Harvest & Curing Yet another when-to-harvest question

[Hamm3r]

tl;dr When in doubt about whether a plant is ready to harvest, is there any drawback in waiting?

First-time grower here.

I have two pineapple autoflower feminized (from marijuana-seeds.nl) growing outdoors in containers of organic potting soil.

They are at 80 days, the fan leaves are somewhat faded and crumbly, but not yellow -- nothing like the pics in Muddy's excellent post at https://www.autoflower.org/f44/when-harvest-autos-your-leaves-will-tell-you-4889.html .

The plants seem nice and healthy but in terms of growth, flower production, and density of trichomes have just stopped. Under 10x magnification the trichomes seem pretty clear.

So, my question: are the buds going to lose potency if I wait a bit longer?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[dexter68]

Sound like dey not done.Wouldnt chop at clear,and some of "your" 80 day flower would be a help.Doesnt sound old e nuff..i.m.o.:+)KIK!

 

[Muddy]

Welcome to AFN. No harm in waiting them out, especially if the trics are still clear. No potency will be lost. Can you post a picture of your plants? From your description of the leaves you may have a bit of a deficiency happening. What have you been feeding them and how often?

 

[namvet25]

Wait until the trys are all cloudy,or even a few ambers.:smokebuds:

 

[Hamm3r]

Here are a couple of photos. Leaves are wet, it's raining at the moment.

During vegetative phase they got Espoma Plantone (dry) at about half recommended strength.

During flowering they have had General Organics Bio Thrive "Bloom" (2-4-4) plus Cal-Mag, at the "light feeding" mix ratio, once a week.

I haven't seen any obvious symptoms of deficiencies like yellowing or spots.

 

[Muddy]

They look like they still need a few more week. I generally find that plants grown outdoors take a bit longer than indoors. Your leaves don't look bad, maybe lacking P a bit. I've used the Biothrive line before, they are pretty mild. I would give them another feeding or two at 1/2 strength. Any idea what your pH is?

 

[Hamm3r]

> Any idea what your pH is?
Just whatever comes out of the tap. Guess I better check it.
I have been using Brita (charcoal) filtered water to mix up nutrients, but when the plants just need a good soak after a couple of hot dry days I use the garden hose. Is chlorinated city water really detrimental?

Thanks for taking an interest, I really appreciate the help.

 

[Muddy]

You're quite welcome, that's what we're here for.

Yes, chlorinated water can be a problem, sometimes causing a nutrient lockout situation if enough builds up in the soil. If your going to use it, it should be tested as weed likes a pH between 6.3 - 6.5 and most city water runs higher. Mine is close to 8. Let it sit in an open container for 24 hours before use. That will give it time for the chlorine to dissipate.

 

[Hamm3r]

Purple leaves

I did another feeding, this time adding General Organics Bio Bud along with Bio Thrive Bloom formula. Now one of my plants is turning purple -- on the upper fan leaves and the tips of the leaves coming from the top bud. (Photos attached.)

I saw online someplace that purpling can be a sign of phosphorus deficiency, but also that some plants just turn purple instead of yellow as they near end of life. So now i'm wondering if I've been too conservative with nutrients.

I also checked pH. Turns out the local tap water has a lot of chlorine, so thanks for the tip about letting it stand for a day or so. It is also quite alkaline -- pH 8. But the nutrient mix i've been using pulls it down to around 6.

 

[dexter68]

Nothing wrong i.m.o....strains can turn purple due to low temps,or the purple color is her just doing her thing.From the pics,id say no more than two weeks,but a microscope will tell you more.:+)KIK!