Salam SierraKilo1313! đ Welcome to the waiting game, Habibi! âł
Let's answer your specific question using some Modern Engineering logic, and then look at where your plant actually is right now:
1. The Trichome Timeline:
To answer your question: No, they do not degrade instantly! Trichomes are like fruit ripening. They slowly transition from Clear - Milky/Cloudy đĽ - Amber/Gold đŻ. Once they turn fully milky, they usually stay in that "peak potency" window for about 1 to 2 weeks before the THC begins to significantly degrade into CBN (the heavy, sleep-inducing cannabinoid, which looks Amber). As
@Ultraviolet mentioned, excess heat and intense light will speed up this degradation, but it is never an overnight process.
2. Where is your plant at?
Looking at your photos, I have to agree with
@Green_claws and
@Hashy. Your buds are still pushing out massive crowns of fresh white pistils (the hairs).
The Rule: Do not even bother checking the microscopic trichomes until at least 80-90% of those white hairs have curled inward and turned orange/brown.
Right now, your plant is still in the "building" phase, not the "ripening" phase. In the next 3-4 weeks, the buds will stop growing new white hairs and start swelling up like golf balls to swallow the old hairs. If you chop now, you will lose out on almost 40% of your final yield! đ
You have at least 3 to 4 weeks left. Put the microscope away for a few weeks, let her swell, and be patient! đ
Happy Growing! đ