Harvest Time (orig. post March 7th, 2021)

 

I'm glad to finally have a solid harvest after a few months of growing. And just in time too! The seasons are changing and southern Arizona is getting warmer. Spring lasts just a few weeks and then we undergo the blistering summer heat followed by the occasional monsoon.

For now I'm excited to finally trim up and weigh all the product. Much of the excess trimmings will turn into cannabis butter or other edible ingredients. For me, one plant is perfectly fine for almost a half year's consumption, as long as you grow it properly. By the time I'm done ingesting this harvest, my next crop should come through, resupplying my depletions.

Let's take a look at the flower before I do the final trim:

Measuring the cola with my thumb.

You can see that the stigmas ("hairs") have become deep orange in the plant's flower, indicating that the plant is ready for harvest. Some of the stigmas will have cannabis resin oil on them but the big indicator for checking for harvest comes from the trichomes, which are the sticky rounded ends of the plant's leaves and buds. Here's my mindful checklist when I know I'm ready for harvest:

1. Check if the stigmas are about 50% orange and curling. If they're still white, they need more time.

2. Check trichomes if they're milky. If the trichomes have a clear top, they need a little more time. You'll have to use a magnifying glass or microscope to check this progress.

3. Smell the house. It should be really dank in terpenes when it's peaking.

This window for peak harvest is about a week long. Any longer, your product will have big effects on your high, resulting in a stronger "head high".

Terpenes:
Just as a fair warning, I do NOT touch the plant without any gloves on. The reason is the flowers on the cannabis have a huge amount of sticky cannabinoid oils excreting off the plant's trichomes. These oils are the signature smells (terpenes) that your plant pungently expels. Just a general in-house smell of my plant's terpenes have a heavy fresh coffee and pine scent. But if I rub against the oils with my fingers, the oils have an intense fruity smell. Some have mentioned it has the same smell as fruit loop cereal or lemons. Either way, these terpenes have stunk up the entire house. It isn't an intense smell, but it is a prominent smell. With some air freshener or cooking in the the kitchen, the terpenes will disappear. I also keep my window cracked, releasing the skunky air into the yard. It can be smelt from several meters away but if you've got a pungent smelling flowerbed nearby, it should counteract the scents to keep your garden incognito. Keep in mind full professional grow operations provide their grow tents with carbon filters to eliminate any scent. I'm not too worried if my house smells, I'm still abiding to Arizona law regarding grow policies.

Mistletoe:

I've decided to do a quick dry with my plant, using a coat hanger to keep the plant up-side down. I've read up on ways to properly cure plants to get the maximum benefits of product. According to The Weed Blog, keeping your plant hung up-side-down allows the plant to think it's still alive since gravity keeps the fluid pressure high in the stem tissue. This makes logical sense since all plants have a transpiration system that works on pressure. Hence why plants will go limp once they're in need of hydration.

I'll keep my "mistletoe" bush in a dark closet with a moderate temperature and check daily to see how dry it gets. Many times the plant will dry up very quickly in this type of desert climate. It is best to not worry. It is very easy to regenerate the plant's moisture with a green leaf in your bag for a day.

In a few days I'll be trimming up the bush and checking for the product weight. The last time I trimmed up a plant I was able to gather more than 50 grams from the plant, roughly 2 ounces of product. I'll be sure to trim with properly cleaned shears and disposable gloves. By then, the stems will be easy to break apart and the remaining trim will be used for kief. Personally I won't use it for any concentrates, instead I'll use it for edibles or homemade topical creams. You'd be surprised how much products a small plant will make after it's harvested.

Microscope imaging of trichomes:

These are some photos of the actual flower and the oil lain trichomes. Trichomes that are clear are a few weeks away from being mature. As they mature the trichome signature is a milky "mushroom top", notifying the gardener that they're done and ready for peak harvest. If you keep the plant alive longer the tops of the trichomes become amber colored. The effects of the amber trichomes gives you a more relaxed feeling. If you're harvesting, make sure to harvest them while they're milky. You can ruin your product if you get all your trichomes an amber color, distorting the taste and its prominent psychotropic effects. Even if you do make the mistake of leaving your plant to die off completely, the oil still will be psychoactive after decarboxylation (smoking/vaping). Many gardeners who begin growing find it very difficult to kill their plant. But keep in mind your plant is suppose to die at the end. That's why you've got more seeds and clones to keep it's genes alive and well. So don't stress, make the cut and get your hard work in a bowl.

This image shows a leaf with many mature 'chomes.

The "Tip of the Iceberg" - the tip of the leaf.

This image shows a broken stigma stuck on the trichome resin.

One final image of the milky trichomes on the leaf.

Hopefully you're all getting outside and enjoying this great southern Arizona weather. Please be safe out there and be nice to your neighbors, fellow gardeners!

One down, one to go...

-Pinky