1st Grow - LA Con - 9/19 - Sour Diesel & Afgahni - 9/29

[Aberration]

Re: 1st Grow - LA Con (9/19) - Sour Diesel & Afgahni (9/29)

Dude, those are looking great!

8.i herd when you think there done push another week. so thats what im gonna do this time imma push one more week before harvest. so the plant will get flushes like a motha then let them dry on out all week.

You can be more sure of it with a 60x pocket scope. They're like $10-15. Check the trichome heads. The ones on stalks are the ones that matter. The "surface-mounted" trichs don't matter, nor do the ones that look like pointed hairs. Check the heads of the stalked ones. They start clear, then go cloudy, then they start to amber. Most people will stop at either heavily cloudy or somewhat amber in my experience. I like good and cloudy and bordering on amber myself.

 

[spnrcky]

Re: 1st Grow - LA Con (9/19) - Sour Diesel & Afgahni (9/29)

Dude, those are looking great!



You can be more sure of it with a 60x pocket scope. They're like $10-15. Check the trichome heads. The ones on stalks are the ones that matter. The "surface-mounted" trichs don't matter, nor do the ones that look like pointed hairs. Check the heads of the stalked ones. They start clear, then go cloudy, then they start to amber. Most people will stop at either heavily cloudy or somewhat amber in my experience. I like good and cloudy and bordering on amber myself.

thanks!! i wish i could send u over some lol... but what do i look for, and where do i find it? so far yesterday was the start of week 6 so im thinking i got a few weeks im trying to push for 9 weeks, then the out door im gonna push a little longer. i think im starting to see sign of powdery mold on two of the out door just spots of white stuff on the leaves not looking bad right now but the temperature out here has been cold and raininy lately but its sunny now. it hasnt gotten bad but im gonna let it do its thing so i can see what happens. there starting to stink real good, almost stronger then the indoor. indoor smells real sweet and lots of crystals, looks like i put sugar all over them. this is my first time and idk if im doing good or not lol but there looking good, i cant wait to start smoking all of it and starting next project. now im trying to figure out the best way to cure and dry? so far ive placed a branch without trimming or anything like that for about 2 days then cut the big fan leaves and leaves with the least crystals, then few more days make more trim cuts then just let it set. should i take them off the branch or let them stay on the whole drying process and so far ive only had one trial but about 5 days i let them go b4 i smoke it. they dont smell too strong but smokes nice. whats do u thinks best? so far they smell really really sweet. ive clipped off a branch and dried it out for about 5 days and tried it and its a smooth relaxing feel for the sour "D" im thinking its not done but got a super strong feeling itll be some bomb fire. they smell real sweet im thinking its the molasses.

 

[Aberration]

Re: 1st Grow - LA Con (9/19) - Sour Diesel & Afgahni (9/29)

It sounds like you have a good feel for it.

... but what do i look for, and where do i find it?

Do you have a local grow shop? If so, tell them you need a pocket scope. Or go to Radio Shack (I guess they just call it The Shack now) and ask for a pocket scope. They will likely know. If the guys at radio shack ask what for, tell them you have decided to collect coins and paper money and need a 60x scope. If the guys at the grow shop ask, you may be in the wrong grow shop.

Or do you mean what do you look at on the plant? That would be the "crystals". They are little glands that produce cannabinoids (for high), terpenes and terpinoids (for taste/smell) called trichomes. The gland product goes into little spherical sacs at the end of the stalks and it all looks like a little transparent ball-topped mushroom at first. The heads will start clear and will transmit light at some angles so as to appear sparkly. When the plant is getting mature they will start to cloud up. When they are starting to break down they start turning amber. Ideally you catch them right as they transition from cloudy to amber as that is when they are likely most potent, but it's also a taste thing. Cut too early and you get a screaming up high that doesn't last long and may be overshadowed by a headache. Too late and it's sleepy time bud, or it gives you a headache and you feel vaguely crappy. But there is range in there to play with.

