How to Harvest Marijuana Plant for Maximum Yield

Harvesting is a crucial stage in the cannabis plant life, but the details about the process are not just cutting down cannabis plants and trimming buds. You will also need to dry and cure the buds before smoking them. How to harvest marijuana is an involving process that is majorly determined by time.

The key determinants of a successful harvest of the marijuana plant are timing, that is, from cannabis cultivation, knowing when the cannabis is mature enough to pick, and steps to take to ensure the cannabis buds are of good quality. Harvest time may vary according to the types of seeds and growing conditions.

When to Harvest for Different Growing Conditions

Outdoor Cannabis

These are cannabis plants grown outside and exposed to open environmental elements. Autoflower seeds are advantageous to outdoor plants because they grow faster, but photoperiod seeds are the best choice for larger commercial growers. Outdoor autoflower plants take an average of 100 days to harvest, while feminized outdoor plants take 5 to 6 months.

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Many growers monitor the trichomes to know the harvest time. Arguably, trichomes will change from clear for the immature plant to cloudy for the mature cannabis and finally to amber color for the overripe marijuana. Other growers would also monitor pistils turning from white to brown, indicating the time to harvest outdoor cannabis.

Indoor Cannabis Plants

They are grown in climate-controlled environments with artificial lighting. Just like outdoor cannabis, the autoflower plant in indoor growing takes a shorter cycle to be ready to harvest.

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Indoor cannabis harvest is based on characteristics same as those of outdoor plants. If your buds are nice and swollen and the trichomes of most cannabis plants in your grow room are cloudy, get ready to harvest. Most growers prefer to grow cannabis indoors because of the security and ease of climate control.

Overview of How to Harvest Cannabis Plant

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Harvesting is the most interesting step in growing marijuana. Before cutting down your crop, there are things you need to consider. Let us find out

1. Timing

Timing is key in harvesting marijuana. Are your crops ready for harvest, and how do you know? Harvesting too early will make your crops lack the essential delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol chemical (THC), while if you harvest late, the resin containing THC will start to degrade. The safest time to harvest the cannabis plant is when the cannabis flowers have reached their resin and trichome production.

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Environmental factors are vital in the plant’s flowering stage before the harvest. Indoor marijuana tends to mature faster than outdoor marijuana, but this is not an accurate way of determining if the plant is ready for harvest. Marijuana plants take 8 to 12 months to mature, but this will vary according to the strain. The most effective way to tell if your indoor or outdoor cannabis is mature for harvest is by examining

• Stigma: The white hairs strands covering the bud will turn to orange and begin to curl
• Trichomes: These are resin glands containing psychoactive ingredients. Pay more attention to the color and opacity of the trichomes. They are so tiny and can’t be seen with the naked eye, so use a magnifying glass to make correct observations.

Clear trichomes indicate an immature cannabis plant with less developed THC. When the trichomes change to milky and opaque or cloudy the plant is mature and ready for harvest. Conversely, when cannabis plants continue to grow until they develop amber trichomes, they overripe and degrade.

Many cannabis growers prefer to harvest too late rather than too early.

2. Flushing

This process is done before harvesting cannabis, approximately one or two weeks before the harvest time. Flushing is done to help plants use up their reserved sugar by clearing up the salts and minerals on the growing medium. It ensures a smooth and flavorful smoke. Give your plants only a PH balanced water within the last two or one week of the flower cycle to flush them properly.

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To know if your plants are flushed off the nutrients, they show signs of nitrogen deficiency; the older leaves turn yellow and wither. You can also pluck a leaf and tear it into half, then taste the juice.

Bitter juice means unsuccessful flush, and you should keep flushing, while clear juice means successful flush. Although this method of flushing may be tiresome and time-consuming, you could use other processes to speed up the process.

3. The Final Preparation

Decide if you are doing the wet trimming or the dry trimming. For the wet trimming, you are good to go. If you are to go for the dry trimming, two to three days to the end of the flowering cycle, allow your growing medium to go dry. This rids the cannabis plants of excess water, making them dry faster. (https://bettysco.com) Secondly, it makes the grow room less humid increasing resin production in many strains.

