First time grower - Outdoor - Harvest status opinions please

[HemiSync]

Good luck with your harvest. Once you get a couple under your belt you will wonder why you ever worried so much. Just have to find the best technique that works with your situation and environment.

 

[4Dutchess]

Zafu, I think what the bags do is slow it down and keep it dark. I think the reason I first bagged is to make room on the strings for more bud.
Just clean out your garage real good. Run a yard blower, clean it out and should be fine. Where Im at its 10% hum outside and I dont run a hum. Maybe a small fan for circulation but maybe not that either.
This year I might adjust it to 5 days hang and 5 days bag. They are kinda dry with two 7 day rituals.
You can trim anytime its best for you.
Namaste

 

[Zafu]

4Dutchess - I can understand if you have 10% humidity your hanging plants are drying on the faster side "I'd guess" and hence why you might want the bag method prior to jars. My thinking was that since I purchased a good humidifier, I could actually control the humidity in my garage (awesome idea to blow it out). So if the humidity in my garage is about 55%, I would think that would allow the hanging plants to go 7-10 days or until the stems and buds feel ready for the jars. Am I correct, that you are using bags to better control the humidity and drying pace and if so, do you really think that's necessary if during the hanging phase the humidity is controlled as I've outlined?

I'm getting real excited as I'm nearing harvest on my Vanilla Kush. I'm thinking this weekend I'll harvest one of the three and the other two over the next week or so depending on how the Trichomes look. The Acapulco Gold and Laughing Buddha require a lot more flowering time. I'll be happy if they are both ready by Halloween. /fingers crossed. Anyway, here's some updated shots from this morning.

Vanilla Kush - Trichome shot today (Could get a better shot if I keep trying but it's not easy)

Vanilla Kush Bud

Laughing Buddha Bud

Laughing Buddha Top Cola

Acapulco Gold Top

Namaste,

Zafu

 

[HemiSync]

That's some pretty colas right there. Good growing.

 

[4Dutchess]

Paper bags necessary? No. Whats it do? I dont know.
All I know is that its a great feeling when multiple people say you cured perfect!! I will stick with it!!
Namaste

 

[Zafu]

Thanks HemiSync. Thanks in large part to this forum, I'm loving my first grow and the genetics I selected.

4Dutchess - Right on. I was genuinely just trying to understand. I'm a noobie at this but from all I've read it seems reasonable that the best cure is a slow steady one and if one can avoid any material that may draw out or put in flavors, that's best; hence why in a perfect situation Hanging straight to Glass seems preferred. Clearly, most of our environments aren't perfect.

On a side note, I see rain predicted for this weekend. When I started this project I bought a frame to place the plants in assuming when rains came I could put the clear roof of the sunhouse on; but that's not remotely possible given the height of the plants. From your experiences, do you think just shaking the plants after the rain is sufficient to minimize the chance of mold, or any other suggestions?

For those Vanilla Kush I was planning to harvest about then, seems like an awesome time to harvest, just after a rain and perhaps not even need to bud wash since they are pretty clean to begin with. I have been planning to Bud Wash and with 11 outdoor 6' to 11' plants, wouldn't mind having to skip that step for a few of them if that's reasonable. Thoughts?

 

[DrZiggy]

Thanks HemiSync. Thanks in large part to this forum, I'm loving my first grow and the genetics I selected.

4Dutchess - Right on. I was genuinely just trying to understand. I'm a noobie at this but from all I've read it seems reasonable that the best cure is a slow steady one and if one can avoid any material that may draw out or put in flavors, that's best; hence why in a perfect situation Hanging straight to Glass seems preferred. Clearly, most of our environments aren't perfect.

On a side note, I see rain predicted for this weekend. When I started this project I bought a frame to place the plants in assuming when rains came I could put the clear roof of the sunhouse on; but that's not remotely possible given the height of the plants. From your experiences, do you think just shaking the plants after the rain is sufficient to minimize the chance of mold, or any other suggestions?

For those Vanilla Kush I was planning to harvest about then, seems like an awesome time to harvest, just after a rain and perhaps not even need to bud wash since they are pretty clean to begin with. I have been planning to Bud Wash and with 11 outdoor 6' to 11' plants, wouldn't mind having to skip that step for a few of them if that's reasonable. Thoughts?

shaking the tree will definitely help remove a lot of the H2O.
if you can get a standup fan blowing in the greenhouse...

 

[HemiSync]

That's a lot of plant to dry. I envy you for the quantity but not the work involved.

Shaking will help and DrZiggy's fan idea would be a big help. I have never dried more than 1 or 2 outdoor beasts and can only imagine the amount of humidity that will create in an enclosed space. So definitely want to have good air flow.

 

[Zafu]

That's a lot of plant to dry. I envy you for the quantity but not the work involved.

Shaking will help and DrZiggy's fan idea would be a big help. I have never dried more than 1 or 2 outdoor beasts and can only imagine the amount of humidity that will create in an enclosed space. So definitely want to have good air flow.

