The Harvest

Performed at night if possible. A nighttime run will limit
the chances of someone seeing you. Do the most risky parts, such
as carrying freshly cut cannabis where you could easily be spotted by a
passing car, when the police jurisdiction changes shift. This can
help ensure that officials do not spot you, and if a nosey nearby
resident or passcannabisy calls the police, it may take time before a
car is dispatched to investigate. If harvesting at night, use
flashlights sparingly so as not to attract attention, and bring
extra batteries just in case. When harvesting more than a couple of plants
remember a small pocket knife because it makes the night move
quicker. Unless you are planning to use the large fan leaves for
cooking, remove them in the field so they don't take up a lot of
space. If you have more than one variety of cannabis that you are
harvesting bring various bags to put the different strains of buds
in, and I would suggest using backpacks for travel to avoid
suspicion and for easy handling.

When to Harvest

The time to harvest depends on several factors: bud
development, weather, fungus, and thieves. Some pot strains mature
earlier in the fall than others, depending on the latitude of the
globe where the strain originated. You will need to pull Indica
varieties in late September and Columbian varieties in late
October. The weather may also force you to pull early. If there
is a severe freeze heading your way, you are better off not
chancing that the weathermen are wrong and pull at least a majority
of what you have. Another case for pulling early is if weather
conditions are perfect for the fungus to run wild. This will also
force you to pull early. And of course if your site has been found
or is in great danger of being found, you must pull everything to
avoid loosing out on what would otherwise have been a great year.
For instance, if you have a site in a corn field or other temporary
situation, the harvest must occur at a point in time relatively
independent of weather. Also try to find out if and when hunters
start to roam the fields.
One other thing to watch for is frost. Even a mild frost can
damage plants so watching the weather closely in late September and
throughout October is important. If your plants do get damaged by
frost the cannabis is still harvestable so don't give up entirely if you
fail to chop before the first frost. If by some freak chance there
is a frost in early September and the buds are still very small you
may want to allow the damage to occur and then let the buds finish
maturing rather than harvesting a small quantity of premature
buddage. This type of situation is an on the spot call and you
must consider many factors, such as bud size, weather predictions
for the following weeks, strain of weed, location of site, etc.,
before deciding.

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