Chop big sister?

As Creepy_Steve has said, it's all about the trichomes, pistils and density... but weed can throw you a curve ball... I've had some grows where the trichs never did start to turn amber... but the smoke was terrific... (grab a microscope, jeweler's loupe or just zoom in with your camera as far as you can and then zoom the resulting pic). Density isn't a really good measure - again, lots of variation in density depending on the strain and how well the plant was grown. Pistils are a good indicator if all else fails... them AND seeing a good fade going on with your plant.... Good luck - and congrats!

The most accurate way to tell when the weed is the most potent for harvest is to look at the trichomes. You can buy a 60x-100x pocket microscope to look at the trichomes. You can get one from 10 dollars or so. When most of the trichomes are cloudy and 10% is a brownish amber color it is time to harvest. The other method is to look at the pistils. When 80% is brown it is time to harvest. But this method is way less accurate then looking at the trichomes but it is the second best method. Enjou your harvest buddy!

trichoems, pistils, desnity.. use all 3 to pick harvest.. experiment with different harvest windows to find what you prefer.