What they are
Trichomes are microscopic hairs with a little resin head, like pins with a drop on the tip. They cover the buds and the small leaves around them and give them that frosty shine. Inside that resin the THC, the CBD and the terpenes (the aromas) are made. The plant makes them to defend itself from bugs, sun and cold.
How to look at them
With the naked eye you can see the shine, but not the color: you need a 30x to 60x jeweler's loupe or a pocket microscope. Look at the buds (not the small leaves, which ripen earlier) and at several spots on the plant: the top tips ripen before the lower ones.
The three colors
Clear, like glass: the resin is still being made. Harvested this way it's weak.
Milky, white like clouds: the moment of most THC. The effect is more active, heady.
Amber, like honey: part of the THC breaks down into CBN. The effect is heavier, bodily and relaxing, with a little less potency.
When to cut
There is no single right point: it depends on the effect you want. Most growers harvest with almost all milky and 10 to 30 % amber, which is the balance. For something more active, cut before the amber shows up; for something more relaxing, with more amber. The most common mistake is cutting too early.
🎮 Practice it in UnderGrow
The microscope (tap the plant › micro) and the panel's ripeness bar show the same ripeness, from 0 % (flowering starts) to 100 % (overripe). Clear: weak effect. Milky: max potency and active effect, but still fewer grams (~80 % of the grams at the start). Sweet spot, 81 to 85 % ripeness: milky with 10 to 30 % amber, the same as up there; 100 % of the grams, max potency and balanced effect. Lots of amber: relaxing and body-focused, but potency starts to drop. If you want a particular effect (some customers ask for it), harvest before or after the sweet spot.
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