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It’s going to be an interesting harvest this year. The remaining eleven plants all turned to flowering on the same day means that on or around October 9, all of those plants will be ready for harvest. That’s a lot of decent sized plants at once.

Realistically, of course, they won’t all be ready on the same day, but it’s entirely possible that more than one plant will need to come down on a given day. Sequencing how and when to take down plants will be an exercise in prioritization. If several plants are ready on the same day, which plant gets priority?

From 2017.

The answer to the question is . . . it depends on the cultivar. This also leads into a discussion of the proper times to harvest anything, and again, that depends, but in this case it depends on both the cultivar and the grower. What are your priorities? Which plants matter the most to you?

For me, all things being equal, I tend to lean toward early harvest. Of course, cultivars vary as to when they are ideal for harvesting. I have harvested THC plants days before their projected due date, and I’ve harvested them a couple of days after the trichomes start to turn amber. This is only my subjective opinion, but I feel some of the THC plants I’ve harvested early are a little more stoney and upbeat than plants harvested with some amber trichomes. (We’re talking minute differences, perhaps only perceptible and applicable to me).

But as a practical matter, if faced with having to harvest several plants on or around the same time, my exact priority would be: 1) CBD plants, 2) Sativa Hybrid plants, 3) Sleepytime plants.

If for whatever reason you have to harvest a plant a few days later, let it be a sleepytime plant. Because of their body-high nature, a few days past optimal would only allow for greater CBN, which is good for sleep. We had a portion of a sleepytime plant that went a few days past prime; she was very amber, and I can tell you that she was probably the favorite sleepytime plant for the entire family for as long as she lasted. 

I’m also always conscious, especially for any plant harvested after October 15, to look for pathogenic problems. The later a harvest goes, the greater the chance for pathogens to attack your plants.

I used to be fairly adamant about keeping a plant in the ground until trichomes started to turn. I know growers who will only harvest after most or all the trichomes are amber. But test scores changed everything for me. Once I started harvesting early and I saw what my test results looked like, I knew there was no going back. And honestly, not having to sweat over when trichomes turn amber makes selecting a harvest day a lot easier.

For me and what I grow, I wait until all the trichomes are filled and look ready to burst. That’s when I harvest. If I see any amber, I harvest immediately, but I won’t hesitate to harvest before I see amber, if the trichomes are milky white. This has actually simplified the harvesting process. I used to tap my fingers and anxiously wait for any trichomes to turn. Now, I just wait for them to fill. 

My first priorities are for CBD or CBG plants. Because my wife suffers from two autoimmune forms of arthritis, plants that can potentially help her always get the most attention. 

Last year, I grew only CBD or CBG plants, with a mixture of both cannabis and hemp. About one week before most of those plants reached their “ready by” date, a fairly large storm was forecast. That made my decision very easy. A heavy rainstorm when plants are ready to harvest forces growers to make a choice: harvest or try to protect?

Historically, we’ve done both. Many years ago, a large storm was coming in at harvest time, and that time we chose to try and protect the plants.

It worked, but we also discovered that putting a huge tarp over the grow raised the relative humidity under the tarp to 99%. This made the probability of mold extremely high. We lost most of one plant to mold. Thankfully, it was only one plant. 

Were that exact situation to happen now, I would not cover the beds. I would begin to harvest immediately. Through testing, I’ve discovered that harvesting early does not mean weaker medicine. It actually means more THC. Because once you see amber on your plants, the THC has begun to diminish. I prefer getting all the THC in the plant. I remember harvesting an AK-47 one year, several days before she was supposed to be ready, because a storm approached. That plant tested at 27.4% THC and almost three percent terpenes. I don’t think another week in the ground would have significantly improved those numbers.

There have also been some studies that indicate harvesting CBD early gets you more CBD than waiting for the trichomes to turn. There are also test results showing that harvesting a CBD plant early might mean a slightly different ratio amongst the cannabinoids. I’ve indicated in my previous blog how there’s possibly more CBG in the White CBG cultivar if you harvest her three weeks before her ‘ready’ date. Remember that CBD plants are grown for the cannabinoids and terpenes much more than THC.  

Last year, we had a storm come in and I had to harvest several of our CBD plants about 7-10 days before their scheduled ‘peak’ day. One of them tested at a 25:1 ratio CBD-to-THC, and another tested at 2:1. Put simply, that meant the 25:1 plant was perfect for daytime use and the 2:1 plant was perfect for pain relief while sleeping. Harvesting these plants early had no impact on their potency. If the trichomes are full and white, they’re good to go.

Honey Tsu from last year was harvested 10 days early and still tested as an almost 2:1 ratio CBD-to-THC plant. She had 11.44% CBD and 6.54% THC, and was heavy in myrcene. For a very sick person we know, this plant, in concentrated pill form, lowers their pain and allows them to sleep at night. 

Ok, so what will we do if there’s a bunch of plants that need to be harvested all at once? Our drying room can probably handle it, but it could get crowded. It takes about 10 days to properly dry one of our plants, so it’s not like we can move them in and out quickly. We can comfortably hold two plants and maybe three from the lines on either side of the room. Then, we have the circular drying racks (one is seen here, but we have two) that we hang from the ceiling. I personally love these because of their versatility. You can still hang the majority of flowers around the sides of each rack, cascading from top to bottom. I don’t like using the flat surface for larger flowers because, unless you frequently change their positions the first two days, they will develop a flat side or two. Hence, it’s better to hang the flowers than squish one side. But the flat surface is perfect for popcorn, which I don’t care if it gets squished. These racks can hold a lot of flowers. They are not my first choice–the lines are. But if the lines are being used, hanging flowers around the sides of each tray absolutely works. Because air is circulating in the room from every direction, these racks also sway a bit in the breeze, and they turn. Things tend to dry hanging on these racks a little faster than on the lines, because of this gentle movement. All sides get hit with fan wind. If you are looking for a simple device to hang and dry your flowers and popcorn, these are highly recommended.

And then there are these repurposed tomato cages, which we use for transporting cut flowers from the garden to the house for the first trim. In a pinch, these can also be used for drying. We had to use them for drying several years ago when we were without power for three days and had to move some flowers into the house for drying. Without power, the drying cottage can get very cold at night, and it was freezing those particular nights. These cages were not effective in any way for tomatoes because the legs don’t go in deep enough, but they are perfect for this task.

Here, I’m doing an initial fan-leaf-only trim, just before we wash our plants (more on that in a future blog). This was only one plant. So you can understand my concern about having six or more of these heading into the cottage at one time. I don’t think we have a plant this large this year, but we’ve got several decent-sized ladies, so the room could get pretty packed. 

I know, this really isn’t much of a problem.

But it does call for priorities, and there is a logical way of approaching having several plants to harvest at once.

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