Thanks HemiSync. As it's my first grow, really wasn't sure all 11 would make it until the end. Given it's three different genetics, no way will each be ready the same time, which will help. :surrender: Even with each type, likely harvest those plants at different times too. Never really considered the work required at the end. I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make it enjoyable

 

[HemiSync]

Looks like you are well on your way to a spectacular harvest. I suggest getting a good sativa buzz on, putting on the headphones, and start trimming. I want all your fan leaves for juicing. That's one thing you don't get a lot of with autoflowers.

 

[Zafu]

It's supposed to rain Sunday (4 days) /fingers crossed, and thinking I'll harvest Monday morning, at least one of the three Vanilla Kush plants, if not more. Just checking in with how this all looks to you. To me, it looks like 5 days from now won't be too early from all I've learned here. The buds are nicely swelled, pistols mostly red, very sticky and pungent.

On September 9th I started this thread and most thought by what you could tell, I had 2-3 weeks to go. This Monday would make it 3 weeks, 2 days, so thinking you guys were spot on. What you think?

This is the Vanilla Kush Bud shot from 9-9-2016

Vanilla Kush Bud "Today" 9-28-2016

Trichs from Vanilla Kush bud (Photo date is actually 9-28-16. Need to fix time stamp)

If any of you think I'm now waiting too long, please let me know. I can always harvest one now, 2nd one Monday and so on.

Thank you.

Zafu

 

[HemiSync]

I always go by the trichs, find the percentage of cloudy to amber you like and you can almost always repeat your results just by scoping the trichs. Just remember the second biggest mistake new growers seem to make is harvest too early I personally like lots of amber trichs like 25%+ so I would say you are not harvesting too late, but that's me.

 

[Weekender]

Not knowing where you are, but I am here in the Midwest, USA we are still a few weeks out from harvest. The farmers corn crops are just starting to dry with lots of green in them, the soybean harvest is started with farmers moving to harvesting corn after beans are in. Most of the corn is still green but turning brown, corn moisture is around 20% and at 14 % they pick so they do not need extra expense of drying the corn. So we have some time. A friend went out this week and harvested one plant. I was able to see it and there were very few amber tri's that I could see. So glad it was not a big one but he did get some pretty nugget's and are in the bin. We are supposed to get a few more inches of rain this week and we have had a inch already. The humidity is around 90 % outside, 65% in my basement. When the cold front clears we will get the humidity down to around 50% which is perfect.
I am about to go on lockdown, no company, oils scent warmer full bore on, shut the lights off, cause it is going to stink round here. Fuck it stay out anyway. For 3 days it is going to be bad, for 7 days it is going to stink the whole house, probably out to the stop sign, keep out, after that manageable with more oil scent warmers, incense, live skunk(animal). I am looking forward to it. Half, Royal Queen, Special Kush and half Victory Seed, Big Bud, all feminized seed, they are between 6-11 foot now. In 3 spots outdoor gorilla style.

 

[Conradino23]

Man, just look carefully under this big cola and check for botrytis. This dry leaf has me worried.

 

[brightlight]

Agree w/ con...something going on. Asked to look at friend's outdoor crop yesterday & saw lots of caterpillar damage that looks like your 2nd VK pic.

 

[Zafu]

Agree w/ con...something going on. Asked to look at friend's outdoor crop yesterday & saw lots of caterpillar damage that looks like your 2nd VK pic.

So to you, it looks like caterpiller dmg? That I can handle. Mold is another story, but buds look so good.

Man, just look carefully under this big cola and check for botrytis. This dry leaf has me worried.

conradino23 - Thank you!! I looked that up and can't find any signs of what those images are. I went to my garden and just can't find that particular bud but believe I know which plant it was on. It's the one that's the most degraded in-terms of color and thought those leaves were simply drying/dying. I took a bunch of pics and put one leaf under the microscope. The buds all look healthy to me so I pulled all questionable leaves off. Suggestions? Should I harvest this one now? The other two of this variety don't look like this and still are a bit greener; meaning the leaves but the buds are just as far along in the other two.

 

[Conradino23]

This leaf has a nasty case of PM. Did you check the cola carefully?

 

[Zafu]

By the way, here's the Trichomes today. So all over the place depending on bud or location on bud I check.

 

[Zafu]

This leaf has a nasty case of PM. Did you check the cola carefully?

Yikes!!! I did; just went back and the inside & underside of buds look great, including the one that leaf came off of. Those markings on the leaves never made it to the bottom of the leaf and just doesn't look like it's in the bud at all. The buds look very healthy. Take a close look at the bud that leaf is attached to in the picture and you'll see what I mean. It's like that through-out. Suggestions? I already took off all questionable leaves.

 

[Zafu]

I'm assuming you're thinking that from the 3rd picture, but it doesn't look exactly like what the pics of PM appear to me. Also, if it is PM, shouldn't it visibly be on other leaves at this point since it's been like that for a while? That's the only leaf that looks exactly like that. Just picked it up off the ground and below is a closer look. Shouldn't the stuff just blow or rub off easily? It doesn't seem to.