Harvest & Curing sorry, yet another when to harvest question

[oldguyintn]

Sorry about asking this but when to harvest has been the hardest part for me. I have researched the heck out of it and I am still not sure.
I can't get a good pic of the trichs so will just have to describe it.
I have 2 plants that are soon to be ready/ready to harvest - an auto blue mystic and a rhino ryder.
The blue mystic is the closest to being ready.
What throws me - checking the trichs with my 60x eyepiece, all of the trichs are very cloudy, there is no mistaking them. They have all been cloudy for a few days now. many things I read say that is the time to harvest as an autoflower may not turn amber
I have seen just a couple really dark trichs, but way beyond amber so I would guess just not good trichs (maybe 2 or 3 on the entire plant that I saw)
BUT, what throws me are the leaves.
I have read good threads talking about waiting for the fan leaves to yellow and start dying off before it is time to harvest. My fan leaves are all still very healthy for the most part. There is a yellow one here and there, but nothing not normal for any plant.
The pistils on the mystic have all "collapsed" and are gone, the trichs are all very cloudy, but it has healthy fan leaves.

The rhino ryder is just about the same except it is only about 85-90% very cloudy and it still has a few "fresh" pistils (sorry I don't know the right terminology), it also has fresh fan leaves.

If I did not see the fan leaves and just looked at the trichs, I would think it was time to harvest, but I can obviously see the fan leaves.

I was thinking wait another week on the mystic, checking the trichs every day to see if they change ? My big worry is obviously waiting too long but as we all know, the norm is harvesting too soon........I am just not sure what to look for in an autoflower to see when the trichs are past their prime as you can not see thru them now.
Any ideas/info is appreciated.

last batch I harvested early on purpose looking for a cerebral effect but this time I am looking for a good mixture of cerebral and body
I know it is tuff without pics, but I can't do macro that small

 

[robwars]

How old are your plants? Pics would still help us :Sharing Oneo you have a journal?

 

[Muddy]

I wouldn't stress out over the trics as many auto strains will never show any amber. Take a look at this thread, I think it will help you. https://www.autoflower.org/f44/when-harvest-autos-your-leaves-will-tell-you-4889.html

 

[oldguyintn]

Muddy, thanks. I have read that thread and is actually the one that got me wondering. Before I had read that, I probably would have harvested the Mystic today, but as mentioned, tho the trichs are all very cloudy, the leaves are still healthy as can be.Robwars - sorry about that, forgot to mention they are approximately 70-73 days old, depending on when you start counting. I guess I will just wait for the fan leaves but will keep a daily eye on the trichs. I guess I knew the answer to the question, but I am pretty surprised at how healthy the fan leaves still are. None of them even have a tinge of yellow on them, they look like they are on a young plant still. I will try and grab a pic or 2 tomorrow. Thanks for the info

 

[az2000]

forgot to mention they are approximately 70-73 days old, depending on when you start counting.

I almost harvested my first AF at that age. I posted my question about harvesting here. I ended up chopping at 101 days. I felt like my buds packed on significant weight during that time. There are photos in that thread showing the how the plant looked during those last 30 days. Maybe that would help you as you examine your plant's final days.

 

[Muddy]

Muddy, thanks. I have read that thread and is actually the one that got me wondering. Before I had read that, I probably would have harvested the Mystic today, but as mentioned, tho the trichs are all very cloudy, the leaves are still healthy as can be.Robwars - sorry about that, forgot to mention they are approximately 70-73 days old, depending on when you start counting. I guess I will just wait for the fan leaves but will keep a daily eye on the trichs. I guess I knew the answer to the question, but I am pretty surprised at how healthy the fan leaves still are. None of them even have a tinge of yellow on them, they look like they are on a young plant still. I will try and grab a pic or 2 tomorrow. Thanks for the info

I've had a lot of strains not show any yellow leaves at 10 weeks. Most of mine go 11-12 week and a few have gone 13. But I like mine well done, just like my steaks! If you're after more of a head high, you can pick them a little earlier even if the leaves are still green.