Pay attention to how long plants take to mature to your liking. Maybe keep notes if you dare. Then after a few of the same strain have been done, you can get an idea for how long that strain needs to go (as long as you are consistent and there are no setbacks during bloom). Once you know a strain's maturity time, you can schedule them. I find it helps immensely to have a good idea of when they will need to come down.

i think im starting to see sign of powdery mold on two of the out door just spots of white stuff on the leaves not looking bad right now but the temperature out here has been cold and raininy lately but its sunny now. it hasnt gotten bad but im gonna let it do its thing so i can see what happens.

I don't know what to do for powdery mildew outdoors in bloom. In veg you could burn sulfur, but I don't think that's an option in bloom. You kinda have to wait and see I think. If you wait until the bud is ready at least some of it may be smoke-able. If you take it too early, none of it is any good. I think you can try to cut it out as you go, but I suspect it would be easy to just stir up more spores in the air and compound the problem.

Anyone else know this one? You could check the 420 mag grow help.

now im trying to figure out the best way to cure and dry? so far ive placed a branch without trimming or anything like that for about 2 days then cut the big fan leaves and leaves with the least crystals, then few more days make more trim cuts then just let it set. should i take them off the branch or let them stay on the whole drying process and so far ive only had one trial but about 5 days i let them go b4 i smoke it. they don't smell too strong but smokes nice. whats do u thinks best?

Here's what I do. Take it for what it's worth:

When you are ready to harvest, cut the branches from the plant and hang them somewhere dark and not too breezy. You can trim them green or after they are dry - it's up to you. Try to get them to the point that the stems break instead of bend at about 6-8 days. Dry it too fast and it will be harsh. Dry it too slow and it may mildew. Keep the humidity about 60% if you can. That is drying.

Next you strip the buds off. I use the trimming scissors (Fiskars - spring loaded ones with the short narrow cutters and grey handles, in the sewing section) to strip buds off the stems as well as regular trimming duties. Minimize stem, but cut too close and you start to break up the bud. I cut them off into large plastic bowls, but glass would be better.

I add a step I have not really heard a lot about, but it serves me well so I'll share it. I do a step I call "homogenization". The term means roughly 'making everything equal or the same'. I use it to even out the drying. I put all my bud in large bowls or plastic containers with airtight lids. Rubbermaid makes a rectangular plastic food container that is 2.5 gallons - they work great. I can put about 1/2 lb in one and it has a couple inches of air at the top.

I will open it and take a smell immediately. I do this once a day. I'm smelling for the damp plant smell to go away, and I don't want to smell hay, either. That smell means it's not dry enough and needs extra drying. But normally, I will gently turn the buds to expose new ones and let it sit open for a few minutes. That lets the excess moisture leave. Then re-lid and put it back in the dark. After 2-5 days (to taste) I check to see if it is smoke-able without being harsh or too damp.

The bigger buds will hold in more moisture than the little ones and will take longer to dry properly. By homogenizing, I'm really just letting the large and small buds mix together. Then as the larger ones continue to give off water vapor, the small ones are kept from drying out too much. This lets the "dry" even out among all the buds. Then when you start testing, you take from large-ish buds. If they are right, it is all right, because it has been homogenized.

The reason I homogenize is that it prevents different jars from having different moisture content. If I jar immediately after stripping the stems, some jars that are dominated by bigger buds will still be too moist when others are just fine. By evening the moisture among large batches of buds, I make all the bud the same. Now when I cure, they all finish within a day or so.

So then on to curing. I use glass mason jars. At my volumes (6-12 oz per plant) I use 1 quart and 2 quart jars. Put the buds in the jars but leave 2 or 3 inches at the top. If you weigh, I often find that 1 ounce is perfect for a 1 quart jar, and 3 oz for a 2 quart jar. Otherwise just eyeball it. Keep them somewhere dark and cool. Every day for 3-4 days open the jars, smell them immediately, and then let them sit open for 15 minutes. Then close them up and put them back. That's "burping the jars".

