Health
How to Harvest Cannabis
The taboo against marijuana is slowly fading away, and state and local governments have finally recognized cannabis for what it is — a plant with medicinal qualities. Currently, 18 states and two US territories have joined in legalizing recreational marijuana.
With the mass legalization of the plant, many officials have started to ask themselves, “What is Cannabis truly?”
When The House passed legislation on April 1, 2022, to legalize marijuana federally nationwide, it seemed like they would pop out and shout “April Fools!”
The increased legalization has shown more people wanting to learn how to harvest cannabis from home. Keep reading to discover a few cannabis harvesting tips for a healthy and plentiful harvest.
How to Harvest Cannabis: The Basics
Harvesting cannabis is the most rewarding step of cannabis cultivation. However, before you harvest cannabis, you must check a few items off your list.
- Trim fan leaves
- Sweep for impurities
- Flush your plants
When preparing for your cannabis harvest, you must trim any oversized fan leaves. While this is a sign that your plants are thriving, it will lead to a lower trichome count and ultimately make it less potent.
Secondly, you must routinely check your plants for any impurities from fungi to a pest infestation. An impurity left ignored for a second too long can ruin your entire harvest.
The last item to check off is optional but highly recommended. If you use mineral nutrients to help your plants, you should consider flushing. This step is typically conducted a couple of weeks before the harvest with clean, room temperature water.
How to Tell When It’s Time to Harvest
No cannabis harvesting guide is complete without informing you when it’s time to harvest. The last thing you want is to harvest too early and end up with dud flowers.
You want your flowers to be as potent and beautiful as if they were from High Profile Cannabis or any other local dispensary.
Checking Maturity
The easiest way to tell that it is harvesting time is to watch the pistil’s evolution. For most plants, the pistils start off as white hairs that start grouping together. Once the buds form, the pistils will change to orange, brown, and pink colors and start standing. The pistils will let you know that it’s time to harvest when the pistils start curling inwards towards the bud.
However, the pistils curling inwards could be a false positive depending on environmental factors. To confirm it’s time to harvest, take a look at the trichomes.
Like pistils, the trichomes will start changing color from transparent to milky white as they mature. Once the trichomes are milky white or amber, it signals that it’s time to harvest.
Harvesting
When harvesting, you want to start by cutting the branches or the plant from the base. Remove all the fan leaves and then sweep for any impurities.
Afterward, divide the branches into smaller twigs and dry them in a dark, ventilated room. It’s essential that the drying process must be in a dark room with an exhaust fan. This step will typically take between ten to fourteen days.
Once your buds have dried, you can trim them and put them in a jar to cure. This is the longest step. Curing will take anywhere between three weeks to several months.
Harvesting Cannabis
As the fight toward legalization continues, more plant enthusiasts will consider learning how to harvest cannabis at home.
Just know that even though harvesting cannabis requires great care and attention, with the right tools and tips, it’s a process you can master quickly.
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