When Do We Cut Cannabis Plants for Harvest?
There are various reasons as to why and when we cut cannabis plants. If a plant appears fragile, it may need to be removed from the garden, or at least we need to cut the ill-looking parts of it so that it doesn’t contaminate the healthy ones. We also cut plants to produce clones, which after that require re-planting. Cutting can also mean training the plants so that they produce more and better buds. However, in this article we take a look at when we cut cannabis plants for harvest and why it’s important to make sure we cut at the right time.
Come August and for a lot of cannabis growers it means one thing: it’s time to start with harvest preparation, and closely follow how the plant’s flowers develop. Knowing when to cut the cannabis plants to get the most of the yield is one of the most crucial moments in the entire grow journey, requiring our full attention and skills.
Note that cut is different from prune. When we cut a plant it is to harvest it, and when we prune or lollipop, it is to train the plant so that it gets a more desired shape and form, that makes it easier to work with and produce more beautiful bud sites.
Why is it important to know when to cut your cannabis plants? The answer is simple. When we figure out when is the optimal time to cut the cannabis plant, we can proceed with harvest and get the best weed.
While it’s not a disaster to miss out for a few days, anything that goes above a week, before or after, can result in reaping lower quality buds.
How to Decide When to Cut Your Cannabis Plants?
Practice and experience make it perfect. But even the most seasoned growers might make mistakes and collect buds that are not ripe yet or that are past their prime. They’ve just missed the right time to reap the fruits of their hard labor.
However, there are several signs that we can follow to determine the optimal moment for making a cut and finishing the growing process of our cannabis plants. Pistils, trichomes, and instructions on the cannabis seed from the breeder or where you make the purchase, can all inform when is a good moment that we cut our cannabis plants.
The rule with the pistils
This one is pretty basic. You’ve probably heard it before, but let’s start from there. Before we make any decision when to cut the cannabis plant for harvest, one of the things to consider is the color of the pistils.
The pistils in cannabis flowers are the hair-like structures that grow out of the calyxes. Depending on the stage of growth in which the pistils are, they will change their color from pink to red. As they mature, the pistils will start to turn brownish. They turn brown because they oxidize. The general advice is to cut our cannabis plants when half of the pistils on it are brownish color. When more than half of the pistils convert, it likely means that the cannabis plant is overaging and the THC is starting to lose its potency.
Still, there could be few other reasons why pistils may turn brown, that are not related to the plant life cycle. Brownish pistils can also form due to dehydration or malnutrition. In that case, the pistils would alter their color a bit earlier than normal, and that may result with harvesting buds that are not so great.
The rule with the trichomes
Trichomes can be a more reliable sign than pistils to inform our decision when to cut our cannabis plants. Again, we need to observe the plant closely. The trichomes appear all around the surface of the flowers and the accompanying leaves. They are the densely packed crystal coating where the resin is secreted and where the cannabinoids and terpenes concentrate the most. Good-looking trichomes are essentially associated with high-quality buds.
Trichomes also change color, so it’s recommended to use a magnifying glass and inspect them regularly as time nears for harvest. Their color switch indicates with greater precision when to go ahead and cut the cannabis plant.
The trichomes appear translucent at first, which means they are not yet ready and that more terpenes and cannabinoids are coming in, therefore we still need to wait.
When the trichomes obtain a milky cloudy color that means that now there are greater concentrations of THC in the plant. The cannabis plant with its flowers are ripe and it’s the right time to cut. Cutting at this point is a promise for a lot of psychoactive buds.
Probably the best time to cut our cannabis plants is when most of the trichomes appear to be white, and a small fraction of them have also begun to turn amber-like. That should be the optimal point, when the weed has the most amount of THC in it.
If we wait a little longer, the white color of the trichomes will turn to amber all over, which signals the continuing chemical conversion of THC into CBN, the so-called “sleep” cannabinoid. And if we cut the cannabis plant at this time, we will get a more “narcotic” product that is better for sleep or pain relief.
While following the pistils and trichomes is crucial in determining when and why to cut cannabis plants, it’s also good to consider the general information about the weed strain provided by the seed bank or the breeder. This information typically includes how many weeks or days approximately the cultivar will spend in vegetation and in flowering and when to anticipate harvest. Given that it’s been properly fed and taken care of in the ideal environment.
Why It’s Important to Cut Cannabis Plants at the Right Time?
You might wonder why it’s important to cut marijuana plants on time. Good timing is directly connected with the quality of buds we get. Too early or too late is to do away with all the effort and money invested in the grow room.
Cutting too soon may result in not getting as many good buds as possible, such as when the cannabis flowers are at their best. A lot of the buds won’t be dense enough and they might contain less THC. The error would also be noticeable during the drying process. Buds will quickly slack, soften, and lose volume. It will also be noticeable during smoking, when the weed does not deliver its full punch and flavor. That’s why it’s important to let the plant fully develop the buds and produce the maximum and most potent cannabis resin, before making a cut.
On the other hand, when we cut too late, the trichomes will let out their shine and color. As mentioned before, the background chemical process is that THC has now started to convert to CBN, a cannabinoid that is not as psychoactive and produces a more sleepy effect. Which is not so bad after all if you are aiming for a more medicinal type of weed. But not the greatest if you want weed that will give you the good high. So, the more we let the cannabis plant stay past its prime flowering time, the more THC will change to CBN.
The Best Way to Cut Cannabis Plants for Harvest and Why?
In anticipation of harvest, it’s important to prepare the cannabis plants so that everything goes smoothly when we make those final cuts. For instance, remove dead fan leaves if any, or trim away other parts of the plants that are unnecessary at this point. The plants also need to be flushed a week before harvest, to prevent strange smell in the final product.
Having a few metal trays to separate the cuttings always comes in handy. One for the buds and the usable plant material. Another for the garbage, and so on.
The plant can be chopped with a pair of shears, then cut off the big branches one by one, all while the colas are handled gently to avoid shaking the resin. Smaller cannabis plants can be cut directly at the base, or just a few fingers above the soil. They won’t have problem drying like that later on.
The canopy tends to mature faster than the lower parts of the plant, so it’s okay to postpone collecting the bottom for a little bit later. But make sure not to overlook it.
For cannabis plants growing outdoors, the best time of the day to cut them is in the morning, before they are exposed to the sun. Preferably when they are dry rather than wet. This is again better for drying afterwards.
Following these tips will make the cannabis harvest period more easier for you and easier to cut the plants. Good luck!
Also read on Soft Secrets:
- 10 Top Tips for Harvesting Cannabis Indoors
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