My plants have been flowering now for (x) weeks now. How can I tell when they’re ready to harvest?
Deciding when to harvest can be particularly difficult for inexperienced growers. We all know that it’s the THC in cannabis that produces the intense high. There are however, two other cannabinoids thought to interact with THC and affect the intensity and duration of that buzz. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the biosynthetic precursor to THC. Cannabinol (CBN) is the immediate byproduct of the degradation of THC. Both are believed to increase the depressant effect of THC, while decreasing its excitant and euphoric properties. Throughout the flowering cycle, CBD is being synthesized into THC, which eventually begins to degrade into CBN. What you’re looking for is the point at which THC is maximized, the point at which the amount of CBD that is becoming THC decreases and becomes equal to the amount of THC that is degrading into CBN. This is known as the point of diminishing returns. Without a laboratory, you can only make a best guess. If you know the variety or have been growing for a while, you p
