Hey guys,
Forgot to grab a pic… But I have an odd thing happening here. I believe my plant is a sativa (unknown bag seed). I am in week 11 of flower.
I went over my entire plant with a 60X loupe and didn’t find even a single cloudy trichome. They are ALL crystal clear. What worried me is that some are starting to amber. Not a lot, I only found a couple on every other bud or so. Is it normal for Amber to show up before cloudy?
@QuickMaffs first time grower here . Not to sure if I can help but here is a pic of my fem white widow week 8 of flower mostly cloudy no amber . I do know each strain is different so my opinion would be to wait a little longer to see how they develop. White widow says it takes up to 8 to 9 weeks to finish harvest but I’m just using that as a guide I want about 30% amber or that’s my goal.
I’m mostly worried because I don’t want all the trichs to do the same thing and skip cloudy and go amber like some of these have… I want to aim for 20-30% too!
PERFECT - 70% Milky & 30% Amber
@Ratch33 yea I will follow that 70% milky & 30% amber. Thanks . I messed up on my grow kinda. I was feeding 1200 ppm and letting it drop to 300 ppm . Did that for two weeks by third week started showing major signs of deficiency. Overall the buds are dense still look frosty so hopefully I didn’t mess up to bad . That was my biggest mistake was overthinking the feeding schedule. Instead of just keeping it simple . But I know better for my next grow. Got new nuts that are made for RO water .
That’s what I always tell myself!!
Experience (in my opinion) will always be our best teacher!! You’re doing hydro, very nice! I’m not too clued up on Hydroponics to be honest. Just the basics here & there!
I’m definitely going to follow on your toke. If you’d like someone to help plan on feeding schedules + do’s & don’ts, or perhaps just some good advice, @DeAzNuTz always willing to help a fellow out..
PEACE
@Ratch33 Yea thanks for sure first grow ever . Jumped head first into hydro upgraded my system in every possible way I could . Much love and support
@Ratch33 do you happen to know why I have amber showing up before even a single one has gone cloudy?
Hey Buddy
According to me, It’s practically impossible to have amber trichomes without having any cloudy/milky trichomes.
You should take a sample and test it away from your lights as to get the real colour image. Since some parts of the plant will be ahead of other parts you will almost always be able to to see clear, cloudy and amber trichomes on one calyx.
All clear trichomes will eventually disappear but not if you keep growing the plant, since new pistils and bud sites might appear with clear trichomes waiting to develop.
Note: Could be damaged Trichomes too. Send pic
I actually did do that… left the phone downstairs though and it’s lights out now. I’ll grab pics in the morning and update 
We’ve all seen them, the threads asking, “Is she done yet?” or “Is she ready?” The vast majority of cultivars are well familiar with using trichomes as the gauge for figuring out when to harvest their crop.
While everyone’s at it, read this quick primer to help round out the harvest window picture for you.
Those who’ve got enough grows with enough strains under their belts are going to know that not all strains’ trichomes will change colour in the ‘usual’ manner, and in fact some strains trichomes will never change colour until after harvesting. I’ve run strains on which the trichomes never got cloudy, they went from clear to amber, and I’ve run strains with purple trichomes that never got cloudy or amber.
And so, to that end, I’m doing another one of my threads to discuss what other metrics can be used to tell when a lady should be harvested.
Don’t rely solely on trichomes for harvesting.
1: Pistils. Is she throwing out tons of new pistils, or is she just popping a few whites here and there, mostly at the tops of the buds, with an overall red appearance? If still popping out a lot of new pistils, she may have a little longer to go just yet.
2: Buds. Are they still growing noticeably, or does it seem they’ve stopped growing? If still growing noticeably, the plant has more time left to go. Don’t short-change yourself by getting impatient for the chop!
3: Appearance. Does the plant have an autumnal appearance? Especially once the major fan leaves begin yellowing, then you know you’re nearing that finish line. This may be a more or less reliable metric depending on how you feed. Many folks continue pushing N long into flower, possibly all the way through, depending on their fertilizing regimen, and that can cause the plants to retain an overall bright green coloration. That makes this metric a little less reliable if taken on its own.
4: Water/fertilizer consumption. If it’s still taking in a lot of water, it’s still transpiring actively, which would suggest it’s still growing actively. If it’s still ‘eating’ as it was during the earlier phases of flower, then again, she likely still has some time. If it seems to have stopped drinking and eating, as some put it, then it’s likely done.
Now, add these other metrics to trichomes and you’ll know when your girls are done and how you want to handle them. 
@Ratch33 dam bro that’s exactly what I needed ! Their are so many factors to consider all helpful with time, patience, preference, and experience is the only true way to identify with your cultivars. Sometimes it’s easy to overthink or get overwhelmed when the answer is right in front of you . Thanks again for this helpful post.
Yes man, I totally agree… It’s my pleasure, and you’re welcome!!
Always a good vibe when one can help our fellow Growmies.
PEACE
Week 13 of flower. Someone tell me what they see in these trichs, I’m trying to figure when to start flushing but these still look clear to me 
I was getting pretty heavy nutrient burn a few days ago so I’ve only been feeding water since Thursday. But if it’s not time I think I should get back to the nutes
I think you still have some time your Trichomes should look something like this, I’m harvesting today!!
Alright, I’ll wait haha. Good luck with your harvest!
So I just went over the whole plant… all trichs look like this. Leaves are yellowing as if they’re reaching the end the flowering phase, she’s not eating as much, literally about half of what she usually does. In week 13 of flower now. Next to no white pistils. Is my plant broken or am I missing something? You can see a few amber trichs in these pics, but no cloudy.
I believe Ratch made a comment about how some strains go straight from clear to amber on their trichomes. If she is eating less and leaves are yellowing and you see amber and you haven’t flushed yet my intuition says she’s really close, within flush range. It’s up to you what to do of course but I may flush now 
hard to say, 13 weeks is pretty late though. Good luck!
What’s up Growmie 
I’ve been a little pre-occupied the last 2 weeks. Really sorry for not responding earlier…
How’s you @QuickMaffs, @Graywave been?
I can certainly relate with your frustration. 13 Weeks is ample flowering time, even for a Sativa dominent strain which typically has a shorter vegetative cycle, but once the plant begins to flower it can take up to 10-12 weeks on average until it is ready for harvest…
A pure [100%] sativa strain takes 16 weeks to finish in flower. [Eg Durban Poison, Original Skunk etc]
Does your Jewellers Scope have an LED?
Cut a “Test” bud from the bottom.
