The Trichomes of the Marijuana Plant.
Hydroponics Blanes, as always, makes things easy for you. Here, we explain everything essential you need to know about cannabis trichomes—whether to know when to harvest or to better choose the desired effect. All of this in a very concise article. Quality just one click away.
What matters about trichomes
What really matters about trichomes is the resin inside them, as it contains THC, THCV, and CBD.
These three natural compounds are responsible for the psychoactive or relaxing effects and also offer medicinal benefits. Let’s not forget the terpenes, which are responsible for the flavor and aroma of the flower.
Knowing when to harvest
Trichomes are also the key indicator for determining when to harvest the plant. Based on their color, you’ll get one effect or another—so depending on what you’re aiming for, you’ll harvest earlier or later.
To harvest cannabis based on trichomes, you’ll need a microscope.
Do you have a microscope?
At www.growshopweb.com you’ll find affordable microscopes with 60–100x magnification—perfect for this purpose. Once you have the microscope, all you need to do is cut a small piece of a leaf and examine the trichomes, or place the microscope directly on the flower.
The right time to harvest marijuana is when the trichomes begin to turn amber.
You shouldn’t wait until half of them are amber—once most are cloudy and a few have turned amber, it’s time to harvest.
In the image below, you can see the stages the trichome goes through and their associated effects.
There are 3 types of trichomes on the marijuana plant:
1 – The ones with a stalk and a head (lollipop-shaped).
These can be seen on mature flowers and pistils, as well as on the small leaves coming directly from the flower.
2 – The ones with only a stalk but no head.
These are visible on the stem or distant leaves. They contain no resin, meaning no THC, THCV, or CBD, although they are still sticky. These trichomes serve as the first line of defense against pests or threats.
3 – The ones without a stalk but with a head, shaped like a nearly perfect rounded droplet.
They appear on the underside of the leaves. They contain very little resin, which means very low amounts of THC, THCV, and CBD. Their primary role is to protect the flower.
Can trichomes be increased?
Physically increasing the number of marijuana plant trichomes is impossible—but there are cannabis fertilizers.
We can feed the plant with specific fertilizers that stimulate the production of more trichomes, thereby increasing the amount of resin—but not the percentage of THC, THCV, or CBD.
This is because those three compounds are genetically determined in the plant and will not increase under any circumstances—though resin production can.