclature all wrong. Hairs = pistils.

Edited by rockinsteady
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you are confusing amber/white pistils with trichomes i think.

 

trichomes are the "frost" or crystals on leaves and seed calyxes (seed pod).

white pistils come out of the calyx (seed pod) to get pollinated. those pistils turn amber and dry out.

trichomes start out clear, turn milky/cloudy and then finally amber. but you cannot see this with the naked eye much, you need a microscope.

 

...

.

.

Thanks for pointing the possibility for confusion.

 

When I say trichomes, I mean trichomes. But when I said something like "Low percent of trichomes", I meant, "Low percentage of amber trichomes".

 

When I say, "hairs" in the above post, I mean "pistils".

 

I would never say, "Low percent of hairs", since that would be just plain dumb (hehe).

 

So, lately my harvest signal is the lack of fresh, white pistil production, while not using a lense: ignoring the color of trichomes.

 

Oh, and the whole thread should have been titled:

 

Why Low Percentage Of Amber Trichomes?

Edited by rockinsteady
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  • 4 weeks later...

what strains are you growing?

what is your fertilizing program?

why not set the dehumidifier to 50% and let it

run when it needs too ?

why the humidifier in veg? what is the RH in the room without it ?

city water?

 

The strains you're growing should take no longer to finish

than what the breeder states, unless parameters in your room

are different than theirs.  The amber color is degradation/oxidation of the trichome contents, like ripening fruit.

Under/over fertilized, under lit, day/night time temps, feeding frequency, day/night time RH, chlorinated water, lack of fresh air/c02.

 

I suspect your issue is temperatures/RH/poor ventilation, but that's without knowing any of those details. Can you share more about your garden habits?

I cycle over 25 different strains all year and none of them remain cloudy past 70 days. I don't know much about room settings except the set it and forget it approach

in the Jorge Cervantes grow bible. Mine are automated to reduce my worries.

 

I bet we get your amber on soon! looking forward to it.

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