When cultivating cannabis for personal use or CBD production, harvesting hemp at the correct time and growth stage is crucial. The presence of mildew or mould will lower the value of your hemp, so it is essential to harvest promptly.
When to harvest hemp
Your buds will give you visual clues to indicate when to harvest. When the trichomes on the hemp bud shift from white to milky white, this is an indication that it may be time to harvest. Hemp for seed production is ready to harvest when the seed bracts have dried and the seeds are exposed.
This might be good enough if you’re growing for your own consumption, but professional growers would likely need a more scientific approach. That’s where weekly CBD and THC testing comes in. As a professional, you must ensure that your products are compliant, consistent, safe, effective, and predictable. In-house testing needs to be an essential part of your standard operating procedures.
Weather will also play a role in when to harvest your hemp. The best season during which to harvest hemp is autumn. In the colder areas of South Africa, it’s a good idea to harvest a few days after a frost, as the frost will assist the drying process organically.
How to harvest hemp
The method used for harvesting hemp is determined by the use to which the hemp will be put. The standard method of harvesting hemp for seed is to cut it by hand, but it can also be harvested mechanically. Manual harvesting can get expensive due to labour costs and time; therefore, an ideal middle ground is using a gentle hemp harvester.
The HHHarvester gently strips the plant’s flowers and severs the stems in one pass, employing a patented stripping mechanism that collects flowers as if they were hand-picked. The flowers can be collected in a bag or container, while the hemp stalks are left in the field for retting. Depending on plant maturity at the time of harvesting, it’s also possible to shake out the seeds, completing a triple yield.
It also brings dependability and unique customer engagement to the critical process of putting specialized hemp harvesting and processing equipment to work for your operation. With a basic two-unit model, this system opens the door for small and medium-sized farms to gain efficiency, expand cropland and farmable acreage, and get an edge in overall competitiveness.
Make sure you’re harvesting your hemp in the most efficient way to ensure your best yield yet.