After 3-4 days, you can change to every other day. You are smelling it to make sure it's not too damp too long, and to know when it is cured. If it smells wetter than last time or wetter than it should, dump it in a big bowl and let it dry for a while and put it back in a jar. Ideally a new clean dry one is best, but not necessary. As for know when it is done, when it stops smelling like a plant and starts smelling floral (or whatever the dominant smell for the strain is) I usually stop burping the jars. Maybe once more a week later, just to be sure.

After that, keep it sealed, dark and cool and it will improve flavor and smell for weeks and last months. Eventually, if you grow faster than you smoke, it will get old and you will want to toss it. The cannabinoids degrade in a cascade and eventually it is all too degraded and there's no high to be had. At that point you might as well be smoking parsley. SO smoke it while it's good. Often the cure will peak after 2-3 months in my opinion, but I'm no great connoisseur and my sense of taste and smell may be off.

Technically, it can be enjoyed as soon as it's dry. How far you go after that is really up to you and what you feel is necessary. I'm sure lots of commercial growers sell it as soon as it's more or less dry. Some even sooner. I still remember what it was like buying on the street. I don't miss it. So many commercial growers cut corners.


Wow. Sorry to write a book. I'm stoned-er than I thought. If I covered stuff you already knew I blame the buzz.

 

[spnrcky]

Re: 1st Grow - LA Con (9/19) - Sour Diesel & Afgahni (9/29)

It sounds like you have a good feel for it.



Do you have a local grow shop? If so, tell them you need a pocket scope. Or go to Radio Shack (I guess they just call it The Shack now) and ask for a pocket scope. They will likely know. If the guys at radio shack ask what for, tell them you have decided to collect coins and paper money and need a 60x scope. If the guys at the grow shop ask, you may be in the wrong grow shop.

Or do you mean what do you look at on the plant? That would be the "crystals". They are little glands that produce cannabinoids (for high), terpenes and terpinoids (for taste/smell) called trichomes. The gland product goes into little spherical sacs at the end of the stalks and it all looks like a little transparent ball-topped mushroom at first. The heads will start clear and will transmit light at some angles so as to appear sparkly. When the plant is getting mature they will start to cloud up. When they are starting to break down they start turning amber. Ideally you catch them right as they transition from cloudy to amber as that is when they are likely most potent, but it's also a taste thing. Cut too early and you get a screaming up high that doesn't last long and may be overshadowed by a headache. Too late and it's sleepy time bud, or it gives you a headache and you feel vaguely crappy. But there is range in there to play with.

Pay attention to how long plants take to mature to your liking. Maybe keep notes if you dare. Then after a few of the same strain have been done, you can get an idea for how long that strain needs to go (as long as you are consistent and there are no setbacks during bloom). Once you know a strain's maturity time, you can schedule them. I find it helps immensely to have a good idea of when they will need to come down.



I don't know what to do for powdery mildew outdoors in bloom. In veg you could burn sulfur, but I don't think that's an option in bloom. You kinda have to wait and see I think. If you wait until the bud is ready at least some of it may be smoke-able. If you take it too early, none of it is any good. I think you can try to cut it out as you go, but I suspect it would be easy to just stir up more spores in the air and compound the problem.

Anyone else know this one? You could check the 420 mag grow help.



Here's what I do. Take it for what it's worth:

When you are ready to harvest, cut the branches from the plant and hang them somewhere dark and not too breezy. You can trim them green or after they are dry - it's up to you. Try to get them to the point that the stems break instead of bend at about 6-8 days. Dry it too fast and it will be harsh. Dry it too slow and it may mildew. Keep the humidity about 60% if you can. That is drying.

Next you strip the buds off. I use the trimming scissors (Fiskars - spring loaded ones with the short narrow cutters and grey handles, in the sewing section) to strip buds off the stems as well as regular trimming duties. Minimize stem, but cut too close and you start to break up the bud. I cut them off into large plastic bowls, but glass would be better.

