Harvesting

There are entire books on when to harvest and it can become an overly complex subject. The short of it is that it will be a matter of preference and the specific variety being grown.

As the plant matures it starts to increase the production of resin glands (trichomes) that contain the psychoactive components we are interested in growing. As resin is exposed to the sun, wind and air it degrades and starts to convert to CBD. This happens while the plant is still making fresh new resin resulting in a changing concoction of THC to CBD ratios.

Since cannabis is very lacking in official research we know very little about all the chemicals in marijuana in terms of what they do and how they interact with one another in the human body. It also seems that varieties can be very subjective; one person's trash can be another's gold.

Herein lies another benefit of growing clones. You will be able to experiment with the harvest to dial in the perfect time since cloned genetics perform identically.

So, When to Cut?

A good place to start would be to invest in a good magnifying glass and an inexpensive wireless microscope. This way you can study the changing conditions of the resin glands. These will change color from clear to milky and eventually amber as the season progresses.

I'd suggest starting with a middle ground approach and doing the first harvest when the glands are milky. You can take a small early sample for comparative purposes. If you preferred that then your preference is an early window harvest. If the latter batch was better then the next experiment will be extending the window to re-evaluate. If uncertain and unwilling to risk the entire batch, you can always just follow your instinct with the majority of the cannabis and experiment with only a minority or even a just partially harvested plant, depending on the risk you're willing to take.

Manicuring, Drying and Curing

This is the act of removing the material that has little and no resin glands. If you want buds to smoke you'll want to cut off anything sticking out of the bud. You can save this material for making concentrates and/or cooking.

I try to manicure in phases. First is the removal of the fan leaves that have almost no resin. You can do this while the plant has not yet be cut. Then I remove long straight (i.e. no major lateral offshoots) stems with buds to start working.

You might notice that some fan leaves, especially those within the bud structure will have resin on the inner part of the leaf. Next I will perform a light "haircut"; this involves trimming the outer parts of the fan leaves with little to no resin. Typically I will separate the biggest colas from the rest and select them for smokables.

Those I will give the final "buzzcut" and shave the flower to the boundaries of its more solid structure. The material coming off the plant should be saved; it is called "sugar leaf" and can be added to the material set aside for concentrates and cooking.

There are many devices sold to aid in the process of drying your buds. I use simple wire clothes hangers and hang the stems by the last lateral branch or using a small section of twist tie.

You'll want to make sure that, for whatever solution implemented, that you space the budded stems close but not touching. Adding mild airflow for the first day or two is also not a bad idea depending on the relative humidity and natural airflow of the area being used for hanging the harvest.

As the buds dry they will condense and loose approximately 70%-75% of their initial weight. After about three days the buds can be cut from the hanging stem and placed in a brown paper bag. This helps slow the drying process and helps draw the remaining inner moisture of the buds without over drying the outer leaves. You should open and toss the contents of the bag every 24 hours. After 3-4 days in the brown bag the buds should be suitable for consumption and storage. If you prefer "fresh" product I would recommend storing the buds in a zip lock bag in the fridge.

Alternatively, you can choose to further cure the buds to be used for smoking by placing them into a mason jar. Make sure to let the jar "breathe" each day by opening it ("burping"). After some time you will notice that the chlorophyll will break down turning the green parts to brown. The resulting smoke tends to be less "harsh". It might be interesting to note that this longer curing process will also alter the resin concoction as light and air will continue to have an effect on the materials.