Staggered growth and harvesting dilemma...

[Vagabondrobb]

Hey guys!

Looking for a little advice. Long story short I had to cut short my grow and ended up sticking a plant (auto northern lights) in early vegetative stage into my greenhouse, really not expecting it to survive (I live in Scotland and the temp fluctuated between -2 and 32 degree C during the first week she was in there). She didn't grow much to begin with but as it got warmer and had a few good weeks of sun (and long scottish midsummer days) she took off! She is small but compact, and a bit of mess I will admit - but a survivor!

The issue is that when the sun hit two new stems shot up either side of the main stem and quickly outgrew it, and now the central stem is very nearing harvesting time, while the two newbies are a way off yet.

My question is, can I risk harvesting the buds from the central stem before they over-ripen? And if so, should I just remove them individually or take out the whole stem?

Many thanks in advance!

Ps sorry the pics are the wrong orientation - nothing obvious I can see to fix (they are the right way up everywhere else!)

The plant

Central stem buds

Newbie buds

[GEORGE]

I don't see anything there that is even close to harvest.

[Vagabondrobb]

I don't see anything there that is even close to harvest.

I’m not an experienced grower. The pistils are more than half red/brown and the trichromes seem milky rather than translucent under a magnifier, which is how I am judging how ripe the buds are. They don’t look like they’re bursting but I presumed that’s because it’s been growing in far from ideal conditions - but I am making assumptions with limited experience and knowledge.

Saying that I guess I will have the same harvesting predicament when the buds are ready for harvest - the stems really are very far apart in terms of how far along they are.

Cheers

[GEORGE]

[riot]

How old is the plant?

It looks like it has started flowering for about 2-3 weeks.

You have at least 3-4 weeks to go.....at least.

[Vagabondrobb]

How old is the plant?

It looks like it has started flowering for about 2-3 weeks.

You have at least 3-4 weeks to go.....at least.

It’s around 14 weeks old. It’s been flowering for around 5 weeks. I’ve also noticed today that all the leaves in the central stem are starting to go rusty - not fungal. The leaves on newer outer stems are fine, but have only started flowering recently.

Cheers