I add a step I have not really heard a lot about, but it serves me well so I'll share it. I do a step I call "homogenization". The term means roughly 'making everything equal or the same'. I use it to even out the drying. I put all my bud in large bowls or plastic containers with airtight lids. Rubbermaid makes a rectangular plastic food container that is 2.5 gallons - they work great. I can put about 1/2 lb in one and it has a couple inches of air at the top.

I will open it and take a smell immediately. I do this once a day. I'm smelling for the damp plant smell to go away, and I don't want to smell hay, either. That smell means it's not dry enough and needs extra drying. But normally, I will gently turn the buds to expose new ones and let it sit open for a few minutes. That lets the excess moisture leave. Then re-lid and put it back in the dark. After 2-5 days (to taste) I check to see if it is smoke-able without being harsh or too damp.

The bigger buds will hold in more moisture than the little ones and will take longer to dry properly. By homogenizing, I'm really just letting the large and small buds mix together. Then as the larger ones continue to give off water vapor, the small ones are kept from drying out too much. This lets the "dry" even out among all the buds. Then when you start testing, you take from large-ish buds. If they are right, it is all right, because it has been homogenized.

The reason I homogenize is that it prevents different jars from having different moisture content. If I jar immediately after stripping the stems, some jars that are dominated by bigger buds will still be too moist when others are just fine. By evening the moisture among large batches of buds, I make all the bud the same. Now when I cure, they all finish within a day or so.

So then on to curing. I use glass mason jars. At my volumes (6-12 oz per plant) I use 1 quart and 2 quart jars. Put the buds in the jars but leave 2 or 3 inches at the top. If you weigh, I often find that 1 ounce is perfect for a 1 quart jar, and 3 oz for a 2 quart jar. Otherwise just eyeball it. Keep them somewhere dark and cool. Every day for 3-4 days open the jars, smell them immediately, and then let them sit open for 15 minutes. Then close them up and put them back. That's "burping the jars".

After 3-4 days, you can change to every other day. You are smelling it to make sure it's not too damp too long, and to know when it is cured. If it smells wetter than last time or wetter than it should, dump it in a big bowl and let it dry for a while and put it back in a jar. Ideally a new clean dry one is best, but not necessary. As for know when it is done, when it stops smelling like a plant and starts smelling floral (or whatever the dominant smell for the strain is) I usually stop burping the jars. Maybe once more a week later, just to be sure.

After that, keep it sealed, dark and cool and it will improve flavor and smell for weeks and last months. Eventually, if you grow faster than you smoke, it will get old and you will want to toss it. The cannabinoids degrade in a cascade and eventually it is all too degraded and there's no high to be had. At that point you might as well be smoking parsley. SO smoke it while it's good. Often the cure will peak after 2-3 months in my opinion, but I'm no great connoisseur and my sense of taste and smell may be off.

Technically, it can be enjoyed as soon as it's dry. How far you go after that is really up to you and what you feel is necessary. I'm sure lots of commercial growers sell it as soon as it's more or less dry. Some even sooner. I still remember what it was like buying on the street. I don't miss it. So many commercial growers cut corners.


Wow. Sorry to write a book. I'm stoned-er than I thought. If I covered stuff you already knew I blame the buzz.

MAn good looking out on the info. Im starting to see the tops of one of my plants hairs look pretty amber and theres some throughout the rest of my plant so given your info its looking like it will be time for harvest soon. Im liking the let the whole tree dry then cut the branches then buds. now when you trim do you do it all the first day or do u wait for branches orr??? im thinking im gonna do both. now hers a good question for ya. when you cut for harvest do u cut at night before the sun comes or right before bed right when the lights when out? i know the sugars move up and down, and thats partly why they have to hang upside down when u smoke it. but im not sure if there in the stalk while suns up or down? thanks for the info my man this all helps a bunch. ill keep updating pics, gonna have bout 2 more weeks til i cut maybe less.

 

[spnrcky]

Re: 1st Grow - LA Con (9/19) - Sour Diesel & Afgahni (9/29)

okay here are some recent pic there from weeks 5-7. getting buds now!!

 

[420 Girl]

How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info!

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

I am moving this to abandoned journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

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