It’s not easy to be patient with your garden when it’s filled with huge buds, but knowing how to tell when buds are ready to harvest is of utmost importance. If you harvest before the buds reach full maturity, the potency and yield of your crop will not reach its potential. On the other hand, If you wait too long, potency can actually decrease. As the bud becomes overripe the THCA begins to degrade into CBL and CBN.