4. Cutting

Before harvesting, you may want to remove the larger leaves that haven’t fallen off on their own to remove excess water and increase air circulation for your plants to speed up the drying process. Also, ensure your drying room is clean and fans operate perfectly to circulate air in the room. Preferably, harvest in the morning.

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Some cannabis growers may prefer cutting the entire plant at once, leaving just the roots underneath, while others prefer harvesting in sections. Cutting in sections is cutting the main stalk halfway up to remove the upper portion of the plant, or better still, cutting the upper branches only.

The cutting in sections provides more time and enables the sun to reach the lower buds and small plants to grow for another week or more. It also makes the steps for drying and trimming manageable by spacing out time, effort and room required. Finally, the roots are left inside the growing medium to decompose.

5. Trimming

Trimming can either be before or after drying, depending on the method you settled on before starting your harvesting process. Most cannabis farmers prefer trimming when the plant is still wet. This removes the bulkiness of the leaves and allows them to dry faster.

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Use any precision trimming snips or scissors to make the trimming job easier. There is also the ergonomic tool, the trim bin, which you can use to trim your cannabis. It has two sections, the upper section that holds the falling debris and the lower section for the trichomes falling through the screen.

6. Drying

After cutting your cannabis buds, hang them to dry. Traditionally, cannabis is hung upside down to dry. This position allows gravity to bring any remaining juices to the bud. It should take around 5 to 7 days for the trimmed buds to be relatively dry, but this will depend on other factors like climate, drying location, and plant condition

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Cannabis is best dried in temperate and relatively dark locations because light degrades THC. Good airflow is important in the room to keep a constant light breeze. The humidity level for drying cannabis should also be 45 to 55%. Hang your cannabis in a climate-controlled location to dry.

7. Curing Cannabis

Using a hygrometer, test the humidity level of the buds to assess if the cannabis has dried enough. It is recommended to start the curing process with a humidity level of 62 to 68%. Higher percentages would mean the plant is not fairly dry and can’t be cured.

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Curing is a continuation of the drying process in a more controlled environment for longer than 2 months. Place the cannabis with a humidity of 62 and 68% in an air-tight container and place it in a dark temperate room. Periodically burp the container to allow some air exchange.

Keeping the hygrometer in one of the containers is safe to measure the humidity level occasionally. If it’s on the rise, empty the jar and put the marijuana back to dry. On the other hand, if your cannabis is overly dry, store them in bags to reintroduce moisture into them.

8. Storing

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After curing, you may want to shift to long-term storage of your cannabis buds. Choose any air-tight container or even the one you used in curing and store in a dark temperate location. Some people may prefer vacuum seals or freezing weed. The main goal is to preserve the weed for a long time.

Equipment Needed to Harvest Cannabis

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For a smooth harvest of marijuana, you need to have the following as your tools

• Scissors and trimming snips for trimming buds
• Pruners for cutting bigger branches
• Clean surface like a table and a trim bin for trimming
• Rags and rubbing alcohol to clean scissors after they are gunked up with resin
• apron and gloves to protect your clothes and hands from the sticky resin

Tips for a Successful Marijuana Harvest

As we have seen in the various harvest stages, key issues make the harvest successful. Here are some tips for a successful marijuana harvest

• Flush your plants with only water for a week before harvesting
• Check trichomes to ensure plants are ready to be chopped off
• Keep the shears and scissors sharp
• It is good to harvest in the morning
• If growing different strains, take note that some plants may be ready for harvest before others
• Trim buds immediately after chopping plants if wet trimming
• Dry the cannabis in ideal drying conditions and cure it properly
• Keep the weed fresh and safe for use

 Final Thoughts

Harvesting cannabis is a process just like its cultivation and growth. Timing is very important because it will determine your final output. Be accurate with time, and with proper cutting, trimming, drying, curing, and storage, you can have plenty of weed to last a while until your next planting season.

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