Trichomes on Cannabis

What are they? How to they grow? When to Harvest? All your answers

Hey there and welcome (back) to Free the Tree!

In today’s article we’re going to cover everything there is to know about trichomes on Weed.
These little glands that appear on the flowers and near leaves start appearing during the second half of the flowering stage are very important to understand! This is where the THC is produced, meaning that when you know how to “read” them you’ll be able to harvest your marijuana with precise timing! You’ll even be able to decide to only harvest some sections of the plant and wait for the others to catch up.
Here’s what we’re going to cover

Trichomes on Marijuana – Table of Content

Function of Trichomes on Marijuana

In the reign of plants, Trichomes have a wide range of uses, from attracting insects in carnivorous plants, to protection from heat and pests on a wide range of plants, trichomes are a little like the “secret” power that each specie of plant has developed to survive.

Within the Cannabis species trichomes are mainly used as a defense system.
When the female Weed plant starts to produce the flowers the potency of the smell is much stronger. In the wild that smell attracts insects endangering the plant and the flower makes the plant more vulnerable to UV rays.
With all these extra dangers for a female Marijuana plant with time they had to develop a defense… hello trichomes!

With their bitter taste and strong aroma, trichomes serve as a deterrent for animals and renders the plant unpalatable.
On the insect side, their stickiness makes the buds much less accessible and is used as a trap. The insect lands on the leaf near the bud and cannot move around since they are stuck by the trichomes.

Parallel to all of this, the trichomes also protect the plant from damaging winds and some varieties of fungus that can grow on weed.

As you can see the trichomes are essential to the well being of the female cannabis plant and thus to this specie of plant.

Trichomes on Marijuana | Recap

Let’s recap what trichomes are, which types exist and what their use is in the development of Cannabis

How does Marijuana produce trichomes

Coming soon

When do Trichomes start to appear?

Generally it is said that trichomes appear during the flowering stage, which is True but only for the Capitate Stalked Trichome, the most interesting one since it contains most cannabinoids and specifically THC and CBD.

In reality, the Bulbous trichomes start appearing all over the plant during the vegetative stage, but these trichomes are generally disregarded since they’re invisible to the naked eye and do not contain any cannabinoids.

Stages of development of Trichomes on weed

The different types of trichomes appear during different stages of the cycle of life of Marijuana. As we said in the previous section some even appear during the vegetation stage, although they do not contain many cannabinoïds.

In this section we will focus on the most interesting ones to us, the Capitate Stalked Trichome. This is the biggest, most developed and most potent trichomes of the 3, making it the one to follow in order to determine the right moment to harvest your plant.

Let’s get into the different stages of development of this trichome:

How to increase Trichomes production

Coming soon

Production of THC and CBD in the Trichomes

As you we’ve said in the previous sections of this article, the production of Cannabinoids mostly happens within the trichomes and this especially the case for THC and CBD.

Once the glands within the trichomes have fully formed, meaning that the stem and the head are present, the glands will start to produce THC, gradually raising the levels in the plant.

Once the glands have produced what they could in THC the levels will be at their highest. At this point, if looking under a magnifying glass, you’ll see that the interior of the head is no longer clear but has shifted to a milky color.
Here the plant is at its highest levels of potency in THC and the trichomes will start to deteriorate.

You can see the deterioration of the trichomes since they start showing an golden/amber color. During this process, the THC levels start to drop leaving place for a new compound… CBD!

You can play with this to adjust the high produced by the plant, but that’s for the next section of the article 😉

How to use Trichomes for harvest timing

Trichomes are the most effective way to know when to harvest you Marijuana plant since you’re literally observing the THC and CBD levels within your marijuana plant.

The specific timing is really up to you, since a different timing will impact the effects that the plant will have once cured.
For example, a sativa plant that is harvested at a full THC potency will have a strong “upper” high, whereas the same plant that would be harvested a little bit later, when the trichomes have started to deteriorate and the CBD levels have risen the high will be more “chill”.

In order for you to have all the information, here’s a recap of the THC and CBD levels at each stage of the trichomes development

Basically, regardless of what high you’re looking for you want to wait at least when all the trichomes have turned Milky. At that point, the plant has its highest potency in THC with their glands working at full regime.
After that moment, the trichomes and THC glands will start to deteriorate, which will reduce the THC levels, but the plant will start to produce CBD.

Pictures of Trichomes in each stage

In order to illustrate a bit more what you can see under your magnifying glass here’s a couple pictures of the trichomes in each stage.

Stage 1

Forming & Formed clear trichomes
image credit to givingtreeaz.com

Stage 2

All Trichomes nice and milky
image credit to dabcanada.com

Stage 3

Trichomes are mostly Amber
image credit to cannabisindustryinstitute.com