How to Harvest Marijuana: A Comprehensive Guide

After planting and taking care of your plants, your succeeding question will be; When will I harvest it? There’s nothing more thrilling than knowing you will get the price of your efforts and the worth of your money. If you are a beginner grower, you might have a troublesome time recognizing when to harvest your marijuana plant. It is not like any other plant, which is very clear to spot. For a marijuana plant, you need to consider a few things. Recognizing when and how to harvest your marijuana plant is one of the most relevant components of farming marijuana. If the harvest is prompt or too delayed, all your energy will be put to waste. If you harvest promptly, you might lose the potential of the plant, and if your harvest is delayed, you will end up with useless cannabis plants.

So, the key lies in knowing all the determiners, as well as what to do and what to consider when harvesting the marijuana plant. The grower also needs to be cautious and precise in order not to damage the plant, making the quality bad. There are general ways on how to harvest. First is the flushing that comes before harvest, next is the harvest itself, then trimming, and lastly is the drying and curing. These essential steps are needed to correct harvest marijuana plants.

How to harvest marijuana – Knowing when

The marijuana plants are ready to reap once the hairs are dark and curly, with the bud firmly beneath. One way of also knowing is when the once white trichomes have turned into gold or amber shade. 

You can use your eyes, or with the help of a magnifying tool, if you have any, to see if the plants are ready for harvest. Take a closer look at the plants, and if you see some white hairs or pistils visible, then your plant is not yet ready. If the same pistils are turning dark, but the majority are still white ones, then it is still not ready if you want to have your buds full and high of TCH content, harvest when seventy percent to almost ninety percent of the pistils are dark-colored. 

A different way to ascertain is by looking at trichome. This is more precise than just watching the pistils. This trichome is a little bit hard to see with your own eyes, so it is better to employ magnifying glass. You can also use one method; take a sharp picture of your plant and maximize the photo to look out for any trichomes. Trichomes have a small mushroom head, or they look like tiny hairs for some. When these trichomes look pure and glassy, then they are not ready. If the trichomes are golden or yellowish, then they are available to harvest. If you are still doubtful, you can regularly refer to images of ready to harvest marijuana pistils and trichomes to properly know if it’s the appropriate harvest time.

How to harvest marijuana – Flushing

Once you are certain that your marijuana plants are ready to harvest, you can start the process named flushing. Flushing means watering your plants until you harvest them. Flushing will eliminate any sprayed chemical and nutrient you’ve given to the plants. If these are not removed, there might be a certain effect on how your plant will taste after. They might like a chemical smell and taste to the smoke when burned. If you also used inorganic chemicals, then flushing is highly recommended. 

When starting the flushing stage, you must stop giving your plants any nutrients or even fertilizers. Give them clean water or even distilled ones. There are also flushing agents available if you can’t have distilled water. These are proven effective, as well. 

When do you start flushing the plants? It is recommended to do it seven or even ten days before the harvest day. On the second to the last day of flashing, allow your soil to stay dry to support the drying stage of your harvest. 

One thing to watch out is the color of the leaves. The leaves may turn yellow, which is normal. However, make sure to harvest before the green color leaves the bud. These are the sugar found on leaves. Though there is no effect on the plant quality-wise, yellow buds are still not good to look at, and the plant won’t continue to mature even when flushing.

How to harvest marijuana

Now that you are done with the flushing stage, it is now time to go and harvest your plants. Perhaps, this is the most awaited part, but before doing anything, consider these things that will help you on how to harvest marijuana: the environment and the tools. 

The environment may destroy or deteriorate the quality of the harvest. Set a separate room when harvesting the plants. When harvesting marijuana, there might be a distinctive odor, so you need to seal and secure the room first to filter the air and avoid your neighbors from sniffing these. 

You may need a few tools when harvesting. First are the trimmer tools, scissors, or any specifically made trimmers available in the market. Make sure they are sharp and ready to use. You also need trays or plates to put your harvest inside to make sure they stay safe and sound in there. Gloves are also necessary to keep your hands safe from any contamination and smell. Safety first for your hands since you are also using trimmers. Lastly will be the lines to hand the plants for drying.

Make sure to make your plants are ready too. Before harvesting, you need to eliminate the old leaves. Those plants which turned yellow are a waste, so make sure to get rid of them.

Start cutting the plants. There are two techniques on how to do this; first, you can cut the principal stem, which is easier and takes less hassle, or harvest is by cutting the developed and ripe buds.  Harvesting by cutting the developed ripe can increase the quantity of your harvest. After removing the ripe buds, you can wait for five to ten days for the remaining buds to develop and ready to harvest. These will let the other bad overshadowed by others to get the needed light. 

Remember that the more you touch the buds, the more TCH is transferred to your gloves. So, make sure not to touch them as much as possible. Removing the leaves without many trichomes will also be good for the drying process.

How to harvest marijuana – Trimming 

The nest step on how to harvest marijuana is trimming. Trimming is good and will the grower some nice benefits such as a good-looking plant, smooth leaves, and dependable TCH level. Trimming won’t affect the number of TCH on the plant as long as you handle them and trim separately. You also have two options; to trim before drying or following after drying. 

Trim before drying when you prefer the buds to dry quicker, and you are concerned about the molds. Trim after when you have lower humidity, but not bothered about mold or leaves turning yellow, and you want buds to dry slower.  Trimming takes time to do, so you need to be comfortable and with the right tools to make it easier. Make sure your scissors and trimmers are sharp, and you are wearing your gloves on because some stains and smell may cling into your skin—Trim of the fan leaves and the yellow ones. Trim the excess leaves and stems around the buds and any brown or yellow leaves.

How to harvest marijuana – Drying 

The nest step on how to harvest marijuana is drying. This step will take around three to ten days, which will depend on the temperature of the drying room and the sizes of the buds.  Make sure the lines are secured and the plants handing safely on it. Drying the plants will prepare them for the next step, which is curing.

Curing is the last process that will determine the taste, smell, and overall quality of the plant. This includes putting the buds into sealed containers and placing them in dark, cool, and dry places. This process might reach up to six months or more, depending on the strain of the plant. But two or three weeks is enough to get the best quality of the plant. 

Conclusion 

Harvesting cannabis plants take more than plucking the buds and perceiving it fit to go. There are points to acknowledge and take notice of. But that’s what makes marijuana plant unique than others. Lastly, you will get the reward of having good quality marijuana plants for your consumption or whatever you want to do with it. 

The steps on how to harvest marijuana take patients, care, and attention. It is a sensitive plant that needs all the care in order to be able to avoid spoiling and getting molds. There is so much at stake when these steps will not be done well. It might affect the quality of marijuana; thus, the efforts and money will be wasted. First-time growers should be able to know a lot about when it comes to harvesting marijuana. It may be very daunting at first with so much to take into considerations, but with enough effort and experience, the grower will get the hang out of it. These steps on how to harvest marijuana are your guides in achieving what you have dreamed of.