@JoeCrowe That is totally radical! Where/how did you learn that this is coloration from carbohydrates? Iām fascinated by this!
Iāll fight ChatGPT for you when you give me the links to back up the carbohydrate. I like to correct Mr. GPT when I can:
I"m just catching up on this thread (perhaps I should run Chat GPT on it 
), and it sounds like judging from trichome coloration or ambering is not a good way to test maturity or ripeness, rather, number/size of heads? And perhaps aroma?
@Zanzibar, I think it will be more complicated than using any one or two variables. Differences between strains/phenos, indica/sativa, light/heat/stress, all seem to impact trichome gland appearance and quality and such. Iām only starting to get a jist of the various inputs to the āblack boxā that weāre attempting to explore here!
LOL @ āWho has the highest quality posts?ā
lemme dig for a bit, it was a scientific paper I referenced a gazillion times. I might have it kicking around here on my computer.
EDIT:
THE PROPAGATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF CANNABIS SATIVA AS A PYTOPHARMACEUTICAL.pdf lemme find a link.
ā https://extractionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/THE-PROPAGATION-CHARACTERISATION-AND-OPTIMISATION-OF-CANNABIS-SATIVA-L-AS-A-PHYTOPHARMACEUTICAL.pdf
Link. Readā¦real carefully 
thatās my warning.
@Zanzibar
I feel @JoeCrowe may be on to something real.
He has stated the number of trichomes can be determined in veg.
I wonder if this number is fixed throughout the plantās life or can this number be increased?
Some say the size of the trichome head can be relative to the cultivar also.
So that may not be the best indication.
I feel the wrinkling of the head is a sign to start watching for max ripeness.
If you are looking at the trichās they would be getting a cloudy look.
We must determine if the cloudy look is due to the ballon like structure getting wrinkled or is it the oil changing in transparency?
The trichome morphology is definitely genetic.
Secondary metabolites (trichomes) are linked to the protection of the plant - both biotic and abiotic stress (to protect it from desease and pests and environmental stressors like UV and drought, for example)
Well everything the plant is, is genetic. How do you know itās color stained carbohydrates??
This document describes carbohydrates being delivered to the secretory cells but does not attribute any pigmentation to those carbohydrates. What were you gleaning?
I keep telling myself āIām gona let a plant go full amber on this growā but I never do 
lol
If Iām being honest, Iām a rather impatient grower & often chop my plants on the earlier side. I prefer quick turnarounds over heavy yields. But at the end of the day, I am happy with my harvests & thatās all that matters.
yep, thatās the section there it says:
āIt would now appear that these flavonoid-pigmented structures wereā¦the vessels carrying carbohydrate and water to the secretory cells.ā the ā¦ omitting the part about it not being the cells. So essentially that pigmentation is where the carbohydrates are.
Excellent! Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page 
Inside the secretory cells within the trichome cap.
Roger that.
Iām reading that the pigment is due to flavinoids (aka plant pigments) present in the cells which form the vessels which carry carbohydrates.
I am not reading that the carbohydrates are pigmented.
I mean, I read carefully per your advice and came to a different conclusion based on the text of that study. What do you think?
Yes, the flavinoid pigmented cells are vessels which carry carbs, not pigmented carbs.
Eh, depends on if youāre a pattern matching algorithm instead of a human being. The color comes from the flavonoids where the carbohydrates are located. So the carbohydrates are colored? Anyways, itās the same anthocyanins responsible for colors in the plant right? Except definitely located in the trichome cap itself.
Hereās one where there is no color.
LMAO canāt wait to tell my wife thereās carbohydrates in weed lol
For sure: All life utilizes sugar for energy. LOL
Good read! Do keep this one going!! So trichome development is genetic, that means all these little tricks we read about here to increase production are null and void? No matter what we do, the amount of micro mushrooms, and the smells are going to be what they are?
I suspect it could be said trichome density is genetic.
I suspect they are there on the leaf surface and some grow taller and some donāt.
If we get more to grow taller we get what may be referred to as increased trichome production.
This is just a guess.
But
I am pretty sure I have seen an increase in trichome production with a tiny cheap scope when I tested MeJA.
@JoeCrowe may wish to comment.
These are his revolutionary findings after all. 
I do know those can be changed with MeJA as well.
I suspect smells may be related to the environment at least in part.