 

[oldguyintn]

well, I harvested the auto blue mystic May 28th I believe and the rhino ryder the following day. To dry, I do the trim and hang upside down method and then I cure in mason jars. I "normally" (not like I have been doing this all that much) like to cure them for about a month before I even try it and then hold off at least 3-4 more months as the smoke is just soooooo much better, smooth and imo really brings out the true flavor of the strain.
But...(always a but) the buds on both plants were just soooooo sticky and glistening I couldn't help myself and after the hang dry I took a very small amount of each strain to give it a try.
I have also been sharing with a much younger friend of mine who probably smokes way too much for his own good so I gave him a couple hits worth of the blue mystic to try and give me his opinion.

While I was one of the biggest heads you would ever meet in my younger days, I quit smoking about 15 years ago and only fairly recently started again so I get high pretty easy (which is why I gave it to someone who smokes a lot) so my smoke report probably differs from what many would experience.
First I tried the auto blue mystic. I just used a small pipe and as I was checking to see how good it was, I just took one big hit.
Considering I just harvested it, it had a pretty good taste to it and once it cures I have no doubt this will be a great tasting strain.
As far as potency - remember I am not an every day smoker but wow, this was some great stuff. My last harvest I was trying for mainly a cerebral high and it worked out well, but this time I was trying for a better combination of cerebral plus body high - this one will be perfect.
I could not believe how well it worked from just one hit and I ended up hiding out in the garage from my wife as she would have known I was stoned. For the 1st hour or so it was a great head high and I wanted to be active. After that it turned into more of a sit in front of my computer and watch tv, getting some great laughs watching some comedies.
Obviously I was very pleased with this one.

The next day, yesterday actually, I then tried the rhino ryder, also in the pipe and just taking one big hit.
This one was a much harsher smoke, as I expected the 1st one to be and I had to hold back a cough.
At 1st I was thinking that it was okay but not nearly as good as the blue mystic as far as potency, but this one was a creeper. I really could not say how long it was, but it was not as immediate as the mystic. I came in and was listening to some music and going to do some organizing of my music files when it suddenly dawned on me I was really stoned. This was a totally different high though and a much stronger body high then the blue mystic. This was the kind of high where you start a task which should take 15 minutes and a half hour later you really have made no progress. While the Blue Mystic sort of woke up my brain, this one deadened it and gave me a "stupid" high.
I would think this one would be much better for pain control and is the one I would smoke at the end of the day when I am ready to kick back and settle in for the evening while the mystic is what I would smoke during the day.
But, as mentioned I am a light smoker so I couldn't really trust my opinion that much. The next day I talked to the guy who I gave a couple of hits worth of the blue mystic to and was anxious to hear an experienced smoker's opinion.

He absolutely loved it and though he knows I do not sell any, he wanted to buy all of it for $100 a 1/4 oz. Due to the way I trim, I probably only have an ounce or 1 1/2 oz worth tho. I do some serious, serious trimming and on some of the smaller buds I just toss them in with the sugar leaves, and I get as many sugar leaves as I possibly can off of each bud. I probably ended up with at least as much weight wise in my really good sugar leaf jar as my buds jars. And the reason for this - it makes for some awesome butter. I have not weighed it yet to see how much butter I can make but it will be at least a pound - a pound of some really, really good butter. If you stick your finger in the sugar leaf/small bud jar it comes out as sticky as if you just stuck it in honey - I can't wait to make some brownies with this. Problem is it takes quite a bit of stove time to make the butter as I go for the long method and it stinks up the house pretty good so for this batch I am going to use my coleman stove and do it outside. Wife gets pretty pissed that I grow this as is, so I don't want to stink up the house.
Speaking of stinking up the house. I keep the mason jars in my closet in the house. As it is fresh to the jars, I like to open the jars every day for a second for the first few weeks then I don't worry about it much. Yesterday I opened one jar when the wife was at home and that was a mistake as the smell was really strong and hung around for quite a while.
Sorry so long, but I am happy as this came out much better then I had hoped.