What’s up gromie 👋, the most important thing when checking if a plant is ready to be cut are the trichomes. If you don’t have a magnifying glass or a jeweler’s loupe, just use your phone. Hold the plant so it doesn’t move from fans or airflow, because the focus won’t handle it. Zoom in slightly (preferably in video mode, not photos) on the top and side buds and check what the trichomes look like. The most important thing is that they are all milky or cloudy. I always harvest when I have an 80–20 ratio, meaning 80% are milky and 15–20% amber — that gives me the parameters I like. With a phone, you don’t need to invest in extra equipment (which you already have).

Welcome to the finish line, almost! Your Runtz looks amazing for a first grow. Honestly, don't worry too much about the pistils (the hairs)—they can be a bit misleading sometimes. If you still see a lot of white ones, she’s likely putting on her final bit of weight. The "fade" on the leaves is a great sign that she's using up her stored energy. The only real way to be 100% sure is checking the trichomes with a loupe. You’re looking for mostly milky white with a bit of amber. If you don't have a loupe, I'd give her at least another week. Those buds look like they could still swell up a bit more. Patience is key right now, you're almost there! **Happy Growing Growmie 🌱**

If you see under 50% flower pistils, you can expect her to stop in one or 2 weeks. You know, THC is a dynamic factor, also some part of the weed is older than others. It depends on what effect you like. If you like a body buzz, You will see all the pistils become much more amber coloured, stay till no pistils are left (she will also change the dew in the last week), if you dont like a couchlock, harvest in 1 week latest

Hey there, Every grower will probably tell you something different, and in the end, you'll have your own concept where no one can mess with you 😄 I see the "problem" as the distance of the flowering to the light. The closer the bud gets, the more light it can process, and it grows and ripens accordingly fast or as desired. The further away it is, the size and potency decrease, which in my opinion isn't really noticeable. I've done tests several times and harvested several clones from the same mother plant (in this case, "Amnesia Haze" from RQS) once after 6 weeks and the others after 9 weeks. Flavor-wise, both were very different, with the 6-week one being more fruity and the 9-week one being more earthy. But in terms of effect, both were the same. Both herbs got me excellently stoned. But yeah, nowadays I also check the trichomes, but not on every bud. What is really right or wrong is in your hands and in your green thumb ✌️😉

Anotherb 7-10 days to fully ripen.

You’re looking at the wrong indicator 👍 it’s not the pistils that decide harvest time. The pistils (those white/orange hairs) can stay white pretty long on some strains like Runtz, so don’t wait for all of them to turn amber — that’s not reliable. What really matters are the trichomes (the tiny resin heads): You want ~100% milky/cloudy trichomes Plus about 10–50% amber, depending on the effect you want ~10–20% amber → more uplifting/high ~30–50% amber → more body/sedating From what you’re describing (still lots of white pistils), it sounds like she’s not quite there yet. The fade is normal at week 9, but that alone doesn’t mean she’s ready. Best move: get a jeweler’s loupe with at least 60x magnification — that’ll remove all the guesswork and show you exactly where you’re at. Overall she sounds healthy and on track, just a bit more patience 👌

Looks a bit early, but at the point you take a scope to the trichomes and wait till you see what you prefer... if you don't have preferences yet, then you have to figure that out first, of course. Nyquil makes a few people hyper and most dowsy. How you feel is potentially different than the next person. Trey less / more amber and anything between to figure it out. Sometimes trichomes just don't turn amber until the plant is so overipe, it tastes like shit when you smoke it or even close to dying on the stem. If a plant looks fully ripe for long enough and i don't see any day-to-day changes in trichomes for a while, i take it down regardless. the preflowers are the oldest calyxes. if they are dry and hollow and likely a deep purple, it's probably toward the end of any normal window. try smoking one if it gets like that to see what i mean by over-ripe buds tasting bad. hollowed-out, crispy preflowers will be a slight exaggeration of that.

You check trichomes not pistils