Harvest of your cannabis
The final stage, harvesting of your marijuana plants
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The cannabis buds
2: Your cannabis buds, make ‘em pretty!
Once you have cut down the plant, take it somewhere to work. Working on a flat surface will allow you to easily collect the material you remove. This material is low in THC, but THC is still present and it can be used to make hash oil.
Trimming the buds is a relatively simple process, but make sure to take your time. Essentially all that you need to do is cut the branches holding the buds from the plant and removing all the leaves. Take your time and use a pair of scissors with small blades so that you have full control. You will get the hang of this with some practice.
When you are done trimming the buds, they should look like the image below. These trimmings are not smokable yet, they still need to be dried and cured, but if you’re excited to get smoking (as I’m sure you will be), you can take a small about and use one of the quick drying techniques to smoke it today. Only quick dry a small amount, as quick-dried marijuana smoke will be harsh and less potent.
Almost done, ready to smoke marijuana?
1: Almost ready to smoke your own Ganja
Finally, your product will soon be ready.
By now you are probably quite excited to start smoking your buds. To achieve the best marijuana possible, timing is the key. Knowing when to stop nutrients and when to harvest is an important skill to master. The first couple times you grow, you will most likely not get it perfect, but through trial and error you will eventually figure it out.
To achieve the best tasting marijuana, you will want to stop all nutrients about two weeks before harvest. This allows the nutrients stored in the plant to be used up in the growth process and not in your buds. If you don’t stop nutrients, you will have poor taste and difficult-to-light marijuana. A good rule of thumb is to stop nutrients the moment you begin seeing any of the trichomes turning an amber color, but if you have knowledge of your particular strain, you can follow whatever guidelines are provided with the strain.
Trichomes are the small resin glands found on your buds. The trichomes are quite small, so you will need a pocket-microscope to see them well. The pictures above show the progression of the trichomes from a clear color, to a milky translucent color, to slightly amber. Not all trichomes will mature at the same time, but you will want to harvest when most of the trichomes have become the milky color. Amber trichomes are fine, but high concentrations of amber trichomes will tend to get you stoned, while high concentrations of milky trichomes will get you high. A good ratio is ideal.
Once you feel your marijuana has matured to an optimal point, it is time to harvest. You have two options, harvest the branches one at a time or harvest the whole plant at once. I recommend harvesting the plant all at once as a beginner. It will be easier for you. Simply cut the plant at the base using scissors of garden shears.
This might be a particularly difficult time for you as well. No doubt your plants and you have become very close over the past couple months. Say a prayer and thank the plant before cutting it down and immediately move to trimming and manicuring.