What's A Trichome?

Thanks To Mellowdood for the info and photos.

the most common method for deciding when to harvest is based on the changing colors of pistils, or hairs. most people harvest when at least 2/3 or 3/4 of the pistils have turned orange or red.

if you are fortunate enough to have a loupe such as the radio shack 60-100X mini microscope then you can use another method based on the changing colors of trichomes, or trikes. as the buds reach maximum potency the trike tips change from clear to milky to red/amber. most people harvest when at least half look milky, but if you like a heavy stone you might wait for all milky and some amber trikes, and if you prefer a clear-headed high you might harvest early with only a few milky trikes......but what's a trichome?


a single trike:


a cluster of trikes ... and part of a red pistil:


a field of trikes ... actually this is just the tip of a bud leaf:


zooming out a bit...this photo was taken with a less powerful jeweler's loupe, about 30X:


and a very frosty bud:



i stole those last 2 pics ... thanks greenthumb420