Magnifiers for looking at trichomes

[dutch.lover]

Hey all, my babies are close to harvest time, so Harris and I picked up a magnifier that has an 8x function and a 30x function. the 8x one is the easiest to use, as you just pull out the piece of plastic and look thru it however it's not quite large enough to see the right amount of detail. the 30x is a bitch...you have to look through sorta like a tube so it's really tough to keep still and therefore nearly impossible to look at the trichs long enuff to determine their color.

I was hoping you could tell me what kind of maginifiers you all use, and maybe even post pics so i can see what a good model to use is. This would be very much appreciated! Our buds look awesome and it would really suck to allow their thc to degrade by not using the proper kind of magnifying tool!:smokin:

[GaGrown]

I use 1 of those square 1's with a handle,like the ones used for reading You can see the whole bud and not just a lil' bit of it! You get a nice veiw! I got mine at Walden Books.I saw it and,I had to have it! It was 9.50. One of my better investments! Any large size magnifiying glass will work great for ya!

Ga Grown!

[brookerosebud]

radioshack has these cool little pocket microscopes. i was skeptical at first, 7 bucks for a microscope? come on! must be complete garbage...

but, after finding nothing else, i went with the pocket pal, and WOW!! i've had table top micro's that don't show as much detail!!

but, with these, you have to cut a tiny leaf to put on a flat surface.

radioshack also sells three way magnifyers. not sure of the power, but i know they would work. i like my 60-100x micro, though, so i'm not even going to experiment with the magnifyer.

hope this helps

brooke

[brookerosebud]

pic after a while...

[the yeag]

i have used the handheld magnifier from wallmart ...if you have a good digital camera take a macro pic and then view it on your computer blow it up.

[dutch.lover]

cool cool...another question, i know that buds don't uniformly mature on an entire plant (like some mature sooner), but do the trichomes on a bud mature uniformly? like if i were to snip off a leaf like brooke said, would that be representative of the whole bud? or would i need to snip a few?

[brookerosebud]

that would represent the bud, but not the plant. that's the down side, you have to check several sites to get an overall idea of where they are...

[brookerosebud]

but, the trichs look like mushrooms under these microscopes... and another thing... you can see spider mites before they take over and win. first sign of spider, and out comes the neem and strips...

[dutch.lover]

alright, well i think the 30x part of the microscope that we purchased is designed to look at an object on a flat surface so i will go snip snip and give it a try....

[the yeag]

i looked at your log and estimated what it would look like now...i do not think i am wrong wait another week then snip..sampling to early will not get you high. wasting weed is a sin

[dutch.lover]

ok...i snipped a leaf and looked at it on a flat surface, that worked quite well but it was kinda dark and hard to see. IT TURNS OUT THERE IS A LIGHT on this thing...that little fact seemed to slip Harris's mind....i feel like banging my head against the wall, lol. Turns out, our microscope works GREAT!!! (don't i feel like an idiot, lol).

Results: checked the trichs on the 2 oldest plants, most of them are cloudy, with a couple clear and a couple amber!!!! I'm so excited...time to go flush!!!!!!

[babystarbud]

hi, its probably not much help as i got this in the UK, its from maplin electronics shop, simmilar to radio shack over there i guess...
works really well, ajustable focus 30x-100-x, lets you see the trichs really well but you have to snip a little sample from the plant, its no good using it on the plant because its impossible to keep the thing still enough!!

[brookerosebud]

^^ that's what i'm talking about!

thanx baby star, now i don't have to post a pic:)

[dutch.lover]

yeah that's similar to the one i have (thanks for the pic btw), except mine is only 30x and there isn't an eye piece that pulls out. I'm glad it works so well and I finally figured out how to use it! I've got the bathtub running right now to flush our babes.

[the yeag]

no...dont flush like that......wait!!!!!

[dutch.lover]

what...

[the yeag]

post a pic..i do not think it is ready for all of that

[dutch.lover]

hmm ok, i will go take some pics

[harris7]

The way you tell maturity of plants is by the trichome colour.
We have a very few Amber tricombs. IMO it’s a little late to be flushing.
We flush and they chill out for a bout 10 days, the snip snip.

What can you tell from the pictures as you cannot see the tric’s

[the yeag]

i still want to see a pic i would just leave them alone and feed them str8 h20 for the ten days. dont put them in the tub

[brookerosebud]

mine finish about two weeks after the first ambers are sighted...

[harris7]

i still want to see a pic i would just leave them alone and feed them str8 h20 for the ten days. dont put them in the tub

so you dont flush b4 you harvest? you just feed water (and sugars?)

[dutch.lover]

here are the pics you requested. if we were to just water for 10 days, would we flush thoroughly after that? There are four pics posted, one of each plant.

[attachment=o113677]

[attachment=o113678]

[attachment=o113679]

[attachment=o113680]

[the yeag]

i consider flushing in soil to be, adding as much water as the plants can take the last to weeks. i just moniter the ph

[dutch.lover]

sorry bout the quality (didn't snap pics of entire plant)... the pics don't really do the plants justice at all, i just wanted to snap a few bud pics quickly so you can check out what's goin on.

[the yeag]

looking good...if it was me i would cut the light to 11 hrs and just water them with proper ph'd water..i know this sounds different from everyone but go ahead and snip those broad fan leaves in about five days...you will thank me later .

[dutch.lover]

what's good about snippin the fan leaves, will you share your secret? lol. As for trimming once harvesting happens, i hear that some people cut away all the leaves right away, and then other wait until the buds have tried to do the manicuring. i hear that leaving the leaves on while the buds dry, helps them dry more evenly...i guess i will just have to do some more research and make the decision for myself cause i don't think there is any real consensus out there.

[the yeag]

if you plan on growing it out for 14 more days then in about five cut all those big leaves..with no crystals. the plant no longer needs them. it will improve light to the bud sites air circulation...you can look at your work easier.....i even read that the plant can get so stressed from it that it thinks it is being eaten and tries to cover itself with resin..i have never witnised the last statemnt though...trust the pontiff do it to just one if you do not believe me....or do it to all carefully...and you will thank me.

[harris7]

Ok lets talk the theory behind flushing.
Right, so buds that are full of nutrients and chlorophyll don’t tast good
So, the idea is that you flush the soil to remove the nutes from it, and starve the plant for a week or so. When the plant is starved it will use up all the stored nutes and eat away at some of it’s tissues (using up molecules that don’t taste good when smoked)
We agree right?

So your method is just to feed the plant water. I don’t think there are a lot of nutes in the soil, probably only a little left from the last feeding. So for you the plant gets a little bit of the ferts from the soil but will still use up what it’s got stored and eat away at it’s tissues.
so

Why do you think this is better?

[the yeag]

it is much easier, safer...you dont need to remove your plants...think if you have a scrog grow. just my personel preferance...so are you gonna wack the leaves?

[harris7]

Yea we'll try it. They havent been fed for two days also.

I like to keep my hands clean, i'll get Tony or Vince to Wack them for me
:chainsaw:

[the yeag]

i would not ruin my rep....show more pics after you whack some leaves..dont be afraid to chop most of them...