Wheat Pheno Cannabis: When to Harvest Foxtail Buds (and Reveg Plants)

What is a "wheat pheno"?

"Fenotrigo," literally "wheat pheno," is what Spanish-speaking growers call a cannabis plant whose buds foxtail: instead of stacking into one dense cola, the flowers grow in long, spiky towers of calyxes that look like a fox's tail (or a head of wheat). It's mostly a quirk of shape, not a disease, and it doesn't change how you time the harvest: you still go by the trichomes.

Foxtails form when the calyxes, the small pods where seeds would develop, start clustering and stacking into that elongated tower. Worth noting: the trait isn't harmful to the plant, but it isn't considered a plus either. Buds shaped like this tend to be airier and bulkier than classic nugs.

Foxtailing can be influenced by several factors, including genetics, environmental conditions and how the grow is managed. Some strains are simply more prone to it than others.

In short, foxtails are a striking, odd-looking quirk in how cannabis buds develop, but they don't mean your plant has a problem, and on their own they don't drag down quality or potency. They're just a variation in how buds form during flowering.

When should you harvest a foxtailing plant?

When to harvest a foxtailing plant should come down to how mature the buds are, not whether they've foxtailed. Foxtails can give buds a distinctive look, but they don't tell you when it's time to chop.

Bud maturity is judged mainly by the trichomes, the tiny resin glands that hold the cannabinoids and other compounds you're after. Check them with a jeweler's loupe or a microscope and look at their color and shape.

The best time to harvest a foxtailing plant is when most trichomes are milky or cloudy and a few are starting to turn amber. At that point, cannabinoids are at their peak and you'll get the most flavor and effect.

If you harvest based on foxtails alone, you risk chopping before the buds are fully mature, which can mean less potency and flavor.

So when deciding when to harvest a foxtailing plant (or honestly, any cannabis plant), pay more attention to the trichomes than to the foxtails.

Can you smoke a revegged plant?

Yes, you can smoke a revegged plant, but there are a few things to keep in mind first. Revegging (short for revegetation) is when a cannabis plant that has already flowered goes back into the vegetative stage and starts pushing out new branches and leaves. It happens when the plant has been stressed or when part of its foliage was cut during flowering.

If a plant has revegged, the buds it formed during its first round of flowering will probably be airier and less developed than those on a plant that finished its flowering cycle properly.

Revegging can also shift the cannabinoid and terpene levels in the buds, which can affect flavor, aroma and effects. So weed from a revegged plant may not match the quality of a plant that went through a normal grow cycle.

Another thing to consider: if the plant was stressed or damaged during flowering before reverting to veg, it may have built up unwanted compounds or contaminants that could be a concern when you smoke it.

Bottom line: you can smoke a revegged plant, but expect the end product to be lower quality, and be aware there could be risks with smoking a plant that's been through this kind of process. For better, safer weed, it's always best to grow and harvest following the plant's natural cycles.