Trichomes milky and some amber but plant looks nowhere near ready

You may have missed the windows for super sticky frosting :( It does look like you a nearing harvest time for that auto, next time, when flowering starts add some extra bud-density-nutrients. I use Emerald Harvest, so in that line you would wanna feed it some Honey Chome. I say this because the tricomes on your plant look physically small. (Could be genentics) but I had a plant look like this, and changing / adding that helped immensely.

Once all the pistils are brown, the plant is past its peak, closing in on death with THC degrading into CBD and CBN. You are ready for harvest in my opinion and leaving it for another 2-4 weeks will definitely lead to inferior buds. Pistil colour is the best indication of maturity, as pistil colour has a direct relationship to plant health, whereas trichome colour is highly variable amongst all the different strains and is not the same for any of them. Some strains will never develop amber trichomes, meaning some people are harvesting low grade over ripe buds while waiting for that magical figure of 30% and some strains will have honey/amber coloured trichomes, nearly 100%, from about the fourth week of flowering. This is why I believe judging harvest timing solely on trichome colour alone is a flawed method and should not be relied upon for every strain in every situation. Trichome colour is a genetic thing, pistil colour is a plant health indicator and it is plant health that determines trichome cannabinoid composition whereby trichome colour has no bearing on trichome cannabinoid composition. I think the whole "30% amber" movement is based on false information, but is easy to explain, hence its popularity, regardless of facts. Personally I like to harvest when there are 95-98% brown pistils, this gives buds with peak THC levels and just enough CBD to take the edge off of any racy Sativa genes present in the plants genetic make up. If you prefer a more active head high, harvest at around 90-95% brown pistils and if you prefer a more sedative/sleepy body stone, harvest just as the very last pistils turn brown (99-100% brown pistils). Plants that are close to death (100% brown pistils) can no longer support healthy THC, this is why late picked flowers often produce a sedating/comatosed/couch lock effect, as most of the THC is breaking down/has broken down into CBD and CBN which give the sleepy and very relaxed effect. Harvesting while there are still a few white pistils means the plant still has an active and functioning metabolism which can support and maintain healthy THC levels, producing flowers that will expand your mind and make you feel up. I personally prefer up and tripping to falling asleep and being unable to move, but, to each their own! Hope this helps, Organoman.

No, don't ignore that. Your trichomes are still your best indicator for when to harvest. 10-30% amber, I like closer to 10% myself its users choice. The top most parts of the plant will ripen first before the base of it does, what some people do to combat this is harvest the main top colas first and leave the rest on the plant for another week. You can still flush if you like. I personalty am not a flusher, to each their own. Best of Luck and Happy Growng!

No I woukd start a flush then harvest soon. Further growth is likely fox tailing starting. 🌱